Come near, you nations, to hear! Listen, you peoples. Let the earth and all it contains hear, the world, and everything that comes from it.
Parallel Translations
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Come near, you nations, to hear! Listen, you peoples. Let the earth and all it contains hear, the world, and everything that comes from it.
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Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.
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Come near, ye nations, to hear, and attend, ye peoples; let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof, the world, and all things that come forth of it.
Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to Isaiah 34:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 1:2 Hear, heavens, and listen, earth; for Yahweh has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against me.
- Isaiah 41:1 “Keep silent before me, islands, and let the peoples renew their strength. Let them come near, then let them speak. Let’s meet together for judgment.
- Isaiah 43:9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples be assembled. Who among them can declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified, or let them hear, and say, “That is true.”
- 1 Corinthians 10:26 for “the earth is the Lord’s, and its fullness.”
- Deuteronomy 32:1 Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
- Isaiah 33:13 Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and, you who are near, acknowledge my might.”
- Jeremiah 22:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear Yahweh’s word!
- Micah 6:1-2 Listen now to what Yahweh says: “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear what you have to say. Hear, you mountains, Yahweh’s controversy, and you enduring foundations of the earth; for Yahweh has a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel.
- Psalms 49:1-2 Hear this, all you peoples. Listen, all you inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor together.
- Psalms 50:1 The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, speaks, and calls the earth from sunrise to sunset.
- Psalms 96:10 Say among the nations, “Yahweh reigns.” The world is also established. It can’t be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity.
- Isaiah 18:3 All you inhabitants of the world, and you dwellers on the earth, when a banner is lifted up on the mountains, look! When the trumpet is blown, listen!
- Isaiah 49:1 Listen, islands, to me. Listen, you peoples, from afar: Yahweh has called me from the womb; from the inside of my mother, he has mentioned my name.
- Mark 16:15-16 He said to them, “Go into all the world, and preach the Good News to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned.
- Deuteronomy 4:26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from off the land which you go over the Jordan to possess it. You will not prolong your days on it, but will utterly be destroyed.
- Judges 5:3 “Hear, you kings! Give ear, you princes! I, even I, will sing to Yahweh. I will sing praise to Yahweh, the God of Israel.
- Judges 5:31 “So let all your enemies perish, Yahweh, but let those who love him be as the sun when it rises in its strength.” Then the land had rest forty years.
- Psalms 24:1 The earth is Yahweh’s, with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell in it.
- Revelation 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of my God.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (22 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He prophesieth of the destruction of the Edomites and…
He prophesieth of the destruction of the Edomites and other nations which were enemies to the Church.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 34:1 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and…
Isa 34:1 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.
Ver. 1. Come near, ye nations.] In this chapter and the next, the prophet, for the terror of the wicked, and comfort of the godly, summeth up what he had said before concerning the destruction of the enemies and the restoration of the Church. Eusebius, {a} with many other ancients, will have this chapter to be understood to be the end of the world and the last judgment; and further saith that Plato hath taken this place of the prophet Isaiah into his writings, and made it his own. Litera vero huius vaticinii de extremo iudicio non loguitur; but this cannot be the literal sense of the text, saith Scultetus. The Jewish doctors will needs understand these two chapters as a prophecy of their return into the Holy Land, when once Idumea shall be destroyed; and for this they allege Lam 4:22, which yet proveth it not.
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{a} De Praep. Evang., lib. xi.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye…
Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people; let the people of all nations take notice of what I am about to say and do, as that wherein they are generally concerned, and by the consideration whereof they may, if they will, be instructed, and so delivered from the calamity here denounced.
All things that come forth of it, Heb. all the offsprings of it; either,
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1. All the trees and fruits, and other productions of it; for it is usual with the prophets, by a figure, to turn their speech to these senseless creatures. Or,
2. All the inhabitants of the world, as the Chaldee and other ancients restrain and understand this general expression; which also is emphatical, and admonisheth the proud and insolent sons of men of their mean and obscure original, that how great and glorious soever they may seem to themselves or others, yet in truth they are but a better sort of mushrooms springing out of the earth; for dust they are, and unto dust they must return, as was said, Gen 3:19.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here we have a prophecy, as elsewhere we have…
Here we have a prophecy, as elsewhere we have a history, of the wars of the Lord, which we are sure are all both righteous and successful. This world, as it is his creature, he does good to; but as it is in the interest of Satan, who is called the god of this world, he fights against it.
I. Here is the trumpet sounded and the war proclaimed, Isa 34:1. All nations must hear and hearken, not only because what God is about to do is well worthy their remark (as Isa 33:13), but because they are all concerned in it; it is with them that God has a quarrel; it is against them that God is coming forth in wrath. Let them all take notice that the great God is angry with them; his indignation is upon all nations, and therefore let all nations come near to hear. The trumpet is blown in the city (Amo 3:6), and the watchmen on the walls cry, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet, Jer 6:17. Let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof, for it is the Lord's (Psa 24:1) and ought to hearken to its Maker and Master. The world must hear, and all things that come forth of it, the children of men, that are of the earth earthy, come out of it, and must return to it; or the inanimate products of the earth are called to, as more likely to hearken than sinners, whose hearts are hardened against the calls of God. Hear, O you mountains! the Lord's controversy, Mic 6:2. It is so just a controversy that all the world may be safely appealed to concerning the equity of it.
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II. Here is the manifesto published, setting forth,
1. Whom he makes war against (Isa 34:2): The indignation of the Lord is upon all nations; they are all in confederacy against God and religion, all in the interests of the devil, and therefore he is angry with them all, even with all the nations that forget him. He has long suffered all nations to walk in their own ways (Act 14:16), but now he will no longer keep silence. As they have all had the benefit of his patience, so they must all expect now to feel his resentments. His fury is in a special manner upon all their armies, (1.) Because with them they have done mischief to the people of God; those are they that have made bloody work with them, and therefore they must be sure to have blood given them to drink. (2.) Because with them they hope to make their part good against the justice and power of God they trust to them as their defence, and therefore on them, in the first place, God's fury will come. Armies before God's fury are but as dry stubble before a consuming fire, though ever so numerous and courageous.
2. Whom he makes war for, and what are the grounds and reasons of the war (Isa 34:8): It is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and he it is to whom vengeance belongs, and who is never unrighteous in taking vengeance, Rom 3:5. As there is a day of the Lord's patience, so there will be a day of his vengeance; for, though he bear long, he will not bear always. It is the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. Zion is the holy city, the city of our solemnities, a type and figure of the church of God in the world. Zion has a just quarrel with her neighbours for the wrongs they have done her, for all their treacherous and barbarous usage of her, profaning her holy things, laying waste her palaces, and slaying her sons. She has left it to God to plead her cause, and he will do so when the time, even the set time, to favour Zion shall have come; then he will recompense to her persecutors and oppressors all the mischiefs they have done her. The controversy will be decided, that Zion has been wronged, and therein Zion's God has been himself abused. Judgment will be given upon this decision, and execution done. Note, There is a time prefixed in the divine counsels for the deliverance of the church and the destruction of her enemies, a year of the redeemed, which will come, a year of recompences for the controversy of Zion; and we must patiently wait till then, and judge nothing before the time.
