TRV
Translation
King James Version
And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.
Complete Jewish Bible
You won't visit hills once worked with a hoe, for fear of the briars and thorns; it will be good only for pasturing cattle and being trampled down by sheep.
Berean Standard Bible
For fear of the briers and thorns, you will no longer traverse the hills once tilled by the hoe; they will become places for oxen to graze and sheep to trample.
American Standard Version
And all the hills that were digged with the mattock, thou shalt not come thither for fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of sheep.
World English Bible Messianic
All the hills that were cultivated with the hoe, you shall not come there for fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the sending out of oxen, and for the treading of sheep.”
Geneva Bible (1599)
But on all the mountaines, which shalbe digged with the mattocke, there shall not come thither the feare of briers and thornes: but they shalbe for the sending out of bullocks, and for the treading of sheepe.
Young's Literal Translation
And all the hills that with a mattock are kept in order, Thither cometh not the fear of brier and thorn, And it hath been for the sending forth of ox, And for the treading of sheep!'
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In the KJVVerse 17,808 of 31,102
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Commentary on Isaiah 7 verses 17–25
17 ¶ The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.
18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
19 And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.
20 In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;
22 And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.
23 And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.
24 With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.
25 And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.
After the comfortable promises made to Ahaz as a branch of the house of David, here follow terrible threatenings against him, as a degenerate branch of that house; for though the loving-kindness of God shall not be utterly taken away, for the sake of David and the covenant made with him, yet his iniquity shall be chastened with the rod, and his sin with stripes. Let those that will not mix faith with the promises of God expect to hear the alarms of his threatenings.
I. The judgment threatened is very great, Isa 7:17. It is very great, for it is general; it shall be brought upon the prince himself (high as he is, he shall not be out of the reach of it), and upon the people, the whole body of the nation, and upon the royal family, upon all thy father's house; it shall be a judgment entailed on posterity, and shall go along with the royal blood. It is very great, for it shall be unprecedented - days that have not come; so dark, so gloomy, so melancholy, as never were the like since the revolt of the ten tribes, when Ephraim departed from Judah, which was indeed a sad time to the house of David. Note, The longer men continue in sin the sorer punishments they have reason to expect. It is the Lord that will bring these days upon them, for our times are in his hand, and who can resist or escape the judgments he brings?
II. The enemy that should be employed as the instrument of this judgment is the king of Assyria. Ahaz reposed great confidence in that prince for help against the confederate powers of Israel and Syria, and minded the less what God said to him by his prophet for his encouragement because he built much upon his interest in the king of Assyria, and had meanly promised to be his servant if he would send him some succours; he had also, made him a present of gold and silver, for which he drained the treasures both of church and state, Kg2 16:7, Kg2 16:8. Now God threatens that that king of Assyria whom he made his stay instead of God should become a scourge to him. He was so speedily; for, when he came to him, he distressed him, but strengthened him not (Ch2 28:20), the reed not only broke under him, but ran into his hand, and pierced it, and thenceforward the kings of Assyria were, for a long time, grieving thorns to Judah, and gave them a great deal of trouble. Note, The creature that we make our hope commonly proves our hurt. The king of Assyria, not long after this, made himself master of the ten tribes, carried them captive, and laid their country waste, so as fully to answer the prediction here; and perhaps it may refer to that, as an explication of Isa 7:8, where it is foretold that Ephraim shall be broken, that it shall not be a people; and it is easy to suppose that the prophet (at Isa 7:17) turns his speech to the king of Israel, denouncing God's judgments against him for invading Judah. But the expositors universally understand it of Ahaz and his kingdom. Now observe, 1. Summons given to the invaders (Isa 7:18): The Lord shall whistle for the fly and the bee. See Isa 5:26. Enemies that seem as contemptible as a fly or a bee, and are as easily crushed, shall yet, when God pleases, do his work as effectually as lions and young lions. Though they are as far distant from one another as