Isaiah 7:19

19 and all those shall come, and shall rest in the strands of valleys, and in the caves of stones, and in all [the] places of bushes, and in all holes. (and they all shall come, and shall rest by the streams in the valleys, and in the caves of stone, and in all the places of bushes, and in all the holes.)

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 The Lord shall bring on thee, and on thy people, and on the house of thy father, days that came not from the days of [the] departing of Ephraim from Judah, with the king of Assyrians. (The Lord shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon the house of thy father, such days that came not since the days of the separating of Ephraim from Judah, yea, by the hand, or by the power, of the king of Assyria.)
18 And it shall be, in that day the Lord shall hiss to a fly, which is in the last part of the floods of Egypt; and to a bee, which is in the land of Assur; (And it shall be, on that day the Lord shall whistle for the fly, which is at the ends of the rivers of Egypt; and for the bee, which is in the land of Assyria;)
19 and all those shall come, and shall rest in the strands of valleys, and in the caves of stones, and in all [the] places of bushes, and in all holes. (and they all shall come, and shall rest by the streams in the valleys, and in the caves of stone, and in all the places of bushes, and in all the holes.)
20 And in that day the Lord shall shave with a sharp razor in these men, that be beyond the flood, of the king of Assyrians, the head, and the hairs of the feet, and all the beard. (And on that day the Lord shall shave with a sharp razor the hair on the heads, and on the feet, and all the beards, of your young men, by the hand, or by the power, of the king of Assyria, who is beyond the river.)
21 And it shall be, in that day (And it shall be, on that day), a man shall nourish a cow of oxes, and two sheep,
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.