III. Here are the operations of the war, and the methods of it, settled, with an infallible assurance of success. 1. The sword of the Lord is bathed in heaven; this is all the preparation here made for the war, Isa 34:5. It may probably allude to some custom they had then of bathing their swords in some liquor or other, to harden them or brighten them; it is the same with the furbishing of it, that it may glitter, Eze 21:9-11. God's sword is bathed in heaven, in his counsel and decree, in his justice and power, and then there is not standing before it. 2. It shall come down. What he has determined shall without fail be put in execution. It shall come down from heaven, and the higher the place is, whence it comes, the heavier will it fall. It will come down upon Idumea, the people of God's curse, the people that lie under his curse and are by it doomed to destruction. Miserable, for ever miserable, are those that have by their sins made themselves the people of God's curse; for the sword of the Lord will infallibly attend the curse of the Lord and execute the sentences of it; and those whom he curses are cursed indeed. It shall come down to judgment, to execute judgment upon sinners. Note, God's sword of war is always a sword of justice. It is observed of him out of whose mouth goeth the sharp sword that in righteousness he doth judge and make war, Rev 19:11, Rev 19:15. 3. The nations and their armies shall be given up to the sword (Isa 34:2): God has delivered them to the slaughter, and then they cannot deliver themselves, nor can all the friends they have deliver them from it. Those only are slain whom God delivers to the slaughter, for the keys of death are in his hand; and, in delivering them to the slaughter, he has utterly destroyed them; their destruction is as sure, when God has doomed them to it, as if they were destroyed already, utterly destroyed. God has, in effect, delivered all the cruel enemies of his church to the slaughter by that word (Rev 13:10), He that kills with the sword must be killed by the sword, for the Lord is righteous. 4. Pursuant to the sentence, a terrible slaughter shall be made among them (Isa 34:6): The sword of the Lord, when it comes down with commission, does vast execution; it is filled, satiated, surfeited, with blood, the blood of the slain, and made fat with their fatness. When the day of God's abused mercy and patience is over the sword of his justice gives no quarter, spares none. Men have by sin lost the honour of the human nature and made themselves like the beasts that perish; they are therefore justly denied the compassion and respect that are owing to the human nature and killed as beasts, and no more is made of slaying an army of men than of butchering a flock of lambs or goats and feeding on the fat of the kidneys of rams. Nay, the sword of the Lord shall not only dispatch the lambs and goats, the infantry of their armies, the poor common soldiers, but (Isa 34:7) the unicorns too shall be made to come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls, though they are ever so proud, and strong, and fierce (the great men, and the mighty men, and the chief captains Rev 6:15), the sword of the Lord will make as easy a prey of as of the lambs and the goats. The greatest of men are nothing before the wrath of the great God. See what bloody work will be made: The land shall be soaked with blood, as with the rain that comes often upon it and in great abundance; and their dust, their dry and barren land, shall be made fat with the fatness of men slain in their full strength, as with manure. Nay even the mountains, which are hard and rocky, shall be melted with their blood, Isa 34:3. These expressions are hyperbolical (as St. John's vision of blood to the horse-bridles, Rev 14:20), and are made use of because they sound very dreadful to sense (it makes us even shiver to think of such abundance of human gore), and are therefore proper to express the terror of God's wrath, which is dreadful beyond conception and expression. See what work sin and wrath make even in this world, and think how much more terrible the wrath to come is, which will bring down the unicorns themselves to the bars of the pit. 5. This great slaughter will be a great sacrifice to the justice of God (Isa 34:6): The Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah; there it is that the great Redeemer has his garments dyed with blood, Isa 63:1. Sacrifices were intended for the honour of God, to make it appear that he hates sin and demands satisfaction for it, and that nothing but blood will make atonement; and for these ends the slaughter is made, that in it the wrath of God may be revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, especially their ungodly unrighteous enmity to his people, which was the sin that the Edomites were notoriously guilty of. In great sacrifices abundance of beasts were killed, hecatombs offered, and their blood poured out before the altar; and so will it be in this day of the Lord's vengeance. And thus would the whole earth have been soaked with the blood of sinners if Jesus Christ, the great propitiation, had not shed his blood for us; but those who reject him, and will not make a covenant with God by that sacrifice, will themselves fall as victims to divine wrath. Damned sinners are everlasting sacrifices, Mar 9:48, Mar 9:49. Those that sacrifice not (which is the character of the ungodly, Ecc 9:2) must be sacrificed. 6. These slain shall be detestable to mankind, and shall be as much their loathing as ever they were their terror (Isa 34:3): They shall be cast out, and none shall pay them the respect of a decent burial; but their stink shall come up out of their carcases, that all people by the odious smell, as well as by the ghastly sight, may be made to conceive an indignation against sin and a dread of the wrath of God. They lie unburied, that they may remain monuments of divine justice. 7. The effect and consequence of this slaughter shall be universal confusion and desolation, as if the whole frame of nature were dissolved and melted down (Isa 34:4): All the host of heaven shall pine and waste away (so the word is); the sun shall be darkened, and the moon look black, or be turned into blood; the heavens themselves shall be rolled together as a scroll or parchment when we have done with it, and lay it by, or as when it is shrivelled up by the heat of the fire. The stars shall fall as the leaves in autumn; all the beauty, joy, and comfort, of the vanquished nation shall be lost and done away, magistracy and government shall be abolished, and all dominion and rule, but that of the sword of war, shall fall. Conquerors, in those times, affected to lay waste the countries they conquered; and such a complete desolation is here described by such figurative expressions as will yet have a literal and full accomplishment in the dissolution of all things at the end of time, of which last day of judgment the judgments which God does now sometimes remarkably execute on sinful nations are figures, earnests, and forerunners; and by these we should be awakened to think of that, for which reason these expressions are used here and Rev 6:12, Rev 6:13. But they are used without a metaphor, Pe2 3:10, where we are told that the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the earth shall be burnt up.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye…
Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people,.... Not the people of the Jews, as some, whose utter destruction, after their rejection of the Messiah, is here thought to be prophesied of; and much less are these people called upon to hear the Gospel preached to them, as Cocceius thinks; for not good, but bad news they are called to hearken to, even the account of their utter ruin:
let the earth hear, and all that is therein: not the land of Judea, but all the earth, and the inhabitants of it:
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the world, and all things that come forth of it; which may either be understood of those that dwell in it, as the Targum interprets it; of the people that are in it, as the Septuagint and the Oriental versions; and so the phrase may denote the original of them, being of the earth, earthly, and to which they must return again; and may be designed to humble men, and hide pride from them; or else the fruits of the earth, trees, and everything that spring out of it, which are called upon to hear the voice of the Lord, when men would not; and so is designed to rebuke the stupidity and sluggishness of men to hearken to what is said to them, even from the Lord, when upon the brink of destruction.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain God's fury and wrath against his church's enemies, ver.…
God's fury and wrath against his church's enemies, ver. 1- 10. Their land utterly desolate, ver. 11-15. The certainly hereof, and duration, ver. 16, 17.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain The prophet earnestly exhorts all nations to attend to…
CHAPTER XXXIV
The prophet earnestly exhorts all nations to attend to the
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communication which he has received from Jehovah, as the matter
is of the highest importance, and of universal concern, 1.
The wrath of God is denounced against all the nations that had
provoked to anger the Defender of the cause of Zion, 2, 3.
Great crowd of images, by which the final overthrow and utter
extermination of every thing that opposes the spread of true
religion in the earth are forcibly and majestically set forth;
images so very bold and expressive as to render it impossible,
without doing great violence to symbolical language, to
restrain their import to the calamities which befell the
Edomites in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, or in that of any
other potentate, or even to the calamities which the enemies of
the Church have yet suffered since the delivery of the
prophecy. Edom must therefore be a type of Antichrist, the last
grand adversary of the people of God; and consequently this
most awful prophecy, in its ultimate signification, remains to
be accomplished, 4-15.
The Churches of God, at the period of the consummation,
commanded to consult the book of Jehovah, and note the exact
fulfilment of these terrible predictions in their minutest
details. Not one jot or tittle relative even to the
circumstances shadowed forth by the impure animals shall be
found to fail; for what the mouth of the Lord has declared
necessary to satisfy the Divine justice, his Spirit will
accomplish, 16, 17.