the rivers of Egypt and the land of Assyria, yet they shall punctually meet to join in this work when God commands their attendance; for, when God has work to do, he will not be at a loss for instruments to do it with. 2. Possession taken by them, Isa 7:19. It should seem as if the country were in no condition to make resistance. They find no difficulties in forcing their way, but come and rest all of them in the desolate valleys, which the inhabitants had deserted upon the first alarm, and left them a cheap and easy prey to the invaders. They shall come and rest in the low grounds like swarms of flies and bees, and shall render themselves impregnable by taking shelter in the holes of the rocks, as bees often do, and showing themselves formidable by appearing openly upon all thorns and all bushes; so generally shall the land be overspread with them. These bees shall knit upon the thorns and bushes, and there rest undisturbed. 3. Great desolations made, and the country generally depopulated (Isa 7:20): The Lord shall shave the hair of the head, and beard, and feet; he shall sweep all away, as the leper, when he was cleansed, shaved off all his hair, Lev 14:8, Lev 14:9. This is done with a razor which is hired, either which God has hired (as if he had none of his own; but what he hires, and whom he employs in any service for him, he will pay for. See Eze 29:18, Eze 29:19), or which Ahaz has hired for his assistance. God will make that to be an instrument of his destruction which he hired into his service. Note, Many are beaten with that arm of flesh which they trusted to rather than to the arm of the Lord, and which they were at a great expense upon, when by faith and prayer they might have found cheap and easy succour in God. 4. The consequences of this general depopulation. (1.) The flocks of cattle shall be all destroyed, so that a man who had herds and flocks in abundance shall be stripped of them all by the enemy, and shall with much ado save for his own use a young cow and two sheep - a poor stock (Isa 7:21), yet he shall think himself happy in having any left. (2.) The few cattle that are left shall have such a large compass of ground to feed in that they shall give abundance of milk, and very good milk, such as shall produce butter enough, Isa 7:22. There shall also be such want of men that the milk of one cow and two sheep shall serve a whole family, which used to keep abundance of servants and consume a great deal, but is now reduced. (3.) The breed of cattle shall be destroyed; so that those who used to eat flesh ( as the Jews commonly did) shall be necessitated to confine themselves to butter and honey, for there shall be no flesh for them; and the country shall be so depopulated that there shall be butter and honey enough for the few that are left in it. (4.) Good land, that used to be let well, shall be all overrun with briers and thorns (Isa 7:23); where there used to be a thousand vines planted, for which the tenants used to pay a thousand shekels, or pieces of silver, yearly rent, there shall be nothing now but briers and thorns, no profit either for landlord or tenant, all being laid waste by the army of the invaders. Note, God can soon turn a fruitful land into barrenness; and it is just with him to turn vines into briers if we, instead of bringing forth grapes to him, bring forth wild grapes, Isa 5:4. (5.) The implements of husbandry shall be turned into instruments of war, Isa 7:24. The whole land having become briers and thorns, the grounds that men used to come to with sickles and pruning-hooks to gather in the fruits they shall now come to with arrows and bows, to hunt for wild beasts in the thickets, or to defend themselves from the robbers that lurk in the bushes, seeking for prey, or to kill the serpents and venomous beasts that are hid there. This denotes a very sad change of the face of that pleasant land. But what melancholy change is there which sin will not make with a people? (6.) Where briers and thorns were wont to be of use and to do good service, even in the hedges, for the defence of the enclosed grounds, they shall be plucked up, and all laid in common. There shall be briers and thorns in abundance where they should not be, but none where they should be, Isa 7:25. The hills that shall be digged with the mattock, for special use, from which the cattle used to be kept off with the fear of briers and thorns, shall now be thrown open, the hedges broken down for the boar out of the wood to waste it, Psa 80:12, Psa 80:13. It shall be left at large for oxen to run in and less cattle. See the effect of sin and the curse; it has made the earth a forest of thorns and thistles, except as it is forced into some order by the constant care and labour of man. And see what folly it is to set our hearts upon possessions of lands, be they every so fruitful, ever so pleasant; if they lie ever so little neglected and uncultivated, or if they be abused by a wasteful careless heir or tenant, or the country be laid waste by war, they will soon become frightful deserts. Heaven is a paradise not subject to such changes.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 17–25. Public domain.
