And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall,

ISAIAH 2:15KJV
Know the Bible

Isaiah 2:15 (KJV)

What does Isaiah 2:15 mean?

Isaiah 2:15 names tall towers and fortified walls as things that will come under God’s judgment. These structures offered people protection and displayed a city’s strength, yet Isaiah includes them among the things that will be brought low.

The verse continues a sentence about “the day of the LORD” in Isaiah 2:12. The repeated word “upon” connects the towers and walls to the judgment announced there.

The Hebrew behind Isaiah 2:15

  • “fenced” — בָּצַר (batsar): The word carries the sense of being made strong or fortified. Here, “fenced” describes a defensive wall, rather than a simple fence such as one around a garden.

Why Isaiah 2:15 matters

  • The verse applies the warning to human defenses. “Every high tower” and “every fenced wall” point to structures people built for security, not just to the natural features named earlier in the passage.
  • The repeated “every” gives the warning a broad reach. Isaiah does not single out one tower or one city wall.
  • The surrounding passage connects these imposing structures with human pride. Isaiah 2:12 speaks of a day against “every one that is proud and lofty,” and Isaiah 2:17 says that human pride will be brought low.

Where else these words appear

“high” Hebrew H1364 · used in 32 verses

  • Genesis 7:19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.
  • Job 41:34 He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.
  • Jeremiah 2:20 For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.

“fenced” Hebrew H1219 · used in 38 verses

  • Genesis 11:6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
  • 2 Kings 18:13 Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.
  • Isaiah 36:1 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.

“tower” Hebrew H4026 · used in 45 verses

  • Genesis 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
  • 2 Chronicles 14:7 Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the LORD our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.
  • Psalms 61:3 For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.

“wall” Hebrew H2346 · used in 123 verses

  • Exodus 14:22 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
  • Nehemiah 1:3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.
  • Isaiah 36:11 Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.