Isaiah 13:4

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

There is a loud noise on the mountains– it sounds like a large army! There is great commotion among the kingdoms– nations are being assembled! The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is mustering forces for battle.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

ק֥וֹל הָמ֛וֹן בֶּֽהָרִ֖ים דְּמ֣וּת עַם־רָ֑ב ק֠וֹל שְׁא֞וֹן מַמְלְכ֤וֹת גּוֹיִם֙ נֶֽאֱסָפִ֔ים יְהוָ֣ה צְבָא֔וֹת מְפַקֵּ֖ד צְבָ֥א מִלְחָמָֽה׃

Transliteration

Qôl hāmôn in-the-hārîm dəmûṯ ʿam-rāḇ qôl šəʾôn mamləḵôṯ gôyim neʾĕsāp̄îm YHWH ṣəḇāʾôṯ məp̄aqqēḏ ṣəḇā milḥāmāh

Grammar Details

• *qôl*: noun, masculine, singular, construct - sound of/voice of
• *hāmôn*: noun, masculine, singular - multitude/tumult/crowd
• *behārîm*: preposition + noun, masculine plural, + definite article - in the mountains
• *dəmûṯ*: noun, feminine, singular, construct - likeness of/resemblance of
• *ʿam-rāḇ*: noun, masculine, singular + adjective - many/great people
• *šəʾôn*: noun, masculine, singular, construct - roar of/tumult of
• *mamləḵôṯ*: noun, feminine, plural, construct - kingdoms of
• *gôyim*: noun, masculine, plural - nations/peoples
• *neʾĕsāp̄îm*: verb, Niphal participle, masculine plural - being gathered/assembled
• *YHWH*: proper noun - divine name
• *ṣəḇāʾôṯ*: noun, masculine, plural - hosts/armies
• *məp̄aqqēḏ*: verb, Piel participle, masculine singular - mustering/numbering/commanding
• *ṣəḇā*: noun, masculine, singular, construct - army of
• *milḥāmāh*: noun, feminine, singular - war/battle

Word Meanings

• *hāmôn*: multitude/tumult/crowd/noise
• *dəmûṯ*: likeness/resemblance/form/appearance
• *šəʾôn*: roar/tumult/uproar
• *neʾĕsāp̄îm*: being gathered/being assembled/coming together
• *məp̄aqqēḏ*: mustering/numbering/commanding/appointing

