Isaiah 29:5

Isa 29:5 Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones [shall be] as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.

Ver. 5. Moreover, the multitude of thy strangers.] Thy foreign auxiliaries; these shall do thee no good, but be blown away as with a whirlwind.

It shall be at an instant, suddenly.] The last siege and sack of Jerusalem was so by a specialty, as is to be read in Josephus. And some interpreters understand this whole chapter of the times of the New Testament, because our Saviour and St Paul do cite some places herehence, and apply the same to those their times, not by way of accommodation only, but as the proper and true sense of the text. {as Mat 15:8-9 Rom 11:8 1Co 1:19}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Moreover - These verses Isa 29:5, Isa 29:7-8 contain a beautiful description of the destruction of the army of Sennacherib. Though they had laid the plan of a regular siege; though the city, in itself, would not be able to hold out against them, and all was alarm and conscious imbecility within; yet in an instant the siege would be raised, and the advancing hosts of the Assyrians would all be gone.

The multitude of thy strangers - The multitude of the strangers that shall besiege thee; called ‘thy strangers,’ because they besieged, or oppressed thee. The word ‘strangers’ here, as elsewhere, means “foreigners” (see the note at Isa 1:7; compare Isa 2:6; Isa 5:17; Isa 14:1; Isa 25:2, Isa 25:5; Isa 29:5; Isa 60:10).

Shall be like small dust - Light, fine dust that is easily dissipated by the wind.

Of the terrible ones - Of the invading, besieging army, that is so much the object of dread.

As chaff that passeth away - (see the note at Isa 17:13). This image of chaff driven before the wind, to denote the sudden and entire discomfiture of enemies, is common in the Scriptures (see Job 21:18; Psa 1:4; Psa 35:5; Hos 13:13).

Yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly - The forces of Sennacherib were destroyed in a single night by the angel of the Lord (Isa 37:36; the note at Isa 10:12, Isa 10:28-34, note), and the siege of Jerusalem was of course immediately raised.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Isa 29:5-7. Moreover — Or, rather, But, the multitude of thy strangers — Of the strangers that encamp and fight against thee; shall be like small dust — Dispersed by the least breath of air; and the multitude of the terrible ones — Of the Assyrian army, terrible for courage and ferocity; shall be as the chaff that passeth away — Which is quickly carried away by the wind. Yea, at an instant, suddenly — This dissipation and destruction of thine enemies shall be as instantaneous as it is unexpected. Bishop Lowth, who considers these verses as containing “an admirable description of the destruction of Sennacherib’s army, with a beautiful variety of the most expressive and sublime images, adapted to show the greatness, the suddenness, and horror of the event,” gives us the following elegant and striking translation of them, which will give the reader a more just and enlarged view of their meaning, than any note wherewith we might attempt to explain it: But the multitude of the proud shall be like the small dust; And like the flitting chaff, the multitude of the terrible: Yea, the effect shall be momentary, in an instant. From Jehovah there shall be a sudden visitation, With thunder, and earthquake, and a mighty voice; With storm, and tempest, and flame of devouring fire. And like as a dream, a vision of the night, So shall it be with the multitude of all the nations, that fight against Ariel; And all their armies, and their towers, and those that distress her. The reader will observe, that this view of the passage has the sanction of the Vulgate version, and is approved by Prebendary Lowth, Vitringa, Dr. Waterland, Henry, and several others. Some, however, think that these verses should be connected with the preceding, and that the prophet continues in them to describe the judgment to be inflicted on Jerusalem.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thus far does the unfolding of the hoi reach. Now follows an unfolding of the words of promise, which stand at the end of Isa 29:1 : "And it proves itself to me as Ariel." Isa 29:5-8 : "And the multitude of thy foes will become like finely powdered dust, and the multitude of the tyrants like chaff flying away; and it will take place suddenly, very suddenly. From Jehovah of hosts there comes a visitation with crash of thunder and earthquake and great noise, whirlwind and tempest, and the blazing up of devouring fire. And the multitude of all the nations that gather together against Ariel, and all those who storm and distress Ariel and her stronghold, will be like a vision of the night in a dream. And it is just as a hungry man dreams, and behold he eats; and when he wakes up his soul is empty: and just as a thirsty man dreams, and behold he drinks; and when he wakes up, behold, he is faint, and his soul is parched with thirst: so will it be to the multitude of the nations which gather together against the mountain of Zion." The hostile army, described four times as hâmōn, a groaning multitude, is utterly annihilated through the terrible co-operation of the forces of nature which are let loose upon them (Isa 30:30, cf., Isa 17:13). "There comes a visitation:" tippâqēd might refer to Jerusalem in the sense of "it will be visited" in mercy, viz., by Jehovah acting thus upon its enemies. But it is better to take it in a neuter sense: "punishment is inflicted." The simile of the dream is applied in two different ways: (1.) They will dissolve into nothing, as if they had only the same apparent existence as a vision in a dream. (2.) Their plan for taking Jerusalem will be put to shame, and as utterly brought to nought as the eating or drinking of a dreamer, which turns out to be a delusion as soon as he awakes. Just as the prophet emphatically combines two substantives from the same verbal root in Isa 29:1, and two adverbs from the same verb in Isa 29:5; so does he place צבא and צבה together in Isa 29:7, the former with על relating to the crowding of an army for the purpose of a siege, the latter with an objective suffix (compare Psa 53:6) to the attack made by a crowded army. The metsōdâh of Ariel (i.e., the watch-tower, specula, from tsūd, to spy)

