Bible Strands
Isaiah 33:3
The peoples flee the thunder of Your voice; the nations scatter when You rise.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Isaiah speaks for Judah, addressing the LORD immediately after the community’s plea for grace and daily strength in Isaiah 33:2. The declaration describes the LORD’s imminent intervention against hostile forces threatening Jerusalem.
The words — The Hebrew נָדְד֖וּ (na.de.Du) means "they flee," paired with נָפְצ֖וּ (na.fe.Tzu), "they scatter," to depict the complete rout of opposing forces. הָמ֔וֹן (ha.Mon), "tumult," and מֵ/ר֣וֹמְמֻתֶ֔/ךָ (me./Ro.mu.Te./kha), "from your arising," frame the cause of this collapse.
The thread — This motif of divine presence routing nations appears in Psalms 46:6, where the earth melts when God lifts His voice, and echoes the warning against human pride in Isaiah 10:13. The same judgment framework resurfaces in Isaiah 10:32, where the enemy halts only at Nob before facing Zion.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that political or military resistance cannot withstand divine intervention. It calls the reader to cease relying on human strength and to anchor expectation solely in the LORD’s timing and action.
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
At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 10:13 For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their rulers.
- Psalms 46:6 Nations rage, kingdoms crumble; the earth melts when He lifts His voice.
- Isaiah 10:32 Yet today they will halt at Nob, shaking a fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 17:12 Alas, the tumult of many peoples; they rage like the roaring seas and clamoring nations; they rumble like the crashing of mighty waters.
- Isaiah 37:11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries, devoting them to destruction. Will you then be spared?
- Isaiah 59:16 He saw that there was no man; He was amazed that there was no one to intercede. So His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness sustained Him.
- Isaiah 37:29 Because your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back the way you came.’