New International Version
Isaiah 18:5
5For, 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.
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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)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.
- 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 people of the world, you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when a trumpet sounds, you will hear it. 4This is what the Lord says to me: “I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.” 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. 6They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey and to the wild animals; the birds will feed on them all summer, the wild animals all winter. 7At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord Almighty from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers— the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty.
Read all of Isaiah 18Isaiah 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 on the day you set them out, you make them grow, and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud, yet the harvest will be as nothing in the day of disease and incurable pain.
- Ezekiel 17:6and it sprouted and became a low, spreading vine. Its branches turned toward him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a vine and produced branches and put out leafy 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
In the dictionaries
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
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