Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel.

ISAIAH 30:29KJV
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Isaiah 30:29 (KJV)

What does Isaiah 30:29 mean?

Isaiah 30:29 tells the people of Judah that they will sing with joy when the LORD acts against their enemy. Their joy will be like the happiness of people celebrating a sacred festival and traveling together to worship.

The verse pictures a nighttime feast and a journey to the LORD’s mountain, accompanied by a pipe. These familiar scenes give the listeners a way to imagine their response as God speaks of bringing judgment.

The Hebrew behind Isaiah 30:29

  • “solemnity” — חַג (ḥag): This means a festival or feast. The KJV word “solemnity” can sound somber today, but here the festival is an occasion for singing.
  • “pipe” — חָלִיל (ḥalil): This refers to a wind instrument. Its sound adds music to the picture of people traveling toward the mountain.
  • “mighty One” — צוּר (tsur): This word often means “rock.” The title presents Israel’s God as strong and dependable.

Why Isaiah 30:29 matters

  • The verse places the people’s joy alongside the LORD’s judgment of their enemy. Verse 30 moves from their song to the LORD’s powerful voice, and verse 31 names Assyria as the one struck down.
  • The journey has a destination, not just a festive mood. The people come “into the mountain of the LORD,” the place associated with worship in Jerusalem.

Where else these words appear

“pipe” Hebrew H2485 · used in 5 verses

  • 1 Samuel 10:5 After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy:
  • 1 Kings 1:40 And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.
  • Isaiah 5:12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.

“solemnity” Hebrew H2282 · used in 55 verses

  • Exodus 10:9 And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.
  • Deuteronomy 16:14 And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates.
  • Nehemiah 8:18 Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner.

“One” Hebrew H6697 · used in 74 verses

  • Exodus 17:6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
  • 1 Chronicles 11:15 Now three of the thirty captains went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the host of the Philistines encamped in the valley of Rephaim.
  • Psalms 78:35 And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.

“song” Hebrew H7892 · used in 87 verses

  • Genesis 31:27 Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp?
  • Psalms 18:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said, I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.
  • Psalms 126:1 A Song of degrees. When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.