Isaiah 7:19

19 They'll come and infest every nook and cranny of this country. There'll be no getting away from them.

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 But also be warned: God will bring on you and your people and your government a judgment worse than anything since the time the kingdom split, when Ephraim left Judah. The king of Assyria is coming!"
18 That's when God will whistle for the flies at the headwaters of Egypt's Nile, and whistle for the bees in the land of Assyria.
19 They'll come and infest every nook and cranny of this country. There'll be no getting away from them.
20 And that's when the Master will take the razor rented from across the Euphrates - the king of Assyria no less! - and shave the hair off your heads and genitals, leaving you shamed, exposed, and denuded. He'll shave off your beards while he's at it.
21 It will be a time when survivors will count themselves lucky to have a cow and a couple of sheep.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.