Referenced Verses

• Joel 3:14 : 14 Crowds, great crowds are in the valley of decision, for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision!
• Zech 14:1-3 : 1 The Sovereignty of the Lord A day of the LORD is about to come when your possessions will be divided as plunder in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to wage war; the city will be taken, its houses plundered, and the women raped. Then half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be taken away. 3 Then the LORD will go to battle and fight against those nations, just as he fought battles in ancient days.
• Zech 14:13-14 : 13 On that day there will be great confusion from the LORD among them; they will seize each other and attack one another violently. 14 Moreover, Judah will fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered up– gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance.
• Rev 9:7-9 : 7 Now the locusts looked like horses equipped for battle. On their heads were something like crowns similar to gold, and their faces looked like men’s faces. 8 They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 They had breastplates like iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings was like the noise of many horse-drawn chariots charging into battle. 10 They have tails and stingers like scorpions, and their ability to injure people for five months is in their tails. 11 They have as king over them the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon. 12 The first woe has passed, but two woes are still coming after these things! 13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a single voice coming from the horns on the golden altar that is before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel, the one holding the trumpet,“Set free the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!” 15 Then the four angels who had been prepared for this hour, day, month, and year were set free to kill a third of humanity. 16 The number of soldiers on horseback was two hundred million; I heard their number. 17 Now this is what the horses and their riders looked like in my vision: The riders had breastplates that were fiery red, dark blue, and sulfurous yellow in color. The heads of the horses looked like lions’ heads, and fire, smoke, and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 A third of humanity was killed by these three plagues, that is, by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses resides in their mouths and in their tails, because their tails are like snakes, having heads that inflict injuries.
• Rev 18:8 : 8 For this reason, she will experience her plagues in a single day: disease, mourning, and famine, and she will be burned down with fire, because the Lord God who judges her is powerful!”
• Rev 19:11-21 : 11 The Son of God Goes to War Then I saw heaven opened and here came a white horse! The one riding it was called“Faithful” and“True,” and with justice he judges and goes to war. 12 His eyes are like a fiery flame and there are many diadem crowns on his head. He has a name written that no one knows except himself. 13 He is dressed in clothing dipped in blood, and he is called the Word of God. 14 The armies that are in heaven, dressed in white, clean, fine linen, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth extends a sharp sword, so that with it he can strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod, and he stomps the winepress of the furious wrath of God, the All-Powerful. 16 He has a name written on his clothing and on his thigh:“King of kings and Lord of lords.” 17 Then I saw one angel standing in the sun, and he shouted in a loud voice to all the birds flying high in the sky:“Come, gather around for the great banquet of God, 18 to eat your fill of the flesh of kings, the flesh of generals, the flesh of powerful people, the flesh of horses and those who ride them, and the flesh of all people, both free and slave, and small and great!” 19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to do battle with the one who rode the horse and with his army. 20 Now the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf– signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. 21 The others were killed by the sword that extended from the mouth of the one who rode the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh.
• Isa 10:5-6 : 5 The Lord Turns on Arrogant Assyria Beware, Assyria, the club I use to vent my anger, a cudgel with which I angrily punish. 6 I sent him against a godless nation, I ordered him to attack the people with whom I was angry, to take plunder and to carry away loot, to trample them down like dirt in the streets.
• Isa 22:1-9 : 1 The Lord Will Judge Jerusalem This is an oracle about the Valley of Vision: What is the reason that all of you go up to the rooftops? 2 The noisy city is full of raucous sounds; the town is filled with revelry. Your slain were not cut down by the sword; they did not die in battle. 3 All your leaders ran away together– they fled to a distant place; all your refugees were captured together– they were captured without a single arrow being shot. 4 So I say:“Don’t look at me! I am weeping bitterly. Don’t try to console me concerning the destruction of my defenseless people.” 5 For the Sovereign LORD of Heaven’s Armies, has planned a day of panic, defeat, and confusion. In the Valley of Vision people shout and cry out to the hill. 6 The Elamites picked up the quiver, and came with chariots and horsemen; the men of Kir prepared the shield. 7 Your very best valleys were full of chariots; horsemen confidently took their positions at the gate. 8 They removed the defenses of Judah. At that time you looked for the weapons in the House of the Forest. 9 You saw the many breaks in the walls of the City of David; you stored up water in the lower pool.
• Isa 45:1-2 : 1 This is what the LORD says to his chosen one, to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold in order to subdue nations before him, and disarm kings, to open doors before him, so gates remain unclosed: 2 “I will go before you and level mountains. Bronze doors I will shatter and iron bars I will hack through.
• Jer 50:2-3 : 2 “Announce the news among the nations! Proclaim it! Signal for people to pay attention! Declare the news! Do not hide it! Say:‘Babylon will be captured. Bel will be put to shame. Marduk will be dismayed. Babylon’s idols will be put to shame. Her disgusting images will be dismayed. 3 For a nation from the north will attack Babylon. It will lay her land waste. People and animals will flee out of it. No one will inhabit it.’
• Jer 50:14-15 : 14 “Take up your battle positions all around Babylon, all you soldiers who are armed with bows. Shoot all your arrows at her! Do not hold any back! For she has sinned against the LORD. 15 Shout the battle cry from all around the city. She will throw up her hands in surrender. Her towers will fall. Her walls will be torn down. Because I, the LORD, am wreaking revenge, take out your vengeance on her! Do to her as she has done!
