Isaiah 13 · Verse 8

Isaiah 13:8

And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
Isaiah 13:8, King James Version

Isaiah 13:8 in other translations

BSBTerror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another, their faces flushed with fear.
WEBThey will be dismayed. Pangs and sorrows will seize them. They will be in pain like a woman in labor. They will look in amazement one at another. Their faces will be faces of flame.
ASVand they shall be dismayed; pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman in travail: they shall look in amazement one at another; their faces shall be faces of flame.
YLTAnd they have been troubled, Pains and pangs they take, As a travailing woman they are pained, A man at his friend they marvel, The appearance of flames--their faces!
DARBYand they shall be terrified: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them, they shall writhe as a woman that travaileth; they shall be amazed one at another, their faces shall be as flames.
BBETheir hearts will be full of fear; pains and sorrows will overcome them; they will be in pain like a woman in childbirth; they will be shocked at one another; their faces will be like flames.
WebsterAnd they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.

What does Isaiah 13:8 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
8. pangs--The Hebrew means also a "messenger." Horsley, therefore, with the Septuagint translates, "The heralds (who bring word of the unexpected invasion) are terrified." Maurer agrees with English Version, literally, "they shall take hold of pangs and sorrows." woman ... travaileth--(1Th 5:3). amazed--the stupid, bewildered gaze of consternation. faces ... flames--"their visages have the livid hue of flame" [Horsley]; with anguish and indignation.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 8 And they shall be afraid "And they shall be terrified" - I join this verb, ונבהלו venibhalu, to the preceding verse, with the Syriac and Vulgate. Pangs and sorrows shall take hold on them "Pangs shall seize them" - The Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee read יאחזום yochezum, instead of יאחזון yochezun, which does not express the pronoun then, necessary to the sense.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 13:6-18

We have here the terrible desolation of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. Those who in the day of their peace were proud, and haughty, and terrible, are quite dispirited when trouble comes. Their faces shall be scorched with the flame. All comfort and hope shall fail. The stars of heaven shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened. Such expressions are often employed by the prophets, to describe the…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 13:6-18 →

Isaiah 13:8 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְֽנִבְהָ֓לוּ\׀ve.niv.Ha.luand they will be terrifiedH926
צִירִ֤יםtzi.RimpangsH6735
וַֽחֲבָלִים֙va.cha.va.Limand painsH2256
יֹֽאחֵז֔וּןyo.che.Zunthey will seize [them] !H270
כַּיּוֹלֵדָ֖הkai.yo.le.Dahlike <the> [woman] giving birthH3205
יְחִיל֑וּןye.chi.Lunthey will be in anguish !H2342
אִ֤ישׁ'isheachH376
אֶל\־'el-toH413
רֵעֵ֙הוּ֙re.'E.huneighbor hisH7453
יִתְמָ֔הוּyit.Ma.huthey will look in astonishmentH8539
פְּנֵ֥יpe.Nei[will be] faces ofH6440
לְהָבִ֖יםle.ha.VimflamesH3851
פְּנֵיהֶֽם\׃pe.nei.Hemfaces theirH6440

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 13:8

  • Nahum 2:10

    She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness.

  • 1 Thessalonians 5:3

    For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

  • Isaiah 26:17

    Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O Lord.

  • Isaiah 21:3-4

    Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it. My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me.

  • John 16:21

    A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.

  • Psalms 48:5-6

    They saw it, and so they marvelled; they were troubled, and hasted away. Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail.

  • Jeremiah 50:43

    The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.

  • Daniel 5:5-6

    In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.

  • Jeremiah 30:6

    Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?

  • Jeremiah 4:31

    For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.

  • Joel 2:6

    Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
pangs.
21:3,4; 26:17; Ps 48:5,6; Jer 30:6; 50:43; Da 5:5,6; 1Th 5:3
be amazed one at another. Heb. wonder every man at hisneighbour. flames. Heb. faces of the flames.
Joe 2:6; Na 2:10

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 13:7

    Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:

  • Isaiah 13:8

    And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.

  • Isaiah 13:9

    Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

Read all of Isaiah 13

Isaiah 13:8 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y se llenarán de terror; angustias y dolores los comprenderán; tendrán dolores como mujer de parto; pasmaráse cada cual al mirar á su compañero; sus rostros, rostros de llamas.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
et ils seront terrifiés; les détresses et les douleurs s’empareront d’eux; ils se tordront comme celle qui enfante; ils se regarderont stupéfaits; leurs visages seront de flamme.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und sie werden bestürzt sein, Wehen und Schmerzen werden sie ergreifen, sie werden sich winden gleich einer Gebärenden; einer starrt den anderen an, ihre Angesichter glühen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
et conteretur. Torsiones et dolores tenebunt; quasi parturiens dolebunt: unusquisque ad proximum suum stupebit, facies combustæ vultus eorum.