New King James Version
Isaiah 30:16
16And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”— Therefore you shall flee! And, “We will ride on swift horses”— Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!
Isaiah 30:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
- New International Version (NIV)You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’ Therefore you will flee! You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’ Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
- English Standard Version (ESV)and you said, "No! We will flee upon horses"; therefore you shall flee away; and, "We will ride upon swift steeds"; therefore your pursuers shall be swift.
- New Living Translation (NLT)You said, ‘No, we will get our help from Egypt. They will give us swift horses for riding into battle.’ But the only swiftness you are going to see is the swiftness of your enemies chasing you!
Context of Isaiah 30:16
14And He shall break it like the breaking of the potter’s vessel, Which is broken in pieces; He shall not spare. So there shall not be found among its fragments A shard to take fire from the hearth, Or to take water from the cistern.” 15For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” But you would not, And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”— Therefore you shall flee! And, “We will ride on swift horses”— Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift! 17One thousand shall flee at the threat of one, At the threat of five you shall flee, Till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain And as a banner on a hill. 18Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him.
Read all of Isaiah 30Isaiah 30:16 word by word
וַתֹּ֨אמְר֥וּ לֹא־כִ֛י עַל־ס֥וּס נָנ֖וּס עַל־כֵּ֣ן תְּנוּס֑וּן וְעַל־קַ֣ל נִרְכָּ֔ב עַל־כֵּ֖ן יִקַּ֥לּוּ רֹדְפֵיכֶֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Isaiah 30:16
- Isaiah 5:26He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar, And will whistle to them from the end of the earth; Surely they shall come with speed, swiftly.
- Isaiah 10:28He has come to Aiath, He has passed Migron; At Michmash he has attended to his equipment.
- 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 who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, Nor seek the Lord!
- Deuteronomy 28:25“The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth.
- 2 Kings 25:5But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his army was scattered from him.
- Psalms 33:17A horse is a vain hope for safety; Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.
- Psalms 147:10He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
- Jeremiah 52:7Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled and went out of the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans were near the city all around. And they went by way of the plain.
- Amos 2:14Therefore flight shall perish from the swift, The strong shall not strengthen his power, Nor shall the mighty deliver himself;
- Amos 9:1I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and He said: “Strike the doorposts, that the thresholds may shake, And break them on the heads of them all. I will slay the last of them with the sword. He who flees from them shall not get away, And he who escapes from them shall not be delivered.
- Micah 1:13O inhabitant of Lachish, Harness the chariot to the swift steeds (She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion), For the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
- Deuteronomy 28:49The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand,
- Jeremiah 4:13“Behold, he shall come up like clouds, And his chariots like a whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are plundered!”
- Lamentations 4:19Our pursuers were swifter Than the eagles of the heavens. They pursued us on the mountains And lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
- Habakkuk 1:8Their horses also are swifter than leopards, And more fierce than evening wolves. Their chargers charge ahead; Their cavalry comes from afar; They fly as the eagle that hastens to eat.
Commentaries on Isaiah 30:16
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16But ye said, No - Ye who proposed an alliance with Egypt. For we will flee upon horses - The word flee‘ (נוּס nûc ), usually signifies to flee before or from any person or thing. But here it seems to have the notion of making a rapid motion in general, and not to refer to the fact that they expected to flee “from” their enemy, for it does not seem to have been a part of their expectation. The idea seems to be that by their alliance with Egypt they would…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-18Verses 8-18 The Jews were the only professing people God then had in the world, yet many among them were rebellious. They had the light, but they loved darkness rather. The prophets checked them in their sinful pursuits, so that they could not proceed without fear; this they took amiss. But faithful ministers will not be driven from seeking to awaken sinners. God is the Holy One of Israel, and so they shall find him. They did not like to hear of his holy…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16Judah relied on Egypt for fast horses (see Psalm 33:17), rejecting God's help and risking its downfall.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. flee--not as fugitives, but we will speed our course; namely, against the Assyrians, by the help of cavalry supplied by Egypt (Is 31:1). This was expressly against the Mosaic law (De 17:16; see on Is 2:7; Ho 14:3). shall ... flee--literally, "before your enemies"; their sin and its punishment correspond.Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 30:16
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 30
- 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