(Note: In Arabic, also, masâd signifies a lofty hill or mountain-top, from a secondary form of tsud; and massara, to lay the foundations of a fortified city (‛ı̄r mâtsōr, Psa 31:22), from tsūr.))

is the mountain of Zion mentioned afterwards in Isa 29:8. כּאשׁר, as if; comp. Zac 10:6; Job 10:19. אוכל והנּה without הוּא; the personal pronoun is frequently omitted, not only in the leading participial clause, as in this instance (compare Isa 26:3; Isa 40:19; Psa 22:29; Job 25:2; and Khler on Zac 9:12), but also with a minor participial clause, as in Psa 7:10; Psa 55:20, and Hab 2:10. The hungering and thirsting of the waking man are attributed to his nephesh (soul: cf., Isa 32:6; Isa 5:14; Pro 6:30), just because the soul is the cause of the physical life, and without it the action of the senses would be followed by no sensation or experience whatever. The hungry stomach is simply the object of feeling, and everything sensitive in the bodily organism is merely the medium of sensation or feeling; that which really feels is the soul. The soul no sooner passes out of the dreaming state into a waking condition, than it feels that its desires are as unsatisfied as ever. Just like such a dream will the army of the enemy, and that victory of which it is so certain before the battle is fought, fade away into nothing.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Thine hired soldiers in whom thou trustest, shall be destroyed as dust or chaff in a whirlwind.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Moreover--rather, "Yet"; yet in this extremity help shall come, and the enemy be scattered.

strangers--foreign enemies, invaders (Isa 25:2).

it shall be--namely, the destruction of the enemy.

at an instant--in a moment (Isa 30:23).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 5. The multitude of thy strangers - "The multitude of the proud"] For זריך zarayich, thy strangers, read זדים zedim, the proud, according to the Septuagint; parallel to and synonymous with עריצים aritsim, the terrible, in the next line: the ר resh was at first ד daleth in a MS. See Clarke on Isa 25:2.

