New International Version
Isaiah 7:18
18In that day the Lord will whistle for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt and for bees from 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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)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.
- 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 enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. 17The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria.” In that day the Lord will whistle for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria. 19They will all come and settle in the steep ravines and in the crevices in the rocks, on all the thornbushes and at all the water holes. 20In that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria—to shave your heads and private parts, and to cut off your beards 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 lifts up a banner for the distant nations, he whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Here they come, swiftly and speedily!
- Isaiah 30:1“Woe to the obstinate children,” declares the Lord, “to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin;
- Isaiah 31:1Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord.
- Exodus 8:21If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies; even the ground will be covered with them.
- Deuteronomy 1:44The Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you; they chased you like a swarm of bees and beat you down from Seir all the way to Hormah.
- Deuteronomy 7:20Moreover, the Lord your God will send the hornet among them until even the survivors who hide from you have perished.
- Joshua 24:12I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you—also the two Amorite kings. You did not do it with your own sword and bow.
- Psalms 118:12They swarmed around me like bees, but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
- Isaiah 7:17The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria.”
- 2 Kings 23:33Pharaoh Necho put him in chains at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy 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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