This and the following chapter make one distinct prophecy; an entire, regular, and beautiful poem, consisting of two parts: the first containing a denunciation of Divine vengeance against the enemies of the people or Church of God; the second describing the flourishing state of the Church of God consequent upon the execution of those judgments. The event foretold is represented as of the highest importance, and of universal concern: ALL nations are called upon to attend to the declaration of it; and the wrath of God is denounced against all the nations, that is, all those that had provoked to anger the Defender of the cause of Zion. Among those, Edom is particularly specified. The principal provocation of Edom was their insulting the Jews in their distress, and joining against them with their enemies, the Chaldeans; see Am 1:11; Eze 25:12; Eze 35:15; Ps 137:7. Accordingly the Edomites were, together with the rest of the neighbouring nations, ravaged and laid waste by Nebuchadnezzar; see Jer 25:15-26; Mal 1:3-4, and see Marsham, Can. Chron. Saec. xviii., who calls this the age of the destruction of cities. The general devastation spread through all these countries by Nebuchadnezzar may be the event which the prophet has primarily in view in the thirty-fourth chapter: but this event, as far as we have any account of it in history, seems by no means to come up to the terms of the prophecy, or to justify so highly wrought and terrible a description; and it is not easy to discover what connexion the extremely flourishing state of the Church or people of God, described in the next chapter, could have with those events, and how the former could be the consequence of the latter, as it is there represented to be. By a figure, very common in the prophetical writings, any city or people, remarkably distinguished as enemies of the people and kingdom of God, is put for those enemies in general. This seems here to be the case with Edom and Botsra. It seems, therefore, reasonable to suppose, with many learned expositors, that this prophecy has a farther view to events still future; to some great revolutions to be effected in later times, antecedent to that more perfect state of the kingdom of God upon earth, and serving to introduce it, which the Holy Scriptures warrant us to expect.
That the thirty-fifth chapter has a view beyond any thing that could be the immediate consequence of those events, is plain from every part, especially from the middle of it, Isa 35:5-6; where the miraculous works wrought by our blessed Saviour are so clearly specified, that we cannot avoid making the application: and our Saviour himself has moreover plainly referred to this very passage, as speaking of him and his works, Mt 11:4-5. He bids the disciples of John to go and report to their master the things which they heard and saw; that the blind received their sight, the lame walked, and the deaf heard; and leaves it to him to draw the conclusion in answer to his inquiry, whether he who performed the very works which the prophets foretold should be performed by the Messiah, was not indeed the Messiah himself. And where are these works so distinctly marked by any of the prophets as in this place? and how could they be marked more distinctly? To these the strictly literal interpretation of the prophet's words directs us. According to the allegorical interpretation they may have a farther view: this part of the prophecy may run parallel with the former and relate to the future advent of Christ; to the conversion of the Jews, and their restitution to their land; to the extension and purification of the Christian faith; events predicted in the Holy Scriptures as preparatory to it. Kimchi says, "This chapter points out the future destruction of Rome, which is here called Bosra; for Bosra was a great city of the Edomites. Now the major part of the Romans are Edomites, who profess the law of Jesus. The Emperor Caesar (qy. Constantine) was an Edomite, and so were all the emperors after him. The destruction of the Turkish empire is also comprehended in this prophecy." - L. As to the last, I say, Amen!
NOTES ON CHAP. XXXIV
Verse 1. Hearken - "Attend unto me"] A MS. adds in this line the word אלי ali, unto me, after לאמים leummim; which seems to be genuine.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Isa 34:1. Come, &c. — Here begins the third…
Isa 34:1. Come, &c. — Here begins the third discourse of the third part of Isaiah’s prophecies, and is continued to the end of the next chapter. It is connected with the preceding, and, Vitringa thinks, was delivered at the same time. It is divided into two sections: the first, contained in this chapter, exhibits judgments upon the adversaries of the church, and particularly upon Edom; the latter, in chap. 35., the jubilee of the church, and its happy, flourishing state. The events foretold are represented as being of the highest importance, and of universal concern, and all nations are called upon to attend to the declaration of them. Thus the prophet: Come near, ye nations, and hear; hearken, ye people — As if he had said, Let the people of all nations take notice of what I am about to say, as that wherein they are generally concerned, and by the consideration whereof they may be instructed and reformed, and so delivered from the calamity here denounced.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Come near, ye nations, to hear - That is,…
Come near, ye nations, to hear - That is, to hear of the judgments which God was about to execute, and the great purposes which he was about to accomplish. If the supposition be correct, that this and the following chapter contain a summing up of all that the prophet had thus far uttered; a declaration that all the enemies of the people of God would be destroyed - the most violent and bitter of whom was Idumea; and that this was to be succeeded by the happy times of the Messiah, then we see a plain reason why all the nations are summoned to hear and attend. The events pertain to them all; the truths communicated are of universal interest. “And all that is therein.” Hebrew as in Margin, ‘fulness thereof;’ that is, all the inhabitants of the earth.
All things that come forth of it - All that proceed from it; that is, all the inhabitants that the world has produced. The Septuagint renders it: ‘The world and the people ὁ λαὸς ho laos) who are therein.’
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Come. Both Gentiles and Jews are admonished of the…
Come. Both Gentiles and Jews are admonished of the world’s end before judgment. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain Isaiah 34-35
FOURTH SUBDIVISION
THE CONCLUSION OF PART FIRST
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Isaiah 34-35
Chapters 34–35 are the proper conclusion of the first part of Isaiah’s prophecies. For chaps. 36–39 are only an historical supplement, though a very important one. Hence I do not think that chaps. 34–35. are only the finale of chaps 28–33; for that we have already found in chap. 33. rather chaps. 34–35 form a conclusion of the first half of the book that sums up and finishes the announcements of judgment and salvation of the first part, and prepares for and introduces those of part second. For we notice already in these chapters the language of 40–66. First of all the Prophet carries us in chap. 34 to the end of days. As if to make an end corresponding to the beginning, 1, 2, he summons the earth and all its inhabitants to notice the announcement of the final judgment that is to comprehend heaven and earth (Isa_34:1-4). But he is not in condition to represent the how of the world’s destruction. As remarked in the introduction to 24–27 he can only paint that remote judgment in colors of the present. He gives at once a vivid and an agreeable picture of it by representing it as a judgment against Edom. For the negative base of Israel’s hope of salvation is that its enemies shall be destroyed. That the Prophet means here to conclude all announcement of judgment against their enemies appears from the demand of Isa_34:16 that they shall search “the book of the Lord,” and compare the prediction there with the fulfilment. We shall try to show that this appeal to “the book of the Lord” implies the entire foregoing book.
In chap. 35 the Prophet presents the other side of the judgment of the world, viz., the final redemption of Israel. It appears as a return home to Zion out of exile. Not a word intimates that the Prophet has in mind only the return from Babylon. He names no land; he speaks only of return (יֵשֻׁבוּן, Isa_34:10) in general. Already in Deu_30:3 sqq. it is promised that the Lord will gather the Israelites and bring them back out of all lands, even though driven out to the end of heaven, thence too the Lord will fetch them. On the ground of this passage Isaiah had already held out a similar prospect (Isa_11:11 sqq.; Isa_19:23 sq.; Isa_27:12 sq.), and after him Jeremiah especially deals much in this particular of the glorious last time (Jer_16:14 sqq.; Jer_23:3; Jer_29:14; Jer_32:37; Jer_40:12; Jer_46:27). Therefore the Prophet promises here glorious and joyful return home—that to the Israelite must be dearest of all—and the object of his greatest longing (Psa_137:5-6), and in that home eternal joy (Isa_34:10). One may say that he draws here the outline of the picture that he afterwards carries out in chaps. 40–66. in all the varieties of its forms.
