Isaiah 33:21

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible

But, there shall Yahweh be our majestic one, A places of rivers - streams broad on both hands, Wherein shall go no galley with oars, Neither shall majestic ship traverse it;

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
For the majestic one, our Lord, will be there,a place of rivers and broad streamswhere ships that are rowed will not go,and majestic vessels will not pass.

Hebrew Names Version
But there the LORD will be with us in majesty, a place of broad rivers and streams, in which shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.

King James Version
But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.

English Standard Version
But there the Lord in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, where no galley with oars can go, nor majestic ship can pass.

New American Standard Bible
But there the majestic One, the LORD, will be for us A place of rivers and wide canals On which no boat with oars will go, And on which no mighty ship will pass—

New Century Version
There the Lord will be our Mighty One. That land is a place with streams and wide rivers, but there will be no enemy boats on those rivers; no powerful ship will sail on them.

Amplified Bible
But there the mighty and magnificent LORD will be for us A place of broad rivers and streams, Where no oar-driven boat will go, And on which no mighty and stately ship will pass.

World English Bible
But there Yahweh will be with us in majesty, a place of broad rivers and streams, in which shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.

Geneva Bible (1587)
For surely there the mightie Lorde will be vnto vs, as a place of floods and broade riuers, whereby shall passe no shippe with oares, neither shall great shippe passe thereby.

Legacy Standard Bible
But there the Mighty One, Yahweh, will be for usA place of rivers and wide canalsOn which no boat with oars will go,And on which no mighty ship will pass—

Berean Standard Bible
But there the Majestic One, our LORD, will be for us a place of rivers and wide canals, where no galley with oars will go, and majestic vessels will not pass.

Contemporary English Version
Our wonderful Lord will be with us! There will be deep rivers and wide streams safe from enemy ships.

Complete Jewish Bible
But there in his splendor Adonai will be with us, in a place of rivers and broad streams. But no boat with oars will go there, no majestic ship will pass by.

Darby Translation
but there Jehovah is unto us glorious,—a place of rivers, of broad streams: no galley with oars shall go there, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.

Easy-to-Read Version
because the Lord is our powerful leader there. That land is a place with streams and wide rivers, but there will be no enemy boats or powerful ships on those rivers. You men who work on such boats can stop your work with the ropes. You cannot make the mast strong enough. You will not be able to open your sails, because the Lord is our judge. He makes our laws. He is our king. He saves us. The Lord will give us our wealth. Even crippled people will get their share.

George Lamsa Translation
For there the name of the LORD is glorious to us; he will be for us a place of light, an enlightenment, and an open space made by the hand; wherein the authority of a prince shall not reign, neither shall the mighty one be able to invade it.

Good News Translation
The Lord will show us his glory. We will live beside broad rivers and streams, but hostile ships will not sail on them.

Lexham English Bible
Rather, there Yahweh will be mighty for us, a place of rivers and broad streams, a galley ship with oars cannot go in it, and a mighty ship cannot pass through it.

Literal Translation
But majestic Jehovah will place there for us a place of rivers and streams, broad on both hands; a ship with oars shall not go in it, and a majestic boat shall not pass through it.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
for the glorious Magesty of the LORDE shal there be present amoge vs. In that place (where fayre broade ryuers & streames are) shal nether Gallye rowe, ner greate shippe sale.

American Standard Version
But there Jehovah will be with us in majesty, a place of broad rivers and streams, wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.

Bible in Basic English
But there the Lord will be with us in his glory, Three dots are used where it is no longer possible to be certain of the true sense of the Hebrew words, and for this reason no attempt has been made to put them into Basic English. wide rivers and streams; where no boat will go with blades, and no fair ship will be sailing.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
But there the LORD will be with us in majesty, in a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.

King James Version (1611)
But there the glorious Lord will be vnto vs a place of broad riuers and streames; wherein shall goe no galley with oares, neither shall gallant ship passe thereby.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
For the glorious maiestie of the Lorde shall there be present among vs as a place where faire brode riuers and streames are, through the which shall neither galley rowe nor great ship sayle.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
for the name of the Lord is great to you: ye shall have a place, even rivers and wide and spacious channels: thou shalt not go this way, neither a vessel with oars go thereby.

English Revised Version
But there the LORD will be with us in majesty, a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For oneli the worschipful doere oure Lord God is there; the place of floodis is strondis ful large and opyn; the schip of roweris schal not entre bi it, nethir a greet schip schal passe ouer it.

