Ésaïe 29:5

5 La multitude de tes ennemis sera comme une fine poussière, Cette multitude de guerriers sera comme la balle qui vole, Et cela tout à coup, en un instant.

Ésaïe 29:5 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 29:5

Moreover, the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small
dust
Or "of those that fan thee" ^F17, as the Vulgate Latin Version; and so the Targum,

``of those that scatter thee;''

or of thine enemies, as others; meaning the Romans, who were a strange people to them, who got the dominion over them, and scattered them abroad in the world: and the simile of "small dust", to which they are compared, is not used to express the weakness of them, but the greatness of their number, which was not to be counted, any more than the dust of the earth; see ( Numbers 23:10 ) : and the multitude of the terrible ones [shall be] as chaff that
passeth away;
designing the same numerous army of the Romans as before, who were terrible to the Jews: nor does this metaphor signify any imbecility in them, and much less the ruin of them, but their swiftness in executing the judgments of God upon his people, who moved as quick as chaff, or any such light thing, before a mighty wind: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly;
either the numerous army should be suddenly before Jerusalem, or the destruction of that city should be as it were in a moment; and though the siege of it lasted long, yet the last sack and ruin of it was suddenly, and in so short a time, that it might be said to be in an instant, in a moment, as it were. The Jewish writers interpret this of the sudden destruction of Sennacherib's army by the angel, ( 2 Kings 19:35 ) but the next words show that the destruction of Jerusalem is meant.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 (Kyrz) "ventilantium te", V. L. "dispergentium te", Vatablus, so Targum; "hostium tuorum", Pagninus, Cocceius.

Ésaïe 29:5 In-Context

3 Je t'investirai de toutes parts, Je te cernerai par des postes armés, J'élèverai contre toi des retranchements.

4 Tu seras abaissée, ta parole viendra de terre, Et les sons en seront étouffés par la poussière; Ta voix sortira de terre comme celle d'un spectre, Et c'est de la poussière que tu murmureras tes discours.

5 La multitude de tes ennemis sera comme une fine poussière, Cette multitude de guerriers sera comme la balle qui vole, Et cela tout à coup, en un instant.

6 C'est de l'Eternel des armées que viendra le châtiment, Avec des tonnerres, des tremblements de terre et un bruit formidable, Avec l'ouragan et la tempête, Et avec la flamme d'un feu dévorant.

7 Et, comme il en est d'un songe, d'une vision nocturne, Ainsi en sera-t-il de la multitude des nations qui combattront Ariel, De tous ceux qui l'attaqueront, elle et sa forteresse, Et qui la serreront de près.