Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee. Man will be like a hunted animal, flying from pursuit, and in danger at each step of falling into a pit or being caught in a snare (comp. Jeremiah 48:43 , Jeremiah 48:44 , where the idea is borrowed from this place, and applied to a particular nation). read more
The noise of the fear ; i.e. the sound of the pursuers. Hunters pursued their game with shouts and cries. The windows from on high are open (comp. Genesis 7:11 ). It is not actually another flood that is threatened, but it is a judgment as sweeping and destructive as the Flood. read more
The earth is utterly broken down . The material globe itself breaks up and perishes. It is "the crack of doom." Mr. Cheyne remarks that "the language imitates the cracking and bursting with which the present world shall pass away." The Authorized Version is very feeble compared to the original. read more
Fear, and the pit - This verse is an explanation of the cause of the wretchedness referred to in the previous verse. The same expression is found in Jeremiah 48:43, in his account of the destruction that would come upon Moab, a description which Jeremiah probably copied from Isaiah - There is also here in the original a “paronomasia” that cannot be retained in a translation - &פחד ופחת ופח pachad vâpachath vâpach - where the form פח pach occurs in each word. The sense is, that they were... read more
From the noise of the fear - A cry or shout was made in hunting, designed to arouse the game, and drive it to the pitfall. The image means here that calamities would be multiplied in all the land, and that if the inhabitants endeavored to avoid one danger they would fall into another.And he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit - A figure taken still from hunting. It was possible that some of the more strong and active of the wild beasts driven into the pitfall would spring out, and... read more
The earth is utterly broken down - The effect as it were of an earthquake where everything is thrown into commotion and ruin.The earth is moved exceedingly - Everything in this verse is intense and emphatic. The verbs are in the strongest form of emphasis: ‘By breaking, the land is broken;’ ‘by scattering, the land is scattered;’ ‘by commotion, the land is moved.’ The repetition also of the expression in the same sense three times, is a strong form of emphasis; and the whole passage is designed... read more
Isaiah 24:17-18. Fear, and the pit, and the snare, &c. Great and various judgments, some actually inflicted, and others justly feared, as the punishment of the last-mentioned perfidiousness of the Jews toward God and their own Messiah. He that fleeth from the fear, &c. Upon the report of some terrible evil coming toward him; shall fall into the pit When he designs to avoid one danger, by so doing he shall plunge himself into another and greater mischief. For the windows from on... read more
Isaiah 24:19-20. The earth is utterly broken down This is repeated again, to show the dreadfulness and certainty of these judgments, and to awaken the stupid Israelites. The earth shall reel to and fro The people of the earth, the inhabitants of the land, shall be sorely perplexed and distressed, not knowing what to do, or whither to go. Or rather, the prophet here, in metaphorical expressions, borrowed from an earthquake, signifies how terribly Judea should be shaken by wars,... read more
24:1-27:13 FINAL JUDGMENT AND SALVATIONThe judgment of various contemporary nations leads the prophet to consider God’s final great judgment on the world. Naturally, his illustrations are taken from the world that he knew, and the nations he mentions are those of his time, but the principles of judgment and salvation that he presents are those of the unchangeable God. They will find their fullest expression in God’s mighty triumph at the end of the world’s history.Some will mourn, others... read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 24:16-22
Five fruits of transgression. The key-note of this passage is found in the twentieth verse: "The transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it." All these dire evils are the consequences of national transgression. They are fivefold. I. IT IMPOVERISHES . The prophet, speaking not only for himself, but for his country, exclaims, "My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me!" ( Isaiah 24:16 ). The violation of Divine Law not only II. IT DELUDES . It is full of treachery ( Isaiah... read more