The Meaning of Isaiah 66:16 Explained

Isaiah 66:16

KJV: For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.

YLT: For by fire and by His sword, Doth Jehovah do judgment with all flesh. And many have been Jehovah's pierced ones.'

Darby: For by fire and by his sword will Jehovah enter into judgment with all flesh: and the slain of Jehovah shall be many.

ASV: For by fire will Jehovah execute judgment, and by his sword, upon all flesh; and the slain of Jehovah shall be many.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For by fire  and by his sword  will the LORD  plead  with all flesh:  and the slain  of the LORD  shall be many. 

What does Isaiah 66:16 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The judgment in view in Isaiah 66:15-17 seems to be the one that will take place when Messiah returns to the earth (cf. Zephaniah 2:12; Matthew 24:22; Mark 9:49; Mark 13:19-20; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Revelation 19:11-21).
"Perhaps it is justifiable to say that in the world of nature God judges through fire and in history through the sword, but too sharp a distinction must not be made." [1]

Context Summary

Isaiah 66:15-24 - All Flesh Shall Worship The Lord
The prophet makes it clear that, whatever blessings accrue in the golden future, they will be apportioned to those alone, who are the Israel of God, not merely by descent but in heart and life. They must be what the Apostle describes in Philippians 3:3. Those who were bent on practicing idolatrous rites, such as passing in procession, with priests as teachers, through gardens and groves devoted to impurity; or who, by partaking of the flesh of animals forbidden in the Levitical law, had become as Gentiles, must suffer with the heathen.
Isaiah 66:19 suggests that the restored Jewish remnant are to become the future missionaries of the world; and the book closes with a vision of the Holy City as the focus and center of the religious life of mankind. It is as though, like John, Isaiah beheld her descending from God out of heaven, with wide-open gates, through which the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor, Isaiah 66:20. The lot of all enemies of goodness is depicted in the everburning fires of Tophet-the rubbish heaps of which are significant of uselessness, Isaiah 66:24.
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Chapter Summary: Isaiah 66

1  The glorious God will be served in humble sincerity
5  He comforts the humble by showing the confusion of their enemies
7  With the marvelous growth
10  And the gracious benefits of the church
15  God's severe judgments against the wicked
18  The Gentiles shall have an holy church
24  And see the damnation of the wicked

What do the individual words in Isaiah 66:16 mean?

For by fire Yahweh will judge and by His sword with all flesh and shall be many the slain of Yahweh
כִּ֤י בָאֵשׁ֙ יְהוָ֣ה נִשְׁפָּ֔ט וּבְחַרְבּ֖וֹ אֶת־ כָּל־ בָּשָׂ֑ר וְרַבּ֖וּ חַֽלְלֵ֥י יְהוָֽה

בָאֵשׁ֙  by  fire 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, common singular
Root: אֵשׁ  
Sense: fire.
יְהוָ֣ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
נִשְׁפָּ֔ט  will  judge 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: שָׁפַט  
Sense: to judge, govern, vindicate, punish.
וּבְחַרְבּ֖וֹ  and  by  His  sword 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: חֶרֶב  
Sense: sword, knife.
בָּשָׂ֑ר  flesh 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: בָּשָׂר  
Sense: flesh.
וְרַבּ֖וּ  and  shall  be  many 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person common plural
Root: רָבַב  
Sense: to be or become many, be or become much, be or become great.
חַֽלְלֵ֥י  the  slain 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: חָלָל 
Sense: slain, fatally wounded, pierced.
יְהוָֽה  of  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.