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Isaiah 41:15

Old Testament Major Prophet ASV (1901)

What does Isaiah 41:15 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “Behold, I have made thee [to be] a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth; thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

Behold, I have made thee [to be] a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth; thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.
Isaiah 41:15 — American Standard Version

Context — Isaiah 41

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
12Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contend with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.
13For I, Jehovah thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
14Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith Jehovah, and thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15Behold, I have made thee [to be] a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth; thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.
16Thou shalt winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; and thou shalt rejoice in Jehovah, thou shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17The poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst; I, Jehovah, will answer them, I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
18I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
← Isaiah 41:14Isaiah 41:16 →
← Full Chapter 41 Isaiah Overview

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument, having teeth, &c.] The Vulgate Latin version renders it, “as a new threshing cart, having teeth like saws”; and the Septuagint and Arabic versions, “as the new threshing wheels of a cart, in the manner of saws”; for corn with the Jews was threshed out by drawing a cart with wheels over it, which wheels were stuck with teeth or spikes of iron; (see <232827> Isaiah 28:27,28), or by a cart or sledge filled with stones to press it down, and at the bottom with iron teeth, which being drawn to and fro by oxen over the sheaves, separated the grain from the husk. Beckius has given a figure of this instrumentf796, and some such like…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“God will make Israel to destroy their enemies as the Eastern corn-drag (Isa 28:27-28) bruises out the grain with its teeth, and gives the chaff to the winds to scatter. teeth--serrated, so as to cut up the straw for fodder and separate the grain from the chaff. mountains . . . hills--kingdoms more or less powerful that were hostile to Israel (Isa 2:14).”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Behold, I will make thee ... - The object of the illustration in this verse and the following is, to show that God would clothe them with power, and that all difficulties in their way would vanish. To express this idea, the prophet uses an image derived front the mode of threshing in the East, where the heavy wain or sledge was made to pass over a large pile of sheaves, and to bruise out the grain, and separate the chaff, so that the wind would drive it away. The phrase, ‘I will make thee,’ means, ‘I will constitute, or appoint thee,’ that is, thou shalt be such a threshing instrument. It is not that God would make such a sledge or wain for them, but that they should be such themselves; they…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“An instrument - Such as were usual in those times and places. The mountains - The great and lofty potentates of the world. Isaiah 41:16”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“I will make: Isa 21:10, Isa 28:27; Hab 3:12 teeth: Heb. mouths thou shalt: Psa 18:42; Mic 4:13; Zac 4:7; Co2 10:4, Co2 10:5 Isaiah 41:16”
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Related study paths

Read Isaiah 41 in contextBrowse Hebrew word studiesOpen this verse in the study reader

Sources and verification