Therefore Yahweh’s anger burns against his people, and he has stretched out his hand against them and has struck them. The mountains tremble, and their dead bodies are as refuse in the middle of the streets. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is still stretched out.
Parallel Translations
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Therefore Yahweh’s anger burns against his people, and he has stretched out his hand against them and has struck them. The mountains tremble, and their dead bodies are as refuse in the middle of the streets. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is still stretched out.
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Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
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Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against His people, and He hath stretched forth His hand against them, and hath smitten them, and the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.
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Cross-references (38)
Passages linked to Isaiah 5:25 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 9:21 Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
- Isaiah 10:4 They will only bow down under the prisoners, and will fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
- 2 Kings 9:37 and the body of Jezebel will be as dung on the face of the field on Jezreel’s land, so that they won’t say, “This is Jezebel.” ’ ”
- Isaiah 9:17 Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men, neither will he have compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is profane and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
- Jeremiah 4:24 I saw the mountains, and behold, they trembled, and all the hills moved back and forth.
- Daniel 9:16 Lord, according to all your righteousness, let your anger and please let your wrath be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a reproach to all who are around us.
- 2 Chronicles 36:16 but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until Yahweh’s wrath arose against his people, until there was no remedy.
- Psalms 18:7 Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations also of the mountains quaked and were shaken, because he was angry.
- Jeremiah 16:4 “They will die grievous deaths. They will not be lamented, neither will they be buried. They will be as dung on the surface of the ground. They will be consumed by the sword and by famine. Their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth.”
- Nahum 1:5 The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, yes, the world, and all who dwell in it.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:16 forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, to fill up their sins always. But wrath has come on them to the uttermost.
- Hosea 14:4 “I will heal their waywardness. I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from him.
- Micah 1:4 The mountains melt under him, and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like waters that are poured down a steep place.
- Habakkuk 3:10 The mountains saw you, and were afraid. The storm of waters passed by. The deep roared and lifted up its hands on high.
- Zephaniah 1:17 I will bring distress on men, that they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against Yahweh, and their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung.
- Revelation 20:11 I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them.
- Leviticus 26:14-46 “ ‘But if you will not listen to me, and will not do all these commandments, and if you shall reject my statutes, and if your soul abhors my ordinances, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, I also will do this to you: I will appoint terror over you, even consumption and fever, that shall consume the eyes, and make the soul to pine away. You will sow your seed in vain, for your enemies will eat it. I will set my face against you, and you will be struck before your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you; and you will flee when no one pursues you. “ ‘If you in spite of these things will not listen to me, then I will chastise you seven times more for your sins. I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your sky like iron, and your soil like bronze. Your strength will be spent in vain; for your land won’t yield its increase, neither will the trees of the land yield their fruit. “ ‘If you walk contrary to me, and won’t listen to me, then I will bring seven times more plagues on you according to your sins. I will send the wild animals among you, which will rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number. Your roads will become desolate. “ ‘If by these things you won’t be turned back to me, but will walk contrary to me, then I will also walk contrary to you; and I will strike you, even I, seven times for your sins. I will bring a sword upon you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant. You will be gathered together within your cities, and I will send the pestilence among you. You will be delivered into the hand of the enemy. When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver your bread again by weight. You shall eat, and not be satisfied. “ ‘If you in spite of this won’t listen to me, but walk contrary to me, then I will walk contrary to you in wrath. I will also chastise you seven times for your sins. You will eat the flesh of your sons, and you will eat the flesh of your daughters. I will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and cast your dead bodies upon the bodies of your idols; and my soul will abhor you. I will lay your cities waste, and will bring your sanctuaries to desolation. I will not take delight in the sweet fragrance of your offerings. I will bring the land into desolation, and your enemies that dwell in it will be astonished at it. I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you. Your land will be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste. Then the land will enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies’ land. Even then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, even the rest which it didn’t have in your Sabbaths when you lived on it. “ ‘As for those of you who are left, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf will put them to flight; and they shall flee, as one flees from the sword. They will fall when no one pursues. They will stumble over one another, as it were before the sword, when no one pursues. You will have no power to stand before your enemies. You will perish among the nations. The land of your enemies will eat you up. Those of you who are left will pine away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers they shall pine away with them. “ ‘If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they trespassed against me; and also that because they walked contrary to me, I also walked contrary to them, and brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled, and they then accept the punishment of their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham; and I will remember the land. The land also will be left by them, and will enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them; and they will accept the punishment of their iniquity because they rejected my ordinances, and their soul abhorred my statutes. Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly and to break my covenant with them; for I am Yahweh their God. But I will for their sake remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am Yahweh.’ ” These are the statutes, ordinances, and laws, which Yahweh made between him and the children of Israel in Mount Sinai by Moses.
