Isaiah 54 · Verse 9

Isaiah 54:9

For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
Isaiah 54:9, King James Version

Isaiah 54:9 in other translations

BSB“For to Me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you.
WEB“For this is like the waters of Noah to me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah will no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
ASVFor this is as the waters of Noah unto me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
YLTFor, the waters of Noah is this to Me, In that I have sworn--the waters of Noah Do not pass again over the earth--So I have sworn, Wrath is not upon thee, Nor rebuke against thee.
DARBYFor this is as the waters of Noah unto me, since I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth: so have I sworn that I will no more be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
BBEFor this is like the days of Noah to me: for as I took an oath that the waters of Noah would never again go over the earth, so have I taken an oath that I will not again be angry with you, or say bitter words to you.
WebsterFor this is as the waters of Noah to me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more overflow the earth; so have I sworn that I will not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.

What does Isaiah 54:9 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
9. I am about to do the same in this instance as in Noah's flood. As I swore then that it should not return (Ge 8:21; 9:11), and I kept that promise, so I swear now to My people, and will perform My promise, that there shall be no return of the deluge of My wrath upon them. Lowth, on insufficient authority, reads (the same will I do now as), "in the days of Noah."

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me "The same will I do now, as in the days of Noah" - כימי kimey, in one word, in a MS., and some editions; and so the Syriac, Chaldee, Vulgate, Symmachus, Theodotion, Abarbanel, Sal. ben Melec, and Kimchi acknowledge that their copies vary in this place. It is certain that these two words כי מי ki mey, were written formerly as one. Taken as two כי מי ki mey, they signify for as the waters - when as one, כימי kimey, they signify as the days. This latter reading is found in about four of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS. In one of my own it appears to have been intended as one word: but he who added the points, which are by a much later hand than the MS. itself, has pointed the letters so as to make the two words which are commonly found in the text. For the waters, Symmachus, Theodotion, the Syriac, Vulgate, and Arabic have days. The former seems to make the best sense; and the ancient Versions, except the Septuagint, support it.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 54:6-10

As God is slow to anger, so he is swift to show mercy. And how sweet the returns of mercy would be, when God should come and comfort them! He will have mercy on them. God's gathering his people takes rise from his mercy, not any merit of theirs; and it is with great mercies, with everlasting kindness. The wrath is little, the mercies great; the wrath for a moment, the kindness everlasting. We are neither to despond…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 54:6-10 →

Isaiah 54:9 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.

כִּי\־ki-forH3588
מֵ֥יmei[is] [the] water ofH4325
נֹ֙חַ֙no.achNoahH5146
זֹ֣אתzotthisH2063
לִ֔יLito me
אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.SherwhichH834
נִשְׁבַּ֗עְתִּיnish.Ba'.tiI sworeH7650
מֵעֲבֹ֥רme.'a.Vorfrom passingH5674
מֵי\־mei-[the] waters ofH4325
נֹ֛חַNo.achNoahH5146
ע֖וֹדodagainH5750
עַל\־'al-overH5921
הָאָ֑רֶץha.'A.retzthe earthH776
כֵּ֥ןkensoH3651
נִשְׁבַּ֛עְתִּיnish.Ba'.tiI swearH7650
מִקְּצֹ֥ףmi.ke.Tzoffrom being angryH7107
עָלַ֖יִךְ'a.La.yikhtowards youH5921
וּמִגְּעָר\־u.mi.ge.'or-and from rebukingH1605
בָּֽךְ\׃Bakh<in> <the> you

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

Cross references for Isaiah 54:9

  • 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.

  • Genesis 8:21

    And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

  • Genesis 9:11-16

    And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: …

  • Hebrews 6:16-18

    For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

  • Isaiah 55:11

    So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

  • Psalms 104:9

    Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.

  • Jeremiah 31:35-36

    Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.

  • Jeremiah 33:20-26

    Thus saith the Lord; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me. Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, …

  • Ezekiel 39:20

    Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord God.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
12:1; 55:11; Ge 8:21; 9:11-16; Ps 104:9; Jer 31:35,36; 33:20-26
Eze 39:20; Heb 6:16-18

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

Context

  • Isaiah 54:8

    In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.

  • Isaiah 54:9

    For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.

  • Isaiah 54:10

    For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.

Read all of Isaiah 54

Isaiah 54:9 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Porque esto me será como las aguas de Noé; que juré que nunca más las aguas de Noé pasarían sobre la tierra; así he jurado que no me enojaré contra ti, ni te reñiré.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Car ceci m’est comme les eaux de Noé, lorsque je jurai que les eaux de Noé ne passeraient plus sur la terre: ainsi j’ai juré que je ne serais plus courroucé contre toi, et que je ne te tancerais plus.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Denn dieses soll mir sein wie die Wasser Noahs, als ich schwur, daß die Wasser Noahs die Erde nicht mehr überfluten sollten; so habe ich geschworen, daß ich nicht mehr über dich ergrimmen, noch dich schelten werde.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Sicut in diebus Noë istud mihi est, cui juravi ne inducerem aquas Noë ultra super terram; sic juravi ut non irascar tibi, et non increpem te.