Isaiah 7:23

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹⁷The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since the day Ephraim separated from Judah-He will bring the king of Assyria." ¹⁸On that day the LORD will whistle to the flies at the farthest streams of the Nile and to the bees in the land of Assyria. ¹⁹And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines and clefts of the rocks, in all the thornbushes and watering holes. ²⁰On that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates-the king of Assyria-to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to remove your beard as well. ²¹On that day a man will raise a young cow and two sheep, ²²and from the abundant milk they give, he will eat curds; for all who remain in the land will eat curds and honey. ²³And on that day, in every place where there used to be a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, there will be only thorns and briers.²⁴Men will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with thorns and briers. ²⁵For fear of the thorns and briers, you will no longer traverse the hills once tilled by the hoe; they will become places for oxen to graze and sheep to trample.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

a thousand vines: Song of Solomon 8:11, Song of Solomon 8:12, Matthew 21:33

be for briers: Isaiah 5:6, Isaiah 32:12-14, Jeremiah 4:26, Hebrews 6:8

Reciprocal: Genesis 3:18 - Thorns Deuteronomy 8:8 - vines Job 31:40 - thistles Isaiah 17:2 - they shall Isaiah 32:10 - for Isaiah 32:13 - come Jeremiah 48:33 - caused Ezekiel 12:20 - General Hosea 2:12 - I will Hosea 9:6 - nettles Mark 12:1 - and let

Cross-References

Genesis 7:1
Then the LORD said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and all your family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.

Genesis 7:8
The clean and unclean animals, the birds, and everything that crawls along the ground

Genesis 7:9
came to Noah to enter the ark, two by two, male and female, as God had commanded him.

Genesis 7:10
And after seven days the floodwaters came upon the earth.

Genesis 7:14
they and every kind of wild animal, livestock, crawling creature, bird, and winged creature.

Genesis 7:15
They came to Noah to enter the ark, two by two of every creature with the breath of life.

Genesis 7:17
For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and the waters rose and lifted the ark high above the earth.

Genesis 7:18
So the waters continued to surge and rise greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the waters.

Genesis 7:20
The waters rose and covered the mountaintops to a depth of fifteen cubits.

Genesis 7:21
And every creature that had moved upon the earth perished-birds, livestock, animals, every creature that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And it shall come to pass in that day; [that] every place shall be,.... Barren and unfruitful, for want of men to till the ground:

where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings; which were so good, as to be sold or let out for so many silver shekels m; or the fruit of them came to such a price; see Song of Solomon 8:11:

it shall [even] be for briers and thorns; for want of persons to stock the ground and cultivate it.

m Which was about two shillings and sixpence of our money.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The remainder of this chapter is a description of great desolation produced by the invasion of the Assyrians. “Where there were a thousand vines.” Where there was a valuable vineyard. In every place, that is, that was well cultivated and valuable.

At a thousand silverlings - The word rendered ‘silvertings’ here - כסף keseph - denotes, properly, silver, of any amount. But it is also used to denote the silver coin which was in use among the Jews, the shekel. Perhaps this was the only silver coin which, in early times, they possessed, and hence, the word shekel is omitted, and so many pieces of silver are mentioned. Thus, in Genesis 20:16, Abimelech says, that he had given Abraham, a thousand of silver’ - that is, a thousand shekels. The shekel was worth about two shillings of our money. It is probable that a vineyard would be valued, in proportion to the number of vines that could be raised on the smallest space; and the meaning is here, that the land that was most fertile, and that produced the most, would be desolate, and would produce only briers and thorns. The land in Judea admits of a high state of cultivation, and requires it, in order to make it productive. When neglected, it becomes as remarkably sterile. At present, it generally bears the marks of great barrenness and sterility. It is under the oppression of Turkish power and exactions; and the consequence is, that, to a traveler, it has the appearance of great barrenness. But, in the high state to which the Jews brought it, it was eminently fertile, and is capable still of becoming so, if it should be placed under a government that would encourage agriculture and bestow freedom. This is the account which all travelers give of it now.