- Deuteronomy 31:17 Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come on them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Haven’t these evils come on us because our God is not among us?’
- Deuteronomy 32:19-22 Yahweh saw and abhorred, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. He said, “I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end will be; for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness. They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. For a fire is kindled in my anger, that burns to the lowest Sheol, devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.
- 1 Kings 14:11 The dogs will eat he who belongs to Jeroboam who dies in the city; and the birds of the sky will eat he who dies in the field: for Yahweh has spoken it.” ’
- 1 Kings 16:4 The dogs will eat Baasha’s descendants who die in the city; and he who dies of his in the field, the birds of the sky will eat.”
- 1 Kings 21:24 The dogs will eat he who dies of Ahab in the city; and the birds of the sky will eat he who dies in the field.”
- 2 Kings 13:3 Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, continually.
- 2 Kings 22:13-17 “Go inquire of Yahweh for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found; for great is Yahweh’s wrath that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that which is written concerning us.” So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter); and they talked with her. She said to them, “Yahweh the God of Israel says, ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, “Yahweh says, ‘Behold, I will bring evil on this place, and on its inhabitants, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read. Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.’ ”
- Psalms 68:8 The earth trembled. The sky also poured down rain at the presence of the God of Sinai— at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
- Psalms 77:18 The voice of your thunder was in the whirlwind. The lightnings lit up the world. The earth trembled and shook.
- Psalms 78:38 But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn’t destroy them. Yes, many times he turned his anger away, and didn’t stir up all his wrath.
- Psalms 83:10 who perished at Endor, who became as dung for the earth.
- Psalms 106:40 Therefore Yahweh burned with anger against his people. He abhorred his inheritance.
- Psalms 114:7 Tremble, you earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,
- Isaiah 9:12-13 The Syrians in front, and the Philistines behind; and they will devour Israel with open mouth. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. Yet the people have not turned to him who struck them, neither have they sought Yahweh of Armies.
- Isaiah 14:26-27 This is the plan that is determined for the whole earth. This is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. For Yahweh of Armies has planned, and who can stop it? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?”
- Jeremiah 4:8 For this, clothe yourself with sackcloth, lament and wail; for the fierce anger of Yahweh hasn’t turned back from us.
- Jeremiah 8:2 They will spread them before the sun, the moon, and all the army of the sky, which they have loved, which they have served, after which they have walked, which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered or be buried. They will be like dung on the surface of the earth.
- Jeremiah 9:22 Speak, “Yahweh says, “ ‘The dead bodies of men will fall as dung on the open field, and as the handful after the harvester. No one will gather them.’ ”
- Jeremiah 15:3 “I will appoint over them four kinds,” says Yahweh: “the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, the birds of the sky, and the animals of the earth, to devour and to destroy.
- Lamentations 2:1-3 How has the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger! He has cast the beauty of Israel down from heaven to the earth, and hasn’t remembered his footstool in the day of his anger. The Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob without pity. He has thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah. He has brought them down to the ground. He has profaned the kingdom and its princes. He has cut off all the horn of Israel in fierce anger. He has drawn back his right hand from before the enemy. He has burned up Jacob like a flaming fire, which devours all around.
- Lamentations 5:22 But you have utterly rejected us. You are very angry against us.
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Explain this verse (16 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He showeth that God had so sore punished this…
He showeth that God had so sore punished this people, that the dumb creatures, if they had been so plagued, would have been more sensible, and therefore his plagues must continue, till they begin to feel them.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 5:25 Therefore is the anger of the LORD…
Isa 5:25 Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases [were] torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.
Ver. 25. Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled.] For contempt of the law, but especially of the gospel, "wrath came upon" that wretched people of the Jews "to the utmost," {1Th 2:16} or until the end, as some read it. They are to this day a people of God’s wrath and curse, and become a woeful example of that rule, Atrocia delicta puniuntur atrocibus poenis, Heinous sins bring heavy punishments. This desolation of theirs (as Daniel prophesieth, Dan 9:27) shall continue to the end.
