And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,

ISAIAH 2:13KJV
Know the Bible

Isaiah 2:13 (KJV)

What does Isaiah 2:13 mean?

Isaiah 2:13 places the impressive cedars of Lebanon and oaks of Bashan among the things that will face the Lord’s judgment. The towering trees fit Isaiah’s picture of a day when what appears lofty and powerful will be brought low.

Isaiah speaks to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Lebanon was known for its great cedars, while Bashan, east of the Jordan River, was known for its oaks. These familiar trees gave Isaiah’s hearers a picture of height and strength.

The Hebrew behind Isaiah 2:13

  • “high” — רָמִים (ramim): The word describes things that are raised or elevated. Here, it presents the cedars as conspicuously tall.
  • “lifted up” — נִשָּׂאִים (nissa’im): The word carries the sense of being raised up. Together with “high,” it gives added force to the picture of the cedars’ height.

Why Isaiah 2:13 matters

  • The tree images belong to a larger sentence about the Lord’s day of judgment. Verse 12 begins that sentence, and the repeated “upon” in verse 13 carries the judgment forward to the trees.
  • Isaiah’s picture reaches beyond people alone. The list continues with high mountains, hills, towers, and walls in verses 14–15, bringing both natural features and human structures into view.
  • The passage connects height with human pride. Verse 17 says that human loftiness will be brought down and that the Lord alone will be exalted.

Where else these words appear

“oaks” Hebrew H437 · used in 8 verses

  • Genesis 35:8 But Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.
  • Isaiah 44:14 He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.
  • Hosea 4:13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.

“Bashan” Hebrew H1316 · used in 53 verses

  • Numbers 21:33 And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle at Edrei.
  • Joshua 12:5 And reigned in mount Hermon, and in Salcah, and in all Bashan, unto the border of the Geshurites and the Maachathites, and half Gilead, the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.
  • 1 Chronicles 5:23 And the children of the half tribe of Manasseh dwelt in the land: they increased from Bashan unto Baalhermon and Senir, and unto mount Hermon.

“Lebanon” Hebrew H3844 · used in 64 verses

  • Deuteronomy 1:7 Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
  • 2 Chronicles 2:8 Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon: for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and, behold, my servants shall be with thy servants,
  • Isaiah 33:9 The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.

“cedars” Hebrew H730 · used in 69 verses

  • Leviticus 14:4 Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:
  • 1 Kings 7:2 He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.
  • Psalms 104:16 The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;