Isaiah 24:5

Isaiah 24:5. The earth also is defiled, &c.— This verse describes, as in a parenthesis, the causes of the divine judgment upon the land, and shews us the true scene of the prophesy: the principal cause is the shedding of innocent blood, as well of their brethren, as of the professors of the true religion, against all laws human and divine, and the common rights of nature and nations; for this is the import of the expression, The earth is foully polluted under the inhabitants thereof. See Num 35:33 and ch. Isaiah 26:21. This was remarkably the case in the period referred to. See 1Ma 1:15 and 2Ma 8:2-4.