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And he hath stretched forth his hand against them.] His mighty hand, as St James hath it, wherewith he oft leaveth bloody wales on the backs of the best when they provoke, but crusheth the wicked in pieces, and crumbleth them to shreds.
And hath smitten them.] Revenge is the next effect of anger.
And the hills did tremble,] {a} i.e., The highest among them; or, literally, the senseless hills seemed sensible of so great displeasure.
And their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets.] What havoc there was made of men at the last destruction of Jerusalem, Josephus, Egesippus, Orosius, and Eusebius fully tell us. What with the extremity of famine, what with the fury of the sword, and what with sickness during the siege, there perished about 600,000 able men; or, as others say, 1,100,000, besides 97,000 carried captive. Titus, the Roman general, seeing the infinite number of carcases of the Jews cast out unburied without the walls of the city was much grieved, and took God to witness that he was not the author of that calamity, but that the fault was altogether in those stubborn Jews, that held out the city against him. {b}
For all this his anger is not turned away.] With those "froward ones God will show himself froward," {Psa 18:26} and not give place to their pertinacity, till they have enough of it. It must be a humble submission that pacifieth God’s wrath.
{a} Hyperbole.
{b} Josephus.
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 The hills did tremble; a metaphorical and hyperbolical description…
The hills did tremble; a metaphorical and hyperbolical description of a grievous calamity, familiar in the prophets, as Isa 64:1,2; Jer 4:24, and in other authors.
His hand is stretched out still, ready to give you another and a sorer blow. This is not the end, as you vainly imagine, but, if you repent not, the beginning, of your sorrows, and an earnest of further calamities.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against…
Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people,.... His professing people; which character, as it aggravated their sin in rejecting and despising the word of the Lord, so it increased his anger and indignation against them:
and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them; which some understand of past judgments and afflictions upon them, under Joash, Amaziah, and Ahaz; and others of future ones, under Shalmaneser and Nebuchadnezzar:
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and the hills did tremble; which Jarchi interprets of their kings and princes; or it may be only a figurative expression, setting forth the awfulness of the dispensation:
and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets. The Targum renders it, "were as dung"; so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions; being slain there, and lying unburied, were trampled upon, and trodden down like "clay", as the Syriac version; or like the mire of the streets.
For all this his anger is not turned away; this being abundantly less than their sins deserved; which shows how great were their sins, and how much the Lord was provoked to anger by them:
but his hand is stretched out still; to inflict yet sorer judgments. The Targum is
"by all this they turn not from their sins, that his fury may turn from them; but their rebellion grows stronger, and his stroke is again to take vengeance on them;''
which expresses their impenitence and hardness of heart, under the judgments of God, which caused him to take more severe methods with them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 25. The hills did tremble - "And the…
Verse 25. The hills did tremble - "And the mountains trembled"] Probably referring to the great earthquakes in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, in or not long before the time of the prophet himself, recorded as a remarkable era in the title of the prophecies of Amos., Am 1:1, and by Zechariah, Zec 14:5.
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 5:25. Therefore is the anger of the Lord…
Isa 5:25. Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled — This implies that, before the time of that final vengeance, concerning which the prophecy principally treats, God had afflicted, or, rather, would afflict and chastise this rebellious people, with the most grievous calamities: that those calamities should consume many, who, being slain in the wars, should be trod upon by their enemies, like the dung in the streets; most certain indications these of the divine justice and wrath, while they, unawakened by these chastisements, would not so much as attempt to appease the divine displeasure, but would provoke it still more by repeated crimes; till, at length, it should come upon them to the uttermost. — Vitringa. And the hills did tremble — A metaphorical and hyperbolical description of a grievous calamity, familiar to the prophets: see the margin. For all this, his anger is not turned away, &c. — This is not the end, as you vainly imagine, but, if you repent not, only the beginning of your sorrows, and an earnest of further miseries.
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 Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled -…
Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled - The Lord is “enraged,” or is angry. Similar expressions often occur; Num 11:33; 2Ki 23:26; Deu 11:17; Psa 56:1-13 :40; Job 19:11; Psa 2:12. The “cause” of his anger was the crimes which are specified in this chapter.
And he hath stretched forth his hand - To stretch forth the hand may be an action expressive of protection, invitation, or punishment. Here it is the latter; compare Isa 14:27.
