Isaiah 28:18

18 Your deal with death will be dissolved, and your pact with the grave won't stand. The rushing flood: when it passes through, you will be annihilated by it.

Isaiah 28:18 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 28:18

And your covenant with death shall be disannulled
Or, "be besmeared" ^F24, or daubed over, as the ark was with pitch, ( Genesis 6:14 ) where the same word is used as here; so that it shall not be legible, as any writing that is blotted out by ink, or any other liquor, so that it cannot be read; in like manner this their covenant with death should be so obliterated, that the articles of it could not be made out, and so of no force; thus the Targum renders it,

``shall be made void;''

(See Gill on Isaiah 28:15): and your agreement with hell shall not stand;
or "vision", or "provision" ^F25; which they had made by compact, with the greatest care, caution, and foresight, to secure themselves from destruction, would be found insufficient. The Targum is,

``and our peace, which was with the destroyer, shall not stand;''

(See Gill on Isaiah 28:15): when the overflowing scourge shall pass through:
the land of Judea and the city of Jerusalem; (See Gill on Isaiah 28:15): then shall ye be trodden down by it:
though they flattered themselves it should not come near them, yet it would; and they would not be able to stand before it, but would be thrown down, and trampled upon by it as the mire of the streets; see ( Luke 21:24 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 (rpkw) "Heb. oblinetur", Piscator; "quasi pica illita tabulae literaeque foederis incrustentur, inducantur ac dispereant", Gusset. Comment. Ebr. p. 397.
F25 (Mktwzxw) "et visio vestra", Vatablus; "cautio vestra", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Heb. "visio", i.e. "provisio", Piscator.

Isaiah 28:18 In-Context

16 Therefore, the LORD God says: Look! I'm laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a valuable cornerstone, a sure foundation: the one who trusts won't tremble.

17 I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line. But hail will sweep away the hiding place of lies, and water will overflow the shelter.

18 Your deal with death will be dissolved, and your pact with the grave won't stand. The rushing flood: when it passes through, you will be annihilated by it.

19 Every time it passes through it will take you, for morning by morning it will pass, by day and by night. It will be nothing but terror to understand the message.

20 The bed is too short to stretch out, and the shroud is too narrow to cover oneself.

Footnotes

• [a]. Heb Maveth
• [b]. Heb Sheol