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JeromeAD 420
Commentary on Isaiah
(Verse 21 onwards) And it shall come to pass on that day, a man shall nurture a cow of oxen, and two sheep, and because of the abundance of milk, he shall eat butter; for everyone who is left in the midst of the land shall eat butter and honey. And it shall come to pass on that day, every place where a thousand vines were worth a thousand silver shekels, there shall be thorns and briers. With arrows and bows they shall come there, for thorns and briers shall cover the whole land. And all the hills that were once cultivated with a hoe shall no longer be afraid of thistles and thorns; and they shall become pastures for cattle and a trampling ground for livestock. After the subversion of Jerusalem, the captivity of the people, and the burning of the Temple, Nabuzardan, the prince of the army whom the Seventy called the chief cook, left a few of the people, and those poor, in the land to till the vineyards and fields. Finally, Godolias, who had been appointed over them from the royal line, encourages them and says: Do not be afraid of the Chaldeans; dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you (2 Kings 25:24). Therefore, at that time when all the wealth of the Jews had been transferred to Chaldea, there will be such a great desolation in the land of Judaea and such incredible devastation that they will by no means have herds of cattle or flocks of sheep as they used to have before: but scarcely a rare inhabitant will be able to support one cow and two sheep; not for plowing, but for food and clothing of milk and wool. Indeed, because of the scarcity of wheat and everything that the land produces for eating, they will subsist on milk, butter, and wild honey. And what he says: He will eat butter from the abundance of milk, signifies that the land will be more fertile due to the scarcity of farmers and more suitable for grazing. In that time, due to the scarcity of people, there will be such a shortage of wine from deserted vineyards, which will not be considered a concern for hostile fear, that each vine will barely be bought with silver sickles. For all the land will be reduced to brambles and thorns: and there will be such fear, with swords raging everywhere, that no one will dare to visit their own field without a bow and arrows, and abandoning the open fields, they will seek refuge in the mountains, and there, fortified by the difficulty of the location, they will barely dig rough mountains by hand: because they will not have oxen, plows, and plowshares. Therefore, if a rare inhabitant were found in the mountains, they would sustain a miserable life from there. The rest, however, will be open to pasture, and without any guardian, they will be trampled by wild animals. These things are accustomed to happen after captivity, would that we did not know! But now a large part of the Roman world is similar to once Judea: which we do not think was done without the anger of God, who avenges not at all the contempt of himself through the Assyrians and the Chaldeans; but through savage nations, and once unknown to us, whose faces and speech are terrifying, and they have feminine and cut faces (he means the Goths who shaved their beards), they pierce the fleeing backs of men, well-bearded. I have read in these places an extensive and intricate tropology: that everything, which we have discussed according to history, happened spiritually to the Jews, who barely had one cow and two sheep, namely clean animals: so that they might be nourished not with solid food, but with milk, like infants, and consume the honey of words, which drip from the lips of a prostitute; and they do not have wine, which gladdens the heart of man: but all their works are turned into thorns, so that they may be wounded by adversaries, who strike at the upright of heart (Psalm 10). But if at any time they desire to know something more deeply, and, exerting excessive effort, they seek to discover something mystical from the Holy Scriptures, nevertheless, they bring forth no fruits of doctrine, but rather their minds are filled with thorns and thistles, which arise in the hands of the drunk. And their land and doctrine are in no way cultivated by rational beings, but by cattle, of which God has no care, and are trampled upon by brute animals.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Isaiah 7:25 vividly portrays the desolate future of Judah's agricultural lands, a direct and severe consequence of King Ahaz's refusal to trust in God during the Syro-Ephraimite War. This verse describes how once-cultivated hills, typically tilled with a mattock, will become so utterly overrun with thorns and briers that the very "fear" or concern associated with these impediments for farming purposes will cease to exist. Instead, these areas will revert to wild pastures, suitable only for the free grazing of oxen and smaller livestock, symbolizing widespread abandonment, profound economic decline, and the comprehensive impact of divine judgment on the land and its people.