Update Bible Version
But there Yahweh will be with us in majesty, a place of broad rivers and streams, wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.

Webster's Bible Translation
But there the glorious LORD [will be] to us a place of broad rivers [and] streams; in which shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass through it.

New English Translation
Instead the Lord will rule there as our mighty king. Rivers and wide streams will flow through it; no war galley will enter; no large ships will sail through.

New King James Version
But there the majestic LORD will be for us A place of broad rivers and streams, In which no galley with oars will sail, Nor majestic ships pass by

New Living Translation
The Lord will be our Mighty One. He will be like a wide river of protection that no enemy can cross, that no enemy ship can sail upon.

New Life Bible
But there the Lord in His great power will be for us. It will be a place of rivers and wide waterways, where no rowboats can go, and where no powerful ships can pass.

New Revised Standard
But there the Lord in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, where no galley with oars can go, nor stately ship can pass.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Because only there our Lord is magnificent: a place of rivers, very broad and spacious streams: no ship with oars shall pass by it, neither shall the great galley pass through it.

Revised Standard Version
But there the LORD in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, where no galley with oars can go, nor stately ship can pass.

Young's Literal Translation
But there mighty [is] Jehovah for us, A place of rivers -- streams broad of sides, No ship with oars doth go into it, And a mighty ship doth not pass over it.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
But there the majestic One, the LORD, will be for us A place of rivers and wide canals On which no boat with oars will go, And on which no mighty ship will pass—

Contextual Overview

¹³ Hear - ye that are far off. what I have done, And know - ye that are near my might: ¹⁴ Terror-stricken in Zion, - are sinners, Shuddering hath seized the impious, - Who among us can sojourn with a fire that devoureth? Who among us can sojourn with burnings age-abiding? ¹⁵ He that walketh righteously, And speaketh uprightly, - He that refuseth the gain of exactions That shaketh his hands free from holding a bribe, That stoppeth his ear from hearkening to deeds of blood, And shutteth his eyes from giving countenance to wrong, ¹⁶ He, the heights, shall inhabit, A stronghold of crags, shall be his refuge, - His bread, hath been delivered, His waters, have been made sure, ¹⁷ Of a king, in his beauty, shall thine eyes have vision: They shall see a land that stretcheth afar. ¹⁸ Thy heart, may murmur in terror, - Where is the scribe? Where - the receiver? Where - he that maketh a list of the towers? ¹⁹ The fierce people, shalt thou not see, - The people of too deep a lip to be understood, of too barbarous a tongue for thee to comprehend. ²⁰ Look thou on Zion, the city of our appointed feast, - Thine own eyes, shall see Jerusalem - A home of comfort A tent which shall not be packed up - Whose pins shall not be pulled out, for ever, And none of, whose cords, shall be broken. ²¹ But, there shall Yahweh be our majestic one, A places of rivers - streams broad on both hands, Wherein shall go no galley with oars, Neither shall majestic ship traverse it; ²² For, Yahweh is our judge, Yahweh, is our lawgiver, - Yahweh, is our king, He will save us!

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the glorious: Psalms 29:3, Acts 7:2, 2 Corinthians 4:4-6

a place: Psalms 46:4, Psalms 46:5

broad rivers and streams: Heb. broad of spaces, or hands

Reciprocal: Psalms 145:11 - the glory Isaiah 33:23 - Thy tacklings are loosed Joel 3:16 - hope Zechariah 2:5 - a wall

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But there the glorious Lord [will be] unto us a place of broad rivers [and] streams,.... Egypt had its Nile, and Babylon its Euphrates, but Jerusalem had no such river for its convenience, commerce, and defence; but God promises to be that to his Jerusalem, his church and people, as will answer to, and be "instead" g of, a river that has the broadest streams; which is expressive of the abundance of his grace, and the freeness of it, for the supply of his church, as well as of the pleasant situation and safety of it; see

Psalms 46:1 where the Lord appears "glorious"; where he displays the glorious perfections of his nature, his power, faithfulness, truth, holiness, love, grace, and mercy; where his glorious Gospel is preached; where he grants his gracious and glorious presence; and where saints come to see his glory, do see it, and speak of it; see 2 Samuel 6:20:

wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ships pass thereby: this advantage literal Jerusalem had, that, though it had no river for its pleasure, profit, and protection, yet no enemy could come up to it in that way; and the Lord, though he is indeed instead of a broad river to his people for their supply and safety, yet such an one as will not admit any enemy, great or small, signified by the "galley with oars", and the "gallant ship", to come near them; and in the New Jerusalem church state, when there will be new heavens and a new earth, there will be no sea, Revelation 21:1 and so no place for ships and galleys. The design of these metaphors is to show that the church of Christ at this time will be safe from all enemies whatsoever, as they must needs be, when the Lord is not only a place of broad rivers, but a wall of fire round about them, and the glory in the midst of them, Zechariah 2:5.

