Isaiah 18 · Verse 4

Isaiah 18:4

For so the Lord said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.
Isaiah 18:4, King James Version

Isaiah 18:4 in other translations

BSBFor this is what the LORD has told me: “I will quietly look on from My dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
WEBFor the LORD said to me, “I will be still, and I will see in my dwelling place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
ASVFor thus hath Jehovah said unto me, I will be still, and I will behold in my dwelling-place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.
YLTFor thus said Jehovah unto me, ‘I rest, and I look on My settled place, As a clear heat on an herb. As a thick cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.
DARBYFor thus hath Jehovah said unto me: I will take my rest, and I will observe from my dwelling-place like clear heat upon herbs, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.
BBEFor this is what the Lord has said to me: I will be quiet, watching from my place; like the clear heat when the sun is shining, like a mist of dew in the heat of summer.
WebsterFor so the LORD said to me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling-place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

What does Isaiah 18:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
4. take ... rest ... consider--I will calmly look on and not interpose, while all seems to promise success to the enemy; when figuratively, "the sun's heat" and "the night dews" ripen their "harvest"; but "before" it reaches its maturity I will destroy it (Is 18:5; Ec 8:11, 12). like a clear heat--rather, "at the time of the clear (serene) heat" [Maurer]. upon herbs--answering to "harvest" in the parallel clause. Maurer translates, "in the sunlight" (Job 31:26; 37:21; Ha 3:4). like ... dew--rather, "at the time of the dew cloud." God's "silence" is mistaken by the ungodly for consent; His delay in taking vengeance for forgetfulness (Psa 50:21); so it shall be before the vengeance which in the last day shall usher in the restoration of the Jews (Is 34:1-8; 57:11, end of the verse, 2Pe 3:3-10).

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 4 For so the Lord said unto me "For thus hath Jehovah said unto me" - The subject of the remaining part of this chapter is, that God would comfort and support his own people, though threatened with immediate destruction by the Assyrians; that Sennacherib's great designs and mighty efforts against them should be frustrated; and that his vast expectations should be rendered abortive, when he thought them mature, and just ready to be crowned with success; that the chief part of his army should be made a prey for the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, (for this is the meaning of the allegory continued through the fifth and sixth verses); and that Egypt, being delivered from his oppression, and avenged by the hand of God of the wrongs which she had suffered, should return thanks for the wonderful deliverance, both of herself and of the Jews, from this most powerful adversary. Like a clear heat "Like the clear heat" - The same images are employed by an Arabian poet: - Solis more fervens, dum frigus; quumque ardet Sirius, tum vero frigus ipse et umbra. Which is illustrated in the note by a like passage from another Arabian poet: - Calor est hyeme, refrigerium aestate. Excerpta ex Hamasa; published by Schultens, at the end of Erpenius's Arabic Grammar, p. 425. Upon herbs "After rain" - "אור aur here signifies rain, according to what is said Job 36:11 : 'The cloud scatters his rain.'" - Kimchi. In which place of Job the Chaldee paraphrast does indeed explain אורו auro by מטריה matereyh; and so again Job 36:21 and Job 36:30. This meaning of the word seems to make the best sense in this place; it is to be wished that it were better supported. In the heat of harvest "In the day of harvest" - For בחם bechom, in the heat, fourteen MSS., (several ancient), the Septuagint, Syriac, Arabic, and Vulgate read ביום beyom, in the day. The mistake seems to have arisen from כחם kechom in the line above.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Isaiah 18:4 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.

כִּי֩kiforH3588
כֹ֨הkhohthusH3541
אָמַ֤ר'a.Marhe saidH559
יְהוָה֙Yah.wehYahwehH3068
אֵלַ֔י'e.Laito meH413
אֶשְׁקֳטָ֖ה'esh.ko.tahI will remain quietH8252
וְאַבִּ֣יטָהve.'a.Bi.tahand I will pay attentionH5027
בִמְכוֹנִ֑יvim.kho.Niin place myH4349
כְּחֹ֥םke.Chomlike heatH2527
צַח֙tzachdazzlingH6703
עֲלֵי\־'a.lei-withH5921
א֔וֹר'orlightH216
כְּעָ֥בke.'Avlike a cloud ofH5645
טַ֖לtaldewH2919
בְּחֹ֥םbe.Chomin [the] heat ofH2527
קָצִֽיר\׃ka.TzirharvestH7105

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

Cross references for Isaiah 18:4

  • Hosea 5:15

    I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

  • Isaiah 26:21

    For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

  • Isaiah 18:7

    In that time shall the present be brought unto the Lord of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the mount Zion.

  • Isaiah 12:6

    Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

  • Psalms 132:13-14

    For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.

  • 2 Samuel 23:4

    And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.

  • Isaiah 14:32

    What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.

  • Psalms 72:6

    He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.

  • Isaiah 46:13

    I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

  • Hosea 14:5

    I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.

  • Isaiah 26:19

    Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

  • Isaiah 31:9

    And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
I will.
26:21; Ps 132:13,14; Ho 5:15
consider in my dwelling place. or, regard my set dwelling.
7; 12:6; 14:32; 31:9; 46:13; Joe 3:17
like a clear.
2Sa 23:4; Ps 72:6
upon herbs. or, after rain.

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

Context

  • Isaiah 18:3

    All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.

  • Isaiah 18:4

    For so the Lord said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

  • Isaiah 18:5

    For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.

Read all of Isaiah 18

Isaiah 18:4 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Porque Jehová me dijo así: Reposaréme, y miraré desde mi morada, como sol claro después de la lluvia, como nube de rocío en el calor de la tierra.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Car ainsi m’a dit l’ Éternel: Je resterai tranquille, et je regarderai de ma demeure, comme une chaleur sereine sur la verdure, comme une nuée de rosée dans la chaleur de la moisson.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Denn also hat Jehova zu mir gesprochen: Ich will still sein und will zuschauen in meiner Wohnstätte, wie heitere Wärme bei Sonnenschein, wie Taugewölk in der Ernte Glut.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Quia hæc dicit Dominus ad me: Quiescam et considerabo in loco meo, sicut meridiana lux clara est, et sicut nubes roris in die messis.