English Standard Version
Isaiah 7:18
18In that day the Lord will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
Isaiah 7:18 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
- New International Version (NIV)In that day the Lord will whistle for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria.
- New King James Version (NKJV)And it shall come to pass in that day That the Lord will whistle for the fly That is in the farthest part of the rivers of Egypt, And for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
- New Living Translation (NLT)In that day the Lord will whistle for the army of southern Egypt and for the army of Assyria. They will swarm around you like flies and bees.
Context of Isaiah 7:18
16For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. 17The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!" In that day the Lord will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures. 20In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.
Read all of Isaiah 7Isaiah 7:18 word by word
וְהָיָ֣ה׀ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא יִשְׁרֹ֤ק יְהוָה֙ לַזְּב֔וּב אֲשֶׁ֥ר בִּקְצֵ֖ה יְאֹרֵ֣י מִצְרָ֑יִם וְלַ֨דְּבוֹרָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֖ר בְּאֶ֥רֶץ אַשּֽׁוּר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And it shall come to pass in that dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- shall hissשָׁרַקshâraq · to whistleH8319
- for the flyזְבוּבzebûb · flyH2070
- in the uttermost partקָצֶהqâtseh qêtseh · endH7097
- of the riversיְאֹרye'ôr · streamH2975
- of Egyptמִצְרַ֫יִםmitsrayim · EgyptH4714
- and for the beeדְּבוֹרָהdebôrâh debôrâh · beeH1682
- in the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- of Assyriaאַשּׁוּר'ashshûr 'ashshûr · AssyriaH804
Cross-references for Isaiah 7:18
- Isaiah 5:26He will raise a signal for nations far away, and whistle for them from the ends of the earth; and behold, quickly, speedily they come!
- Isaiah 30:1"Ah, stubborn children," declares the Lord, "who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin;
- Isaiah 31:1Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord!
- Exodus 8:21Or else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people, and into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand.
- Deuteronomy 1:44Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do and beat you down in Seir as far as Hormah.
- Deuteronomy 7:20Moreover, the Lord your God will send hornets among them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you are destroyed.
- Joshua 24:12And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow.
- Psalms 118:12They surrounded me like bees; they went out like a fire among thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
- Isaiah 7:17The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!"
- 2 Kings 23:33And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
Commentaries on Isaiah 7:18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18Hiss for the fly "Hist the fly" - See note on Isaiah 5:26. Egypt, and - Assyria - Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, Pharaoh-necho, and Nebuchadnezzar, who one after another desolated Judea.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18In that day the Lord shall hiss - see the note at Isaiah 5:26. For the fly - That is, for the army, or the multitude of people. The comparison of a numerous army with “flies” is not uncommon; see Homer‘s “Iliad,” B. ii. 469, etc. - Thick as insects play, The wandering nation of a summer‘s day. That, drawn by milky streams at evening hours In gathered swarms surround the rural bowers; From pail to pail with busy murmur run The gilded legions, glittering in…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-25Verses 17-25 Let those who will not believe the promises of God, expect to hear the alarms of his threatenings; for who can resist or escape his judgments? The Lord shall sweep all away; and whomsoever he employs in any service for him, he will pay. All speaks a sad change of the face of that pleasant land. But what melancholy change is there, which sin will not make with a people? Agriculture would cease. Sorrows of every kind will come upon all who…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18-25The phrase on that day refers to the future Day of the LORD, when God acts to judge and to save. Judah would first experience the judgment Isaiah had announced. This would be a warning of a greater judgment still to come. That greater judgment was the exile in Babylon from 586 to 538 BC.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. hiss--whistle, to bring bees to settle (see on Is 5:26). fly--found in numbers about the arms of the Nile and the canals from it (Is 19:5-7; 23:3), here called "rivers." Hence arose the plague of flies (Ex 8:21). Figurative, for numerous and troublesome foes from the remotest parts of Egypt, for example, Pharaoh-nechoh. bee--(De 1:44; Psa 118:12). As numerous in Assyria as the fly in marshy Egypt. Sennacherib, Esar-haddon, and Nebuchadnezzar fulfilled…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 7:18
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 7
- 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
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