g מקום נחרים "loco fluviorum", Junius Tremellius מקום pro

תחת "non in talione, sed saltem ut significat loco ac vice, Deus ecclesiae est pro fluminibus", Gusset. Ebr. Comment, p. 740.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

But there - In Jersalem; or in his church, of which Jerusalem was the emblem.

The glorious Lord - Lowth renders it, ‘The glorious name of Yahweh,’ שׁם shâm to be a noun, as if it were pointed שׁם shēm. So the Syriac and the Septuagint read it. The word ‘glorious’ (אדיר 'adiyr) means magnificent; denoting that Yahweh would manifest himself there as magnificent or great in the destruction of his enemies, and in the protection of his people.

Will be unto us a place - It seems to be harsh to say that Yahweh would be a place; but the meaning is, that he would be to them as such a place; that is, his presence and blessing would be such as would be represented by broad rivers and streams flowing through a land, or encompassing a city. Rivers and streams are sources of fertility, the channels of commerce, and objects of great beauty. Such seems to be the idea here. The presence of Yahweh would be to them a source of great prosperity and happiness; and a beauty would be thrown around the city and nation like majestic and useful rivers. It is possible that there may have been some allusion here to cities that were encompassed or penetrated by rivers and canals, like Babylon, or Thebes in Egypt. Such cities derived important advantages from rivers. But Jerusalem had nothing of this nature to contribute to its prosperity or beauty. The prophet says, that the presence of Yahweh would be to them what these rivers were to other cities.

Of broad rivers and streams - Hebrew, ‘Rivers, streams broad of hands.’ The sense seems to be, broad rivers that are made up of confluent streams; or rivers to which many streams are tributary - like the Nile - and which are therefore made broad, and capable of navigation. The phrase used here in the Hebrew, ‘broad of hands’ - properly denotes broad on both hands, or as we would say, on both sides; that is, the shores would be separated far from each other. The word hand is often used in Hebrew to denote the side, the shore, or the bank of a river. The following extract will show the importance of such rivers: ‘In such a highly cultivated country as England, and where great drought is almost unknown, we have not an opportunity to observe the fertilizing influence of a broad river; but in South Africa, where almost no human means are employed for improving the land, the benign influence of rivers is most evident. The Great, or Orange River, is a remarkable instance of this. I traveled on its banks, at one time, for five or six weeks, when, for several hundred miles, I found both sides of it delightfully covered with trees of various kinds, all in health and vigor, and abundance of the richest verdure; but all the country beyond the reach of its influence was complete desert. Everything appeared to be struggling for mere existence; so that we might be said to have had the wilderness on one side, and a kind of paradise on the other.’ (Campbell)

Wherein shall go - The mention of broad rivers here seems to have suggested to the prophet the idea that navigable rivers, while they were the channels of commerce, also gave to an enemy the opportunity of approaching easily with vessels of war, and attacking a city. He therefore says that no such consequence would follow, from the fact that Yahweh would be to them in the place of broad rivers. No advantage could be taken from what was to them a source of prosperity and happiness. While other cities were exposed to an enemy from the very sources from which they derived their wealth and prosperity, it would not be so with them. From what constituted their glory - the protection of Yahweh - no danger ever could be apprehended. It had all the advantages of broad rivers and streams, but with none of their attendant exposures and perils.

No galley with oars - That is, no small vessel - for larger vessels were propelled by sails. Still the reference is doubtless to a vessel of war; since vessels of commerce would be an advantage, and it would not be an object of congratulation that none of them should be there. “Neither shall gallant ship.” No great (אדיר 'adiyr) or magnificent ship; no ship fitted out for purposes of war. The sense is, therefore, that though Jerusalem should be thus favored, yet it would be unapproachable by an enemy.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 33:21. The glorious Lord - "The glorious name of JEHOVAH"] I take שם shem for a noun, with the Septuagint and Syriac. See Psalms 20:1; Proverbs 18:10.