• Jer 50:21-46 : 21 The LORD says,“Attack the land of Merathaim and the people who live in Pekod! Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them! Do just as I have commanded you! 22 The noise of battle can be heard in the land of Babylonia. There is the sound of great destruction. 23 Babylon hammered the whole world to pieces. But see how that‘hammer’ has been broken and shattered! See what an object of horror Babylon has become among the nations! 24 I set a trap for you, Babylon; you were caught before you knew it. You fought against me. So you were found and captured. 25 I have opened up the place where my weapons are stored. I have brought out the weapons for carrying out my wrath. For I, the Sovereign LORD of Heaven’s Armies, have work to carry out in the land of Babylonia. 26 Come from far away and attack Babylonia! Open up the places where she stores her grain! Pile her up in ruins! Destroy her completely! Do not leave anyone alive! 27 Kill all her soldiers! Let them be slaughtered! They are doomed, for their day of reckoning has come, the time for them to be punished.” 28 Listen! Fugitives and refugees are coming from the land of Babylon. They are coming to Zion to declare there how the LORD our God is getting revenge, getting revenge for what they have done to his temple. 29 “Call for archers to come against Babylon! Summon against her all who draw the bow! Set up camp all around the city! Do not allow anyone to escape! Pay her back for what she has done. Do to her what she has done to others. For she has proudly defied me, the Holy One of Israel. 30 So her young men will fall in her city squares. All her soldiers will be destroyed at that time,” says the LORD. 31 “Listen! I am opposed to you, you proud city,” says the Sovereign LORD of Heaven’s Armies.“Indeed, your day of reckoning has come, the time when I will punish you. 32 You will stumble and fall, you proud city; no one will help you get up. I will set fire to your towns; it will burn up everything that surrounds you.” 33 The LORD of Heaven’s Armies says,“The people of Israel are oppressed. So too are the people of Judah. All those who took them captive are holding them prisoners. They refuse to set them free. 34 But the one who will rescue them is strong. His name is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. He will strongly champion their cause. As a result he will bring peace and rest to the earth, but trouble and turmoil to the people who inhabit Babylonia. 35 “Destructive forces will come against the Babylonians,” says the LORD.“They will come against the people who inhabit Babylonia, against her leaders and her men of wisdom. 36 Destructive forces will come against her false prophets; they will be shown to be fools! Destructive forces will come against her soldiers; they will be filled with terror! 37 Destructive forces will come against her horses and her chariots. Destructive forces will come against all the foreign troops within her; they will be as frightened as women! Destructive forces will come against her treasures; they will be taken away as plunder! 38 A drought will come upon her land; her rivers and canals will be dried up. All of this will happen because her land is filled with idols. Her people act like madmen because of those idols they fear. 39 Therefore desert creatures and jackals will live there. Ostriches will dwell in it too. But no people will ever live there again. No one will dwell there for all time to come. 40 I will destroy Babylonia just like I did Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns. No one will live there. No human being will settle in it,” says the LORD. 41 “Look! An army is about to come from the north. A mighty nation and many kings are stirring into action in faraway parts of the earth. 42 Its soldiers are armed with bows and spears. They are cruel and show no mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride forth on their horses. Lined up in formation like men going into battle, they are coming against you, fair Babylon! 43 The king of Babylon will become paralyzed with fear when he hears news of their coming. Anguish will grip him, agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby. 44 “A lion coming up from the thick undergrowth along the Jordan scatters the sheep in the pastureland around it. So too I will chase the Babylonians off of their land. Then I will appoint over it whomever I choose. For there is no one like me. There is no one who can call me to account. There is no ruler that can stand up against me. 45 So listen to what I, the LORD, have planned against Babylon, what I intend to do to the people who inhabit the land of Babylonia. Their little ones will be dragged off. I will completely destroy their land because of what they have done. 46 The people of the earth will quake when they hear Babylon has been captured. Her cries of anguish will be heard by the other nations.”
• Jer 51:6-9 : 6 Get out of Babylonia quickly, you foreign people. Flee to save your lives. Do not let yourselves be killed because of her sins. For it is time for the LORD to wreak his revenge. He will pay Babylonia back for what she has done. 7 Babylonia had been a gold cup in the LORD’s hand. She had made the whole world drunk. The nations had drunk from the wine of her wrath. So they have all gone mad. 8 But suddenly Babylonia will fall and be destroyed. Cry out in mourning over it! Get medicine for her wounds! Perhaps she can be healed! 9 Foreigners living there will say,‘We tried to heal her, but she could not be healed. Let’s leave Babylonia and each go back to his own country. For judgment on her will be vast in its proportions. It will be like it is piled up to heaven, stacked up into the clouds.’ 10 The exiles from Judah will say,‘The LORD has brought about a great deliverance for us! Come on, let’s go and proclaim in Zion what the LORD our God has done!’ 11 “Sharpen your arrows! Fill your quivers! The LORD will arouse a spirit of hostility in the kings of Media. For he intends to destroy Babylonia. For that is how the LORD will get his revenge– how he will get his revenge for the Babylonians’ destruction of his temple. 12 Give the signal to attack Babylon’s wall! Bring more guards! Post them all around the city! Put men in ambush! For the LORD will do what he has planned. He will do what he said he would do to the people of Babylon. 13 “You who live along the rivers of Babylon, the time of your end has come. You who are rich in plundered treasure, it is time for your lives to be cut off. 14 The LORD of Heaven’s Armies has solemnly sworn,‘I will fill your land with enemy soldiers. They will swarm over it like locusts. They will raise up shouts of victory over it.’ 15 He is the one who by his power made the earth. He is the one who by his wisdom fixed the world in place, by his understanding he spread out the heavens. 16 When his voice thunders, the waters in the heavens roar. He makes the clouds rise from the far-off horizons. He makes the lightning flash out in the midst of the rain. He unleashes the wind from the places where he stores it. 17 All idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made. For the image he forges is merely a sham. There is no breath in any of those idols. 