Isaiah 4:5 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 4:5
And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.
(absolutely) to create · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
place
מְכ֨וֹןme.Khon
H4349
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
mount
הַרhar-
H2022
a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figurative… · noun, common masculine singular construct
Zion
צִיּ֜וֹןtzi.Yon
H6726
Tsijon (as a permanent capital) · proper noun, a place name
assemblies
מִקְרָאֶ֗הָmik.ra.'E.ha
H4744
something called out · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
cloud
עָנָ֤ן'a.Nan
H6051
a cloud (as covering the sky) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
smoke
וְעָשָׁ֔ןve.'a.Shan
H6227
smoke · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
day
יוֹמָם֙yo.Mam
H3119
daily · adverb
shining
וְנֹ֛גַהּve.No.gah
H5051
brilliancy (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct
flaming
לֶהָבָ֖הle.ha.Vah
H3852
a flash · noun, common feminine singular absolute
fire
אֵ֥שׁ'esh
H784
fire (literally or figuratively) · noun, common both genders singular absolute
night
לָ֑יְלָהLa.ye.lah
H3915
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
glory
כָּב֖וֹדka.Vod
H3519
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
defence
חֻפָּֽהchu.Pah
H2646
a canopy · 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
Exodus 13:21-22 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to…
Nehemiah 9:12 Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they s…
Exodus 40:34-38 Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
Numbers 9:15-22 And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was…
Psalms 78:14 In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.
Psalms 85:9 Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.
Isaiah 33:20 Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; n…
Isaiah 46:13 I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my g…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 4:2–end
By the foregoing threatenings Jerusalem is brought into a very deplorable condition: every thing looks melancholy. But here the sun breaks out from behind the cloud. Many exceedingly great and precious promises we have in these verses, giving assurance of comfort which may be discerned through the troubles, and of happy days which shall come after them, and these certainly point at the kingdom of the Messiah, and the great redemption to be wrought out by him, under the figure and type of the restoration of Judah and Jerusalem by the reforming reign of Hezekiah after Ahaz and the return out of their captivity in Babylon; to both these events the passage may have some reference, but chiefly to…
create--The "new creation" needs as much God's creative omnipotence, as the material creation (Co2 4:6; Eph 2:10). So it shall be in the case of the Holy Jerusalem to come (Isa 65:17-18).
upon--The pillar of cloud stood over the tabernacle, as symbol of God's favor and presence (Exo 13:21-22; Psa 91:1). Both on individual families ("every dwelling") and on the general sacred "assemblies" (Lev 23:2). The "cloud" became a "fire" by night in order to be seen by the Lord's people.
upon all the glory--"upon the glorious whole"; namely, the Lord's people and sanctuary [MAURER]. May it not mean, "Upon whatever the glory (the Shekinah spoken of in the previous clause) shall rest, there shall be…
And the Lord will create on every dwelling place of Mount Zion,.... That is, on every particular church of Christ in Gospel times, and especially in the latter day; which are the dwelling places of Father, Son, and Spirit, and of believers in Christ. The word (o) used signifies a place well fitted up, and prepared, and established, and settled; and such will be the churches of Christ in the latter day glory; they will be fitly framed together and built up, a habitation for God, through the Spirit; they will be beautified, and made glorious, and will be established upon the top of the mountains, and be tabernacles that shall not be taken down, whose stakes and cords shall not be removed and b…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 5) And the Lord will create (or created) over every place of Mount Zion, and where he is invoked, a cloud by day, and smoke and the brightness of a flaming fire at night. For in Christ there is a new creation, of which we read elsewhere: The old things have passed away: behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Regarding this, the Septuagint translated: And he will come, and there will be every place of Mount Zion, and all the things that are around it, a cloud will cover during the day, and the light of a flaming fire at night. But who will come except him, of whom it is written: He will come from Zion to free them (Isaiah 59:20, according to the Septuagint). And of whom another prophet mentions: Yet a little while, and he who is to come will come, and will not delay (Habakkuk 2:3). When he comes, the people will be restored to their former happiness, which they once had in the desert; the Lord will lead them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and during the night with a pillar of fire (Exodus 13): so that they may not be disturbed either in prosperity or in adversity. And in the psalm it is said: By day the sun shall not scorch you, nor the moon by night (Ps. CXX, 6). But in this place smoke signifies not error and ignorance, but glory, according to what we shall read in the same prophet, according to the opinion of some: And the house was filled with smoke (Isaiah 6). And in Joel, concerning the grace of the Holy Spirit which descends upon the apostles, it is said: I will pour out my spirit, and they shall prophesy (Joel II). And I will show wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and clouds of smoke (Acts 2:17). I think this signifies that which is said in the Psalms: He touches the mountains, and they smoke (Psalm 104:32).
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Cloud Of Glory · Illustrative of: The protection of the church — Illustrative of: The protection of the church
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).
And Jehovah will create on every dwelling-place of Mount Zion. As if he had said that "there will not be a corner of Mount Zion on which the grace of God does not shine." Dwelling-place and assembly I understand to mean the same thing; for assembly does not here denote a congregation, but the place where men assemble. With the design to express a full blessing, he alludes to what Moses relates, when the Lord delivered the people from Egyptian bondage, and sent
pillars of cloud by day and pillars of fire by night. (Exodus 13:21.)
It was customary with the prophets, in describing any remarkable blessing, to remind them of that deliverance from Egypt as an extraordinary work of God; for on th…
"And Jehovah creates over every spot of Mount Zion, and over its festal assemblies, a cloud by day, and smoke, and the shining of flaming fire by night: for over all the glory comes a canopy." Just as Jehovah guided and shielded Israel in the days of the redemption from Egypt in a smoke-cloud by day and a fire-cloud by night, which either moved in front like a pillar, or floated above them as a roof (Num 14:14, etc.), the perpetuation of His presence at Sinai (Exo 19:9, Exo 19:16.); so would Jehovah in like manner shield the Israel of the final redemption, which would no longer need the pillar of cloud since its wanderings would be over, but only the cloudy covering; and such a covering Jeho…
The references to a canopy of cloud . . . and smoke and flaming fire recall God’s continuous presence and protection during the exodus from Egypt (Exod 13:21-22; 14:21-22).
Rashi on Isaiah 4:5
וְעַל מִקְרָאֶהָ and over those summoned therein.
a cloud by day and smoke to protect them from the nations.
for, in addition to every honor stated to them, shall be a shelter, for I will cause My Shechinah to cover them. Seven chupoth [shelters or canopies] are [mentioned here]: cloud, smoke, splendor, fire, flame, shelter, Shechinah.