Their contents show that the two chapters belong together. Chap. 35 is the necessary obverse of 34. The expressions נוה תנים חציר ל׳ Isa_35:7, which manifestly contrasts with Isa_34:13, form a close bond between the two chapters; and it is to be noted that חָצִיר in the sense of חָצֵר occurs only in these two places. Also the metonymic use of נקע (Isa_34:15; Isa_35:6) which occurs beside only Isa_58:8; Isa_59:5, is a peculiarity of language that points to the correlation of the two chapters.
Eichhorn, Gesen., Rosenmueller, De W., Maur., Hitzig, Ew., Umbr., Knobel and others ascribe these chapters to a later author that lived in the time of the captivity. They only differ in that some (Gesenius, Rosenmueller, Hitzig, Ewald) put this unknown author at the end of the exile, the others at an earlier period. We will show in the exposition, by exact investigation of the language, that both the contents and the form of language of these chapters connect them intimately with 40–66, yet that in both these respects there is also a common character with part first. This view is confirmed by the undeniable fact that these chapters are variously quoted by prophets before the exile. This will be proved in respect to Jer_46:10 in the comment on Isa_34:5 sqq. I have shown the connection between these chapters and Jer_50:27; Jer_50:39; Jer_51:40; Jer_51:60 sqq. by an extended examination in my work: “Der Prophet Jer. und Babylon, Erlangen, 1850.” Comp. Kueper, Jerem. libr. sacr. interpr. atque vindex, Berolini, 1837, p. 79 sqq. Caspari, Jerem., ein Zeuge für d. Echtheit von Jes. 34, etc., Zeitschr. von Rudelbach und Guericke, 1843, Heft. 2, p. 1 sqq. The proof that Jer. has drawn on our chapters carries with it the proof that the resemblances noticed between Zep_1:7-8 and Isa_34:6, and between Zep_2:14 and Isa_34:11, are to be regarded as a use of these chapters by Zephaniah, the older contemporary of Jeremiah, and not a quotation of Zephaniah by these chapters.
The reasons adduced against Isaiah’s authorship of these chapters will not stand examination. Knobel thinks the hatred of Edom in the degree shown in Isa_34:5 sqq. is to be found only in passages that belong to the time after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. But not to mention Obadiah (especially Isa 34:10-14), there are found in Joel (Joel 4:19) and Amos (especially Amo_1:11 sqq.) proofs enough that there could be in Isaiah’s time a hatred like that expressed in our chapter 34 We will show in the exposition of 35 that it does not presuppose the Babylonish exile, but the second, great and last exile in general. It is incomprehensible how the announcement of a great judgment on the heathen generally (Isa_34:2-3; Isa_34:5 sqq.; Isa_35:8) can denote a later authorship, seeing the same is announced in the acknowledged prophecies of Isa_2:4; Isa_2:11 sqq., and even in Isa_30:25 sqq. (see comm. in loc.). But we may refer in this matter to the entire liber apocalypticus (24–27), by assaulting which the critics of course becloud for themselves the conspectus of Isaiah’s field of vision. What Knobel further urges of the extravagant expectations (Isa_34:3-4; Isa_34:9; Isa_35:1-2; Isa_35:5 sqq.), affects only the bold and grand images in which the Prophet utters these expectations. And these images are too bold, too hyperbolical for Isaiah! If the genuineness of chs. 13, 14, 24–27 is denied, then the analogies for the dissolution of the heavens (Isa_34:4) and for the goblins of night and wild beasts (Isa_34:11-17) are surrendered. On this subject we can only refer back to our defence of the genuineness of chap. 13, 14. Finally Knobel mentions a number of expressions in these chapters which in general, or at least, in their present meaning, occur only in later writers, putting in the latter class some expressions that are peculiar to this author. One may admit that many expressions occur in Isaiah that only later writers employ, or that are analogous to expressions of later use. But is this any proof of the later origin of these chapters? Isaiah is so opulent a spirit, he reigns with such creative power even in the sphere of language, and his authority is so great with his successors, that we may confidently affirm, that very many later words and expressions are to be referred to him as the source or exemplar. Moreover that argument loses weight when we consider that in our chapters much ancient linguistic treasure occurs, e.g., בּאֹשׁ Isa_34:3; רְאֵם Isa_34:7; נָקָם and שְׁלּוּם Isa_34:8.
Isaiah, then, is doubtless the author of our chapters. But he wrote them in his later period, when Assyria was for him a stand-point long since surmounted, and when, withdrawn from the present, he lived, with all his prophetic seeing and knowing, in the future. I agree with Delitzsch in assuming that Isaiah, in preparing the book as a whole (if he actually himself attended to this matter), put these chapters here as a conclusion of the first part of his prophetic discourses. I only add that on this occasion Isaiah must have added Isa_34:16-17 with their reference to the now completed “book of the Lord.”
The division of the chapters is simple:—
1. The judgment on all nations, Isa_34:1-4.
2. The judgment on Edom as representation of the whole in one particular example, of especial interest to Israel, Isa_34:5-15.
3. Concluding remark: summons to compare the prophecy with the fulfilment, Isa_34:16-17.
4. The obverse of the judgment: Israel’s redemption and return home, 35.
1. THE JUDGMENT ON ALL NATIONS
Isa_34:1-4
1 Come near, ye nations, to hear;
And hearken, ye people:
Let the earth hear, and 1all that is therein;
The world, and all things that come forth of it.
2 For 2the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations,
And his fury upon all their armies:
He 3hath utterly destroyed them,
He hath delivered them to the slaughter.
3 Their slain also shall be cast out,
And their stink shall come up out of their carcases,
And the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved,
And the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll:
And all their host shall 4fall down,
As the leaf falleth off from the vine,
And as a 5falling fig from the fig tree.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
[For the sake of economy in labor and space we will omit in this and subsequent chapters the Author’s abundant and laborious citations of texts illustrative of Isaiah’s style, and involving proof of the common authorship of parts first and second. The Author has prepared a comprehensive list of the words and texts concerned in these chapters, which appears at the close of the volume and, except where the commentary furnishes additional matter, we shall refer to that list by the sign see list.—Tr.].
Isa_34:1. הקשׁיכ ,לאמים ,קרבו see list.—גוים occurs often in both parts, e.g., Isa_1:4; Isa_2:4; Isa_10:7; Isa_11:10; Isa_40:15; Isa_41:2. The expression ארץ ומלאה occurs Deu_33:16; Psa_24:1; Mic_1:2, and often; in Isaiah only here. Comp. הים ומלאו Isa_42:10; Isa_6:3; Isa_8:8; Isa_31:4.—תבל (comp. on Isa_13:11) occurs only in part first.—צאצאים (plur tant.) are τἄ ἔκγονα, “the products.” The expression is based on Gen_1:12; Gen_1:24 (תּוֹצֵא הָאָרֶץ). The Prophet thus does not mean only men, as many, influenced by the LXX. and Chald., have supposed. The word, being made parallel with מלאה denotes everything that as production of the earth fills it.
Isa_34:2-3. חללים ,טבח ,צבא ,קצף see list.—פנריהם casus absolutus, comp. Ewald, § 309 b. בְּאֹשׁ only here in Isaiah. Comp. Joe_2:20; Amo_4:10.
