Isaiah 17:13

The nations rage like the rush of many waters. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweeds before a gale.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The prophet delivers a divine oracle against hostile nations, positioned between a description of their roaring tumult (Isaiah 17:12) and a declaration of their sudden disappearance (Isaiah 17:14).

The words — The Hebrew לְאֻמִּים (leʾummîm) translates literally to "nations," while כִּשְׁאֹן (kišʾôn) means "like the uproar" or "like the rush." These terms anchor the comparison between human rebellion and uncontrollable natural forces.

The thread — The imagery of divine rebuke scattering hostile forces like chaff appears in Psalms 9:5, Psalms 1:4, and Job 21:18. This motif consistently links God's judicial command with the swift removal of opposing powers.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that human coalition and military power cannot withstand divine judgment. It requires the reader to abandon reliance on earthly strength and acknowledge the certainty of God's intervention.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

לְאֻמִּ֗יםle.'u.Mimnations כִּשְׁא֞וֹןki/sh.'onlike/ [the] uproar of מַ֤יִםMa.yimwaters רַבִּים֙ra.Bimmany יִשָּׁא֔וּןyi.sha.'U/nthey are in an uproar/ !וְגָ֥עַרve./Ga.'arand/ he will rebukeבּ֖וֹb/o<in>/ itוְנָ֣סve./Nasand/ it will flee מִמֶּרְחָ֑קmi./mer.Chakfrom/ a distance וְרֻדַּ֗ףve./ru.Dafand/ it will be chased כְּמֹ֤ץke./Motzlike/ chaff of הָרִים֙ha.Rimmountains לִפְנֵי־li/f.nei-<to>/ before ר֔וּחַRu.acha wind וּכְגַלְגַּ֖לu./khe./gal.Galand/ like/ whirling dust לִפְנֵ֥יli/f.Nei<to>/ before סוּפָֽה׃su.Faha storm-wind

King James Version

The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

Cross-references

Psalms 9:5 You have rebuked the nations; You have destroyed the wicked; You have erased their name forever and ever.
Job 21:18 Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?
Psalms 1:4 Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind.
Isaiah 41:15 Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.
Isaiah 29:5 But your many foes will be like fine dust, the multitude of the ruthless like blowing chaff. Then suddenly, in an instant,
Job 38:11 and I declared: ‘You may come this far, but no farther; here your proud waves must stop’?
Psalms 35:5 May they be like chaff in the wind, as the angel of the LORD drives them away.
Psalms 46:5 God is within her; she will not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns.
Psalms 83:13 Make them like tumbleweed, O my God, like chaff before the wind.
Isaiah 10:15 Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood!