Isaiah 5:26

Revised Standard Version

He will raise a signal for a nation afar off, and whistle for it from the ends of the earth; and lo, swiftly, speedily it comes!

Parallel Translations

English Standard Version
He will raise a signal for nations far away, and whistle for them from the ends of the earth; and behold, quickly, speedily they come!

Geneva Bible (1587)
And he will lift vp a signe vnto the nations a farre, and wil hisse vnto them from the ende of the earth: and beholde, they shall come hastily with speede.

Christian Standard Bible®
He raises a signal flag for the distant nationsand whistles for them from the ends of the earth.Look—how quickly and swiftly they come!

Hebrew Names Version
He will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss for them from the end of the eretz; and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly.

Darby Translation
And he will lift up a banner to the nations afar off, and will hiss for one from the end of the earth; and behold, it will come rapidly [and] lightly.

Easy-to-Read Version
Look! God is giving a sign to the nations far away. He is raising a flag and whistling for them to come. Now the enemy is coming from a faraway land and will soon enter the country. They are moving very quickly.

Amplified Bible
He will lift up a flag to [call] the distant nations [to bring His judgment on Judah], And will whistle for them from the ends of the earth; And indeed, they will come with great speed swiftly.

American Standard Version
And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss for them from the end of the earth; and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly.

Contemporary English Version
The Lord has signaled for the foreign nations to come and attack you. He has already whistled, and they are coming as fast as they can.

Complete Jewish Bible
He will give a signal to faraway nations, he will whistle for them to come from the ends of the earth; and here they come, so fast! —

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And He will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth; and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly;

King James Version (1611)
And he will lift vp an ensigne to the nations from farre, and wil hisse vnto them from the end of the earth: and behold, they shall come with speed swiftly.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Therefore shall he lift up a signal to the nations that are afar, and shall hiss for them from the end of the earth; and, behold, they are coming very quickly.

English Revised Version
And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss for them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:

Berean Standard Bible
He lifts a banner for the distant nations and whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Behold-how speedily and swiftly they come!

Lexham English Bible
And he will raise a signal for a nation from afar, and he will whistle for it from the end of the earth. And look! It comes quickly, swiftly!

Literal Translation
And He will lift up a banner to distant nations, and will hiss to them from the ends of the earth; and, behold, it shall come with swift speed!

New Century Version
He raises a banner for the nations far away. He whistles to call those people from the ends of the earth. Look! The enemy comes quickly!

New English Translation
He lifts a signal flag for a distant nation, he whistles for it to come from the far regions of the earth. Look, they come quickly and swiftly.

New King James Version
He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar, And will whistle to them from the end of the earth; Surely they shall come with speed, swiftly.

New Living Translation
He will send a signal to distant nations far away and whistle to those at the ends of the earth. They will come racing toward Jerusalem.

New Life Bible
He will raise up flags as a sign to the nations far away. He will call for them from the ends of the earth, and they will hurry to come.

New Revised Standard
He will raise a signal for a nation far away, and whistle for a people at the ends of the earth; Here they come, swiftly, speedily!

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Therefore will he lift up an ensign to the nations afar off, And signal for him from the end of the earth, - And lo! with hot haste, will he come:

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he will lift up a sign to the nations afar off, and will whistle to them from the ends of the earth: and behold they shall come with speed swiftly.

George Lamsa Translation
And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from afar and will whistle to them from the end of the earth; and, behold, they shall come swiftly with speed.

Good News Translation
The Lord gives a signal to call for a distant nation. He whistles for them to come from the ends of the earth. And here they come, swiftly, quickly!

New American Standard Bible
He will also lift up a flag to the distant nation, And whistle for it from the ends of the earth; And behold, it will come with speed swiftly.

King James Version
And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:

Webster's Bible Translation
And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from afar, and will hiss to them from the end of the earth: and behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he shall geue a token to a people of a farre countrey, and shall hisse vnto them from the ende of the earth: and beholde, they shall come hastyly with speede.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he schal reise a signe among naciouns afer, and he schal hisse to hym fro the endis of erthe; and lo! he schal haaste, and schal come swiftli.

Young's Literal Translation
And He lifted up an ensign to nations afar off, And hissed to it from the end of the earth, And lo, with haste, swift it cometh.

World English Bible
He will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss for them from the end of the earth; and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly.

Update Bible Version
And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss for them from the end of the earth; and, look, they shall come with speed swiftly.

Bible in Basic English
And he will let a flag be lifted up as a sign to a far-off nation, whistling to them from the ends of the earth: and they will come quickly and suddenly.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And he shal gyue a toke vnto a straunge people, and call vnto them in a farre countre: and beholde, they shal come hastely with spede.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
He will also lift up a standard to the distant nation, And will whistle for it from the ends of the earth; And behold, it will come with speed swiftly.

Legacy Standard Bible
He will also lift up a standard to the distant nations,And will whistle for it from the ends of the earth;And behold, it will come with speed swiftly.

