Isaiah 50:3

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.

Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

אַלְבִּ֥ישׁ שָׁמַ֖יִם קַדְר֑וּת וְשַׂ֖ק אָשִׂ֥ים כְּסוּתָֽם׃

Transliteration

I ʾalbîš šāmayim qaḏrûṯ and śaq I ʾāśîm their kəsûṯām.

Grammar Details

*ʾalbîš*: hiphil imperfect, 1st singular - I clothe/dress
*šāmayim*: noun, masculine dual - heavens/sky
*qaḏrûṯ*: noun, feminine singular - darkness/gloom
*śaq*: noun, masculine singular - sackcloth
*ʾāśîm*: imperfect, 1st singular - I make/set/place
*kəsûṯām*: noun, feminine singular + 3rd masculine plural suffix - their covering

Word Meanings

*ʾalbîš*: I clothe/I dress/I cover
*šāmayim*: heavens/sky
*qaḏrûṯ*: darkness/gloom/blackness
*śaq*: sackcloth/coarse cloth (of mourning)
*ʾāśîm*: I make/I set/I place/I establish
*kəsûṯām*: their covering/their garment

ℹ️

About this Translation

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

Formal EquivalenceSource: American Standard VersionBest for: Word studies and original-language research

🎯 Translation Approach

A highly literal, word-for-word translation (ASV, 1901) augmented with Strong's numbering to connect English words to underlying Hebrew and Greek terms for study.

Word-for-word

5/5

Readability

2/5

💎 Distinctive Features

Integrated Strong's numbering: Links English terms to underlying Hebrew and Greek words for deeper lexical study.
Formal equivalence: Prioritizes close alignment with source-language forms and structures.
Divine name rendering: Frequently renders the Tetragrammaton as Jehovah in the Old Testament, following ASV tradition.
Study-focused formatting: Optimized for reference and research rather than casual reading.

✅ Strengths

High fidelity to original languages
Includes Strong's numbers for precise word study
Consistent lexical choices aid exegesis
Stable, longstanding scholarly text

⚠️ Considerations

Archaic language reduces readability
Older textual basis compared to some modern translations
Strong's numbers are a concordance index, not full lexical definitions

👥 Who is this for?

Ideal for

Pastors and teachers
Seminary students
Serious Bible students
Readers conducting word studies
Those referencing Hebrew/Greek tools

Consider alternatives for

Casual readers
Children and early teens
ESL learners seeking simple English
Readers preferring contemporary language

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Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

Rev 6:12 : 12 And I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and {G2400} there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood;
Exod 10:21 : 21 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Stretch out thy hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.
Ps 18:11-12 : 11 He made darkness his hiding-place, his pavilion round about him, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. 12 At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed, Hailstones and coals of fire.
Matt 27:45 : 45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

Job 38:9-10
2 verses
80%
9When I made clouds the garment thereof, And thick darkness a swaddling-band for it,
10And marked out for it my bound, And set bars and doors,
Ezek 32:7-8
2 verses
76%
7And when I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heavens, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light.
8All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord Jehovah.
Isa 50:2
75%
2Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stink, because there is no water, and die for thirst.
Jer 4:28
74%
28For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and I have not repented, neither will I turn back from it.
Job 3:5
74%
5Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own; Let a cloud dwell upon it; Let all that maketh black the day terrify it.
Job 16:15
73%
15I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, And have laid my horn in the dust.
2 Sam 22:12
72%
12And he made darkness pavilions round about him, Gathering of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
Amos 8:9-10
2 verses
72%
9And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.
10And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
Ps 18:11
72%
11He made darkness his hiding-place, his pavilion round about him, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
Ps 69:11
72%
11When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword unto them.
Job 22:11
71%
11Or darkness, so that thou canst not see, And abundance of waters cover thee.
Isa 22:12
71%
12And in that day did the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
Joel 3:15
71%
15The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
Isa 5:30
71%
30And they shall roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold, darkness and distress; and the light is darkened in the clouds thereof.
Ps 104:2
70%
2Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment; Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain;
Zeph 1:15
70%
15That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
Amos 5:20
70%
20Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
Job 19:8
70%
8He hath walled up my way that I cannot pass, And hath set darkness in my paths.
Isa 45:7
70%
7I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil. I am Jehovah, that doeth all these things.
Job 30:30
70%
30My skin is black, [and falleth] from me, And my bones are burned with heat.
Isa 13:10-11
2 verses
70%
10For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine.
11And I will punish the world for [their] evil, and the wicked for their iniquity: and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
Job 10:22
70%
22The land dark as midnight, [The land] of the shadow of death, without any order, And where the light is as midnight.
Job 30:18
70%
18By [God's] great force is my garment disfigured; It bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.
Job 36:32
70%
32He covereth his hands with the lightning, And giveth it a charge that it strike the mark.
Job 26:9
70%
9He incloseth the face of his throne, And spreadeth his cloud upon it.
Job 23:17
69%
17Because I was not cut off before the darkness, Neither did he cover the thick darkness from my face.
Joel 1:8
69%
8Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
Jer 4:23
69%
23I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
Job 38:2
69%
2Who is this that darkeneth counsel By words without knowledge?
Jer 13:16
69%
16Give glory to Jehovah your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
Isa 58:5
69%
5Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Jehovah?
Job 3:9
69%
9Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark: Let it look for light, but have none; Neither let it behold the eyelids of the morning:
Amos 4:13
69%
13For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought; that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth— Jehovah, the God of hosts, is his name.
Isa 50:4
69%
4The Lord Jehovah hath given me the tongue of them that are taught, that I may know how to sustain with words him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as they that are taught.
Lam 3:6
69%
6He hath made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead.
Job 29:14
69%
14I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: My justice was as a robe and a diadem.
Ps 18:9
69%
9He bowed the heavens also, and came down; And thick darkness was under his feet.
Job 38:34
69%
34Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, That abundance of waters may cover thee?
Jer 4:8
69%
8For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and wail; for the fierce anger of Jehovah is not turned back from us.
Mic 1:8
69%
8For this will I lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will make a wailing like the jackals, and a lamentation like the ostriches.
2 Sam 22:10
69%
10He bowed the heavens also, and came down; And thick darkness was under his feet.
Isa 42:15
69%
15I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and will dry up the pools.
Lam 3:1
69%
1I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
Ps 139:11
69%
11If I say, Surely the darkness shall overwhelm me, And the light about me shall be night;
Isa 45:3
69%
3and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that it is I, Jehovah, who call thee by thy name, even the God of Israel.
Isa 50:10
69%
10Who is among you that feareth Jehovah, that obeyeth the voice of his servant? he that walketh in darkness, and hath no light, let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and rely upon his God.