Isaiah 33:19

Isa 33:19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, [that thou canst] not understand.

Ver. 19. Thou shalt not see a fierce people.] Or, Look not upon a fierce people; or, as some render it, a barbarous people, of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand. Such as are most of the schoolmen. Seven years, said one, are but sufficient to understand the barbarisms of Scotus upon Lombard. But rather look upon Zion.

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.

Isa 33:19. Thou shalt not see a fierce people — As Moses said of the Egyptians, (Exo 14:13,) The Egyptians, whom you have seen to- day, you shall see them again no more; so I say of the Assyrians, that fierce and warlike people, whom thou hast seen, with great terror, near the walls of Jerusalem, thou shalt see them again no more; a people of a deeper speech, &c. — A foreign nation whose language is unknown to thee. Of a stammering tongue, &c. — Of which see on Isa 28:11.

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

33:19 The strange, unknown language was the tongue of Assyria and later of Babylon (see 28:11).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

fierce people--The Assyrians shall not be allowed to enter Jerusalem (Kg2 19:32). Or, thou shalt not any longer see fierce enemies threatening thee as previously; such as the Assyrians, Romans, and the last Antichristian host that is yet to assail Jerusalem (Deu 28:49-50; Jer 5:15; Zac 14:2).

stammering--barbarous; so "deeper," &c., that is, unintelligible. The Assyrian tongue differed only in dialect from the Hebrew, but in the Assyrian levies were many of non-Semitic race and language, as the Medes, Elamites, &c. (see on Isa 28:11).

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

(19) Thou shalt not see a fierce people . . .—Better, The fierce people thou shalt not see . . . The words answer the question just asked. The whole Assyrian army, with their barbarous, unintelligible speech (Isa_28:11), shall have passed away.

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

19. Thou shalt not see the fierce people] Some render “people of barbarous speech”; cf. ch. Isa_28:11.

of a deeper speech, &c.] (Eze_3:5), of too deep speech to be understood.

that thou canst not understand] Or, without sense.

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.

Thou shalt not see a fierce people,.... A people of a fierce countenance, as in Dan 8:23 fierce in their looks, furious in their temper, cruel and bloodthirsty in their practices, confirmed and hardened in their sins, whose consciences are seared as with a red hot iron; a character given of the Papists, Ti1 4:2 these shall be no more seen nor feared:

a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; than the people in common could, having their worship and devotion not in their mother tongue, but in the Latin tongue:

of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand: meaning the same as before, a barbarous language, as everyone is to those who understand it not; so the Syriac and Assyrian languages were to the Jews, Kg2 18:26 and so the Roman language to other nations; but now no more to be used in religious worship; nor shall the church of God be any more visited by Turks or Papists, and be in any dread of them more.

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

Thou shalt not see a fierce people - Or, rather, ‘this fierce and boasting people you shall not see.’ They shall not enter the city; but though they are advancing with so much confidence, they shall be suddenly cut, off and destroyed. The word rendered “fierce,” (נועז nô‛âz from נעז yâ‛az), probably means strong, or wicked. Lowth renders it, ‘barbarous people,’ as if it were לועז lô‛ēz. Michaelis also adopts this reading by supposing an error in transcribing, a change of the Hebrew letter נ (n) into the Hebrew letter ל (l). Such a change might have easily occurred, but there is no authority from the manuscripts for making an alteration in the text The word strong, or mighty, agrees well with the connection.

A people of a deeper speech - A people whose language is so deep, that is, so dark, or obscure, that it cannot be understood by you. This refers to the army of the Assyrians, who spoke the Syrian language, which was understood by some of the Jews, but which was unintelligible to the mass (see Isa 36:11).

Than thou canst perceive - Than you can understand.

Of a stammering tongue - (see the note at Isa 28:11). Margin, ‘Ridiculous;’ a sense which the Hebrew will bear, but the more appropriate meaning is that of a barbarous, or unintelligible foreign language.

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

Shameless, unjust Assyrians, Luke xviii. 2. When shame is gone, people give way to every excess. --- Profound. Unknown to the Jews, 4 Kings xviii. 26. --- No wisdom, manners, or piety.

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).

Thou shalt not see a fierce people: as Moses said of the Egyptians, Exo 14:13, so I say of the Assyrians, that fierce and warlike people, whom thou-hast seen, with great terror, near the walls of Jerusalem, Thou shalt see them again no more.

A people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; a foreign nation, whose language is abstruse and unknown to thee.

Of a stammering tongue; of which see on Isa 28:11.

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

Thou shalt not see a fierce people, etc.; rather, thou shalt see no more that barbarous people the Assyrians a people gruff of speech that rhea caner, or hear them, stammering of tongue that thee caner not understand them. (comp. Isa_28:11) The generation which witnessed the destruction of Sennacherib"s army probably did not see the Assyrians again. It was not till about B.C. 670 that Manasseh was "taken with hooks by the captains of the King of Assyria, and carried to Babylon". (2Ch_33:11)

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

A fierce - That fierce and warlike people, whom thou hast seen with terror, near the walls of Jerusalem, thou shalt see no more. A people - A foreign nation, whose language is unknown to thee.

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

“The fierce (or determined) people thou shalt not see.” Thou shalt see no more the Assyrians, whose disappearance was implied in the questions of the foregoing verse. The essential idea seems to be that of firmness and decision, perhaps with the accessory idea of aggressive boldness. “A people deep of lip from hearing” (i.e., hard for thee to understand). Deep denotes obscure or unintelligible. The preposition before hearing, though not directly negative, is virtually so, as it denotes away from, which is really equivalent to so as not to hear or be heard. (See the note on Isa 5:6). “Barbarous tongue (or of a barbarous tongue), without meaning” (literally, there is no meaning). The verb in its other forms, means to mock or scoff, an idea closely connected, in the Hebrew usage, with that of foreign language, either because the latter seems ridiculous to those who do not understand it, or because unmeaning jargon is often used in mockery.

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

A people of a strange tongue (נוֹעָז) like לוֹעֵז. These are all the heathens, whose language is not the holy tongue. ([Other editions read:] These are Assyria and Babylon, whose language is not the holy tongue.) ([Manuscripts read:] These are all the nations whose language is not the holy tongue.)

you shall not see You shall not esteem in your heart, for they shall all be dark and humble.

speech... obscure (שָׂפָה, lit. lip.) Comp. (Gen. 11:1) “And all the land was one speech (שָׂפָה).”

of stammering tongue (נִלְעָג לָשׁוֹן). Comp. (32:4) “The tongue of the stammerers (לְשׁוֹן עִלְּגִים),” (and of obscure speech. All this is a foreign language, for they do not understand the holy tongue.)

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.

נועז We cannot say, whether the נ is radical, or the characteristic prefix of the Niphal; the word is hap. leg.; it means a stranger or a strange man; to consider לועז═נועז speaking a foreign language, is incorrect.

נלעג לשון Mocked for his tongue. People usually laugh at a language, which they cannot understand.

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.