Isa_34:4. מקק (as verb only here in Isaiah), is used Psa_38:6 of a festering wound, in Zec_14:12 of rotting flesh, i.e., eyes and tongues rotting in their natural place. In Lev_26:39; Eze_24:23; Eze_33:10 it is used in the more general sense of passing away, disappearing; Isa_3:24; Isa_5:24. מַק is “that which has rotted, mouldered.” Add to this that מָכַךְ Psa_106:43; Job_24:24; Ecc_10:18, denotes corruere, collabi; מוּךְ Lev_25:25; Lev_25:35; Lev_25:39; Lev_25:47 means “to collapse, decline, wax poor,” but מוּג (Amo_9:5; Amo_9:13; Psa_65:11, etc.), diffluere, dissolvi. Thus we must recognize as the fundamental meaning of this family of words “decomposition, dissolution, rotting, mouldering, turning to dust” occasioned by the departure of the spirit of life. But this effect may be variously brought about. Fire, e.g., can produce it in a tree by scorching it. Such appears the sense here. Thus 2Pe_3:12 οὐρανοὶ πυρούμενοι λυθήσονται seems to me to correspond to our נָמַקּוּ—נָגֹל for נָגַל see Green’s Gram., § 140, 2. Niph. only here in Isaiah; Polal. Isa_9:4.—נבל comp.Isa_1:30; Isa_24:4; Isa_28:1; Isa_28:4; Isa_40:7-8; Isa_64:5, especially as regards נבלת see on Isa_28:1; Isa_28:4.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. It is a mighty matter, the concern of all nations that the Prophet has to announce: hence he summons all to hear his address (Isa_34:1). For the wrath of the Lord is kindled against all nations and all that belongs to them. They are all to be given up to the slaughter (Isa_34:2), and shall be cast out so that the stench shall mount up, and whole mountains shall run with blood (Isa_34:3). Yea, the heavens shall roll up as by strong heat, and the heavenly bodies shall fall like dry leaves (Isa_34:4).
2. Come—fig tree.
Isa_34:1-4. The expression צאצאים occurs only in Job and Isaiah (see on Isa_22:24). The use nearest like the present Isa_42:5. In Isa_34:2 only the nations are mentioned as the object of the judgment. Though impersonal nature shares in it, still this is only the means to an end. כל־שבאם, having a similar relation to that of כל־צאצאיה (see Text. and Gram.), denotes not the host merely, but the host of mankind in general. Already, by virtue of the decree of wrath determined against them, the Lord has laid on them His curse or ban (החרים11:15; Isa_37:11), and devoted them to slaughter.
On the description Isa_34:3 comp. Isa_14:19; Isa_37:36; Isa_66:24; Isa_10:18; Isa_13:7; Isa_19:1. The passages Mat_24:29; 2Pe_3:7; 2Pe_3:10; 2Pe_3:12; Rev_6:13-14 are founded on the present text. For that the Prophet has in mind the destruction of the world, is manifest from this description comprehending the earth and heavens.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Isa_34:1-4. Because Rev_6:12-17 has express reference to this passage, some would conclude that the Prophet here has in view only that special event of the world’s judgment (the opening of the sixth seal). But that is not justified. For other passages of the New Testament that do not specially relate to the opening of the sixth seal are based on this passage (Mat_24:29; 2Pe_3:7 sqq.; Rev_14:11; Rev_19:11 sqq.). It appears from this that the present passage is, as it were, a magazine from which New Testament prophecy has drawn its material for more than one event of fulfilment.
2. On Isa_34:16. The word of God can bear the closest scrutiny. Indeed it desires and demands it. If men would only examine the Scriptures diligently and with an unclouded mind and love of truth, “whether these things are so,” as did the Bereans (Act_17:11; Joh_5:39)!
3. On Isa_35:3. “The Christian church is the true Lazaretto in which may be found a crowd of weary, sick, lame and wretched people. Therefore, Christ is the Physician Himself (Mat_9:12) who binds up and heals those suffering from neglect (Eze_34:16; Isa_61:1). And His word cures all (Wis_16:12). His servants, too, are commissioned officially to admonish the rude, to comfort the timid, to bear the weak, and be patient with all (1Th_5:14). Therefore, whoever feels weak, let him betake himself to this Bethania; there he will find counsel for his soul,” Cramer.
4. [On Isa_35:8-9. “They who enter the path that leads to life, find there no cause of alarm. Their fears subside; their apprehensions of punishment on account of their sins die away, and they walk that path with security and confidence. There is nothing in that way to alarm them; and though there are many foes—fitly represented by lions and wild beasts—lying about the way, yet no one is permitted to ‘go up thereon.’ This is a most beautiful image of the safety of the people of God, and of their freedom from all enemies that could annoy them.” “The path here referred to is appropriately designed only for the redeemed of the Lord. It is not for the profane, the polluted, the hypocrite. It is not for those who live for this world, or for those who love pleasure more than they love God. The church should not be entered except by those, who have evidence that they are redeemed. None should make a profession of religion who have no evidence that they belong to “the redeemed,” and who are not disposed to walk in the way of holiness. But for all such it is a highway on which they are to travel. It is made by leveling hills and elevating valleys; across the sandy desert and through the wilderness of this world, infested with the enemies of God and His people. It is made straight and plain, so that none need err; it is defended from enemies, so that all may be safe; because ‘He,’ their Leader and Redeemer, shall go with them and guard that way.” Barnes in loc.]
Footnotes:
[1]Heb. the fulness thereof.
[2]the Lord has wrath on.
[3]hath cursed.
[4]wilt.
[5]Or, wilted leaf-fall.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 1-3. Come near, ye nations — All mankind is…
1-3. Come near, ye nations — All mankind is summoned, including all creation in the high poetic ideal, to witness the final fate of all Jehovah’s foes. The deliverance is apocalyptic, and the usual imagery in such compositions (see Eze_39:11) is employed. God’s foes are doomed to an utter curse, their corpses are cast out unburied, and are washed away (melted) as with a descending torrent.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 1–4. The announcement of the world-judgment, introduced by a…
1–4. The announcement of the world-judgment, introduced by a proclamation addressed to all nations. The peoples are invited to come near, as if for debate (ch. Isa_41:1, Isa_48:16, Isa_57:3), but really to hear their doom. Cf. ch. Isa_1:2; Deu_32:1; Mic_1:2.
all that is therein] Better, the fulness thereof (R.V.);—the same word as in ch. Isa_6:3.
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all things that come forth of it] The word is used (1) of vegetation, the produce of the earth, (2) of a man’s issue: here, apparently, by a mixture of metaphors, of mankind as springing from the earth.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (1) Come near, ye nations, to hear . .…
XXXIV.
(1) Come near, ye nations, to hear . . .—The two chapters that follow have a distinct character of their own. They form, as it were, the closing epilogue of the first great collection of Isaiah’s prophecies, the historical section that follows (Isaiah 36-39) serving as a link between them and the great second volume, which comes as an independent whole. Here, accordingly, we have to deal with what belongs to a transition period, probably the closing years of the reign of Hezekiah The Egyptian alliance and the attack of Sennacherib are now in the back-ground, and the prophet’s vision takes a wider range. In the destruction of the Assyrian army he sees the pledge and earnest of the fate of all who fight against God, and as a representative instance of such enemies, fixes upon Edom, then, as ever, foremost among the enemies of Judah. They had invaded that kingdom in the days of Ahaz (2Ch_28:17). The inscriptions of Sennacherib (Lenormant, Anc. Hist., i. 399) show that they submitted to him. They probably played a part in his invasion of Judah, in his attack on Jerusalem, analogous to that which drew down the bitter curse of the Babylonian exiles (Psa_137:7). The chapters are further noticeable as having served as a model both to Zephaniah throughout his prophecy, and to Jeremiah 25, Jer_46:3-12, Jeremiah 50, 51, parallelisms with which will meet us as we go on.
