Isaiah 28:19 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 28:19
From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
enough (as noun or adverb) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
forth
עָבְרוֹ֙a.ve.Ro
H5674
to cross over · verb, qal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
take
יִקַּ֣חyi.Kach
H3947
to take (in the widest variety of applications) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
morning
בַבֹּ֧קֶרva.Bo.ker
H1242
properly · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
morning
בַּבֹּ֛קֶרba.Bo.ker
H1242
properly · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
over
יַעֲבֹ֖רya.'a.Vor
H5674
to cross over · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
day
בַּיּ֣וֹםbai.Yom
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
night
וּבַלָּ֑יְלָהu.va.La.ye.lah
H3915
properly · conjunction + preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
vexation
זְוָעָ֖הze.va.'Ah
H2113
agitation · noun, common feminine singular absolute
understand
הָבִ֥יןha.Vin
H995
to separate mentally (or distinguish) · verb, hiphil infinitive construct
report
שְׁמוּעָֽהshe.mu.'Ah
H8052
something heard · noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Habakkuk 3:16 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might res…
2 Kings 24:2 And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon…
Isaiah 10:5-6 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
Isaiah 33:7 Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without: the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.
Isaiah 36:22 Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Heze…
Isaiah 37:3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the…
Isaiah 50:4 The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth mor…
Jeremiah 19:3 And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Beho…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 28:14-22
The prophet, having reproved those that made a jest of the word of God, here goes on to reprove those that made a jest of the judgments of God, and set them at defiance; for he is a jealous God, and will not suffer either his ordinances or his providences to be brought into contempt. He addressed himself to the scornful men who ruled in Jerusalem, who were the magistrates of the city, Isa 28:14. It is bad with a people when their thrones of judgment become the seats of the scornful, when rulers are scorners; but that the rulers of Jerusalem should be men of such a character, that they should make light of God's judgments and scorn to take notice of the tokens of his displeasure, is very sad.…
From the time, &c.--rather, "As often as it comes over (that is, passes through), it shall overtake you" [HORSLEY]; like a flood returning from time to time, frequent hostile invasions shall assail Judah, after the deportation of the ten tribes.
vexation . . . understand . . . report--rather, "It shall be a terror even to hear the mere report of it" [MAURER], (Sa1 3:11). But G. V. SMITH, "Hard treatment (HORSLEY, 'dispersion') only shall make you to understand instruction"; they scorned at the simple way in which the prophet offered it (Isa 28:9); therefore, they must be taught by the severe teachings of adversity.
John Gill on Isaiah 28:19
From the time that it goeth forth, it shall take you,.... Or, "as soon as it passeth through" (z), "it shall take you away"; as soon as it begins to overflow, and as it goes along, it shall make clear work, and carry you away with it; you will not be able to resist it, to withstand its motion, and stop its progress; but will be borne down by it, and carried away with it, either destroyed by it at once, or carried into captivity; so the Targum,
"in the time of its passing over, it shall carry you captive:''
for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night; signifying that it should come very early, before they were aware of it and prepared for it, and should be constant and in…
Every time is suitable for your ablution, since any time may be your death. With Paul I shout to you with that loud voice, "Behold now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation";56 and that now does not point to any one time but is every present moment. And again "Awake, you that sleep, and Christ shall give you light," dispelling the darkness of sin. For as Isaiah says, "In the night hope is evil," and it is more profitable to be received in the morning.
Now righteous people conceive a dread of God before his indignation is stirred up against them; they fear him at rest, lest they should feel him as moved. But, on the other hand, the wicked then for the first time fear to be smitten when they are under the rod, and terror then rouses them from the sleep of their insensibility when vengeance is troubling them. And hence it is said by the prophet, "And only the vexing alone shall supply understanding to the hearing." For when they have begun to be stricken in vengeance for the contempt and neglect of God's precepts, then they understand the thing that they heard.
(Verse 19). When it passes by, it will seize you; for it will pass through in the morning, in the day and at night, and its vexation will only give understanding to the ear. LXX: When it passes, it will lift you up in the morning, it will pass in the morning; day and night there will be the worst of hope. Learn to listen, you who are in tribulation: we cannot fight, for we ourselves are weak to be gathered. For always the wrath of the Lord will fall upon you, and you will feel it both in times of prosperity and adversity, and cruel death will ravage you. What shall I say about punishments? Fear of punishments alone and the dread of torments will correct you for salvation, and will make you understand your evils. And when you have been tormented, then you will know that my Prophets have spoken the truth. According to the Hebrew. Furthermore, as for what is read in the LXX: Learn to hear, you who are troubled: we cannot fight, but we ourselves are weak so that we may gather together. I completely do not know the meaning of this, and how it is connected to the previous context. Unless perhaps the divine speech speaks to the leaders of the people and encourages them to have hope in God, and not in death and hell, and teaches them to listen to the prophecies of the prophets, and they respond that they cannot fight against opposing powers due to the weakness of their strength, nor gather among the people of God.
Dictionary and topics
Infidelity · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Sin · .No es — .No es
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Calvin on Isaiah 28:19
From the time that it shall pass. He expresses more in this verse than in the preceding one; for he declares that the destruction of the reprobate is close at hand, though they promise to themselves everlasting happiness. Wicked men indeed perceive that they are liable to many calamities, but yet they flatter and stupefy themselves, and imagine that in this way they can ward off their calamities. They have in their mouth proverbs of this sort, "Let us not distress ourselves before the time: Let us enjoy the season while it lasts: Let us be cheerful, and not give ourselves uneasiness when we can avoid it." But he threatens that there hangs over their heads a hidden destruction, [236] and adds…
And the whip which Jehovah swings will not be satisfied with one stroke, but will rain strokes. "And your covenant with death is struck out, and your agreement with Hades will not stand; the swelling scourge, when it comes, ye will become a thing trodden down to it. As often as it passes it takes you: for every morning it passes, by day and by night; and it is nothing but shuddering to hear such preaching. For the bed is too short to stretch in, and the covering too tight when a man wraps himself in it." Although berı̄th is feminine, the predicate to it is placed before it in the masculine form (Ges. 144). The covenant is thought of as a document; for khuppar (for obliterari (just as the kal…
The Lord judges people on their works, which reveal the presence or absence of living faith (for justice and righteousness, see 1:21-23).
Rashi on Isaiah 28:19
every morning I.e., I will always bring decrees upon you.
and it shall be sheer terror to understand the message Terror for all those who hear, to understand the messages of the harsh retributions that I will bring upon you. All who hear shall quake.
