Isaiah 5:28
◄  Isaiah 5:28  ►
New International Version (©2011)
Their arrows are sharp, all their bows are strung; their horses' hooves seem like flint, their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.

New Living Translation (©2007)
Their arrows will be sharp and their bows ready for battle. Sparks will fly from their horses' hooves, and the wheels of their chariots will spin like a whirlwind.

English Standard Version (©2001)
their arrows are sharp, all their bows bent, their horses’ hoofs seem like flint, and their wheels like the whirlwind.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
Its arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent; The hoofs of its horses seem like flint and its chariot wheels like a whirlwind.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind:

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
Their arrows are sharpened, and all their bows strung. Their horses' hooves are like flint; their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.

International Standard Version (©2012)
Their arrows are sharp, all their bows ready for action. Their horses' hooves seem like flint, and their chariot wheels spin like a whirlwind.

NET Bible (©2006)
Their arrows are sharpened, and all their bows are prepared. The hooves of their horses are hard as flint, and their chariot wheels are like a windstorm.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Their arrows are sharpened; all their bows are ready to shoot. Their horses' hoofs are as hard as flint. Their chariot wheels are as quick as the wind.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind.

American King James Version
Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind:

American Standard Version
whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent; their horses hoofs shall be accounted as flint, and their wheels as a whirlwind:

Douay-Rheims Bible
Their arrows are sharp, and all their bows are bent. The hoofs of their horses shall be like the hint, and their wheels like the violence of a tempest.

Darby Bible Translation
their arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent; their horses' hoofs are reckoned as the flint, and their wheels as a whirlwind.

English Revised Version
whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent; their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind:

Webster's Bible Translation
Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind:

World English Bible
whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent. Their horses' hoofs will be like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind.

Young's Literal Translation
Whose arrows are sharp, and all its bows bent, Hoofs of its horses as flint have been reckoned, And its wheels as a hurricane!

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

5:24-30 Let not any expect to live easily who live wickedly. Sin weakens the strength, the root of a people; it defaces the beauty, the blossoms of a people. When God's word is despised, and his law cast away, what can men expect but that God should utterly abandon them? When God comes forth in wrath, the hills tremble, fear seizes even great men. When God designs the ruin of a provoking people, he can find instruments to be employed in it, as he sent for the Chaldeans, and afterwards the Romans, to destroy the Jews. Those who would not hear the voice of God speaking by his prophets, shall hear the voice of their enemies roaring against them. Let the distressed look which way they will, all appears dismal. If God frowns upon us, how can any creature smile? Let us diligently seek the well-grounded assurance, that when all earthly helps and comforts shall fail, God himself will be the strength of our hearts, and our portion for ever.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 28. - Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent. The special weapon of the Assyrian soldiers is the bow. From the king in his chariot to the light-armed recruit just pressed into the service, all fight mainly with this weapon, more particularly in the earlier times (see 'Ancient Monarchies,' vol. 1. pp. 414, 423, 424-437, etc.). Swords and spears are also known, but comparatively little used. Their horses' hoofs... like flint. Hard, strong, and solid, as was most necessary when shoeing was unknown. Their wheels like a whirlwind. Sennacherib (Isaiah 37:24) is represented as boasting of the "multitude of his chariots;" and both the sculptures and the inscriptions of Assyria show that the chariot throe was numerous, and was regarded as more important than any other. The king always went to battle in a chariot. For the comparison of the rush of chariot-wheels to a whirlwind, see below, Isaiah 66:15; and comp. Jeremiah 4:13).

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent,.... Ready to shoot their arrows upon any occasion; and which being sharp, penetrated deep, and were deadly. This includes all kind of warlike instruments, with which they should come furnished, and ready prepared to do execution:

their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint; by those who rode upon them; who knowing how strong and firm they were, and that they were not worn out, nor hurt by the length of the way they came, would not spare to make haste upon them:

and their wheels like a whirlwind; that is, the wheels of their chariots, they used in battle, as Aben Ezra, Jarchi, and Kimchi, interpret it; and so the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it: this metaphor denotes both the swiftness with which they should come, and the noise and rattling they should make, and the power and force in bearing down all before them. The Targum is,

"and his wheels swift as a tempest.''

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

28. bent—ready for battle.

hoofs … flint—The ancients did not shoe their horses: hence the value of hard hoofs for long marches.

wheels—of their chariots. The Assyrian army abounded in cavalry and chariots (Isa 22:6, 7; 36:8).

Isaiah 5:28 Parallel Commentaries

Isaiah 5:28 NIV
Isaiah 5:28 NLT
Isaiah 5:28 ESV
Isaiah 5:28 NASB
Isaiah 5:28 KJV

Bible Hub: Online Parallel Bible


Woes to the Wicked
…27None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the lace of their shoes be broken: 28Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind: 29Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yes, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it.

Psalm 7:12 If he does not relent, he will sharpen his sword; he will bend and string his bow.
Psalm 7:13 He has prepared his deadly weapons; he makes ready his flaming arrows.
Psalm 45:5 Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king's enemies; let the nations fall beneath your feet.
Psalm 120:4 He will punish you with a warrior's sharp arrows, with burning coals of the broom bush.
Isaiah 13:18 Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants, nor will they look with compassion on children.
Isaiah 21:1 A prophecy against the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the southland, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror.
Isaiah 66:15 See, the LORD is coming with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind; he will bring down his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
Jeremiah 4:13 Look! He advances like the clouds, his chariots come like a whirlwind, his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! We are ruined!
Jeremiah 5:16 Their quivers are like an open grave; all of them are mighty warriors.
Ezekiel 26:11 The hooves of his horses will trample all your streets; he will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars will fall to the ground.
Ezekiel 38:9 You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.
Daniel 11:40 "At the time of the end the king of the South will engage him in battle, and the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood.