Isaiah 5 · Verse 30

Isaiah 5:30

And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.
Isaiah 5:30, King James Version

Isaiah 5:30 in other translations

BSBIn that day they will roar over it, like the roaring of the sea. If one looks over the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be obscured by clouds.
WEBThey will roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea. If one looks to the land, behold, darkness and distress. The light is darkened in its clouds.
ASVAnd they shall roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold, darkness and distress; and the light is darkened in the clouds thereof.
YLTAnd it howleth against it in that day as the howling of a sea, And it hath looked attentively to the land, And lo, darkness--distress, And light hath been darkened by its abundance!
DARBYand they shall roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea. And if one look upon the earth, behold darkness and distress, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.
BBEAnd his voice will be loud over him in that day like the sounding of the sea: and if a man's eyes are turned to the earth, it is all dark and full of trouble; and the light is made dark by thick clouds.
WebsterAnd in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one looketh to the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in its heavens.

What does Isaiah 5:30 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
30. sorrow, and the light is darkened--Otherwise, distress and light (that is, hope and fear) alternately succeed (as usually occurs in an unsettled state of things), and darkness arises in, &c. [Maurer]. heavens--literally, "clouds," that is, its sky is rather "clouds" than sky. Otherwise from a different Hebrew root, "in its destruction" or ruins. Horsley takes "sea ... look unto the land" as a new image taken from mariners in a coasting vessel (such as all ancient vessels were), looking for the nearest land, which the darkness of the storm conceals, so that darkness and distress alone may be said to be visible.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 30 If one look unto the land, etc. "And these shall look to the heaven upward, and down to the earth" - ונבט לארץ venibbat laarets. Και εμβλεψονται εις την γην. So the Septuagint, according to the Vatican and Alexandrian copies; but the Complutensian and Aldine editions have it more fully, thus: - Και εμβλεψονται εις τον ουρανον ανω, και κατω; and the Arabic from the Septuagint, as if it had stood thus: Και εμβλεψονται εις ουρανον, και εις την γην κατω, both of which are plainly defective; the words εις την γην, unto the earth, being wanted in the former, and the word ανω, above, in the latter. But an ancient Coptic version from the Septuagint, supposed to be of the second century, some fragments of which are preserved in the library of St. Germain des Prez at Paris, completes the sentence; for, according to this version, it stood thus in the Septuagint. - Και εμβλεψονται εις τον ουρανον ανω, και εις την γην κατω; "And they shall look unto the heavens above and unto the earth beneath," and so it stands in the Septuagint MSS., Pachom. and 1. D. II., according to which they must have read their Hebrew text in this manner: - ונבט לשמים למעלה ולארץ למטה. This is probably the true reading, with which I have made the translation agree. Compare Isa 8:22; where the same sense is expressed in regard to both particulars, which are here equally and highly proper, the looking upwards, as well as down to the earth: but the form of expression is varied. I believe the Hebrew text in that place to be right, though not so full as I suppose it was originally here; and that of the Septuagint there to be redundant, being as full as the Coptic version and MSS. Pachom. and 1. D. 2 represent it in this place, from which I suppose it has been interpolated. Darkness "The gloomy vapor" - The Syriac and Vulgate seem to have read בערפלח bearphalach; but Jarchi explains the present reading as signifying darkness; and possibly the Syriac and Vulgate may have understood it in the same manner.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 5:24-30

Let not any expect to live easily who live wickedly. Sin weakens the strength, the root of a people; it defaces the beauty, the blossoms of a people. When God's word is despised, and his law cast away, what can men expect but that God should utterly abandon them? When God comes forth in wrath, the hills tremble, fear seizes even great men. When God designs the ruin of a provoking people, he can find instruments to…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 5:24-30 →

Isaiah 5:30 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.

וְיִנְהֹ֥םve.yin.Homand it may growlH5098
עָלָ֛יו'a.Lavover itH5921
בַּיּ֥וֹםbai.Yomin the dayH3117
הַה֖וּאha.Hu'<the> thatH1931
כְּנַהֲמַת\־ke.na.ha.mat-like [the] growling ofH5100
יָ֑םYam[the] seaH3220
וְנִבַּ֤טve.ni.Batand someone will lookH5027
לָאָ֙רֶץ֙la.'A.retzto the landH776
וְהִנֵּה\־ve.hi.neh-and there!H2009
חֹ֔שֶׁךְCho.shekhdarknessH2822
צַ֣רtzardistressH6862
וָא֔וֹרva.'orand lightH216
חָשַׁ֖ךְcha.Shakhit has become darkH2821
בַּעֲרִיפֶֽיהָ\׃\ \פba.'a.ri.Fei.haby clouds itsH6183

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

Cross references for Isaiah 5:30

  • Isaiah 8:22

    And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.

  • Joel 2:10

    The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

  • Jeremiah 4:23-28

    I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger. …

  • Revelation 16:10-11

    And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

  • Luke 21:25-26

    And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

  • Revelation 6:12

    And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

  • Psalms 93:3-4

    The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.

  • Matthew 24:29

    Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

  • Ezekiel 32:7-8

    And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord God.

  • Isaiah 13:10

    For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

  • Jeremiah 6:23

    They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.

  • Exodus 10:21-23

    And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
like.
Ps 93:3,4; Jer 6:23; 50:42; Lu 21:25
if one look.
8:22; 13:10; Ex 10:21-23; Jer 4:23-28; La 3:2; Eze 32:7,8; Joe 2:10
Am 8:9; Mt 24:29; Lu 21:25,26; Re 6:12; 16:10,11
sorrow. or, distress. and the light, etc. or, when it islight, it shall be dark in the destructions thereof.

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

Context

  • Isaiah 5:29

    Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it.

  • Isaiah 5:30

    And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.

Read all of Isaiah 5

Isaiah 5:30 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y bramará sobre él en aquel día como bramido de la mar: entonces mirará hacia la tierra, y he aquí tinieblas de tribulación, y en sus cielos se oscurecerá la luz.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
et elle mugira sur elle, en ce jour-là, comme mugit la mer; et on regardera sur la terre, et voici les ténèbres et la détresse: la lumière est obscurcie dans son ciel.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und sie knurrt über ihr an jenem Tage gleich dem Rauschen des Meeres. Und man blickt zur Erde, und siehe, Finsternis, Drangsal; und das Licht ist verfinstert durch ihr Gewölk.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Et sonabit super eum in die illa sicut sonitus maris: aspiciemus in terram, et ecce tenebræ tribulationis, et lux obtenebrata est in caligine ejus.