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And hath smitten them - Punished them. To what this refers particularly is not clear. Gesenius supposes that the expressions which follow are descriptive of pestilence. Lowth and Rosenmuller suppose that they refer to the earthquakes which occurred in the days of Uzziah, and in the time of the prophets; Amo 1:1; Zec 14:5. The words, perhaps, will bear either construction.
And the hills did tremble - This expression is one that is often used in the Scriptures to denote the presence and anger of God. It is well adapted to describe an earthquake; but it is also often used poetically, to describe the presence and the majesty of the Most High; compare Psa 144:5; Job 9:6; Job 26:11; Psa 114:7; Jer 4:24; Hab 3:10; Psa 18:7; Psa 97:5; Psa 104:32. The image is one that is very sublime. The earth, as if conscious of the presence of God, is represented as alarmed, and trembling. Whether it refers here to the earthquake, or to some other mode of punishment, cannot be determined. The fact, however, that such an earthquake had occurred in the time of Isaiah, would seem to fix the expression to that. Isaiah, from that, took occasion also to denounce future judgments. This was but the beginning of woes.
And their carcasses were torn - The margin here is the more correct translation. The passage means that their dead bodies were strewed, unburied, like filth, through the streets. This expression would more naturally denote a pestilence. But it may be descriptive of an earthquake, or of any calamity.
For all this - Notwithstanding all this calamity, his judgments are not at an end. He will punish the nation more severely still. In what way he would do it, the prophet proceeds in the remainder of the chapter to specify; compare Isa 9:12; Isa 10:4.
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 Still. After the ruin of Jerusalem, the people were…
Still. After the ruin of Jerusalem, the people were led away. (Calmet) --- Grievous sins must be severely punished, as was that of the murderers of Christ. (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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain anger . . . kindled-- (Kg2 22:13, Kg2 22:17).
anger . . . kindled-- (Kg2 22:13, Kg2 22:17).
hills . . . tremble--This probably fixes the date of this chapter, as it refers to the earthquake in the days of Uzziah (Amo 1:1; Zac 14:5). The earth trembled as if conscious of the presence of God (Jer 4:24; Hab 3:6).
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torn--rather, were as dung (Psa 83:10).
For all this, &c.--This burden of the prophet's strains, with dirge-like monotony, is repeated at Isa 9:12, Isa 9:17, Isa 9:21; Isa 10:4. With all the past calamities, still heavier judgments are impending; which he specifies in the rest of the chapter (Lev 26:14, &c.).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 25. The declaration just made is virtually repeated here,…
25. The declaration just made is virtually repeated here, probably as a backing to the closing refrain. The verbs of this verse are of the prophetic preterite for future; that is, the ideal standpoint is in the future, from which the prophet sees, in the past, wave after wave of divine judgment rapidly following each other over the nation.
For all this — In all this, or notwithstanding all this, God shall inflict still other judgments. Though the blows be heavy, his anger, or ethical intuition, abates not, because his judgments do not, as intended, bring the people to repentance.
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Lev_26:18; Lev_26:23; Lev_26:27. (See this dirge-like strain repeated in Isa_9:12; Isa_9:17, and Isa_10:4.)
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 25. Therefore] The Hebr. word differs from that in…
25. Therefore] The Hebr. word differs from that in Isa_5:13-14; Isa_5:24, and agrees with that in Isa_9:17. The following tenses are perfects (or consec. impf.) usually taken as prophetic pert.; but this is scarcely natural. Past judgments are probably referred to (see on Isa_9:8 ff.). Some think of a pestilence (Amo_4:10), pestilence being preeminently the stroke of God (he hath smitten them); others (from the next clause) of an earthquake. Both may be meant.
their carcases were torn] rather, were as offal, a very common figure (2Ki_9:37; Jer_16:4; Jer_25:33; Zep_1:17; Psa_83:10).
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For all this …] See on ch. Isa_9:12.
25–30. A warlike Nation, summoned from the Ends of the Earth, is the destined Instrument of Israel’s final Chastisement
That the Assyrians are here alluded to is certain both from the explicit statements of later prophecies, and from the terms of the description itself. It speaks of the foe as characterised by the rapidity of his movements, the perfection of his discipline and military equipment, his love of conquest, and his irresistible might. These features are no doubt highly idealised (as was natural in a first sketch), but it is clear that some particular nation is meant, and we can have no hesitation in saying that the reference is to the most perfect military machine that then existed, the Assyrian army.
