Isaiah 18:5

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.
• New International Version (NIV)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.
• 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.

Context of Isaiah 18:5

3All you people of the world, everyone who lives on the earth— when I raise my battle flag on the mountain, look! When I blow the ram’s horn, listen! 4For the Lord has told me this: “I will watch quietly from my dwelling place— as quietly as the heat rises on a summer day, or as the morning dew forms during the harvest.” 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. 6Your mighty army will be left dead in the fields for the mountain vultures and wild animals. The vultures will tear at the corpses all summer. The wild animals will gnaw at the bones all winter. 7At that time the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will receive gifts from this land divided by rivers, from this tall, smooth-skinned people, who are feared far and wide for their conquests and destruction. They will bring the gifts to Jerusalem, where the Lord of Heaven’s Armies dwells.

Isaiah 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 17:11They may sprout on the day you set them out; yes, they may blossom on the very morning you plant them, but you will never pick any grapes from them. Your only harvest will be a load of grief and unrelieved pain.
• Ezekiel 17:6It took root there and grew into a low, spreading vine. Its branches turned up toward the eagle, and its roots grew down into the ground. It produced strong branches and put out shoots.

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

• Branch
• Ethiopia
• Hooks
• Pruning

In the dictionaries

• Grape
• Knife
• Summer
• Booth
• Branch ;bough
• Ezekiel
• Flowers
• Harvest
• Hook
• Isaiah

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