Isaiah 50:3

Isaiah 50:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.
• English Standard Version (ESV)I clothe the heavens with blackness and make sackcloth their covering."
• New King James Version (NKJV)I clothe the heavens with blackness, And I make sackcloth their covering.”
• New Living Translation (NLT)I dress the skies in darkness, covering them with clothes of mourning.”

Context of Isaiah 50:3

1This is what the Lord says: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? Because of your sins you were sold; because of your transgressions your mother was sent away. 2When I came, why was there no one? When I called, why was there no one to answer? Was my arm too short to deliver you? Do I lack the strength to rescue you? By a mere rebuke I dry up the sea, I turn rivers into a desert; their fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst. I clothe the heavens with darkness and make sackcloth its covering.” 4The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed. 5The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away.

Isaiah 50:3 word by word

אַלְבִּ֥ישׁ שָׁמַ֖יִם קַדְר֑וּת וְשַׂ֖ק אָשִׂ֥ים כְּסוּתָֽם׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• I clotheלָבֵשׁlâbash lâbêsh · to clotheH3847
• the heavensשָׁמַיִםshâmayim shâmeh · heavenH8064
• with blacknessקַדְרוּתqadrûth · darknessH6940
• and I makeשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: makeH7760
• sackclothשַׂקώaq · sackclothH8242
• their coveringכְּסוּתkesûth · coveringH3682

Cross-references for Isaiah 50:3

• Exodus 10:21Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.”
• Psalms 18:11He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky.
• Matthew 27:45From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land.
• Revelation 6:12I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red,

Commentaries on Isaiah 50:3

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3I clothe the heavens with blackness - With the dark clouds of a tempest - perhaps with an allusion to the remarkable clouds and tempests that encircled the brow of Sinai when he gave the law. Or possibly alluding to the thick darkness which he brought over the land of Egypt (Exodus 10:21; Grotius). In the previous verse, he had stated what he did on the earth, and referred to the exhibitions of his great power there. He here refers to the exhibition of…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3People connected events like darkness and wearing mourning clothes with the day of the Lord (Isaiah 13:10; see study note on Isaiah 2:5–22). The mention of darkness might refer to the plague of darkness in Egypt (Exodus 10:21).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. heavens ... blackness--another of the judgments on Egypt to be repeated hereafter on the last enemy of God's people (Ex 10:21). sackcloth--(Re 6:12).Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 50:3

• Colors
• God
• Jesus Continued
• Meteorology and Celestial Phenomena

In the dictionaries

• Blackness
• Isaiah
• Mark, the Gospel According to
• Saviour
• Sackcloth

Commentaries on Isaiah 50

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• 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