The fifth, sixth, and seventh verses contain an admirable description of the destruction of Sennacherib's army, with a beautiful variety of the most expressive and sublime images: perhaps more adapted to show the greatness, the suddenness, and horror of the event, than the means and manner by which it was effected. Compare Isa 30:30-33.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(5) Moreover the multitude . . .—Better, But. The words interpret those of Isa_30:28. The tribulation should be great, but it should last but for a while. As in Isa_25:5, the “strangers”—i.e., the “enemies,” and the “terrible ones”—should be brought low. A sudden catastrophe, pointing, probably, to the destruction of Sennacherib’s army, should bring them low. They, too, should pass under the “threshing instrument” of God’s judgments, and be as chaff before the wind.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. thy strangers] the barbarians who assail thee.

the terrible ones] or the tyrants.

5–8. The discomfiture and dispersion of Zion’s enemies in the hour of their triumph.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Moreover, the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust,.... Or "of those that fan thee" (q), as the Vulgate Latin Version; and so the Targum,

"of those that scatter thee;''

or of thine enemies, as others; meaning the Romans, who were a strange people to them, who got the dominion over them, and scattered them abroad in the world: and the simile of "small dust", to which they are compared, is not used to express the weakness of them, but the greatness of their number, which was not to be counted, any more than the dust of the earth; see Num 23:10,

and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away; designing the same numerous army of the Romans as before, who were terrible to the Jews: nor does this metaphor signify any imbecility in them, and much less the ruin of them, but their swiftness in executing the judgments of God upon his people, who moved as quick as chaff, or any such light thing, before a mighty wind:

yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly; either the numerous army should be suddenly before Jerusalem, or the destruction of that city should be as it were in a moment; and though the siege of it lasted long, yet the last sack and ruin of it was suddenly, and in so short a time, that it might be said to be in an instant, in a moment, as it were. The Jewish writers interpret this of the sudden destruction of Sennacherib's army by the angel, Kg2 19:35 but the next words show that the destruction of Jerusalem is meant.

(q) "ventilantium te", V. L. "dispergentium te", Vatablus, so Targum; "hostium tuorum", Pagninus, Cocceius.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Away. The numbers, and speedy downfall of the Assyrians, are described. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Of thy strangers; either,

1. Of the strangers that encamp and fight against thee. Or,

2. Of the Egyptians, and other strangers, whom thou hast hired to assist thee, as indeed they did, when the Chaldeans came against them. This exposition seems to agree best, as with the phrase, thy strangers, so with the scope of the place, and with the whole context, especially the foregoing verses; which plainly shows that this is not a promise to Jerusalem, but a threatening against it.

Like small dust; quickly blown away with the least wind, by comparing this with the following clause.

Of the terrible ones; of thy great commanders and stoutest soldiers.

It shall be; this dissipation and destruction of thy strangers and terrible ones shall come to pass.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5-8. Now there is promise. At the close of Isa_29:2 it is stated that Jerusalem shall become God’s altar-fire-hearth — indeed, the burning place of wrath upon her enemies. These verses expand this meaning.

Thy strangers — Foreign invaders.

Small dust — Suddenly the fierce besiegers shall become as dust, or like chaff blown away.

Thou — The enemy.

Shall be visited — Physical agencies shall be employed for a sudden annihilating stroke. The distresses of “Ariel” will pass away as in a moment. The suddenness will make the events seem as a dream to both the besiegers and the besieged. The besieger believed the prize of Jerusalem’s wealth was his; as he was passing his hand to grasp it, it evaded his touch as a flash. The besieged awoke in like manner to find the distress of dreaded capture wholly gone, and himself a free man again. There is scarcely so vivid a picture, in so small a compass, in all literature. It is the experience of nightmare that is given.

Thus far extends the promise attached to the woe-text of Isa_29:1-4. As will soon be seen, however, the people of the city of God’s altar-hearth are still stupid and dull.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 5-8. THE WARNING FOLLOWED BY A PROMISE. It is ever God"s care to prevent men from being "swallowed up with overmuch sorrow". (2Co_2:7) As long as he is not about to "make a full, (Jer_4:27) he mingles promises with his threats, words of cheer with words of warning. So now the prophet is directed to attach to his four verses of denunciation (vers. 1-4) four others of encouragement, and to declare the utter discomfiture of the vast host of enemies which for a time has besieged and "distressed" Ariel.

