Limitless Word
In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind.
Isaiah 27:8 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB In measure, when you send them away, you contend with them. He has removed them with his rough blast in the day of the east wind.
  • BSB By warfare and exile You contended with her and removed her with a fierce wind, as on the day the east wind blows.
  • NKJV In measure, by sending it away, You contended with it. He removes it by His rough wind In the day of the east wind.
  • NASB You contended with them by banishing them, by driving them away. With His fierce wind He has expelled them on the day of the east wind.
  • NLT No, but he exiled Israel to call her to account. She was exiled from her land as though blown away in a storm from the east.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

God's punishment of His people was carefully measured, like driving them away with a controlled blast.

Overview

The exile and affliction are described as God contending with His people in due measure, removing them as by a fierce east wind. Even in judgment, God's dealings are proportionate and purposeful. His aim is restoration rather than annihilation, a mercy that anticipates the disciplining love shown to believers in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 29

  • Jer 10:24O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.
  • Ezek 19:12But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken and withered; the fire consumed them.
  • Hos 4:1Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
  • Jer 4:11At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,
  • Jer 2:17–37Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?
  • Jer 46:28Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.
  • Jer 4:27For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
  • 1 Pet 1:6Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
  • Jer 30:11For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.
  • Hos 13:15Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.
  • Hos 6:1–2Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
  • Ps 6:1O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
  • Ps 38:1O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
  • Isa 10:12Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
  • 1 Cor 10:13There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
  • Isa 54:7For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
  • Mic 6:2–5Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD’s controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the LORD hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.
  • Judg 10:10–16And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim.
  • Ps 76:10Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.
  • Isa 1:5Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
  • Isa 10:5–6O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
  • Job 23:6Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.
  • Isa 57:16For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.
  • Ps 103:14For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
  • Isa 5:3–4And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
  • Ps 78:38But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.
  • Isa 1:18–20Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
  • Hos 11:7–9And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.
  • Isa 50:1Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 27:8YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).

How Isaiah 27:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.