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The prophecy opens, as was natural, with a wider appeal. The lesson which Isaiah has to teach is one for all time and for all nations: “They that take the sword shall perish by the sword.” There rises before his eyes once more the vision of a day of great slaughter, such as the world had never known before, the putrid carcasses of the slain covering the earth, as they had covered Tophet, the Valley of Hinnom, after the pestilence had done its work on Sennacherib’s army. (Comp. as an instance of like hyperbole, the vision of the destruction of Gog and Magog, in Eze_39:11-16.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Ch. 34. and 35. are generally recognized as constituting…
Ch. 34. and 35. are generally recognized as constituting a distinct prophecy, complete in itself, and only slightly connected with what precedes. The passage is, as Bishop Lowth observes, "an entire, regular, and beautiful poem, consisting of two parts, the first (Isaiah 34) containing a denunciation of Divine vengeance against the enemies of God; the second (Isaiah 35) describing the flourishing state of the Church of God, consequent upon the execution of those judgments." The present chapter, which forms the first half of the poem, is wholly denunciatory. Its theme is vengeance on God"s enemies generally; but, as a typical specimen, the Edomites are selected, and their punishment is depicted in the strongest colors. The awful picture, with its dark and lurid hues, prepares the way for the soft and lovely portraiture of the blest condition of the Church triumphant, which is contained in the ensuing chapter.
Ye people; rather, ye peoples. The address is couched in the widest possible terms, so as to include the whole of humankind. The earth... and all that is therein; literally, the earth, and the fullness thereof. The inhabitants are no doubt intended.
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Vers. 1-10. The terrors of the Lord not to be held back by the preacher,
"Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord," says the great apostle of the Gentiles, "we persuade men. There is m these modern times a sickly sentimentality prevalent, which protests against the employment by preachers of arguments that address themselves to the fears of their hearers. Delicate nerves are not to be hurt by disagreeable images, or highly wrought descriptions of sufferings. Ears accustomed to flatteries are not to be shocked by suggestions that make the listeners uncomfortable. "Speak unto us smooth things" is the universal demand, or, at any rate, the universal desire. There is considerable danger of preachers yielding to the wishes of their hearers in this respect; since it is always pleasant to be popular, and disagreeable to be thought to take a pleasure in hurting people"s feelings. But the preacher of God"s Word should be actuated by higher considerations. He must shape his conduct by
(1) the example of great preachers in the past, as Isaiah, St. Paul, St. John, Christ himself;
(2) the real needs and true interest of those whom he addresses; and
(3) the declarations of Holy Scripture concerning the duty of a preacher.
I THE EXAMPLE OF GREAT PREACHERS IN THE PAST. It is clear that Isaiah did not hold back the terrors of the Lord. Almost one-half of his prophecy is denunciatory; and the denunciations uttered are of a truly fearful character. All the great powers of the earth, and many minor powers, are threatened with the Divine vengeance, and that vengeance is depicted in very terrible language. Babylon is to be "brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit"; (Isa_14:15) Assyria is to be burnt up; his glory is to be consumed; he is to be "as when a standard-bearer fainteth"; (Isa_10:17, Isa_10:18) Edom is to become "burning pitch", (Isa_34:9) which "shall not be quenched night nor day"; (Isa_34:10) God"s enemies generally are to be "slain" and "consumed," and set in a place where "their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched". (Isa_66:24) St. Paul persuaded men by "the terror of the Lord". (2Co_5:11) He warned them to "look for judgment and a fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries". (Heb_10:27) He reminded them that "our God is a consuming Fire", (Heb_12:29) and that "it is a fearful thing to fall into his hands". (Heb_10:31) St. John, the apostle of love, spoke of those who should "drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation," and who should be "tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and of the Lamb," and said that "the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever," and that they "have no rest day nor night". (Rev_14:10, Rev_14:11) It is to our blessed Lord himself that we owe the picture of the rich man tormented in the flame, and praying Abraham to send Lazarus, that he might "dip the tip of his finger in water and cool his tongue". (Luk_16:24) Our Lord, moreover, adopts the dreadful imagery of Isaiah with respect to the undying worm and the fire that is never quenched, (Mar_9:44, 46, 48) and points his teaching by revealing to us the awful words of the final sentence of reprobation, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels". (Mat_25:41)
II THE REAL NEEDS OF THOSE TO WHOM PREACHING IS ADDRESSED. It cannot be denied that fear is a strong constraining motive. Human laws are enforced, by penalties, the object of which is to "put men in fear." Punishment holds its place in every system of moral training, and punishment is an appeal to fear. Whatever may be the case with a chosen few, the hulk of mankind will always be more readily influenced by fear than by hope, by punishments than by rewards, by threats than by promises. The preacher cannot afford to lose the moral force which is thus put within his reach. It is hard enough to restrain men from evil courses, and induce them to lead a godly life, by freely using all the means of persuasion that are in our power. To refrain from using one of the most potent would be to fight Satan with one hand instead of two.
III THE TEACHING OF SCRIPTURE CONCERNING THE DUTY OF A PREACHER. Preachers are directed to open to their disciples "the whole counsel of God." They are not to pick and choose what doctrines of Christianity they will teach. They are to deliver to others "the gospel," "that which they also received" (1Co_15:3) not "another gospel". (Gal_1:6) Now, it cannot be pretended that "the terrors of the Lord his wrath against sin, and its dreadful final punishment, are not as much portions of the teaching of Christ as any other. Not to preach them is to keep back a part of the message which Christ brought us from the Father. No preacher is entitled so to act, whatever the disinclination of his congregation to hear the plain teaching of Scripture on these points plainly declared. The disinclination is itself an indication of a need. Those who most dislike the doctrine of final punishment are probably those who most require to have the doctrine pressed upon them.
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON Vers. 1-17. The sins and punishment of Edom.
The Edomites appear in the blackest colors in the descriptions of the prophets. And in this oracle their punishment is represented in the horrible desolation of their land.
I THEIR SINS. Their cruelty is above all stigmatized. At the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar they helped to plunder the city and slaughter the poor Jews. Their conduct on this occasion was never forgotten. (Ps 137) In Obadiah we have the feelings about them brought into the clearest. (Oba_1:10-16) They were akin to the Jews, Esau the ancestor of the one, Jacob of the other. Their cruelty was accused as "violence against a brother." They had entered the gate of the city on the day of their brethren"s calamity, to exult over them, and to join hand in hand with the conqueror and the spoiler. But the day of vengeance has come, and their violent dealing is to be returned upon their own heads. (cf. Isa_63:1 Jer_49:17 Lam_4:21 Eze_25:13, 14 Amo_1:11, Amo_1:12)
II THEIR PUNISHMENT.
1. The sword of Jehovah an emblem of Divine vengeance. So in numerous passages. (Isa_27:1 Isa_31:8 Isa_34:5 Isa_66:16 Deu_32:41, 42 Jer_12:12 Jer_46:10 Jer_47:6 Zec_13:7) It has been bathed in blood in heaven, that is, upon the objects of idolatrous worship, demons of the stars, etc.
2. Sacrifice as also a figure of vengeance. A "sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom." So sacrifice and feasting connected with judgment in Zep_1:7 Jer_46:10 Eze_39:17-19.
3. Pictures of desolation. It is a volcanic land, and the prophet sees it deluged with lava-floods, like the guilty cities of the plain. (cf. Rev_14:10 Rev_19:3) The further features of the picture are sketched in the most gloomy colors its castles and strong places in ruins and overgrown with weeds; wild animals haunting the former abodes of man; and demons or fairies, such as are in popular superstition, hovering about the former scenes of human pride and power.
III EDOM AS TYPICAL OF THE UNGODLY WORLD. There seems reason for supposing the prophet to have had this larger thought in mind.
1. All the nations are summoned to hear the judgments of God.
2. The desolation predicted is said to be eternal; and this is four times repeated.
The general lessons, then, of Divine judgments may be repeated in connection with this awe-inspiring picture.
1. The particular example of Divine judgment illustrates the general truth. That which concerns the people in this respect concerns mankind. The beam which strikes this or that object strikes many others in its rebound.
2. Destruction and discrimination in the judgments are the mark of Providence. When God strikes an individual, or a nation, the conclusion is that they were aimed at.
