Berean BlueApp preview

C. F. Keil and Franz Delitzsch on Isaiah 5:29

Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. Browse this work.

Isaiah5:29

Isa 5:29 “Roaring issues from it as from the lioness: it roars like lions, and utters a low murmur; seizes the prey, carries it off, and no one rescues.” The futures, with the preceding לו שׁאגה which is equivalent to a future, hold each feature in the description fast, as if for prolonged contemplation. The lion roars when eager for prey; and such is now the war-cry of the bloodthirsty enemy, which the prophet compares to the roaring of a lion or of young lions (Cephirim) in the fulness of their strength. (The lion is described by its poetic name, לביא; this does not exactly apply to the lioness, which would rather be designated by the term לביּה.) The roar is succeeded by a low growl (nâham, fremere), when a lion is preparing to fall upon its prey.In Arabic, en - nehem is used to signify greediness (see Ali’s Proverbs, No. 16).

And so the prophet hears a low and ominous murmur in the army, which is now ready for battle. But he also sees immediately afterwards how the enemy seizes its booty and carries it irrecoverably away: literally, “how he causes it to escape,” i.e., not “lets it slip in cruel sport,” as Luzzatto interprets it, but carries it to a place of safety (Mic 6:14). The prey referred to is Judah. It also adds to the gloomy and mysterious character of the prophecy, that the prophet never mentions Judah. In the following v. also (Isa 5:30) the object is still suppressed, as if the prophet could not let it pass his lips.

C. F. Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, Isaiah 5:29. Public domain.

Permanent link. Source edition.

Read Isaiah 5. Compare commentaries on this chapter.

Source and publication rights

Public domain. Public Domain. Source edition.

Berean Blue opens December 1, 2026. Explore this passage in the app preview.