--- title: "Isaiah 18 - Study King James Bible with commentary critical and explanatory on the whole bible" description: "Read Isaiah 18 with commentary critical and explanatory on the whole bible commentary. 1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: 2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon t" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/isaiah/18" --- [ Read](/kjv/isaiah/18)[ Commentary](/study/isaiah/18)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/isaiah/18) Audio 1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which *is* beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: 2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, *saying*, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!*** 3 All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. 4 For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, *and* like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.** 5 For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away *and* cut down the branches. 6 They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them. 7 ¶ In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.* [Isaiah 17](/study/isaiah/17) [Isaiah 19](/study/isaiah/19) ## Commentary To verse 1 **1. Woe**—The heading in *English Version,* "God will destroy the Ethiopians," is a mistake arising from the wrong rendering "Woe," whereas the *Hebrew* does not express a threat, but is an *appeal* calling attention ([Isaiah 55:1](/kjv/isaiah/55/1); [Zechariah 2:6](/kjv/zechariah/2/6)): "Ho." He is not speaking *against* but *to* the Ethiopians, calling on them to hear his prophetical announcement as to the destruction of their enemies. **shadowing with wings**—rather, "land *of the winged bark*"; that is, "barks with wing-like sails, answering to vessels of bulrushes" in [Zechariah 2:6](/kjv/zechariah/2/6)- :; the word "rivers," in the parallelism, also favors it; so the *Septuagint* and *Chaldee* [EWALD]. "Land of the clanging sound of *wings,*" that is, armies, as in [Isaiah 8:8](/kjv/isaiah/8/8); the rendering "bark," or "ship," is rather dubious [MAURER]. The armies referred to are those of Tirhakah, advancing to meet the Assyrians ([Isaiah 37:9](/kjv/isaiah/37/9)). In *English Version,* "shadowing" means *protecting*—stretching out its *wings* to defend a feeble people, namely, the Hebrews [VITRINGA]. The *Hebrew* for "wings" is the same as for the idol *Cneph,* which was represented in temple sculptures with wings ([Isaiah 37:9](/kjv/isaiah/37/9)- :). **beyond**—Meroe, the island between the "rivers" Nile and Astaboras is meant, famed for its commerce, and perhaps the seat of the Ethiopian government, hence addressed here as representing the whole empire: remains of temples are still found, and the name of "Tirhakah" in the inscriptions. This island region was probably the chief part of Queen Candace's kingdom ([Isaiah 37:9](/kjv/isaiah/37/9)- :). For "beyond" others translate less literally "which borderest on." **Ethiopia**—literally, "Cush." HORSLEY is probably right that the *ultimate* and *fullest* reference of the prophecy is to the restoration of the Jews in the Holy Land through the instrumentality of some *distant* people skilled in navigation ([Isaiah 18:2](/kjv/isaiah/18/2); [Isaiah 60:9](/kjv/isaiah/60/9); [Isaiah 60:10](/kjv/isaiah/60/10); [Psalms 45:15](/kjv/psalms/45/15); [Psalms 68:31](/kjv/psalms/68/31); [Zephaniah 3:10](/kjv/zephaniah/3/10)). Phoelignician voyagers coasting along would speak of all Western *remote* lands as "beyond" the Nile's mouths. "Cush," too, has a wide sense, being applied not only to Ethiopia, but Arabia-Deserta and Felix, and along the Persian Gulf, as far as the Tigris ([Zephaniah 3:10](/kjv/zephaniah/3/10)- :). ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/isaiah/18#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/isaiah/18#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/isaiah/18","name":"Isaiah 18 - Study King James Bible with commentary critical and explanatory on the whole bible","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/isaiah/18#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Isaiah 18 with commentary critical and explanatory on the whole bible commentary. 1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: 2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon t","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/isaiah/18#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/isaiah/18"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/isaiah/18#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible","name":"commentary critical and explanatory on the whole bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/isaiah","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/isaiah","name":"Isaiah"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/isaiah/18","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/isaiah/18","name":"18"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```