18 They are worthless, objects to be ridiculed. When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed. 19 The LORD, who is the portion of the descendants of Jacob, is not like them. For he is the one who created everything, including the people of Israel whom he claims as his own. His name is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. 20 “Babylon, you are my war club, my weapon for battle. I used you to smash nations. I used you to destroy kingdoms. 21 I used you to smash horses and their riders. I used you to smash chariots and their drivers. 22 I used you to smash men and women. I used you to smash old men and young men. I used you to smash young men and young women. 23 I used you to smash shepherds and their flocks. I used you to smash farmers and their teams of oxen. I used you to smash governors and leaders.” 24 “But I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia for all the wicked things they did in Zion right before the eyes of you Judeans,” says the LORD. 25 The LORD says,“Beware! I am opposed to you, Babylon! You are like a destructive mountain that destroys all the earth. I will unleash my power against you; I will roll you off the cliffs and make you like a burned-out mountain.
• Jer 51:27-28 : 27 “Raise up battle flags throughout the lands. Sound the trumpets calling the nations to do battle. Prepare the nations to do battle against Babylonia. Call for these kingdoms to attack her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander to lead the attack. Send horses against her like a swarm of locusts. 28 Prepare the nations to do battle against her. Prepare the kings of the Medes. Prepare their governors and all their leaders. Prepare all the countries they rule to do battle against her.
• Ezek 38:3-9 : 3 and say:‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Look, I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and bring you out with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them fully armed, a great company with shields of different types, all of them armed with swords. 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Put are with them, all of them with shields and helmets. 6 They are joined by Gomer with all its troops, and by Beth Togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops– many peoples are with you. 7 “‘Be ready and stay ready, you and all your companies assembled around you, and be a guard for them. 8 After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come to a land restored from the ravages of war, from many peoples gathered on the mountains of Israel that had long been in ruins. Its people were brought out from the peoples, and all of them will be living securely. 9 You will advance; you will come like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the earth, you, all your troops, and the many other peoples with you. 10 “‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil plan. 11 You will say,“I will invade a land of unwalled towns; I will advance against those living quietly in security– all of them living without walls and barred gates– 12 to loot and plunder, to attack the inhabited ruins and the people gathered from the nations, who are acquiring cattle and goods, who live at the center of the earth.” 13 Sheba and Dedan and the traders of Tarshish with all its young warriors will say to you,“Have you come to loot? Have you assembled your armies to plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to haul away a great amount of spoils?”’ 14 “Therefore, prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog:‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On that day when my people Israel are living securely, you will take notice 15 and come from your place, from the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a vast army. 16 You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud covering the earth. In the latter days I will bring you against my land so that the nations may acknowledge me, when before their eyes I magnify myself through you, O Gog. 17 “‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days that I would bring you against them? 18 On that day, when Gog invades the land of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD, my rage will mount up in my anger. 19 In my zeal, in the fire of my fury, I declare that on that day there will be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 The fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the wild beasts, all the things that creep on the ground, and all people who live on the face of the earth will shake at my presence. The mountains will topple, the cliffs will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground. 21 I will call for a sword to attack Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign LORD; every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 I will judge him with plague and bloodshed. I will rain down on him, his troops and the many peoples who are with him a torrential downpour, hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 23 I will exalt and magnify myself; I will reveal myself before many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’
• Joel 2:1-9 : 1 The Locusts’ Devastation Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear, for the day of the LORD is about to come. Indeed, it is near! 2 It will be a day of dreadful darkness, a day of foreboding storm clouds, like blackness spread over the mountains. It is a huge and powerful army– there has never been anything like it ever before, and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come! 3 Like fire they devour everything in their path; a flame blazes behind them. The land looks like the Garden of Eden before them, but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness– for nothing escapes them! 4 They look like horses; they charge ahead like war horses. 5 They sound like chariots rumbling over mountain tops, like the crackling of blazing fire consuming stubble, like the noise of a mighty army being drawn up for battle. 6 People writhe in fear when they see them. All of their faces turn pale with fright. 7 They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. Each one proceeds on his course; they do not alter their path. 8 They do not jostle one another; each of them marches straight ahead. They burst through the city defenses and do not break ranks. 9 They rush into the city; they scale its walls. They climb up into the houses; they go in through the windows like a thief. 10 The earth quakes before them; the sky reverberates. The sun and the moon grow dark; the stars refuse to shine. 11 The voice of the LORD thunders as he leads his army. Indeed, his warriors are innumerable; Surely his command is carried out! Yes, the day of the LORD is awesome and very terrifying– who can survive it?
• Joel 2:25 : 25 I will make up for the years that the‘arbeh-locust consumed your crops– the yeleq-locust, the hasil-locust, and the gazam-locust– my great army that I sent against you.