Isaiah 18:5

Isaiah 18:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.
• New International Version (NIV)For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives, and cut down and take away the spreading branches.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For before the harvest, when the bud is perfect And the sour grape is ripening in the flower, He will both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks And take away and cut down the branches.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Even before you begin your attack, while your plans are ripening like grapes, the Lord will cut off your new growth with pruning shears. He will snip off and discard your spreading branches.

Context of Isaiah 18:5

3All you inhabitants of the world, you who dwell on the earth, when a signal is raised on the mountains, look! When a trumpet is blown, hear! 4For thus the Lord said to me: "I will quietly look from my dwelling like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest." For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he cuts off the shoots with pruning hooks, and the spreading branches he lops off and clears away. 6They shall all of them be left to the birds of prey of the mountains and to the beasts of the earth. And the birds of prey will summer on them, and all the beasts of the earth will winter on them. 7At that time tribute will be brought to the Lord of hosts from a people tall and smooth, from a people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide, to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the Lord of hosts.

Isaiah 18:5 word by word

כִּֽי־לִפְנֵ֤י קָצִיר֙ כְּתָם־פֶּ֔רַח וּבֹ֥סֶר גֹּמֵ֖ל יִֽהְיֶ֣ה נִצָּ֑ה וְכָרַ֤ת הַזַּלְזַלִּים֙ בַּמַּזְמֵר֔וֹת וְאֶת־הַנְּטִישׁ֖וֹת הֵסִ֥יר הֵתַֽז׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For aforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• the harvestקָצִירqâtsîyr · harvestH7105
• when the budפֶּ֫רַחperach · flowerH6525
• is perfectתָּמַםtâmam · to finishH8552
• and the sour grapeבֹּ֫סֶרbôser · unripe grapeH1155
• is ripeningגָּמַלgâmal · to weanH1580
• in the flowerנִצָּהnitstsâh · flowerH5328
• he shall both cut offכָּרַתkârath · to cut: cutH3772
• the sprigsזַלְזַלzalzal · tendrilH2150
• with pruning hooksמַזְמֵרָהmazmêrâh · pruning-knifeH4211
• and take awayסוּרsûr ώûr · to turn aside: removeH5493
• cut downתָּזַזtâzaz · to strike awayH8456
• the branchesנְטִישָׁהneţîyshâh · tendrilH5189

Cross-references for Isaiah 18:5

• Isaiah 17:11though you make them grow on the day that you plant them, and make them blossom in the morning that you sow, yet the harvest will flee away in a day of grief and incurable pain.
• Ezekiel 17:6and it sprouted and became a low spreading vine, and its branches turned toward him, and its roots remained where it stood. So it became a vine and produced branches and put out boughs.

Commentaries on Isaiah 18:5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5The flower "The blossom" - Hebrews her blossom; נצה nitstsah, that is, the blossom of the vine, גפן gephen, vine, understood, which is of the common gender. See Genesis 40:10. Note, that by the defective punctuation of this word, many interpreters, and our translators among the rest, have been led into a grievous mistake, (for how can the swelling grape become a blossom?) taking the word נצה nitstsah for the predicate; whereas it is the subject of the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5For afore the harvest - This verse is evidently figurative, and the image is drawn from that which is commenced in the previous verse. There, God is represented as calmly regarding the plans of the people here referred to - as the sun shines serenely on the herb, or the dew falls on the grass. “That” figure supposes that they had “formed” plans, and that they were advancing to maturity, like a growing harvest, while God surveyed them without…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5the flower becomes a ripening grape: Ethiopia had made every effort to form alliances to protect itself against Assyria, but its alliance with Judah would not help.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. For--rather, "But." perfect--perfected. When the enemy's plans are on the verge of completion. sour grape ... flower--rather, "when the flower shall become the ripening grape" [Maurer]. sprigs--the shoots with the grapes on them. God will not only disconcert their present plans, but prevent them forming any future ones. Horsley takes the "harvest" and vintage here as referring to purifying judgments which cause the excision of the ungodly from the…Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 18:5

• Branch
• Ethiopia
• Hooks
• Pruning

In the dictionaries

• Grape
• Knife
• Summer
• Booth
• Branch ;bough
• Ezekiel
• Flowers
• Harvest
• Hook
• Isaiah

Commentaries on Isaiah 18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings