Jesaja 7:18

Gereviseerde Lutherse Vertaling

Want in dien tijd zal de Heer herwaarts lokken de vliegen, die aan het einde der wateren van Egypte zijn, en de bijen, die in het land van Assur zijn,

Parallel Translations

Gereviseerde Leidse Vertaling
Te dien dage zal de Heer de muskieten fluiten die aan het eind van Egypte's stromen, en de bijen die in het land van Assur zijn;

Staten Vertaling
Want het zal te dien dage geschieden, dat de HEERE zal toesissen de vliegen, die aan het einde der rivieren van Egypte zijn, en de bijen die in het land van Assur zijn.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

hiss: Isaiah 5:26

fly: Isaiah 30:1, Isaiah 30:2, Isaiah 31:1, Exodus 8:21, Exodus 8:24, Deuteronomy 1:44, Deuteronomy 7:20, Joshua 24:12, Psalms 118:12

bee: Isaiah 7:17, 2 Kings 23:33, 2 Kings 23:34

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 19:17 - the kings 2 Chronicles 32:1 - king of Assyria 2 Chronicles 33:11 - of the king Nehemiah 9:32 - since the time Psalms 105:31 - there Isaiah 18:3 - see ye Ezekiel 27:23 - Asshur Joel 2:11 - utter Zechariah 10:8 - hiss

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And it shall come to pass in that day,.... the time when those evil days before spoken of should take place:

[that] the Lord shall hiss for the fly that [is] in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt; or flies, as the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions render it; the Egyptians, so called because their country abounded with flies; and because of the multitude of their armies, and the swiftness of their march; this seems to have had its accomplishment when Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt slew Josiah, put his son Jehoahaz, that reigned after him, in bands, placed Eliakim his brother in his stead, and made the land of Judah tributary to him,

2 Kings 23:29 though some think either the Edomites or Philistines, that bordered on Egypt, are meant; who in Ahaz's time invaded Judah, and brought it low, 2 Chronicles 28:17 or else the Ethiopians, that inhabited on the furthermost borders of Egypt, and the rivers of it; who either came up separately against Judah, or served under Nebuchadnezzar; see Isaiah 18:1:

and for the bee that [is] in the land of Assyria; the Assyrian army, so called because the country abounded with bees; and because of the number of their armies, their military order and discipline, and their hurtful and mischievous nature. The Targum paraphrases the whole thus,

"and it shall be at that time that the Lord shall call to a people, bands of armies, of mighty men, who are numerous as flies, and shall bring them from the ends of the land of Egypt; and to mighty armies, who are powerful as bees, and shall bring them from the uttermost parts of the land of Assyria:''

hissing or whistling for them denotes the ease with which this should be done, and with what swiftness and readiness those numerous and powerful armies should come; and the allusion is to the calling of bees out of their hives into the fields, and from thence into their hives again, by tinkling of brass, or by some musical sound, in one way or another.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

In that day the Lord shall hiss - see the note at Isaiah 5:26.

For the fly - That is, for the army, or the multitude of people. The comparison of a numerous army with “flies” is not uncommon; see Homer’s “Iliad,” B. ii. 469, etc.

- Thick as insects play,

The wandering nation of a summer’s day.

That, drawn by milky streams at evening hours

In gathered swarms surround the rural bowers;

From pail to pail with busy murmur run

The gilded legions, glittering in the sun.

Pope.