Although the passage might be explained fairly enough as the continuation of Isa_5:24, it gains immensely in significance when read as the final strophe of the prophecy in ch. Isa_9:8 to Isa_10:4, a position to which several considerations lead us to assign it. (1) The latter part of Isa_5:25 occurs as a refrain in Isa_9:12; Isa_9:17; Isa_9:21 and Isa_10:4. It is found nowhere else and its isolated occurrence in Isa_5:25 distinctly weakens the force of Isa_5:24. (2) The four equal strophes of Isa_9:8 to Isa_10:4 correspond very nearly in length with Isa_5:26-30. (3) After reading Isa_10:4, we feel that the last word has not been spoken: the hand is still outstretched, we wait to hear of the final blow. The verses before us supply the appropriate climax. On the other hand, they are not necessary where they stand, Isa_5:24 affording a satisfactory conclusion. The hypothesis, to be sure, does not remove every difficulty. It is vain to speculate as to the reasons which may have led to the transference; although it might have been suggested by the appositeness of the passage as a reply to the challenge of Isa_5:19. Further, Isa_5:25 is far too short for a complete strophe, and therefore can hardly have followed immediately on Isa_10:4. We must suppose that some verses have been omitted in the process of transference, as irrelevant in their new context.
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 (25) The hills did tremble.—We again trace the influence…
(25) The hills did tremble.—We again trace the influence of the earthquake which was still fresh in the memories of men. (See Note on Isa_2:10.)
Their carcases were torn.—Better, were as sweepings, or, as refuse. The words may point either to pestilence, or war, or famine. The stress laid on scarcity in Isa_5:10 makes it probable that the last was prominent in the prophet’s mind.
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For all this his anger is not turned away.—The same formula meets us in Isa_9:12; Isa_9:21; Isa_10:4; Isa_14:27, with a solemn knell-like iteration. It bids the people remember after each woe that this is not all. They do not as yet see the end of the chastisement through which God is leading them. “For all this” may mean (1) because of all the sins, or (2) notwithstanding all the punishment already inflicted. (Comp. Lev_26:18; Lev_26:23.)
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 Vers. 25-30. THE NATURE OF THE COMING JUDGMENT EXPLAINED.…
Vers. 25-30. THE NATURE OF THE COMING JUDGMENT EXPLAINED. Hints have been already given that the judgment which is to fall on the nation is a foreign war, or a series of foreign wars (see Isa_3:25; 5:13). But now for the first time a terrible invasion, in which many nations will participate, is clearly announced. At first the imagery is obscure (ver. 25), but it soon grows more distinct. "Nations" are summoned to the attack; a vast army comes, and comes" with speed swiftly" (ver. 26); then their array is described (vers. 27, 28); and finally their ravin is compared to that of lions, and their success in catching and carrying off their prey is prophesied (ver. 29). In the last verse of the chapter the prophet falls back into vaguer imagery, comparing the roar of the invaders to the roaring of the sea, and the desolated land to one seen under the gloom of a preternatural darkness (ver. 30).
The threats of this verse are all vague and general, for there is no reason to suppose that the phrase," the hills did tremble, "refers to an actual earthquake. That there was an earthquake in the reign of Uzziah is, indeed, clear from Amo_1:1; but it was probably a thing of the past when Isaiah wrote this chapter, and he is spiking of the future. A "trembling of the hills" is, in prophetic language, a commotion among the chief men of the land. He hath stretched forth his hand. Again the "perfect of prophetic certitude." Their carcasses were torn; rather, were as refuse. (comp. Lam_3:45) There would be many slain, and lying unburied, in the streets of Jerusalem. For all this, etc.. (comp. Isa_9:12, Isa_9:17, Isa_9:21, and Isa_10:4, where the same words are used as a refrain) The words imply that God"s judgment upon Judah will not be a single stroke, but a continuous smiting, covering some considerable space of time.
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Vers. 25-29. Wicked men used by God as instruments for working out his purposes.
The psalmist declares the wicked to be "God"s sword". (Psa_17:13) In a later chapter Isaiah calls Assyria "the rod of God"s anger". (Isa_10:5) Nothing is more clearly set forth in the prophetical writings than the fact that
I CONQUERING NATIONS ARE RAISED UP BY GOD TO CHASTISE THE NATIONS THAT ARE HIS ENEMIES.
