Isaiah 27 · Verse 4

Isaiah 27:4

Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.
Isaiah 27:4, King James Version

Isaiah 27:4 in other translations

BSBI am not angry. If only thorns and briers confronted Me, I would march and trample them, I would burn them to the ground.
WEBWrath is not in me, but if I should find briers and thorns, I would do battle! I would march on them and I would burn them together.
ASVWrath is not in me: would that the briers and thorns were against me in battle! I would march upon them, I would burn them together.
YLTFury is not in Me; Who giveth Me a brier--a thorn in battle? I step into it, I burn it at once.
DARBYFury is not in me. Oh that I had briars and thorns in battle against me! I would march against them, I would burn them together.
BBEMy passion is over: if the thorns were fighting against me, I would make an attack on them, and they would be burned up together.
WebsterFury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.

What does Isaiah 27:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
4. Fury is not in me--that is, I entertain no longer anger towards my vine. who would set ... in battle--that is, would that I had the briers, &c. (the wicked foe; Is 9:18; 10:17; 2Sa 23:6), before me! "I would go through," or rather, "against them."

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 4 Fury is not in me "I have no wall" - For חמה chemah, anger, the Septuagint and Syriac read חומה chomah, wall. An ancient MS. has חימה cheimah. For בה bad, in her, two MSS. read בם bam, in them, plural. The vineyard wishes for a wall and a fence of thorns - human strength and protection, (as the Jews were too apt to apply to their powerful neighbors for assistance, and to trust to the shadow of Egypt): Jehovah replies, that this would not avail her, nor defend her against his wrath. He counsels her, therefore, to betake herself to his protection. On which she entreats him to make peace with her. From the above note it appears that the bishop reads, חומה chomah, wall, for חמה chemah, anger or fury, in accordance with the Syriac and Septuagint. The letter ו vau makes the only difference, which letter is frequently absent from many words where its place is supplied by the point. cholem: it might have been so here formerly; and in process of time both vau and cholem might have been lost. The Syriac supports the learned bishop's criticism, as the word shora is there used; which word in the plural is found, Heb 11:30 : "By faith the walls of Jericho. "The bishop thinks the Septuagint is on his side: to me, it seems neither for nor against the criticism. The words in the Vatican copy are εγω πολις οχυρα, I am a fortified city; which the Arabic follows: but instead of οχυρα, the Codex Alexandrinus has ισχυρα, I am a Strong city. The word חומה chomah, wall, is not found in any MS. in the collections of Kennicott and De Rossi, nor in any of my own MSS. However, one of Dr. Kennicott's MSS. has חימה cheimah; but probably that which now appears to be a י yod was formerly a ו vau, and now partially obliterated. This song receives much light from being collated with that in chap. 5.; and perhaps the bishop's criticism will find its best support from such a collation. In Isa 5:5 of that chapter, God threatens to take away the wall of his vineyard: this was done; and here the vineyard complains, I have no wall, and wishes for any kind of defense rather than be thus naked. This is the only natural support of the above criticism. "About Tripoli there are abundance of vineyards and gardens, inclosed, for the most part, with hedges, which chiefly consist of the rhamnus, paliurus, oxyacantha, "etc. Rawolf, p. 21, 22. A fence of thorns is esteemed equal to a wall for strength, being commonly represented as impenetrable. See Mic 7:4; Hos 2:6. Who would set the briers and thorns against me "O that I had a fence of the thorn and brier" - Seven MSS., (two ancient), and one edition, with the Syriac, Vulgate, and Aquila, read ושית veshayith, with the conjunction ו vau prefixed: Who would set the briers and thorns. מי יתנני שמיר שית mi yitteneni shamir shayith, Who shall give me the brier and thorn, i.e., for a defense: but hear Kimchi: "Who (the vineyard) hath given me (Jehovah) the brier and the thorn instead of good grapes."

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 27:1-5

God's care over his people. (Is. 27:1-5) A promise of their recall to Divine favour. (Is. 27:6-13) Verses 1-5 The Lord Jesus with his strong sword, the virtue of his death, and the preaching of his gospel, does and will destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, that old serpent. The world is a fruitless, worthless wilderness; but the church is a vineyard, a place that has great care taken of it…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 27:1-5 →

Isaiah 27:4 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.

חֵמָ֖הche.MahrageH2534
אֵ֣ין'einnotH369
לִ֑יLi[belongs] to me
מִֽי\־mi-who?H4310
יִתְּנֵ֜נִיyi.te.Ne.niwill he give meH5414
שָׁמִ֥ירsha.Mirthorn[s]H8068
שַׁ֙יִת֙sha.yitbush[es]H7898
בַּמִּלְחָמָ֔הba.mil.cha.Mahin <the> battleH4421
אֶפְשְׂעָ֥ה'ef.se.'AhI will marchH6585
בָ֖הּvahagainst it
אֲצִיתֶ֥נָּה'a.tzi.Te.nahI will burn itH6702
יָּֽחַד\׃Ya.chadaltogetherH3162

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

Cross references for Isaiah 27:4

  • Isaiah 10:17

    And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;

  • Hebrews 6:8

    But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.

  • Matthew 3:12

    Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

  • Psalms 85:3

    Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.

  • 2 Samuel 23:6

    But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands:

  • Nahum 1:3-7

    The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him. …

  • 2 Peter 2:9

    The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

  • Psalms 103:9

    He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.

  • Isaiah 26:20-21

    Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. 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 12:1

    And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.

  • Ezekiel 16:63

    That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God.

  • Malachi 4:3

    And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fury.
12:1; 26:20,21; 54:6-10; Ps 85:3; 103:9; Eze 16:63; Na 1:3-7
2Pe 2:9
who would.
9:18; 10:17; 2Sa 23:6; Mal 4:3; Mt 3:12; Heb 6:8
go through. or, march against.

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

Context

  • Isaiah 27:3

    I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.

  • Isaiah 27:4

    Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.

  • Isaiah 27:5

    Or let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.

Read all of Isaiah 27

Isaiah 27:4 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		No hay en mí enojo. ¿Quién pondrá contra mí en batalla espinas y cardos? Yo los hollaré, quemarélos juntamente.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Il n’y a pas en moi de fureur. Oh! si j’avais les ronces et les épines en bataille contre moi, je marcherais contre elles; je les brûlerais ensemble.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Grimm habe ich nicht. O hätte ich Dornen und Disteln vor mir, im Kriege würde ich auf sie losschreiten, sie verbrennen allzumal!
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Indignatio non est mihi. Quis dabit me spinam et veprem in prælio? gradiar super eam, succendam eam pariter.