New King James Version
Isaiah 13:8
8And they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; They will be amazed at one another; Their faces will be like flames.
Isaiah 13:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
- New International Version (NIV)Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at each other, their faces aflame.
- English Standard Version (ESV)They will be dismayed: pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame.
- New Living Translation (NLT)and people are terrified. Pangs of anguish grip them, like those of a woman in labor. They look helplessly at one another, their faces aflame with fear.
Context of Isaiah 13:8
6Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. 7Therefore all hands will be limp, Every man’s heart will melt, And they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; They will be amazed at one another; Their faces will be like flames. 9Behold, the day of the Lord comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it. 10For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine.
Read all of Isaiah 13Isaiah 13:8 word by word
וְֽנִבְהָ֓לוּ׀ צִירִ֤ים וַֽחֲבָלִים֙ יֹֽאחֵז֔וּן כַּיּוֹלֵדָ֖ה יְחִיל֑וּן אִ֤ישׁ אֶל־רֵעֵ֙הוּ֙ יִתְמָ֔הוּ פְּנֵ֥י לְהָבִ֖ים פְּנֵיהֶֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And they shall be afraidבָּהַלbâhal · to dismayH926
- pangsצִירtsîyr · pangH6735
- and sorrowsחֵ֫בֶלchebel chêbel · painH2256
- shall take holdאָחַז'âchaz · to graspH270
- of them; they shall be in painחוּלchûl chîyl · to twist: writh in painH2342
- as a woman that travailethיָלַדyâlad · to begetH3205
- they shall be amazedתָּמַהּtâmahh · to astoundedH8539
- oneאִישׁ'îysh · man: anyoneH376
- at anotherרֵעַrêa‛ rêya‛ · neighborH7453
- their facesפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
- flamesלַ֫הַבlahab · flameH3851
Cross-references for Isaiah 13:8
- Isaiah 21:3Therefore my loins are filled with pain; Pangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labor. I was distressed when I heard it; I was dismayed when I saw it.
- Isaiah 26:17As a woman with child Is in pain and cries out in her pangs, When she draws near the time of her delivery, So have we been in Your sight, O Lord.
- Psalms 48:5They saw it, and so they marveled; They were troubled, they hastened away.
- Jeremiah 30:6Ask now, and see, Whether a man is ever in labor with child? So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins Like a woman in labor, And all faces turned pale?
- Jeremiah 50:43“The king of Babylon has heard the report about them, And his hands grow feeble; Anguish has taken hold of him, Pangs as of a woman in childbirth.
- Daniel 5:5In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.
- Joel 2:6Before them the people writhe in pain; All faces are drained of color.
- Nahum 2:10She is empty, desolate, and waste! The heart melts, and the knees shake; Much pain is in every side, And all their faces are drained of color.
Commentaries on Isaiah 13:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8And they shall be afraid "And they shall be terrified" - I join this verb, ונבהלו venibhalu, to the preceding verse, with the Syriac and Vulgate. Pangs and sorrows shall take hold on them "Pangs shall seize them" - The Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee read יאחזום yochezum, instead of יאחזון yochezun, which does not express the pronoun then, necessary to the sense.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8They shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth - This comparison is often used in the Scriptures to denote the deepest possible pain and sorrow, as well as the suddenness with which any calamity comes upon a people Psalm 48:6; Isaiah 21:3; Isaiah 42:14; Jeremiah 6:24; Jeremiah 13:21; Jeremiah 22:23; Jeremiah 49:24; Jeremiah 50:43; Hosea 13:13; Micah 4:9-10; John 16:21; Galatians 4:19; 1 Thessalonians 5:3. They shall be amazed one at another - They shall…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 6-18Verses 6-18 We have here the terrible desolation of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. Those who in the day of their peace were proud, and haughty, and terrible, are quite dispirited when trouble comes. Their faces shall be scorched with the flame. All comfort and hope shall fail. The stars of heaven shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened. Such expressions are often employed by the prophets, to describe the convulsions of governments. God…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8writhe like a woman in labor: The day of the Lord brings sudden and overpowering pain and fear for the wicked (see also Jeremiah 30:6; Hosea 13:13; Micah 4:9, 10; 5:3).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. pangs--The Hebrew means also a "messenger." Horsley, therefore, with the Septuagint translates, "The heralds (who bring word of the unexpected invasion) are terrified." Maurer agrees with English Version, literally, "they shall take hold of pangs and sorrows." woman ... travaileth--(1Th 5:3). amazed--the stupid, bewildered gaze of consternation. faces ... flames--"their visages have the livid hue of flame" [Horsley]; with anguish and indignation.Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 13:8
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 13
- 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries