Isaiah Chapter 30 verse 17 Holy Bible
One thousand `shall flee' at the threat of one; at the threat of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on a hill.
read chapter 30 in ASV
A thousand will go in fear before one; even before five you will go in flight: till you are like a pillar by itself on the top of a mountain, and like a flag on a hill.
read chapter 30 in BBE
One thousand [shall flee] at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as a banner on a hill.
read chapter 30 in DARBY
One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.
read chapter 30 in KJV
read chapter 30 in WBT
One thousand [shall flee] at the threat of one; at the threat of five shall you flee: until you be left as a beacon on the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on a hill.
read chapter 30 in WEB
One thousand because of the rebuke of one, Because of the rebuke of five ye flee, Till ye have been surely left as a pole On the top of the mountain, And as an ensign on the height.
read chapter 30 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 17. - One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one. A hyperbole common in Scripture (Deuteronomy 32:30; Joshua 23:10; Leviticus 26:8), and not confined to the sacred writers. Piankhi the Ethiopian boasts, in his great inscription, that, with Ammon's help, "many should turn their backs upon a few, and one should rout a thousand" ('Records of the Past,' vol. it. p. 84). At the rebuke of five. The "rebuke" of five (i.e. their war-shout) would put to flight the whole army. As a beacon; rather, as a flag-staff - stripped and bare (comp. Isaiah 33:23; Ezekiel 27:5). A tree stripped of its branches and left standing as a landmark seems to be intended. As an ensign. A military standard, such as was in common use among the Assyrians and Egyptians, as among the Greeks and Romans (see 'Ancient Monarchies,' vol. 2. p. 57; Rawlinson, 'Hist. of Egypt,' vol. 1. p. 463).
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(17) One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one.--The hyperbole is natural and common enough (Deuteronomy 32:30; Joshua 23:10; Leviticus 26:8); but the fact that the inscription of King Piankhi Mer. Amon., translated in Records of the Past, ii. 84, gives it in the self-same words ("many shall turn their backs on a few; and one shall rout a thousand") as his boast of the strength of Egypt, may have given a special touch of sarcasm to Isaiah's words.As a beacon upon the top of a mountain.--Literally, as a pine. As with a poet's eye, the prophet paints two of the most striking emblems of solitariness: the tall pine standing by itself on the mountain height, the flag-staff seen alone far off against the sky. (Comp. the lowlier imagery of Isaiah 1:8.)
