Isaiah 24:20

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 24:16-23

These verses, as those before, plainly speak, I. Comfort to saints. They may be driven, by the common calamities of the places where they live, into the uttermost parts of the earth, or perhaps they are forced thither for their religion; but there they are singing, not sighing. Thence have we heard songs, and it is a comfort to us to hear them, to hear that good people carry their religion along with them even to the most distant regions, to hear that God visits them there and gives... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 24:20

The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard ,.... When it shall be moved and agitated to and fro, and dissolved; or this may be meant of the inhabitants, who shall be at their wits' end, and in the utmost confusion, not knowing what to do, nor where to go, having no more thought, nor sense, nor command of themselves, than a drunken man; and this is in just retaliation, that as they have been drunk with sin, having drank up iniquity like water, they shall now be drunk with punishment,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 24:20

Like a cottage "Like a lodge for a night" - See note on Isaiah 1:8 . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 24:1-20

SECTION VI . GOD 'S GENERAL JUDGMENTS UPON THE EARTH (Isaiah 24-27.). GOD 'S JUDGMENTS ON THE WORLD AT LARGE . From special denunciations of woe upon particular nations—Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Syria of Damascus, Egypt and Ethiopia, Arabia, Judea, Tyre—the prophet passes to denunciations of a broader character, involving the future of the whole world. This section of his work extends from the commencement of Isaiah 24:1-23 . to the conclusion of ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 24:1-20

God's final judgment upon the earth. In striking contrast with man's self-complacent theories of continual progress and improvement in the world, resulting in something like the final perfection of our race, is God's prophetic announcement that, as the years roll on, mankind will go from bad to worse, plunge deeper and deeper into wickedness, bring calamity after calamity upon themselves, and finally so provoke him that he will destroy the very earth itself as " defiled ' by its... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 24:1-23

Prophecy of judgment. The difficulties, historically considered, of this chapter must be left to the exegete. We concern ourselves with the larger sense it contains of a prophecy of a judgment upon the whole world. I. THE APPROACHING DESOLATION . ( Isaiah 24:1-3 .) The figures of emptying , draining , are employed to denote the utter depopulation and impoverishment of the earth; also that of turning upside down , to denote disorganization and demoralization in every civil... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 24:20

The earth … shall be removed like a cottage ; rather, sways to and fro like a hammock , Rosenmüller observes, " Alludit ad pensiles lectos, quos, metu ferrarum, in arboribus sibi parare solent, istis in terris, non custodes solum hortorum camporumve, sed et iter facientes ." The transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it ; i.e. the earth perishes on account of men's sins. It shall fall, and not rise again . The present earth is to disappear altogether, and to be superseded by "a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 24:20

The burden of earth's transgressions. "And the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it." Sin on man is often figured as a burden. Bunyan's picture of Graceless with the load on his back is familiar enough to be understood by all. Prophets picture God's impending judgments as a burden ready to fall and crush. We will he retake the term as referring to the transgressions rather than to the direct judgments. I. The BURDEN THAT CRUSHES MEN . It is transgression , which is... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 24:20

The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard - This is descriptive of the agitation that occurs in an earthquake when everything is shaken from its foundation, and when trees and towers are shaken by the mighty concussion. The same figure is used in Isaiah 29:9. See also the description of a tempest at sea, in Psalms 107:27 :They reel to and fro,And stagger like a drunken man,And are at their wit’s end.And shall be removed like a cottage - Or rather, shall move or vacillate (התנודדה... read more

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