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Isaiah 7:25 employs several powerful literary devices to convey its message of judgment and desolation. Irony is prominently featured in the phrase "there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns." This is ironic because the absence of "fear" is not due to the removal of the problem (the briers and thorns) but rather their overwhelming victory; the thorns will be so pervasive that the very act of trying to clear them, and thus fearing them, becomes moot. The land is so utterly lost to cultivation that the struggle against its wild growth is abandoned. Symbolism is also central, as the physical desolation of the land serves as a powerful symbol for the spiritual and national decline of Judah, a direct consequence of King Ahaz's lack of faith and reliance on human alliances over divine protection. The shift from carefully cultivated fields to wild pastures for grazing livestock symbolizes a regression, a profound loss of order, productivity, and the covenantal blessings associated with faithfulness. Furthermore, there is a strong Contrast between the past or ideal state of the land ("digged with the mattock") and its future desolate state ("for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle"), powerfully underscoring the severity of the judgment and the dramatic transformation of Judah's landscape and livelihood.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Isaiah 7:25 serves as a stark reminder of the profound consequences of national disobedience and a king's lack of faith. The desolation of the land is a tangible manifestation of God's judgment, demonstrating His absolute sovereignty over history and His unwavering commitment to upholding His covenant, even through disciplinary action. This verse highlights the interconnectedness of spiritual choices and physical outcomes, illustrating how a nation's spiritual health and its leadership's faithfulness can directly impact its prosperity, security, and even the very fertility of its land. The land, once a symbol of blessing and fruitfulness promised by God, becomes a testament to the devastating effects of rejecting divine counsel and relying on human strength, reverting to a wild, less productive state that reflects the spiritual barrenness of the people.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Isaiah 7:25 offers a profound spiritual lesson about the consequences of neglecting our spiritual "fields." Just as the land of Judah became overgrown and unproductive due to a lack of faith and proper stewardship, so too can our lives become barren and unruly if we fail to cultivate our relationship with God and tend to the areas He has entrusted to us. The "fear of briers and thorns" ceasing suggests a state of spiritual apathy where we no longer even attempt to battle the encroaching sins, distractions, and worldly desires because we have given up on cultivating true spiritual fruitfulness. This verse challenges us to examine our lives: Are we actively "digging with the mattock" of prayer, diligent study of God's Word, and obedient application of His commands, or are we allowing our spiritual ground to revert to a wild, unmanaged state, suitable only for the "treading of lesser cattle"—meaning, perhaps, mundane pursuits, unchecked desires, or a life lived without intentional spiritual purpose? The call is to vigilant stewardship, recognizing that our choices have profound implications for the fruitfulness of our lives, our witness to the world, and our communion with God.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What does "there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns" actually mean in Isaiah 7:25?
Answer: This phrase is often misunderstood and is key to grasping the verse's message of desolation. It does not mean that the briers and thorns will disappear or become less threatening. Instead, it signifies that the struggle, concern, or laborious effort (the "fear") associated with clearing these thorny plants for agricultural purposes will cease entirely. The land will be so completely overrun and abandoned from cultivation that the idea of trying to farm it, and thus encountering or fearing the thorns, becomes irrelevant. The land will have reverted to a wild, unmanaged state, fit only for grazing, where clearing thorns for crops is no longer a consideration. It is a powerful and poignant image of total desolation and the complete cessation of productive farming in those areas, reflecting the severity of God's judgment on Judah. This state is a direct contrast to the diligent work of the "mattock" mentioned earlier in the verse, highlighting the complete abandonment of the land.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
While Isaiah 7:25 speaks of physical desolation as a consequence of unfaithfulness, it subtly points to the deeper spiritual barrenness of humanity apart from God, and ultimately, to Christ as the one who brings true fruitfulness and restoration. The "briers and thorns" that overrun the land can be seen as a powerful symbol of the curse of sin that afflicts creation and humanity, as first seen in Genesis 3:18 where the ground was cursed to bring forth thorns and thistles. Humanity's spiritual "hills" became overgrown with the thorns of sin and rebellion, making them unproductive for God's purposes, yielding only the bitter fruit of disobedience. However, Jesus Christ, the ultimate "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29), came not to allow the land (or our lives) to revert to wild grazing, but to redeem and restore it. He bore the crown of thorns (Matthew 27:29)—a profound symbol of the curse and the painful consequences of sin—on the cross, thereby breaking its power and offering a path to spiritual renewal. Through His sacrificial death and resurrection, He enables us to be transformed from barren ground, producing only "briers and thorns," into fertile soil that yields abundant spiritual fruit for God's glory (Galatians 5:22-23). He is the one who truly "digs" and cultivates our hearts, removing the fear of spiritual desolation and making us productive for His kingdom, fulfilling the promise of a new creation where the curse is reversed and true life flourishes eternally (Revelation 22:3).