1. Assyria was "the axe" with which God hewed down offending peoples, (Isa_10:14) "the rod" wherewith he smote them. God exalted her, in order that she might "lay waste defensed cities into ruinous heaps". (Isa_37:26) This was her raison d"etre, the purpose of her existence. (Isa_37:26) She was sent against one openly wicked or "hypocritical nation" after another, and given a charge "to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire in the streets". (Isa_10:6)
2. Babylon was raised up for the castigation of Tyre, (Eze_26:7) of, (Eze_29:19, 20 30:10-26) and of Judah. (Jer_25:9)
3. Media and Persia were raised up to work the will of God upon Assyria and Babylon. (Isa_13:17 Isa_21:2 Jer_51:11, etc.)
4. Greece and Macedon were raised up to punish Persia and Media; (Dan_8:5-8) and so on. Each of these nations was ungodly full of impurity, pride, selfishness, greed, cruelty. Yet God made use of them for his purposes, and does not scruple to call their rulers his servants," "his shepherds," "those who performed all his pleasure". (Isa_44:28 Jer_25:11 Jer_27:6, etc.)
II BAD MEN ARE EXALTED TO POWER TO CHASTISE BOTH NATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS. Samson, Sennacherib, and Nebuchadnezzar seem to have been rather instruments for punishing nations and states. But such men as Joab, Jehu, Hazael, effected God"s purposes mainly with respect to individuals. God made use of them, and of their sinful tempers, to execute vengeance upon certain special offenders. Jehu was anointed king by God"s prophet to punish Jezebel and the house of Ahab. (2Ki_9:2-26 2Ki_10:1-11) Fired by ambition, he rushed into crime, and "the blood of Jezreel" was afterwards avenged upon his house. (Hos_1:4) But for Joab the crimes of Abner and of Absalom would probably have gone unpunished. He may be viewed as God"s instrument to requite their ill deeds; but as he punished the one treacherously and the other against his king"s commands, their blood, or at any rate that of Abner, "returned upon the head of Joab". (1Ki_2:33) Hazael"s case is like that of Jehu, only not set before us with such distinctness. He was "God"s sword" to the wicked Benhadad; but not thereby excused. God turns the wickedness of men into particular channels, making it effect his ends; but it is wickedness none the less.
The unappeasable wrath of Jehovah.
I "OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE." Whether to burn and destroy the moral refuse of a people, to chasten and refine its remnant and elect, he is revealed as the pure Flame. The Gentiles had a deep sense of the national significance of fire, as the pure element not to be united with aught foreign to itself. In their simple way, the hymns of the Veda to Agni, the god of fire, betray this feeling; and, again, the idea, in Greek and Roman religion, of Hestia or Vesta, on whose altar the fire was kept ever burning, who refused to wed," whose priestesses must be virgins.
II WAR THE SCOURGE OF GOD. Deep has been the sense also of this truth. There is an obscure perception in the minds of men that war, with its attendant horrors, comes as a retribution. Attila the Hun was spoken of as the "scourge of God." To have seen a fair city black with smoking ruins, and corpses lying in its streets, is to have read with ineffaceable impressions the lesson that "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." There are moments when the solid base of things seems trembling beneath our feet, the "eternal hills" as floors trembling beneath the awful tread of the Eternal as he "cometh to judge the earth.
III THE DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. It seems as if it could not be exhausted, so vast is the mass of guilt to be purged away. A protracted war, a dragging famine, a prolonged season of ruin, seem, as we say in common speech, "interminable." The broad blue heaven, that seemed in sunny days as a benignant hand outspread above mankind, wears the expression of a stern and relentless frown. Long scores must be followed by long payment. The guilt of centuries cannot be wiped out in a day. Divine judgment may require even the obliteration of a whole people. But the individual may be saved. At no time are Jehovah"s "mercies clean forgotten." In the saddest times, the repentant heart pierces through the gloom to the sanctuary and heart of him who slays to make alive, who by means of war reconciles to himself in Christ Jesus. J.
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 Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against…
Isa_5:25-30
Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against His people
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The prophecy explained
Jehovah is about to bring foreign armies as the instruments of His judgment; the vision of the worst of human calamities--the invasion of a rich, civilised, luxurious nation by overwhelming hordes of barbarians--rises before the prophet: he speaks of them as present, and his words have a terrible force to him who reads them now, while he thinks of their fearful import then.
