Isaiah 9:5

9:5 Indeed every boot that marches and shakes the earth

and every garment dragged through blood

is used as fuel for the fire.

Isaiah 37:22

37:22 this is what the Lord says about him:

“The virgin daughter Zion

despises you – she makes fun of you;

daughter Jerusalem

shakes her head after you.

Isaiah 30:28

30:28 His battle cry overwhelms like a flooding river

that reaches one’s neck.

He shakes the nations in a sieve that isolates the chaff;

he puts a bit into the mouth of the nations and leads them to destruction.


tn Heb “Indeed every boot marching with shaking.” On the meaning of סְאוֹן (sÿon, “boot”) and the related denominative verb, both of which occur only here, see HALOT 738 s.v. סְאוֹן.

tn Heb “this is the word which the Lord has spoken about him.”

sn Zion (Jerusalem) is pictured here as a young, vulnerable daughter whose purity is being threatened by the would-be Assyrian rapist. The personification hints at the reality which the young girls of the city would face if the Assyrians conquer it.

sn Shaking the head was a mocking gesture of derision.

tn Heb “his breath is like a flooding river.” This might picture the Lord breathing heavily as he runs down his enemy, but in light of the preceding verse, which mentions his lips and tongue, “breath” probably stands metonymically for the word or battle cry that he expels from his mouth as he shouts. In Isa 34:16 and Ps 33:6 the Lord’s “breath” is associated with his command.

tn Heb “shaking nations in a sieve of worthlessness.” It is not certain exactly how שָׁוְא (shavÿ’, “emptiness, worthlessness”) modifies “sieve.” A sieve is used to separate grain from chaff and isolate what is worthless so that it might be discarded. Perhaps the nations are likened to such chaff; God’s judgment will sift them out for destruction.

tn Heb “and a bit that leads astray [is] in the jaws of the peoples.” Here the nations are likened to horse that can be controlled by a bit placed in its mouth. In this case the Lord uses his sovereign control over the “horse” to lead it to its demise.