Lexical Summary abak: To wrestle, to grapple Original Word: אָבַךְ Strong's Exhaustive Concordance mount up A primitive root; probably to coil upward -- mount up. NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Origina prim. root Definition to turn NASB Translation roll upward (1). Brown-Driver-Briggs [אָבַךְ] verb turn (?) (compare Assyrian Abâku Dlw = הָפַךְ; Thes MV and others compare בוך) Hithpa`el וַיִּתְאַבְכוּ Isaiah 9:17; roll, roll up, as volume of smoke (of Israel under figure of thickets of forest) see De & compare הִתִהַמֵּךְ Judges 7:3. Topical Lexicon Entry: אָבַךְ (Strong’s Hebrew 55) Imagery and Conceptual Background אָבַךְ evokes the billowing, choking “column of smoke” that rises when vegetation or wood is set ablaze. The term highlights opacity, turbulence, and the engulfing nature of smoke rather than its scent or sacrificial connotation. It points to a state in which vision is obscured, air is thickened, and movement is hindered—an apt metaphor for the blinding and suffocating effects of unchecked sin. Biblical Occurrence and Immediate Context Isaiah 9:18 employs אָבַךְ to describe Israel’s wickedness: “For wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes the briars and thorns; it sets ablaze the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke.” Within Isaiah’s larger oracle (Isaiah 9:8–10:4), the prophet depicts covenant-breaking Israel as self-destructing. Wickedness, once kindled, races through society like wildfire, leaving behind only a rising shroud of smoke. אָבַךְ thus becomes a visual testimony to divine justice: the nation’s own rebellion produces both the fire and the dark plume that announces its judgment. Theological Significance of Rising Smoke 1. Evidence of Consuming Judgment Historical Setting in Isaiah’s Day Isaiah prophesied during the Syro-Ephraimite crisis and the looming Assyrian invasion. Social injustice, idolatry, and reliance on foreign alliances had fanned the spark of wickedness into a conflagration. The imagery of briars, thorns, and forest thickets represents the people (cf. Isaiah 5:6; 7:23-24). אָבַךְ paints what observers would soon witness in literal form as Assyrian scorched-earth tactics reduced towns to smoking ruins. Related Smoke Imagery Elsewhere in Scripture • Genesis 15:17 – A “smoking firepot” ratifies God’s covenant, showing smoke as a sign of divine presence. Ministry and Discipleship Implications 1. Preaching on Sin’s Progression Summary אָבַךְ, though occurring only once, contributes a powerful image to the biblical vocabulary of judgment. The rising column of smoke in Isaiah 9:18 stands as a timeless warning: sin not only burns—it blinds. Wherever unrepentant wickedness advances, an oppressive cloud follows, testifying that the wages of sin are death. By heeding the warning and turning to the One who baptizes “with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Matthew 3:11), believers exchange the smoke of destruction for the refining flames of grace. Forms and Transliterations וַיִּֽתְאַבְּכ֖וּ ויתאבכו vaiyitabbeChu way·yiṯ·’ab·bə·ḵū wayyiṯ’abbəḵūLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance Isaiah 9:18 HEB: בְּסִֽבְכֵ֣י הַיַּ֔עַר וַיִּֽתְאַבְּכ֖וּ גֵּא֥וּת עָשָֽׁן׃ NAS: aflame And they roll upward in a column KJV: of the forest, and they shall mount up [like] the lifting up INT: the thickets of the forest roll A column of smoke 1 Occurrence |