New Living Translation
Isaiah 33:18
18You will think back to this time of terror, asking, “Where are the Assyrian officers who counted our towers? Where are the bookkeepers who recorded the plunder taken from our fallen city?”
Isaiah 33:18 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
- New International Version (NIV)In your thoughts you will ponder the former terror: “Where is that chief officer? Where is the one who took the revenue? Where is the officer in charge of the towers?”
- English Standard Version (ESV)Your heart will muse on the terror: "Where is he who counted, where is he who weighed the tribute? Where is he who counted the towers?"
- New King James Version (NKJV)Your heart will meditate on terror: “Where is the scribe? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who counts the towers?”
Context of Isaiah 33:18
16these are the ones who will dwell on high. The rocks of the mountains will be their fortress. Food will be supplied to them, and they will have water in abundance. 17Your eyes will see the king in all his splendor, and you will see a land that stretches into the distance. You will think back to this time of terror, asking, “Where are the Assyrian officers who counted our towers? Where are the bookkeepers who recorded the plunder taken from our fallen city?” 19You will no longer see these fierce, violent people with their strange, unknown language. 20Instead, you will see Zion as a place of holy festivals. You will see Jerusalem, a city quiet and secure. It will be like a tent whose ropes are taut and whose stakes are firmly fixed.
Read all of Isaiah 33Isaiah 33:18 word by word
לִבְּךָ֖ יֶהְגֶּ֣ה אֵימָ֑ה אַיֵּ֤ה סֹפֵר֙ אַיֵּ֣ה שֹׁקֵ֔ל אַיֵּ֖ה סֹפֵ֥ר אֶת־הַמִּגְדָּלִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Isaiah 33:18
- Isaiah 38:9When King Hezekiah was well again, he wrote this poem:
- 1 Samuel 30:6David was now in great danger because all his men were very bitter about losing their sons and daughters, and they began to talk of stoning him. But David found strength in the Lord his God.
- Psalms 31:7I will be glad and rejoice in your unfailing love, for you have seen my troubles, and you care about the anguish of my soul.
- Psalms 71:20You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, but you will restore me to life again and lift me up from the depths of the earth.
- 2 Corinthians 1:8We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it.
- 2 Timothy 3:11You know how much persecution and suffering I have endured. You know all about how I was persecuted in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra—but the Lord rescued me from all of it.
- 1 Corinthians 1:20So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish.
- Genesis 23:16So Abraham agreed to Ephron’s price and paid the amount he had suggested—400 pieces of silver, weighed according to the market standard. The Hittite elders witnessed the transaction.
- 2 Kings 15:19Then King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria invaded the land. But Menahem paid him thirty-seven tons of silver to gain his support in tightening his grip on royal power.
- 2 Kings 18:14King Hezekiah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have done wrong. I will pay whatever tribute money you demand if you will only withdraw.” The king of Assyria then demanded a settlement of more than eleven tons of silver and one ton of gold.
- Isaiah 10:16Therefore, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, will send a plague among Assyria’s proud troops, and a flaming fire will consume its glory.
Commentaries on Isaiah 33:18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18Where is the scribe? - The person appointed by the king of Assyria to estimate their number and property in reference to their being heavily taxed. Where is the receiver? - Or he who was to have collected this tribute. Where is he that counted the towers? - That is, the commander of the enemy's forces, who surveyed the fortifications of the city, and took an account of the height, strength, and situation of the walls and towers, that he might know where…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18Thine heart - The heart of the people of Jerusalem. Shall meditate terror - This is similar to the expression in Virgil: - forsan et haec olim meminisse jurabit. AEn. ii. 203. The sense here is, You shall hereafter think over all this alarm and distress. When the enemy is destroyed, the city saved, and the king shall reign in magnificence over all the nation then enjoying peace and prosperity, you shall recall these days of terror and alarm, and shall…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-24Verses 15-24 The true believer watches against all occasions of sin. The Divine power will keep him safe, and his faith in that power will keep him easy. He shall want nothing needful for him. Every blessing of salvation is freely bestowed on all that ask with humble, believing prayer; and the believer is safe in time and for ever. Those that walk uprightly shall not only have bread given, and their water sure, but they shall, by faith, see the King of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18Assyrian officers brought great terror to Judah when the Assyrians defeated various cities around Jerusalem (2 Kings 18:13).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. meditate--on the "terror" caused by the enemy, but now past. where, &c.--the language of the Jews exulting over their escape from danger. scribe--who enrolled the army [Maurer]; or, who prescribed the tribute to be paid [Rosenmuller]; or, who kept an account of the spoil. "The principal scribe of the host" (2Ki 25:19; Jr 52:25). The Assyrian records are free from the exaggerations of Egyptian records. Two scribes are seen in every Assyrian bas-relief…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 33:18
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 33
- 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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