Bible Strands
Isaiah 37:26
Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it; in days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should crush fortified cities into piles of rubble.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God speaks through Isaiah to the Assyrian king, directly countering the monarch’s boast about conquering Egypt. The declaration occurs during the siege of Jerusalem, marking the moment divine judgment interrupts human military arrogance.
The words — עָשִׂיתִי ('a.Si.ti) translates literally to "I appointed" or "I made," while יִצַּרְתִּי (yi.tzar.Ti) means "I formed" or "I planned." These terms emphasize deliberate, premeditated action rather than spontaneous reaction.
The thread — This theme of prior divine ordination appears in Isaiah 10:15 regarding the Assyrian rod, and in Acts 2:23 and Acts 4:27 regarding the deliberate plan behind Christ’s crucifixion. The same sovereign timeline governs both historical conquests and redemptive events.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that human power operates within boundaries set by divine decree. Readers must accept that apparent victories are merely instruments fulfilling a long-established design.
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
Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.
Cross-references
- Acts 4:27 In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed.
- Acts 2:23 He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.
- Isaiah 10:15 Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood!
- Isaiah 46:10 I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
- 1 Peter 2:8 and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.
- Isaiah 10:5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.
- Genesis 50:20 As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people.
- Amos 3:6 If a ram’s horn sounds in a city, do the people not tremble? If calamity comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
- Jude 1:4 For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed—ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
- Psalms 17:13 Arise, O LORD, confront them! Bring them to their knees; deliver me from the wicked by Your sword,