Moreover; rather, but. The relation of vers. 5-8 to vers. 1-4 is that of contrast. The multitude of thy strangers; i.e. "of thy enemies". (Isa_25:5) In primitive societies every stranger is an enemy; and hence language the formation of primitive men often has one word for the two ideas. In Latin hostis is said to have originally meant "foreigner" (Cic., "De Off"," 1:12). Shall be like small dust. Ground down, i.e. to an impalpable powder rendered utterly weak and powerless. The meaning is determined by the clause which follows, with which it must necessarily be in close accordance. As chaff that passeth away. "Chaff," in Scripture, is always a metaphor for weakness. (comp. Isa_5:24 Isa_17:13 Isa_33:11 Isa_41:15; and see also Psa_1:4 Psa_35:5 Job_21:18 Hos_13:3 Dan_2:35 Zep_2:2) It has no value; man"s object is to get rid of it: a light wind carries it away, and no one inquires whither. Yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly. Dr. Kay says it is "the collapse of Jerusalem" which is here intended. But most other commentators understand, with more reason, the collapse of her enemies (Cheyne, Delitzsch, Vance Smith, Knobel, etc.).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Strangers - Whom thou hast hired to assist thee, as indeed they did, when the Chaldeans came against them. Terrible ones - Thy great commanders, and stout soldiers. It - This destruction of thy strangers, and terrible ones shall come to pass.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

“They shall be like fine dust the multitude of thy strangers, and like passing chaff the multitude of the terrible ones, and it shall be in a moment suddenly.” It is now very commonly agreed, that this verse describes the sudden and complete dispersion of their enemies. The absence of ‘but’ at the beginning, or some other indication that the writer is about to pass from threats to promises, although it renders the connection more obscure, increases the effect of the description. The terms of this verse readily suggest the sudden fall of the Assyrian host, nor is there any reason for denying that the Prophet had a view to it in choosing his expressions. But that this is an explicit and specific prophecy of that event is much less probable, as well because the terms are in themselves appropriate to any case of sudden and complete dispersion, as because the context contains language wholly inappropriate to the slaughter of Sennacherib’s army. These considerations, although negative and inconclusive in themselves, tend strongly to confirm the supposition founded on the last part of the chapter, that the first contains a strong metaphorical description of the evils which Jerusalem should suffer at the hands of enemies, but without exclusive reference to any one siege, or to sieges in the literal sense at all. That the evils which the last part of the chapter brings to light are of a spiritual nature, and not confined to any single period, is a fact which seems to warrant the conclusion, or at least to raise a strong presumption, that the Ariel of this passage is Zion or Jerusalem, considered only as the local habitation of the church.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The great number of your invaders will become like fine dust, and the multitude of the ruthless ones as chaff that passes away

This emphasizes how weak and insignificant the invading army is before God. AT: "Yahweh will easily remove the horde of your invaders and the multitude of the ruthless ones"(See: Simile)

great number of your invaders

"many soldiers that will attack you"

the ruthless ones as chaff

The translator can supply the verb "will become." AT: "the soldiers who show you no mercy will become as chaff" (See: Ellipsis)

Yahweh of hosts will come to you

The word "you" refers to the people of Jerusalem. Possible meanings are 1) "Yahweh of hosts will come to help you" or 2) "Yahweh of hosts will come to punish you." (See: Forms of You)

translationWords

chaff

punish

Yahweh of hosts

devour

fire

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

And the multitude of your foreigners shall be like fine dust The army of Sennacherib, which will be consumed by fire and will become dust.

and it shall be this thing.

a sudden happening (לְפֶתַע פִּתְאֹם) a sudden happening.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

כאבק דק Like small dust. Some word must be supplied, because of אבק being in the construct state.

The multitude of thy strangers. The army of the Assyrians. Yet it shall be at an instant, suddenly. All this, mentioned before, shall take place suddenly.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.