Isaiah 7:23

And on that day, in every place that had a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, only briers and thorns will be found.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Isaiah delivers this oracle to King Ahaz and the Judahite remnant during the Syro-Ephraimite coalition crisis to demonstrate the certainty of coming desolation. The prophecy marks a specific future moment when the nation's agricultural wealth will collapse into barrenness.

The words — The phrase בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא (ba.Yom ha.Hu') translates literally to "in the day that," fixing the judgment to a definitive divine timeline. The verb יִהְיֶה (yih.Yeh) is repeated, stressing that designated places will inevitably become what the text declares they will be.

The thread — The motif of briers and thorns overtaking cultivated ground directly parallels Isaiah 5:6, where God announces He will leave His vineyard uncultivated. The valuation of a thousand shekels of silver for vineyards echoes the leased property in Song of Solomon 8:11 and the landowner's vineyard in Matthew 21:33.

Why it lands — The text requires acknowledging that economic collapse and territorial abandonment are direct results of rejecting divine warning. It demands the reader accept that human cultivation yields only thorns when God withdraws His sustaining presence.

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

וְהָיָה֙ve./ha.Yahand/ it will be בַּיּ֣וֹםba/i.Yomin the/ day הַה֔וּאha./Hu'<the>/ that יִֽהְיֶ֣הyih.Yehit will be כָל־khol-every מָק֗וֹםma.Komplace אֲשֶׁ֧ר'a.Sherwhere יִֽהְיֶה־yih.yeh-it was שָּׁ֛םshamthere אֶ֥לֶף'E.lefa thousand גֶּ֖פֶןGe.fenvine[s]בְּאֶ֣לֶףbe./'E.leffor/ a thousand כָּ֑סֶףKa.sefsilver לַשָּׁמִ֥ירla./sha.Mir<into> the/ thorn[s]וְלַשַּׁ֖יִתve./la./Sha.yitand/ <into> the>/ bush[es]יִֽהְיֶֽה׃Yih.Yehit will become

King James Version

And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.

Cross-references

Isaiah 5:6 I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.”
Song of Solomon 8:11 Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon. He leased it to the tenants. For its fruit, each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver.
Matthew 21:33 Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey.
Isaiah 32:12 Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vines,
Jeremiah 4:26 I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert. All its cities were torn down before the LORD, before His fierce anger.
Hebrews 6:8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless, and its curse is imminent. In the end it will be burned.