Isaiah 30:33

For Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The prophet Isaiah addresses Judah’s leadership and people who are fleeing Assyrian invasion by forming a covenant with Egypt. He delivers this oracle to confront their rebellion and warn that their political alliances will fail before God’s coming judgment.

The words — תּוֹפֶת (Topheth) literally means a place of burning, and עָרֻךְ (arukh) conveys something actively arranged or laid out. The phrasing stresses that the site of judgment is deliberately prepared rather than accidentally formed.

The thread — The location appears in 2 Kings 23:10 and Jeremiah 19:6, where it is condemned as a site of child sacrifice and destined for desecration. The imagery of burning sulfur aligns with Genesis 19:24, where the Lord rains fire and sulfur upon Sodom and Gomorrah.

Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that human strategies cannot override divine preparation for judgment. It demands a cessation of false security and a direct confrontation with God’s sovereign power to execute justice.

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

כִּֽי־ki-for עָר֤וּךְ'a.Rukh[is] arranged מֵֽאֶתְמוּל֙me./'et.Mulfrom/ yesterday תָּפְתֶּ֔הta.fe.Teha place of burning גַּם־gam-also הִ֛יאhu'it לַמֶּ֥לֶךְla./Me.lekhfor the/ king הוּכָ֖ןhu.Khanit has been prepared הֶעְמִ֣יקhe'.Miksomeone has made [it] deep הִרְחִ֑בhir.Chivsomeone has made [it] large מְדֻרָתָ֗הּme.du.ra.Ta/hwood pile/ its אֵ֤שׁ'esh[is] fire וְעֵצִים֙ve./'e.Tzimand/ wood<s>הַרְבֵּ֔הhar.Behmuch נִשְׁמַ֤תnish.Mat[the] breath of יְהוָה֙Yah.wehYahweh כְּנַ֣חַלke./Na.challike/ a torrent of גָּפְרִ֔יתga.fe.Ritsulfur בֹּעֲרָ֖הbo.'a.Rah[is] about to burnבָּֽהּ׃ סBa/h<in> <the>/ it

King James Version

For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.

Cross-references

2 Kings 23:10 He also desecrated Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech.
Genesis 19:24 Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.
Jeremiah 19:6 So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
1 Peter 1:8 Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy,
Jeremiah 7:31 They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom so they could burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I never commanded, nor did it even enter My mind.
Jeremiah 19:11 and you are to proclaim to them that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I will shatter this nation and this city, like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.
Matthew 4:22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.
Revelation 14:10 he too will drink the wine of God’s anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented in fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.
Revelation 19:18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings and commanders and mighty men, of horses and riders, of everyone slave and free, small and great.”