Bible Strands
Isaiah 30:29
You will sing as on the night of a holy festival, and your heart will rejoice like one who walks to the music of a flute, going up to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks through Isaiah to Judah, positioning this promise between His description of sifting the nations in 30:28 and His revelation of majestic wrath in 30:30. The audience is the people who will pilgrimage to Zion after divine judgment.
The words — The text highlights חָג (Chag, "festival") and לֵבָב (le.Vav, "heart") to frame a joy that matches a consecrated night gathering. The phrase כַּהוֹלֵךְ (ka./ho.leKh, "like one who walks") anchors the heart's gladness to the physical act of ascending.
The thread — This imagery of festive ascent echoes the pilgrimage motifs in Psalms 42:4 and Exodus 15:1, while the title "Rock of Israel" directly parallels the "Rock of our salvation" in Psalms 95:1. The sequence moves from judgment to corporate worship, mirroring the biblical pattern of deliverance followed by covenant celebration.
Why it lands — The verse commands the reader to recognize that divine judgment precedes and purifies communal worship. It asks the reader to align their internal gladness with the external discipline of ascending to God's presence.
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
Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the mighty One of Israel.
Cross-references
- Psalms 42:4 These things come to mind as I pour out my soul: how I walked with the multitude, leading the festive procession to the house of God with shouts of joy and praise.
- Exodus 15:1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: “I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted. The horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.
- Psalms 95:1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout to the Rock of our salvation!
- Deuteronomy 16:6 You must only offer the Passover sacrifice at the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name. Do this in the evening as the sun sets, at the same time you departed from Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He.
- Psalms 81:1 For the choirmaster. According to Gittith. Of Asaph. Sing for joy to God our strength; make a joyful noise to the God of Jacob.
- Isaiah 2:3 And many peoples will come and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways so that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 26:4 Trust in the LORD forever, because GOD the LORD is the Rock eternal.
- Matthew 26:30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
- Revelation 15:3 and they sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: “Great and wonderful are Your works, O Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the nations!