Bible Strands
Isaiah 24:8
The joyful tambourines have ceased; the noise of revelers has stopped; the joyful harp is silent.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet delivers this declaration during a period of divine judgment on the earth, immediately following the withering of the vine and the groaning of merrymakers in Isaiah 24:7. The address targets the nations under judgment as their festive celebrations are abruptly halted.
The words — The Hebrew שָׁבַת (sha.Vat) means "it has ceased," and תּוּפִים (tu.Pim) translates literally to "tambourines." These terms anchor the verse's description of sudden musical silence.
The thread — This motif of silenced celebration appears in Hosea 2:11, Jeremiah 7:34, and Ezekiel 26:13, where God declares the termination of feasts, joyful sounds, and musical instruments. The references consistently mark divine intervention ending communal worship and festivity.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that human revelry is entirely subject to divine sovereignty and will be halted when judgment arrives. It requires the reader to acknowledge the temporary nature of earthly joy when confronted with God's declared cessation of noise and gaiety.
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
The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.
Cross-references
- Hosea 2:11 I will put an end to all her exultation: her feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths—all her appointed feasts.
- Jeremiah 7:34 I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of the bride and bridegroom, for the land will become a wasteland.”
- Ezekiel 26:13 So I will silence the sound of your songs, and the music of your lyres will no longer be heard.
- Revelation 18:22 And the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will never ring out in you again. Nor will any craftsmen of any trade be found in you again, nor the sound of a millstone be heard in you again.
- Jeremiah 16:9 For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to remove from this place, before your very eyes and in your days, the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom.
- Jeremiah 25:10 Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.
- Isaiah 5:12 At their feasts are the lyre and harp, tambourines and flutes and wine. They disregard the actions of the LORD and fail to see the work of His hands.
- Isaiah 23:15 At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years—the span of a king’s life. But at the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot: