Isaiah 7:19

19 And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the clefts of the rocks, and upon all thorn-hedges, and upon all pastures.

Isaiah 7:19 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 7:19

And they shall come
The Egyptian and Assyrian armies, when the Lord calls for them in his providence, and his time is come to make use of them as a scourge to his people: and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys:
made so by war; this is said in allusion to flies and bees resting on trees and flowers; and signifies that these armies, after long and tedious marches, should all of them, without being diminished by the way, enter the land of Judea, fill all places, and take up their abode there for a while: and in the holes of the rocks.
Kimchi thinks that the former phrase designs cities in valleys, and this fortified cities which are upon rocks: and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes;
in allusion to flies and bees. Kimchi interprets this of unwalled towns and villages. The Targum of the whole verse is,

``and they shall all of them come and dwell in the streets of the cities, and in the clifts of the rocks, and in all deserts full of sedges, and in all houses of praise.''
The sense is, that they should be in all cities, towns, and villages, whether fortified or not, and in all houses of high and low, rich and poor, in cottages and in palaces; there would be no place free from them, nor no escaping out of their hands.

Isaiah 7:19 In-Context

17 Jehovah will bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah--[even] the king of Assyria.
18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Jehovah will hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
19 And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the clefts of the rocks, and upon all thorn-hedges, and upon all pastures.
20 In that day will the Lord shave with a razor that is hired in the parts beyond the River, [even] with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet; and it shall also consume the beard.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall keep alive a young cow, and two sheep;
The American Standard Version is in the public domain.