Jehovah has set up a standard to which He is gathering the nations under the Assyrian rule, and the prophet sees them steadily though swiftly coming on in war-like array--bowmen, horses and chariots: they rush to battle with the roar of lions, they seize and hold down their prisoners and their booty with the growl which marks the lions refusal to give up his prey; they come on like the sea in its rage; and when the helpless in, habitant of Judah turns from this rising tide to the land--his own land--he sees only the darkness of woe; and when he turns again from the earth to look upward he sees only the thick clouds gathering over the heavens above him. (Sir E. Strachey, Bart.)
Prophecy perpetually fulfilled
This is such a picture of the life of things that it is equally the description of the same judgment of God in whatever age or to whatever nation occurring. In successive ages it told the Jew of the Assyrian, the Babylonian, the Greek and the Roman; to the subject of the Roman Empire it spoke no less clearly of the Goth and the Vandal; the British monk must have recalled it in the days when Gildas learnt its truth from the Dane and the Norman and the Spaniard from the Mohammedan; the Byzantine from Timour the incarnate wrath of God; the continental nations from the revolutionary armies and Napoleon; and, in our own day, the people of France from the Germans. (Sir E. Strachey, Bart.)
Gods anger and its manifestation
I. IN GODS INFINITE NATURE THERE IS THE QUALITY OF ANGER. It is not a stormy passion, like wrath in sinful man, but the settled, intense, burning antagonism to moral evil which must necessarily exist in one who is infinitely perfect. The man who most nearly resembles God will be angry and sin not?
II. GODS ANGER MAY BE KINDLED BY THE SPIRIT AND CONDUCT OF HIS PEOPLE. Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against His people. Guilt is in proportion to the light and privilege abused.
III. GODS ANGER MAY MANIFEST ITSELF IN ACTUAL AND FEARFUL PUNISHMENT. It is an active antagonism to moral evil. He hath stretched forth His hand against them, etc. The hand of God is the symbol of His mighty power. It is a fearful thing to fall, etc. (H. M. Booth.)
Hills trembling
(Isa_5:25):--The words seem to allude to the tremor occasioned by the stroke of the workmans hammer upon some hard body. (R. Macculloch.)
Horses hoofs as flint
(Isa_5:28):--Therefore he will not shrink from riding them on the rocky soil of Palestine, which was extremely unfavourable to the use of horses (Amo_6:12). Similar allusions are frequent in ancient literature, the shoeing of horses being unknown in antiquity. (Prof. J. Skinner, D. D.)
A darkened heaven
(Isa_5:30):--It is our wisdom, by keeping a good conscience, to keep all clear between us and heaven, that we may have light from above, when clouds and darkness are round about us. (M. Henry.)
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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 the anger of Yahweh is kindled
the anger of Yahweh is kindled
Isaiah speaks of Yahweh's anger as if it were a fire. AT: "Yahweh is very angry" (See: Metaphor)
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He has reached out with his hand against them and has punished them
The prophet speaks of the future as if it had already happened. He does this to insist that the prophecy certainly will come about. AT: "he will punish them with his powerful hand" (See: Predictive Past)
has reached out with his hand against them
Here "hand" refers to God's power and control. AT: "has shown his power against them" (See: Metonymy)
corpses
dead bodies
their corpses are like garbage in the streets
The dead bodies are allowed to lie in the streets as if they were garbage. This implies that many will die but that no one will be there to bury them. The word "garbage" can also be translated as "refuse" or "manure." (See: Simile)
In all these things, his anger does not subside; instead, his hand
"Even though all these things have happened, he is still angry, and his hand"
his hand is still stretched out
Here "hand" represents God's power and control. Isaiah speaks as if Yahweh were a person about to hit another person with his fist. This is a metaphor for Yahweh punishing Israel. AT: "he will still be ready to punish them" (See: Metonymy and Metaphor)
translationWords
anger
Yahweh
people of God
hand
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 5:25 mountains tremble: God’s wrath against sinners is often…
5:25 mountains tremble: God’s wrath against sinners is often expressed as the shaking of the earth’s foundations (13:13; 23:11; 24:18-19; 29:6; 54:10). God’s appearance in judgment or salvation in natural phenomena such as smoke, darkness, lightning, and earthquake is called a theophany (see 6:1-4, 6; 13:13; Exod 19:18-19; Ps 18:7-15; Mic 1:3-4; Rev 8:5; 16:17-18; 18:21-22).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.