Contextual Overview

¹⁸ Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes, ¹⁹ who say: "Let him make haste, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and let it come, that we may know it!" ²⁰ Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! ²¹ Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! ²² Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, ²³ who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right! ²⁴ Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom go up like dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. ²⁵ Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them and smote them, and the mountains quaked; and their corpses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away and his hand is stretched out still. ²⁶ He will raise a signal for a nation afar off, and whistle for it from the ends of the earth; and lo, swiftly, speedily it comes! ²⁷ None is weary, none stumbles, none slumbers or sleeps, not a waistcloth is loose, not a sandal-thong broken;

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

he will: Isaiah 11:12, Isaiah 18:3, Jeremiah 51:27

hiss: Isaiah 7:18, Zechariah 10:8

end: Isaiah 39:3, Deuteronomy 28:49, Psalms 72:8, Jeremiah 5:15, Malachi 1:11

they: Isaiah 30:16, Jeremiah 4:13, Lamentations 4:19, Joel 2:7, Habakkuk 1:8

Reciprocal: 2 Chronicles 33:11 - of the king Isaiah 10:3 - in the desolation Isaiah 13:2 - Lift ye up Isaiah 17:12 - make a noise Isaiah 29:6 - General Jeremiah 6:4 - Prepare Jeremiah 6:23 - their Jeremiah 25:9 - I Jeremiah 50:26 - against Zechariah 14:2 - gather

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far,.... Not to the Chaldeans or Babylonians, for they were not nations, but one nation, and were a people near; but to the Romans, who consisted of many nations, and were afar off, and extended their empire to the ends of the earth; these, by one providence or another, were stirred up to make an expedition into the land of Judea, and besiege Jerusalem: and this lifting up of an ensign is not, as sometimes, for the gathering and enlisting of soldiers, or to prepare them for the battle, or to give them the signal when to begin the fight; but as a direction to decamp and proceed on a journey, on some expedition:

and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth, or "to him" i; the king, or general of them, wherever he is, even though at the end of the earth: and the phrase denotes the secret and powerful influence of divine Providence, in moving upon the hearts of the Romans, and their general, to enter upon such a design against the Jews; and which was as easily done as for one man to hiss or call to another; or as for a shepherd to whistle for his sheep; to which the allusion seems to be; the Lord having the hearts of all in his hands, and can turn them as he pleases, to do his will:

and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly; or "he shall come"; the king with his army; and so the Targum paraphrases it;

"and behold, a king with his army shall come swiftly, as light clouds;''

this shows the swift and sudden destruction that should come upon the Jews; and is an answer to their scoffs, Isaiah 5:19.

i לו "ei", Vatablus; Montanus; "illi", Cocceius; "ad se", Junius & Tremellius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And he will lift up an ensign ... - The idea here is, that the nations of the earth are under his control, and that he can call whom he pleases to execute his purposes. This power over the nations he often claims; compare Isaiah 44:28; Isaiah 45:1-7; Isaiah 10:5-7; Isaiah 9:11; Isaiah 8:18. An “ensign” is the “standard,” or “flag” used in an army. The elevation of the standard was a signal for assembling for war. God represents himself here as simply raising the standard, expecting that the nations would come at once.

And will hiss unto them - This means that he would “collect” them together to accomplish his purposes. The expression is probably taken from the manner in which bees were hived. Theodoret and Cyril, on this place, say, that in Syria and Palestine, they who kept bees were able to draw them out of their hives, and conduct them into fields, and bring them back again, with the sound of a flute or the noise of hissing. It is certain also that the ancients had this idea respecting bees. Pliny (lib. xi. ch. 20) says: Gaudent plausu, atque tinnitu aeris, coque convocantur. ‘They rejoice in a sound, and in the tinkling of brass, and are thus called together.’ AElian (lib. v. ch. 13) says, that when they are disposed to fly away, their keepers make a musical and harmonious sound, and that they are thus brought back as by a siren, and restored to their hives. So Virgin says, when speaking of bees:

Tinnitusque cie, et Matris quate cymbala circum.

Georg. iv. 64.

‘On brazen vessels beat a tinkling sound,

And shake the cymbals of the goddess round;

Then all will hastily retreat, and fill

The warm resounding hollow of their cell.’

Addison

So Ovid:

Jamque erat ad Rhodopen Pangaeaque flumina ventum,

Aeriferae comitum cum crepuere manus.

Ecce! novae coeunt volucres tinnitibus actae

Quosque movent sonitus aera sequuntur apes.

Fastor, lib. iii., 739.

See also Columella, lib. x. ch. 7; Lucan, lib. ix. ver. 288; and Claudian, “Panegyric. in sextum consul. Honorii,” ver. 259; compare Bochart, “Hieroz.” P. ii. lib. iv. ch. x. pp. 506, 507. The prophets refer to that fact in several places, Isaiah 8:18; Zechariah 10:8. The simple meaning is, that God, at his pleasure; would collect the nations around Judea like bees, that is, in great numbers.

The end of the earth - That is, the remotest parts of the world. The most eastern nations known to them were probably the Babylonians, Medes, Persians, and perhaps the inhabitants of India. The general idea is, that he would call in the distant nations to destroy them. In Isaiah 7:18, Egypt and Assyria are particularly specified. This was in accordance with the prediction in Deuteronomy 28:49.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 5:26. He will - hiss - "He will hist"] "The metaphor is taken from the practice of those that keep bees, who draw them out of their hives into the fields, and lead them back again, συρισμασι, by a hiss or a whistle." - Cyril, on this place; and to the same purpose Theodoret, ib. In Isaiah 7:18, the metaphor is more apparent, by being carried farther, where the hostile armies are expressed by the fly and the bee: -

"JEHOVAH shall hist the fly

That is in the utmost parts of Egypt;

And the bee, that is in the land of Assyria."

On which place see Deuteronomy 1:44; Psalms 118:12; and God calls the locusts his great army, Joel 2:25; Exodus 23:28. See Huet, Quest. Alnet. ii. 12. שרק sharak or shrak, he shall whistle for them, call loud and shrill; he shall shriek, and they (their enemies) shall come at his call.

With speed — This refers to the nineteenth verse. As the scoffers had challenged God to make speed, and to hasten his work of vengeance, so now God assures them that with speed and swiftly it shall come.