Bible Strands
Isaiah 5:30
In that day they will roar over it, like the roaring of the sea. If one looks over the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be obscured by clouds.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh speaks through Isaiah to Judah, pronouncing judgment following the nation's covenant failure. The oracle points to a definitive "that day" when divine retribution will unfold.
The words — The Hebrew verb יִנְהֹם (yin.Hom) literally means "to growl" or "roar," describing the sound of approaching disaster. The phrase בַּיּוֹם הַהּּ (ba/yom ha.hu') translates to "on that day," anchoring the prophecy to a specific moment of intervention.
The thread — This imagery of obscured light and land-wide distress echoes Isaiah 8:22, Joel 2:10, and Jeremiah 4:23. Each passage uses terrestrial and cosmic darkness to depict the consequences of divine judgment.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that rebellion against God produces inescapable chaos and spiritual blindness. Readers must confront the reality that divine judgment leaves no room for human rescue.
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
And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 8:22 Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.
- Joel 2:10 Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness.
- Jeremiah 4:23 I looked at the earth, and it was formless and void; I looked to the heavens, and they had no light.
- Revelation 16:10 And the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness, and men began to gnaw their tongues in anguish
- Psalms 93:3 The floodwaters have risen, O LORD; the rivers have raised their voice; the seas lift up their pounding waves.
- Isaiah 13:10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.
- Jeremiah 6:23 They grasp the bow and spear; they are cruel and merciless. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride upon horses, lined up like men in formation against you, O Daughter of Zion.”
- Ezekiel 32:7 When I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light.
- Matthew 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’
- Luke 21:25 There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among the nations, bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the surging of the waves.