Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
Parallel translations
- WEB Your heart will meditate on the terror. Where is he who counted? Where is he who weighed? Where is he who counted the towers?
- BSB Your mind will ponder the former terror: “Where is he who tallies? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who counts the towers?”
- NKJV Your heart will meditate on terror: “Where is the scribe? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who counts the towers?”
- NASB Your heart will meditate on terror: “Where is one who counts? Where is one who weighs? Where is one who counts the towers?”
- NLT You will think back to this time of terror, asking, “Where are the Assyrian officers who counted our towers? Where are the bookkeepers who recorded the plunder taken from our fallen city?”
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
In safety, the people will look back and marvel that the terrifying enemy officials are gone.
Overview
With the danger past, Judah will recall the dread of Assyrian officers who counted tribute, weighed payments, and inspected the towers for assault. The taunting question 'where is he?' celebrates that the oppressor has vanished. This echoes the triumph of God's deliverance and foreshadows the final removal of every threat to God's people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- 1 Cor 1:20Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
- Ps 31:7–8I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;
- 1 Sam 25:33–36And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.
- 2 Kgs 18:14And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
- Isa 17:14And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.
- Gen 23:16And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.
- 1 Sam 30:6And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.
- Ps 71:20Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
- 2 Kgs 18:31Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern:
- 2 Kgs 15:19And Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.
- Isa 38:9–22The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:
- Isa 10:16–19Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.
- Ps 31:22For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.
- 2 Tim 3:11Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.
- 2 Cor 1:8–10For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 33:18 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.