Bible Strands
Isaiah 27:4
I am not angry. If only thorns and briers confronted Me, I would march and trample them, I would burn them to the ground.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses Israel concerning the fate of His cultivated vineyard, speaking between His promise of continual protection in verse 3 and His offer of reconciliation in verse 5. He declares His present restraint while outlining His conditional response to hostile opposition.
The words — The Hebrew אֵ֣ין ('ein) negates חֵמָ֖ה (che.Mah), literally rendering "I do not have rage." The verb אֶפְשְׂעָ֥ה ('ef.se.'Ah) means "I will march," describing God's readiness to advance against thorns and briers if they confront Him.
The thread — This motif of divine fire consuming thorns and hostile forces runs through Isaiah 10:17, where the Light of Israel becomes a flame that devours Assyria. It aligns with Hebrews 6:8 and Matthew 3:12, which describe cursed ground and unrepentant chaff destined for burning.
Why it lands — The text establishes that God's wrath is restrained and triggered only by active confrontation, not caprice. It requires the reader to accept the peace offered in the surrounding context rather than provoke the judgment described here.
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
Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 10:17 And the Light of Israel will become a fire, and its Holy One a flame. In a single day it will burn and devour Assyria’s thorns and thistles.
- Hebrews 6:8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless, and its curse is imminent. In the end it will be burned.
- Matthew 3:12 His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
- 2 Samuel 23:6 But the worthless are all like thorns raked aside, for they can never be gathered by hand.
- Psalms 85:3 You withheld all Your fury; You turned from Your burning anger.
- Psalms 103:9 He will not always accuse us, nor harbor His anger forever.
- Isaiah 12:1 In that day you will say: “O LORD, I will praise You. Although You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away, and You have comforted me.
- Isaiah 26:20 Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves a little while until the wrath has passed.
- Isaiah 54:6 For the LORD has called you back, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, like the rejected wife of one’s youth,” says your God.
- Ezekiel 16:63 so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, declares the Lord GOD.”