The Meaning of Isaiah 30:27 Explained

Isaiah 30:27

KJV: Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:

YLT: Lo, the name of Jehovah is coming from far, Burning is His anger, and great the flame, His lips have been full of indignation, And His tongue is as a devouring fire.

Darby: Behold, the name of Jehovah cometh from far, burning with his anger a grievous conflagration; his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a consuming fire;

ASV: Behold, the name of Jehovah cometh from far, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is as a devouring fire;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Behold, the name  of the LORD  cometh  from far,  burning  [with] his anger,  and the burden  [thereof is] heavy:  his lips  are full  of indignation,  and his tongue  as a devouring  fire: 

What does Isaiah 30:27 Mean?

Study Notes

Behold
The imagery of Isaiah 30:27 ; Isaiah 30:28 is cumulative. Judah is making an alliance with Egypt when she might be in league with Him whose judgment upon the world-powers will be like a terrible thunder-tempest ( Isaiah 30:27 ), turning streams into torrents neck-deep ( Isaiah 30:28 , f.c.); who will sift the nations in their own sieve of vanity (or "destruction"), and put His bridle into the jaws of the peoples.

Context Summary

Isaiah 30:18-33 - The Goodness Of God's Severity
Jerusalem refused God's invitation to return to Him and rest; they preferred to trust in Egyptian cavalry. Their Almighty Friend knew that this would end in disappointment, but He said that He would wait till they had exhausted every expedient and returned to Him. Then would He be gracious and have mercy. The results of repentance and forgiveness are set forth with singular beauty: no more tears; great grace; answered prayer; divine teaching; guidance in the right way; no more idols; good harvests and rich pasture-lands; the dumb creation benefiting by man's repentance; and thus, in Isaiah 30:26, we come to the light of the millennial dawn.
In Isaiah 30:27-33 Jehovah is represented as coming to avenge His people and to judge their enemies. Their welcoming gladness is compared in Isaiah 30:29 to the songs of the Hebrew festivals. What a magnificent description in Isaiah 30:30-31 of Jehovah as a man of war! Every stroke He inflicted on the foe would awaken the music of tabrets and harps in the temple at Zion. Tophet, near Jerusalem, was the place where refuse was burnt. The spiritual counterpart of its fire is ever burning up the waste-products of men and nations. [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 30

1  The prophet threatens the people for their confidence in Egypt
8  And contempt of God's word
18  God's mercies toward his church
27  God's wrath and the people's joy, in the destruction of Assyria

What do the individual words in Isaiah 30:27 mean?

Behold the name of Yahweh comes from afar Burning [with] His anger and [is] heavy [His] burden His lips are full of indignation and His tongue like a fire devouring
הִנֵּ֤ה שֵׁם־ יְהוָה֙ בָּ֣א מִמֶּרְחָ֔ק בֹּעֵ֣ר אַפּ֔וֹ וְכֹ֖בֶד מַשָּׂאָ֑ה שְׂפָתָיו֙ מָ֣לְאוּ זַ֔עַם וּלְשׁוֹנ֖וֹ כְּאֵ֥שׁ אֹכָֽלֶת

הִנֵּ֤ה  Behold 
Parse: Interjection
Root: הִנֵּה  
Sense: behold, lo, see, if.
שֵׁם־  the  name 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: שֵׁם  
Sense: name.
יְהוָה֙  of  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
בָּ֣א  comes 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
מִמֶּרְחָ֔ק  from  afar 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מֶרְחָק  
Sense: distant place, distance, far country.
בֹּעֵ֣ר  Burning 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: בָּעַר 
Sense: to burn, consume, kindle, be kindled.
אַפּ֔וֹ  [with]  His  anger 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: אַף 
Sense: nostril, nose, face.
וְכֹ֖בֶד  and  [is]  heavy 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּבֶד  
Sense: weight, heaviness, mass, great.
מַשָּׂאָ֑ה  [His]  burden 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: מַשָּׂאָה  
Sense: the uplifted, uplifting.
שְׂפָתָיו֙  His  lips 
Parse: Noun, fdc, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׂפָה  
Sense: lip, language, speech, shore, bank, brink, brim, side, edge, border, binding.
מָ֣לְאוּ  are  full 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: מָלֵא 
Sense: to fill, be full.
זַ֔עַם  of  indignation 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: זַעַם  
Sense: anger, indignation.
וּלְשׁוֹנ֖וֹ  and  His  tongue 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, common singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: לָשֹׁון  
Sense: tongue.
כְּאֵ֥שׁ  like  a  fire 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, common singular
Root: אֵשׁ  
Sense: fire.
אֹכָֽלֶת  devouring 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, feminine singular
Root: אָכַל  
Sense: to eat, devour, burn up, feed.