Bible Strands
Isaiah 43:17
who brings out the chariots and horses, the armies and warriors together, to lie down, never to rise again; to be extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The Lord addresses Israel in Isaiah 43, positioning this declaration between His past sea-crossing (43:16) and His command to stop fixating on past events (43:18). The verse describes God dismantling Egypt’s military apparatus to demonstrate that He alone controls historical outcomes.
The words — הַ/מּוֹצִ֥יא (ha./mo.Tzi') translates literally to "who brings out," and יִשְׁכְּבוּ֙ (yish.ke.Vu) means "they lay down." These verbs establish the sequence of divine mobilization followed by permanent subjugation.
The thread — The motif of extinguished warriors and consumed tinder runs through Isaiah 1:31 and Psalm 76:5, while the theme of God hardening Pharaoh’s heart and gaining honor through his army appears in Exodus 14:4.
Why it lands — The text states that God will reduce former military might to ash, then commands Israel to cease dwelling on past deliverances. It requires the reader to shift attention from historical miracles to present reliance on God’s ongoing word.
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
Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.
Cross-references
- Exodus 14:4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. But I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So this is what the Israelites did.
- Isaiah 1:31 The strong man will become tinder and his work will be a spark; both will burn together, with no one to quench the flames.
- Psalms 76:5 The valiant lie plundered; they sleep their last sleep. No men of might could lift a hand.
- Psalms 118:12 They swarmed around me like bees, but they were extinguished like burning thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
- Ezekiel 38:8 After a long time you will be summoned. In the latter years you will enter a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and all now dwell securely.
- Revelation 20:8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to assemble them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the seashore.
- Exodus 14:23 And the Egyptians chased after them—all Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen—and followed them into the sea.
- Exodus 15:4 Pharaoh’s chariots and army He has cast into the sea; the finest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea.
- Psalms 46:8 Come, see the works of the LORD, who brings devastation upon the earth.
- Isaiah 14:20 You will not join them in burial, since you have destroyed your land and slaughtered your own people. The offspring of the wicked will never again be mentioned.