The Meaning of Isaiah 41:15 Explained

Isaiah 41:15

KJV: Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.

YLT: Lo, I have set thee for a new sharp threshing instrument, Possessing teeth, thou threshest mountains, And beatest small, and hills as chaff thou makest.

Darby: Behold, I have made of thee a new sharp threshing instrument having double teeth: thou shalt thresh and beat small the mountains, and shalt make the hills as chaff;

ASV: 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.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Behold, I will make  thee a new  sharp  threshing  instrument having  teeth:  thou shalt thresh  the mountains,  and beat [them] small,  and shalt make  the hills  as chaff. 

What does Isaiah 41:15 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Lord would transform the helpless worm, a tiny thresher of the soil, into a powerful threshing sledge-by giving her His power. Threshing sledges were heavy wooden platforms fitted with sharp stones and pieces of metal underneath. Farmers dragged them over straw to cut it up in preparation for winnowing. The sledge that Yahweh would make of Israel, however, would be so good that it could chop down mountains and hills, not just straw. The modern equivalent would be giant earth-moving equipment.

Context Summary

Isaiah 41:1-16 - The Lord Upholdeth His Servant
The conception of this passage is superb. Jehovah is represented as summoning the earth to determine whether He or some idol of the heathen is the true God, Isaiah 41:7. Also see Isaiah 41:23. The test proposed is a simple one! Which can most precisely predict the future? Not, as in Elijah's case, is the appeal made to fire, but to the fitting of prophecy with historical fulfillment. See Isaiah 41:22-23.
While this great arbitration is in process, God turns with tender assurances to His own people. They were at this time captives in Babylon. They were poor and needy. They were surrounded by strong and crafty foes, against whom they were as powerless as a worm. But no height, however precipitous, or depth, however profound, could separate them from His love. Heart and flesh might fail, but He would strengthen; difficulties might appear insurmountable, but He would help. He does more. He takes His people, weak as worms, and makes them, if they but yield to Him, sharp threshing instruments having teeth before which the powers of evil become as chaff. O man, listen to God saying, I will make. [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 41

1  God expostulates with his people, about his mercies to the church
10  About his promises
21  And about the vanity of idols

What do the individual words in Isaiah 41:15 mean?

Behold I will make you into a threshing sledge sharp new with teeth You shall thresh the mountains and beat [them] small and the hills like chaff make
הִנֵּ֣ה שַׂמְתִּ֗יךְ לְמוֹרַג֙ חָר֣וּץ חָדָ֔שׁ בַּ֖עַל פִּֽיפִיּ֑וֹת תָּד֤וּשׁ הָרִים֙ וְתָדֹ֔ק וּגְבָע֖וֹת כַּמֹּ֥ץ תָּשִֽׂים

הִנֵּ֣ה  Behold 
Parse: Interjection
Root: הִנֵּה  
Sense: behold, lo, see, if.
שַׂמְתִּ֗יךְ  I  will  make  you 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular, second person feminine singular
Root: שׂוּמָה 
Sense: to put, place, set, appoint, make.
לְמוֹרַג֙  into  a  threshing  sledge 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מֹורַג  
Sense: thresher, threshing-sledge.
חָר֣וּץ  sharp 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: חָרוּץ 
Sense: sharp-pointed, sharp, diligent.
חָדָ֔שׁ  new 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: חָדָשׁ  
Sense: new, new thing, fresh.
פִּֽיפִיּ֑וֹת  teeth 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural
Root: פִּיפִיּׄות  
Sense: tooth, edge, mouth.
תָּד֤וּשׁ  You  shall  thresh 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: דּוּשׁ  
Sense: to tread out, thresh.
הָרִים֙  the  mountains 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: הַר  
Sense: hill, mountain, hill country, mount.
וְתָדֹ֔ק  and  beat  [them]  small 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: דָּקַק  
Sense: to crush, pulverise, thresh.
וּגְבָע֖וֹת  and  the  hills 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine plural
Root: גִּבְעָה  
Sense: hill.
כַּמֹּ֥ץ  like  chaff 
Parse: Preposition-k, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מֹץ  
Sense: chaff.
תָּשִֽׂים  make 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: שׂוּמָה 
Sense: to put, place, set, appoint, make.