The comparison is drawn probably from the “number,” but also is intended to indicate the troublesome character, of the invaders. Perhaps, also, there is an allusion here to the well-known fact that one of the ten plagues of Egypt was caused by numerous swarms of flies; Exodus 8:21-24. An army would be brought up from that country as numerous, as troublesome, and as destructive as was that swarm of flies. The following description, by Bruce, of a species of flies in Abyssinia and the adjacent regions, will give an idea of the character of this calamity, and the force of the language used here:

‘This insect is called Zimb; it has not been described by any naturalist. It is, in size, very little larger than a bee, of a thicker proportion, and has wings, which are broader than those of a bee, placed separate, like those of a fly: they are of pure gauze, without color or spot upon them; the head is large, the upper jaw or lip is sharp, and has at the end of it a strong pointed hair, of about a quarter of an inch long; the lower jaw has two of these pointed hairs; and this pencil of hairs, when joined together, makes a resistance to the finger, nearly equal to that of a strong hog’s bristle; its legs are serrated in the inside, and the whole covered with brown hair or down. As soon as this plague appears, and their buzzing is heard, all the cattle forsake their food, and run wildly about the plain, until they die, worn out with fatigue, fright, and hunger. No remedy remains, but to leave the black earth, and hasten down to the sands of Atbara; and there they remain, while the rains last, this cruel enemy never daring to pursue them further.

Though his size be immense, as is his strength, and his body covered with a thick skin, defended with strong hair, yet even the camel is not capable to sustain the violent punctures the fly makes with his pointed proboscis. He must lose no time in removing to the sands of Atbara, for when once attacked by this fly, his body, head, and legs, break out into large bosses, which swell, break, and putrefy, to the certain destruction of the creature. Even the elephant and rhinoceros, who, by reason of their enormous bulk, and the vast quantity of food and water they daily need, cannot shift to desert and dry places as the season may require, are obliged to roll themselves in mud and mire, which, when dry, coats them over like armor, and enables them to stand their ground against this winged assassin; yet I have found some of these tubercles upon almost every elephant and rhinoceros that I have seen, and attribute them to this cause.

All the inhabitants of the seacoast of Melinda, down to Cape Gardefan, to Saba, and the south coast of the Red Sea, are obliged to put themselves in motion, and remove to the next sand, in the beginning of the rainy season, to prevent all their stock of cattle from being destroyed. This is not a partial emigration; the inhabitants of all the countries, from the mountains of Abyssinia northward, to the confluence of the Nile, and Astaboras, are once a year obliged to change their abode, and seek protection in the sand of Beja; nor is there any alternative, or means of avoiding this, though a hostile band were in their way, capable of spoiling them or half their substance. This fly has no sting, though he seemed to me to be rather of the bee kind; but his motion is more rapid and sudden than that of the bee, and resembles that of the gad-fly in England. There is something particular in the sound or buzzing of this insect; it is a jarring noise together with a humming, which induces me to believe it proceeds, at least in part, from a vibration made with the three hairs at his snout.’

The uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt - The remotest part of the land - that is, from the whole country. Egypt was watered by a single river; the Nile. But this river emptied into the Mediterranean by several mouths; and from this river also were cut numerous canals to water the land. These are intended by the “rivers” of Egypt; see the notes at Isaiah 19:6-7. Those canals would be stagnant for no small part of the year; and around them would be produced, as is usual near stagnant waters, great quantities of flies. This prophecy was fulfilled by the invasion of the land in subsequent times by the Egyptians; 2 Kings 23:33-34; 2 Chronicles 35:20, 2Ch 35:24; 2 Chronicles 36:1-2.

And for the bee - That is, for the “army.” An army is compared to “bees” on account of their number; perhaps also on account of the pungency and severity of the sting. The comparison is common; see Deuteronomy 1:44; Deuteronomy 7:20; Psalms 118:12. The Chaldee has rendered this verse, ‘The Lord shall call to a people girded with the armies of the brave, who are numerous as flies, and shall bring them from the ends of the land of Egypt; and strong armies, strong as bees, and shall bring them from the land of Assyria.’ No prophecy was ever more completely fulfilled than this by the successive invasions of Pharaoh-Necho, Esarhaddon and Nebuchadnezzar; see Isaiah 36:0; Isaiah 37:0; 2 Chronicles 36:7-21.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 7:18. Hiss for the fly - "Hist the fly"] Isaiah 5:26.

Egypt, and - Assyria. — Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, Pharaoh-necho, and Nebuchadnezzar, who one after another desolated Judea.