Bible Strands
Isaiah 8:7
the Lord will surely bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—the king of Assyria and all his pomp. It will overflow its channels and overrun its banks.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Isaiah delivers a divine pronouncement to Judah during the Syro-Ephraimite crisis, immediately after the people reject God's gentle provision and trust in foreign alliances.
The words — The Hebrew מַעֲלֶה (ma'aleh) literally means "one who brings up," while הַנָּהָר (ha-naḥar) denotes "the River," specifically identifying the Euphrates as the instrument of judgment.
The thread — The flood imagery echoes Genesis 6:17 as divine judgment and Isaiah 17:12 as the roaring tumult of hostile nations. Isaiah 7:17 and 8:8 frame this invasion as an unprecedented deluge that will sweep over Judah and reach the neck.
Why it lands — The text states that God will deploy the Assyrian king and his army to overflow the banks and overrun the land. Readers must acknowledge that divine judgment operates through historical powers to confront rebellion.
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
Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:
Cross-references
- 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.
- Genesis 6:17 And behold, I will bring floodwaters upon the earth to destroy every creature under the heavens that has the breath of life. Everything on the earth will perish.
- Isaiah 7:17 The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since the day Ephraim separated from Judah—He will bring the king of Assyria.”
- Isaiah 7:20 On that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates—the king of Assyria—to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to remove your beard as well.
- Amos 8:8 Will not the land quake for this, and all its dwellers mourn? All of it will swell like the Nile; it will surge and then subside like the Nile in Egypt.
- Amos 9:5 The Lord GOD of Hosts, He who touches the earth and it melts, and all its dwellers mourn—all the land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt—
- Deuteronomy 28:49 The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,
- 2 Kings 17:3 Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute.
- 2 Kings 18:9 In the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, which was the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it.
- Psalms 72:8 May he rule from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.