3. An utter doom the cow, sequence of utter sin. None can think of the doom of Sodom and Gomorrah, and of Edom, without a shudder, without hearing the reverberations of the thunder from Sinai; without attending to the appeal, "Break off your sins by righteousness!" "Today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts! J.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON Vers. 1-15. The Divine indignation.
The strong, pictorial language of the prophet brings into bold relief some truths respecting God"s indignation of which it is needful to be occasionally reminded. We learn
I THAT IT IS A CONSTANT FACTOR IN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE WORLD. "Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people; let the earth hear, and all that is therein... for the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations ," etc. (vers. 1, 2). It is seldom, perhaps never, the duty of the Christian minister to employ such terms as those used in this prophecy (vers. 3, 5, 6). But it is his duty to make it clear that benevolence and its kindred attributes do not constitute the character of God; that, though it is a truth of inestimable price that "God is love," it is also true that "our God is a consuming Fire;" that though it is a fact that "justice and judgment are his strange work," it is also a fact that God does pour out his indignation "upon all nations;" that "the hand of the Lord is against them that do evil," that he will render "indignation and wrath.., upon every soul of man that doeth evil." Religious doctrine, like all other truth, must be seen in its true proportions, or it will be misconceived. To represent God"s indignation against sin as the chief element in his character is essentially false; to represent his love as absorbing or eclipsing his hatred of sin and his intention to punish the guilty is also, if not equally, false. The same lips which opened to invite every weary wanderer to return to him and find rest in his happy service declared that many of the children of privilege should be shut out of the kingdom of heaven. To the Thrice-Holy One sin is now "that abominable thing which his soul hateth," and against it he will always express, both in word and deed, his righteous indignation.
II THAT IT IS SOMETIMES POSITIVELY OVERWHELMING IN ITS EFFECTS. "He hath utterly destroyed them" (ver. 2); "Their slain shall be east out... the mountains shall be melted with their blood" (ver. 3); "All the host of heaven shall be dissolved," etc. (ver. 4); "The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, the Lord hath a great slaughter in the land" (ver. 6). God is sometimes "terrible in his doings toward the children of men." The flood swept away the race; the fires of heaven consumed-the cities of the plain; the avenging armies destroyed the population of the guilty land. And now the corrupt nation pays for its apostasy and its crimes the penalty of defeat and humiliation; the degenerate Church also suffers feebleness, decline, perhaps positive extinction; and the debased, hardened man finds himself bereft of every good, pursued and overtaken by gathering evils, having nothing to hope and everything to fear. God is "slow to wrath," he gives opportunities for repentance, he welcomes and restores the penitent; but on the impenitent and unreturning sinner he lays his hand of retribution, and alas for those who find from their own experience that "the way of transgressors is hard!
III THAT IT IS OFTEN EXCITED BY OFFENCES COMMITTED AGAINST HIS PEOPLE. "The day of the Lord"s vengeance" is "the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion". (see Num_20:20 2Ch_21:8-10 2Ch_25:12 Psa_137:7 Oba_1:10-16) Our Divine Lord has told us that to cause one of his little ones to stumble is a heinous offence in his sight; that, inasmuch as we do not our duty to one of the least of his brethren, we withhold what is clue to himself. The persecution of the people of God has taken many forms beside that of slaughter or imprisonment; they who resort to it must reckon on a very serious measure of Divine disapproval.
IV THAT IT SHOWS ITSELF IN ITS SADDEST FORM IN A COMPLETE DEGENERACY. "From generation to generation it shall lie waste" (ver. 10 and vers. 11-15). It is a sad descent, a melancholy instance of degeneracy, when the thickly peopled city is abandoned by mankind, is untrodden by the human foot, and becomes the haunt of the wild beast, of the obscene bird, and of the "night-monster." The last and worst penalty which God"s indignation inflicts on the children of men is utter spiritual degeneracy the mind losing its intellectual faculties, and becoming imbecile through vice and folly; the wilt broken down and become helpless, bent and swayed with every breeze; the heart hardened so that all feeling of pity and affection has departed; the soul foregoing and forgetting its higher aspirations and sunk into the condition in which it craves nothing better than worldly increase or animal indulgence. Sad as is the loss of position or estate when the powerful prince becomes a menial or the wealthy merchant becomes a beggar, immeasurably sadder in the sight of Heaven is that spiritual degeneracy in which, as the inevitable wages of sin, a human spirit loses all its nobility of character and becomes an outcast in creation, mere driftwood on the ocean, the sport of the devouring waves. C.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Ver. 1. God"s dealing with one nation for the sake of many.
"Let the earth hear." This chapter, with the following one, constitutes a distinct prophecy, and forms the completion of the first part of Isaiah"s work. This chapter further illustrates the point which has been again and again enforced, that "no man liveth unto himself;" a man"s successes, achievements, failures, losses, troubles, are all for the sake of others. Every man"s life is really vicarious, and this truth is pictured for us in the history and relations of nations. It is plain that no nation liveth unto itself; it is inspiration or warning to other nations around. A man"s experience, and a nation"s experience, can only to a very limited extent help the man or the nation; but it can most materially help other men and other nations. Therefore "let the earth hear" what God will do unto Edom. For Edom is principally referred to here, as the peculiarly inveterate and malignant enemy of ancient Israel. As we know that Edom submitted to Assyria, it is quite possible that they played a part in Sennacherib"s invasion of Judah, in his attack on Jerusalem; so the prophet foresees Divine judgments falling on Edom as soon as Sennacherib is removed. The historical relations of Edom and Israel should be carefully studied. It is thought that from the historical reference to one nation the prophetic vision advances to the end of the world and the final judgment. We may keep to the lessons which arise out of the purely historical association. Dealing with one or with a few, for the sake of the many, has been God"s universal law of relationship with men. It is the law of elections, or rather selections, the calling out of specially fitted ones to be workers for, or examples to, all. We readily recognize this law, as the responsibility of talents, positions, or opportunities; but it is less usual to see that it equally applies to disabilities, failures, and judgments. Men work for others, and men suffer for others. Nations gain power for the sake of others; nations are crushed and humbled for the sake of others. Illustration of this point may run along three lines.
I A MAN"S OR A NATION"S GENIUS IS NOT FOR SELF. "The earth must hear," and know about it. All gifts are trusts.
II A MAN"S OR A NATION"S SUFFERINGS ARE NOT FOR SELF. The most striking illustration in a man is Job; in a nation, the people of Israel. All sufferers bear their part in the moral education, the redemption, of the race.
III A MAN"S OR A NATION"S JUDGMENTS ARE NOT FOR SELF. We are not punished for our own sakes alone. Judgments follow us for the sake of the on-lookers. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Come near, ye nations, to hear.
Isa_34:1-17
Come near, ye nations, to hear.
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--The subject is, as in chap.
13., the Lords judgment upon all the nations; and as chap 13. singled out
Babylon for special doom, so chap. 34, singles out Edom. (Prof. G. A. Smith, D,D.)
Edom
Edom represents here all the powers hostile to the Church of God as such, and is thus an idea of the profoundest and widest cosmical significance. (F. Delitzsch.)
Edoms punishment
The eternal punishment falling on the Edomites is depicted (Isa_34:8-10) in figures and colours suggested by the nearness of Edom to the Dead Sea, and the volcanic character of this mountain-land; it suffers the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah (Jer_49:18). (F. Delitzsch.)
Isa_34:1-17; Isa_35:1-10
These are two wonderful chapters, and great use is made of them by Jeremiah and by Zephaniah. This use of the Bible by the Bible is of great consequence; not only is it interesting as a literary incident, but it is full of suggestion as to the range and certainty and usefulness of inspiration. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain The text draws back the curtain which separates the…
Isa 34:5
The text draws back the curtain which separates the visible world from the invisible. It reveals celestial regions, in which there are also great struggles going on. It lifts up our eyes to the grander movements of the world of spirits; and then it declares that the sword which is to be used in fighting what seems to be the petty wars of the Hebrews and the Edomites, is the same sword which has been used in these celestial conflicts; that the means and instruments of righteousness upon the earth must be the same with the means and instruments of righteousness in the heavens.
