Isaiah 30:16 (YLT)

Passage

And ye say, No, for on a horse we flee? Therefore ye flee, And on the swift we ride! Therefore swift are your pursuers.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 30:14 And He hath broken it As the breaking of the potters' bottle, Beaten down--He doth not spare, Nor is there found, in its beating down, A potsherd to take fire from the burning, And to draw out waters from a ditch.

Isaiah 30:15 For thus said the Lord Jehovah, The Holy One of Israel: `In returning and rest ye are saved, In keeping quiet and in confidence is your might, And ye have not been willing.

Isaiah 30:16 And ye say, No, for on a horse we flee? Therefore ye flee, And on the swift we ride! Therefore swift are your pursuers.

Isaiah 30:17 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.

Isaiah 30:18 And therefore doth wait Jehovah to favour you, And therefore He is exalted to pity you, For a God of judgment <FI>is<Fi> Jehovah, O the blessedness of all waiting for Him.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "horse", "flee", "therefore", "swift", and "ride". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "horse" and "flee", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "For thus said the Lord Jehovah The..." into verse 17's "One thousand because of the rebuke of...", so "horse" and "flee" belong inside that flow. In Isaiah context, the local focus is the Holy One of Israel, judgment and restoration, the servant of the LORD, and Zion's hope.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "horse" and "flee" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.