Bible Strands
Isaiah 27:8
By warfare and exile You contended with her and removed her with a fierce wind, as on the day the east wind blows.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The speaker is the Lord addressing Israel regarding the nature of His past discipline. The statement follows a rhetorical question in Isaiah 27:7 about whether He struck Israel as He struck her oppressors, occurring within a prophetic oracle concerning Jacob's eventual restoration.
The words — תְּרִיבֶ֑/נָּה (te.ri.Ve./nah) denotes conducting a legal case or contention, while הָגָ֛ה (ha.Gah) describes the act of driving out or scattering. The text explicitly pairs divine legal contention with physical removal by a fierce wind.
The thread — The imagery of a fierce or east wind executing judgment recurs in Jeremiah 4:11 and Ezekiel 19:12. The theme of measured correction rather than destructive wrath connects to Jeremiah 10:24.
Why it lands — The verse asserts that Israel's past suffering was a controlled legal contention and a deliberate removal, not arbitrary destruction. It demands recognition that divine discipline serves a specific judicial purpose before the atonement described in Isaiah 27:9.
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
In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 4:11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A searing wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward the daughter of My people, but not to winnow or to sift;
- Jeremiah 10:24 Correct me, O LORD, but only with justice—not in Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing.
- Ezekiel 19:12 But it was uprooted in fury, cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branches were stripped off and they withered; the fire consumed them.
- Hosea 4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God in the land!
- Jeremiah 2:17 Have you not brought this on yourself by forsaking the LORD your God when He led you in the way?
- Jeremiah 4:27 For this is what the LORD says: “The whole land will be desolate, but I will not finish its destruction.
- Jeremiah 30:11 For I am with you to save you, declares the LORD. Though I will completely destroy all the nations to which I have scattered you, I will not completely destroy you. Yet I will discipline you justly, and will by no means leave you unpunished.”
- Jeremiah 46:28 And you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid, declares the LORD, for I am with you. Though I will completely destroy all the nations to which I have banished you, I will not completely destroy you. Yet I will discipline you justly, and will by no means leave you unpunished.”
- Hosea 6:1 Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
- Hosea 13:15 Although he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come—a wind from the LORD rising up from the desert. His fountain will fail, and his spring will run dry. The wind will plunder his treasury of every precious article.