Isaiah 33:14 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 33:14
The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Tsijon (as a permanent capital) · preposition + proper noun, a place name
afraid
פָּחֲד֤וּpa.cha.Du
H6342
to be startled (by a sudden alarm) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
fearfulness
רְעָדָ֖הre.'a.Dah
H7461
a shudder · noun, common feminine singular absolute
surprised
אָחֲזָ֥ה'a.cha.Zah
H270
to seize (often with the accessory idea of holding in p… · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
hypocrites
חֲנֵפִ֑יםcha.ne.Fim
H2611
soiled (i.e. with sin) · adjective, masculine plural absolute
dwell
יָג֣וּרya.Gur
H1481
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
devouring
אוֹכֵלָ֔ה'o.khe.Lah
H398
to eat (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal active participle, feminine singular absolute
fire
אֵ֚שׁ'esh
H784
fire (literally or figuratively) · noun, common both genders singular construct
dwell
יָג֥וּרya.Gur
H1481
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
everlasting
עוֹלָֽםo.Lam
H5769
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
burnings
מוֹקְדֵ֥יmok.Dei
H4168
a fire or fuel · noun, common masculine plural construct
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).
Isaiah 66:24 And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shal…
Matthew 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Deuteronomy 5:24-25 And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire:…
Matthew 18:8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maime…
Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Revelation 14:10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be t…
Isaiah 29:13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their he…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 33:13–end
Here is a preface that commands attention; and it is fit that all should attend, both near and afar off, to what God says and does (Isa 33:13): Hear, you that are afar off, whether in place or time. Let distant regions and future ages hear what God has done. They do so; they will do so from the scripture, with as much assurance as those that were near, the neighbouring nations and those that lived at that time. But whoever hears what God has done, whether near or afar off, let them acknowledge his might, that it is irresistible, and that he can do every thing. Those are very stupid who hear what God has done and yet will not acknowledge his might. Now what is it that God has done which we mu…
sinners in Zion--false professors of religion among the elect people (Mat 22:12).
hypocrites--rather, "the profane"; "the abandoned" [HORSLEY].
who, &c.--If Jehovah's wrath could thus consume such a host in one night, who could abide it, if continued for ever (Mar 9:46-48)? Fire is a common image for the divine judgments (Isa 29:6; Isa 30:30).
among us--If such awful judgments have fallen on those who knew not the true God, how infinitely worse shall fall on us who, amid religious privileges and profession, sin against God, (Luk 12:47-48; Jam 4:17)?
John Gill on Isaiah 33:14
The sinners in Zion are afraid, and fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites,.... Meaning not persons of such a character that dwelt in Jerusalem, who had the guise and form of religion, and not the power of it, and were for fleeing to Egypt, and trusting in Pharaoh, and not in the Lord; who were seized with dread and terror, when the Assyrian army besieged them, or when it was so awfully destroyed by the angel in the night; when, observing the visible and immediate hand of God in it, they might fear the like judgment would fall upon them for their irreligion and hypocrisy; but rather formal professors, and hypocritical persons, in the reformed churches, or Protestants having only a form of…
"He looked upon them, and the nations shook and the mountains quickly scattered." The sight of the Lord shattered what was hardened and melted what was tightly compact, so that the truth expressed by Isaiah might be evident, for God is a living fire who advances to purify, not to kill: "Who among you can dwell with the devouring fire, or who among you can walk with eternal flames?" Whomever he looks upon, therefore, and touches with his warmth, he melts on the spot. Consequently, when he will later look upon the nations with mercy and judge them to be most worthy of redemption through his Christ, immediately their hardness will be shattered.
The Scripture itself … expressly distinguishes between Abraham's bosom, where the poor man dwells, and the infernal place of torment. "Hell" (I take it) means one thing, and "Abraham's bosom" another. "A great gulf" is said to separate those regions and to hinder a passage from one to the other. Besides, the rich man could not have "lifted up his eyes," and from a distance too, except to a superior height, and from the said distance all up through the vast immensity of height and depth.… There is some determinate place called Abraham's bosom, and it is designed for the reception of souls of Abraham's children, even from among the Gentiles (since he is "the father of many nations," which must be classed amongst his family), and of the same faith as that with which he himself believed God, without the yoke of the law and the sign of circumcision. This region, therefore, I call Abraham's bosom. Although it is not in heaven, it is yet higher than hell, and it is appointed to afford an interval of rest to the souls of the righteous, until the consummation of all things shall complete the resurrections of all people with the "full recompense of their reward." This consummation will then be manifested in heavenly promises.… Amos, however, tells us of "those stories towards heaven" which Christ "builds"—of course for his people. There also is that everlasting abode of which Isaiah asks, "Who shall declare to you the eternal place, but he (that is, of course, Christ) who walks in righteousness, speaks of the straight path, and hates injustice and iniquity?" Now, although this everlasting abode is promised, and the ascending stories (or steps) to heaven are built by the Creator, who further promises that the seed of Abraham shall be even as the stars of heaven, by virtue certainly of the heavenly promise, why may it not be possible, without any injury to that promise, that by Abraham's bosom is meant some temporary receptacle of faithful souls, wherein is even now delineated an image of the future and where is given some foresight of the glory of both judgments?
Dictionary and topics
Zion — Sunny; height, one of the eminences on which Jerusalem was built. It was surrounded on all sides, except the north, by deep valleys, that of the Tyropoeon (q.v.) separating it from Moriah (q.v.),…
Fear, Unholy · Surprises the hypocrite — Surprises the hypocrite
Fire · . — .
Hell · Described as: Everlasting burnings — Described as: Everlasting burnings
Hypocrisy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Punishment Of The Wicked, The · Future described as: Everlasting burnings — Future described as: Everlasting burnings
Zion · 3:11; — 3:11;
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 33:14
The sinners in Zion are afraid. But some one might object that the subject here treated is not so important as to need that lofty preface intended to arouse the whole world. Was it a matter of so great importance that wicked men were struck with fear? But by an attentive examination it will be found that it is no ordinary exhibition of divine power, when wicked men are aroused from their indolence, so that, whether they will or not, they perceive that God is their judge, especially when contempt of God is accompanied by hypocrisy, For although it is difficult to arouse irreligious men, when a veil is spread over their hearts, [12] yet still greater is the obstinacy of hypocrites, who imagine…
But the prophet, while addressing Asshur, does not overlook those sinners of his own nation who are deserving of punishment. The judgment upon Asshur is an alarming lesson, not only for the heathen, but for Israel also; for there is no respect of persons with Jehovah. "Hear, ye distant ones, what I have accomplished; and perceive, ye near ones, my omnipotence! The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling seizes the hypocrites: who of us can abide with devouring fire? who of us abide with everlasting burnings?" Even for the sinners in Jerusalem also there is no abiding in the presence of the Almighty and Just One, who has judged Asshur (the act of judgment is regarded by the prophet as having ju…
The godless were people who lived without regard for God and his law. • The image of a devouring fire came from God’s judgment of offenders during the wilderness journey (Exod 24:17; Deut 4:24). God still expects people to worship him with reverence and awe (Heb 12:29).
Rashi on Isaiah 33:14
Sinners in Zion were afraid How they would find an opening to repent.
Who will stand up for us against a consuming fire? (lit., Who will live for us a consuming fire?) I.e., who will stand up for us to appease burning wrath? Alternatively, who among us will dwell, i.e., who among us will dwell in Zion with the Rock, Who is a consuming fire? And he replies, “He who walks righteously, etc.”