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I. All good struggle in the world is really God’s battle, and ought to recognise itself as such. Every special victory of human progress—the victory over slavery, the victory over superstition, the victory over social wrong, nay even the victory over tough matter, the subduing of the hard stuff of nature to spiritual uses,—each of these is but a step in the great onward march of God taking possession of His own. Fight your battle with the sword bathed in heaven; so you shall make it victorious, and grow strong and great yourself in fighting it.
II. One of the most marvellous things about Jesus is the union of fire and patience. He saw His Father’s house turned into a place of merchandise, and instantly the whip of small cords was in His hands, and He was cleansing the sacred place with His impassioned indignation. And yet He walked day after day through the streets of Jerusalem, and saw the sin, and let the sinners sin on with only the remonstrance of His pure presence and His pitying gaze. Only in God’s own time and in God’s own way can the battles of the Lord be fought. There is no self-will in Jesus. He is one with His Father, and lives by His Father’s will. His sword was always bathed in heaven.
III. The battle which goes on within ourselves is God’s battle, and is of supreme importance. If the battle be God’s battle, it must be fought only with God’s weapons. You want to get rid of your selfishness. You must not kill it with the sword of another selfishness, which thenceforth shall rule in its place. Selfishness can only be cast out by self-forgetfulness and consecration. To count sin God’s enemy, and to fight it with all His purity and strength, that is what it means for us that our sword should be bathed in heaven.
Phillips Brooks, Twenty Sermons, p. 262.
References: Isa 35:1, Isa 35:2.—G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 275. Isa 35:3.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. v., No. 243. Isa 35:4.—D. Moore, Penny Pulpit, No. 3169; W. M. Taylor, Old Testament Outlines, p. 196. Isa 35:5, Isa 35:6.—W. Hubbard, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xvi., p. 232; J. Keble, Sermons from Advent to Christmas Eve, p. 90.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain Sentence on the Nations. Blessings in Store for God's…
Sentence on the Nations. Blessings in Store for God's People
These chapters are now generally considered non-Isaianic and referred to the period of the exile, on two grounds: (a) the literary style is unlike Isaiah's. (b) The strong feeling against Edom points to a date subsequent to the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, when the Edomites exulted in the city's fall and sided against the Jews, conduct which provoked bitter resentment (Oba_1:10-16; Lam_4:21-22; Psa_137:7).
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Isaiah 34.
1-4. The judgment upon the nations,
5-17. and upon Edom in particular.
Isaiah 35. The blessings in store for God's redeemed people.
4. Cp. 1 Isa_3:10.
5. Shall be bathed] RV 'hath drunk its fill.' Idumea] RV 'Edom.'
6. Bozrah] a strongly fortified city of Edom (Isa_63:1; Amo_1:12; Jer_49:13). See the same imagery Jer_46:10. The men slain by divine vengeance are compared to beasts offered in sacrifice.
7. Unicorns] RV 'wild-oxen.' Come down] i.e. to the shambles.
8. Controversy] 'quarrel.' The calamity of Edom is a punishment from Jehovah for its hostility to Zion.
9, 10. Imagery suggested by the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah (Jer_49:18), and by the volcanic character of the land of Edom.
11-15. A graphic picture of a desolate land haunted by wild and uncanny creatures.
11. Cormorant.. bittern] RV 'pelican.. porcupine.' Stones] RV 'plummet,' implying that the work of destruction will be as thorough as that of building generally is. Confusion.. emptiness] The words are those of Gen_1:2, and suggest a return to primeval chaos.
13. Dragons.. owls] RV 'jackals.. ostriches': cp. Isa_13:21, Isa_13:22.;
14. wild.. islands] RV 'wolves' (Isa_13:22). Satyr] see on Isa_13:21. Screech owl] Heb. Lilith, the name of a night-demon or vampire RV'night-monster.'
15. Great owl] RV 'arrowsnake.'
16. Seek, etc.] An invitation to future generations to compare the event with the prediction, and note its precise fulfilment. Fail] RV 'be missing.'
17. God, who assigns to nations their territories (Act_17:26), has allotted Edom to the desert creatures for ever.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain The Day of Jehovah
CHAPTER 34
The Day of Jehovah
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1. Addressed to the world: Jews and Gentiles involved (Isa 34:1) 2. The shaking of the earth and the heavens (Isa 34:2-8) 3. The day of vengeance (Isa 34:9-17)This is one of the darkest chapters in the Bible. A worldwide judgment is described such as has never taken place in the history of the world. The indignation of the Lord is then upon all nations and upon their armies. Like chapter 33, it tells of the great judgments to come.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Judgments upon Idumea.
Judgments upon Idumea.
Isaiah is rightly called the evangelist of the Old Testament. Throughout his book of prophecies he refers to conditions as they would obtain in the time of the Messiah. In chapters 34 and 35 also, which form the conclusion of the first half of his book, he makes use of New Testament ideas and pictures. For this reason these ers, at the same time, strike the introductory chords to the great Book of Consolations, 40-66.
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Introductory Proclamation
v. 1. Come near, ye nations, to hear, and hearken, ye people! the prophet’s proclamation being so great and momentous that he summons all nations to give attention. Let the earth hear and all that is therein, all creatures being concerned in this weighty announcement; the world, the entire circle of time inhabited globe, and all things that come forth of it. The invitation is like Eze 6:3; Deu 32:1; Psa 50:4; Mic 6:1-2.
v. 2. For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, His is a great wrath, which will result in punishment upon all His enemies, and His fury upon all their armies, upon which they, in the excess of their insolence, rely; He hath utterly destroyed them, doomed them, by a solemn curse, to destruction, He hath delivered them to the slaughter, appointed them to be slain.
v. 3. Their slain also shall be cast out, left to lie unburied, and their stink, the odor of decay, shall come up out of their carcasses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood, washed away as by a mighty torrent. Cf Mat 24:29; 2Pe 3:7-10; Rev 6:13-14.
v. 4. And all the host of heaven, all the stars and heavenly bodies, shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, in the manner in which parchment-rolls were formerly rolled together; and all their host shall fall down, as the firmament of the heavens passes away, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, upon its fading in the autumn, and as a falling fig from the fig-tree, immature and useless. The prophet clearly has in mind the final dissolution of the universe, the end of the present dispensation, for which reason Peter makes use of the same picture in describing the end of the world, 2Pe 3:10-12.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh is speaking in poetry. (See: Parallelism)
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The earth and all that fills it must listen, the world, and all things that come from it
Here the earth is spoken of as being required to listen to Yahweh to emphasize that it is under Yahweh's authority. These two parallel phrases are metonyms for all the people who live in the world. AT: "In all places everywhere on earth, everyone must listen to what I say" (See: Personification and Metonymy)
the world, and all things that come from it
This is the second of two parallel phrases. The understood words may be supplied in this phrase. AT: "the world, and all things that come from it must listen" (See: Ellipsis)
he has completely destroyed them, he has handed them over to the slaughter
Often prophets speak of things that will happen in the future as if they have already happened. This emphasizes the event will certainly happen. AT: "he will completely destroy them, he will give them over to the slaughter" (See: Predictive Past)
translationWords
nation
people group
earth
Yahweh
anger
slaughter
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 34:1-17 This prophecy of judgment was against the nations…
34:1-17 This prophecy of judgment was against the nations at the terrifying day of the Lord (see study note on 2:5-22; see also 63:1-6).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.