Bible Strands
Isaiah 17:14
In the evening, there is sudden terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us and the lot of those who plunder us.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet addresses hostile nations gathering against Judah, immediately following a description of their futile rage in the preceding verse. He declares God's imminent judgment on those who loot and plunder His people.
The words — The Hebrew בַלָּהָה (balah) denotes sudden terror or panic, paired with עֶרֶב ('erev) for evening and בֹקֶר (boqer) for morning to mark a compressed timeframe. This lexical pairing emphasizes the abruptness of the coming destruction.
The thread — This pattern of sudden divine reversal echoes the angelic strike on the Assyrian camp in 2 Kings 19:35 and the promise that God will plunder the plunders in Proverbs 22:23. The motif of enemies vanishing before dawn recurs in Judges 5:31.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that human aggression meets an abrupt, unearned termination when opposed by divine authority. It requires readers to accept that justice operates on a timeline independent of human preparation.
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
King James Version
And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 19:35 And that very night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!
- Proverbs 22:23 for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who rob them.
- Judges 5:31 So may all Your enemies perish, O LORD! But may those who love You shine like the sun at its brightest.” And the land had rest for forty years.
- 2 Kings 19:3 to tell him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.
- Job 20:29 This is the wicked man’s portion from God, the inheritance God has appointed him.”
- Psalms 37:36 yet he passed away and was no more; though I searched, he could not be found.
- Isaiah 10:28 Assyria has entered Aiath and passed through Migron, storing their supplies at Michmash.
- Isaiah 33:1 Woe to you, O destroyer never destroyed, O traitor never betrayed! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed. When you have finished betraying, you will be betrayed.
- Jeremiah 2:3 Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of His harvest. All who devoured her were found guilty; disaster came upon them,’” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 13:25 This is your lot, the portion I have measured to you,” declares the LORD, “because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood.