Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 34:4
And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling [fig] from the fig tree.
4. The representation seems somewhat confused. Bickell acutely observes that “the host of heaven” is probably a marginal gloss to “their host” later in the verse, and that the original subject of the first clause (“the hills”) has been displaced by it. The first line then supplies the parallel to the last line of Isa 34:3:
“And the mountains shall melt with their blood
(4.) And all [the hills] shall be dissolved.”
and the heavens as a scrole ] Cf. ch. Isa 51:6; Psa 102:26; Mat 24:29; Rev 6:13-14.
fall dawn falleth off from fallen fig ] R.V. fade away fadeth from off fading leaf.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And all the host of heaven – On the word host ( tsaba’), see the note at Isa 1:9. The heavenly bodies often represent kings and princes (compare the note at Isa 24:21).
Shall be dissolved – ( venamaqqu. This figure Vitringa supposes to be taken from the common prejudice by which the stars appear to be crystals, or gems, set in the azure vault of heaven, which may melt and flow down by the application of heat. The sense is, that the princes and nobles who had opposed God and his people would be destroyed, as if the sparkling stars, like gems, should melt in the heavens, and flow down to the earth.
And the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll – The word scroll here ( sepher) means a roll, or a book. Books were made of parchment, leaves, etc., and were rolled together instead of being bound, as they are with us. The figure here is taken from what strikes the eye, that the heaven above us is an expanse ( raqya) Gen 1:8; Psa 104:2,) which is spread out; and which might be rolled together, and thus pass away. It is possible that there may be a reference also to the fact, that in a storm, when the sky is filled with dark rolling clouds, the heavens seem to be rolled together, and to be passing away. The sense is, that there would be great destruction among those high in office and in power – a destruction that would be well represented by the rolling up of the firmament, and the destruction of the visible heavens and their host, and by leaving the world to ruin and to night.
And all their host shall fall down – That is, their stars; either by being as it were melted, or by the fact that the expanse in which they are apparently located would be rolled up and removed, and there being no fixtures for them they would fall. The same image occurs in Rev 6:13. One somewhat similar occurs in Virgil, Georg. i. 365ff.
As the leaf falleth off from the vine … – That is, in a storm, or when violently shaken.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 4. And all the host of heaven] See Clarke on Isa 24:21, and De Sacra Poesi Hebraeorum, Prael. ix.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
All the host of heaven; the sun, and moon, and stars. which frequently come under this name in Scripture, as Deu 4:19; 17:3, and elsewhere.
Shall be dissolved; shall seem to be dissolved. So great shall be the confusion and consternation of mankind, as if all the frame of the creation were broken into pieces. Some understand this of the general judgment; which some passages here following will not permit. But it is a very usual thing for prophetical writers, both in the Old and New Testament, to represent great and general calamities in such words and phrases as properly agree to the day of judgment; as, on the contrary, the glorious deliverances of Gods people are set forth in such expressions as properly agree to the resurrection from the dead. See Eze 37:7; Joe 2:31; 3:15; Rev 6:12,13.
The heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, Heb. as a book; for books were then written in scrolls, which they usually rolled up together; and when they were so, no man could read any word in it; and no more shall any man be able to see those goodly lights of heaven, for they shall all be obscured and confounded. This phrase is used also Isa 8:1; Rev 6:14.
As the leaf that falleth off from the vine, when it is withered.
As a falling fig; which falleth, either through great maturity, or being thrust out by green figs coming forth, or by any other accident.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. (Psa 102:26;Joe 2:31; Joe 3:15;Mat 24:29).
dissolved (2Pe3:10-12). Violent convulsions of nature are in Scripture made theimages of great changes in the human world (Isa24:19-21), and shall literally accompany them at thewinding up of the present dispensation.
scrollBooks were inthose days sheets of parchment rolled together (Re6:14).
fall downThe starsshall fall when the heavens in which they are fixed pass away.
fig tree (Re6:13).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And all the hosts of heaven shall be dissolved,…. “Pine away” i, as with sickness, grow languid, become obscure, lose their light, and be turned into blood and darkness; this figure is used to express the horror of this calamity, as if the very heavens themselves, and the sun, and moon, and stars, were affected with it; see
Isa 13:10
and the heavens shall be rolled gether as a scroll; a book, or volume, which when rolled up, one letter of it could not be read; and it was the manner formerly of making and writing books in the form of a roll; hence the word volume; and here it signifies that there should be such a change in the heavens, as that not a star should be seen, much less the sun or moon; and may signify the utter removal and abolition of all dignities and offices, supreme and subordinate, civil and ecclesiastical, in the whole Roman jurisdiction; thus the destruction of Rome Pagan is described in Re 6:14 as the destruction of Rome Papal is here; from whence the language seems to be borrowed:
and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling [fig] from the fig tree; that is, the stars should fall down: by whom may be meant persons in office, that made a considerable figure; who shall fall from their stations, in which they shone with much splendour and grandeur, as leaves fall from trees in autumn, particularly the vine; or as unripe and rotten figs fall from the fig tree when shaken by a violent wind; the same metaphor is used in Re 6:13.
i “tabescet”, Vatablus; “centabescet”, Junius Tremellius, Piscator “contabescent”, Cocceius, Gataker.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The judgment foretold by Isaiah also belongs to the last things; for it takes place in connection with the simultaneous destruction of the present heaven and the present earth. ”And all the host of the heavens moulder away, and the heavens are rolled up like a scroll, and all their host withers as a leaf withers away from the vine, and like withered leaves from the fig-tree” ( Namaq , to be dissolved into powdered mother (Isa 3:24; Isa 5:24); nagol (for nagal , like nazol in Isa 63:19; Isa 64:2, and narots in Ecc 12:6), to be rolled up – a term applied to the cylindrical book-scroll. The heaven, that is to say, the present system of the universe, breaks up into atoms, and is rolled up like a book that has been read through; and the stars fall down as a withered leaf falls from a vine, when it is moved by even the lightest breeze, or like the withered leaves shaken from the fig-tree. The expressions are so strong, that they cannot be understood in any other sense than as relating to the end of the world (Isa 65:17; Isa 66:22; compare Mat 24:29). It is not sufficient to say that “the stars appear to fall to the earth,” though even Vitringa gives this explanation.
When we look, however, at the following k (for), it undoubtedly appears strange that the prophet should foretell the passing away of the heavens, simply because Jehovah judges Edom. But Edom stands here as the representative of all powers that are hostile to the church of God as such, and therefore expresses an idea of the deepest and widest cosmical signification (as Isa 24:21 clearly shows). And it is not only a doctrine of Isaiah himself, but a biblical doctrine universally, that God will destroy the present world as soon as the measure of the sin which culminates in unbelief, and in the persecution of the congregation of the faithful, shall be really full.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
4. And all the armies of heaven shall fade away. Isaiah employs an exaggerated style, as other prophets are accustomed to do, in order to represent vividly the dreadful nature of the judgment of God, and to make an impression on men’s hearts that were dull and sluggish; for otherwise his discourse would have been deficient in energy, and would have had little influence on careless men. He therefore adds that “the stars” themselves, amidst such slaughter, shall gather blackness as if they were ready to faint, and he does so in order to show more fully that it will be a mournful calamity. In like manner, as in a dark and troubled sky, the clouds appear to be folded together, the sun and stars to grow pale and, as it were, to faint, and all those heavenly bodies to totter and give tokens of ruin; he declares that thus will it happen at that time, and that everything shall be full of the saddest lamentation.
These statements must be understood to relate to men’s apprehension, for heaven is not moved out of its place; but when the Lord gives manifestations of his anger, we are terrified as if the Lord folded up or threw down the heavens; not that anything of this kind takes place in heaven, but he speaks to careless men, who needed to be addressed in this manner, that they might not imagine the subject to be trivial or a fit subject of scorn. “You will be seized with such terror that you shall think that the sky is falling down on your heads.” It is the just punishment of indifference, that wicked men, who are not moved by any fear of God, dread their own shadow, and tremble “at the rustling of a falling leaf,” (Lev 26:36,) as much as if the sun were falling from heaven. Yet it also denotes a dreadful revolution of affairs, by which everything shall be subverted and disturbed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(4) And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved . . .No prophetic picture of a day of the Lord was complete without this symbolism (see Isa. 13:10-11), probably written about this period. Like the psalmist (Psa. 102:26), Isaiah contrasts the transitoriness of sun, moon, and stars, with the eternity of Jehovah. The Greek poets sing that the life of the generations of men is as the life of the leaves of the trees (Homer, Il. vi. 146). To Isaiahs sublime thoughts there came the vision of a time when even the host of heaven would fall as a leaf from the vine, and as a fig from the fig-tree.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. The language here relates to the last things in the wicked human world. It is not symbolic, for symbol relates to an idea; it is not typical, for type relates to an antitype in persons or things; it is simply poetical, intended to indicate terrific revolution; sudden, total, appalling change. In the same way is the reference 2Pe 3:10-12, to be understood. Also, Rev 6:14. The dissolving of the stars of heaven may come from the idea of their burning out like a lamp wick, and all becoming suddenly dark. The rolling up of the expanse of the heavens is easily conceived from the scroll, or ancient book, (like our map,) being rolled up and removed out of sight.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And all the host of heaven will be dissolved,
And the heavens will be rolled together as a scroll,
And all their host will fade away,
As the leaf fades from the vine,
And as a fading leaf from the fig tree.’
This kind of vivid language in respect of heavenly bodies comes regularly on Isaiah’s lips to describe both judgment and glory (see especially the parallel in Isa 13:10 when speaking of Babylon; and compare Isa 24:23; Isa 30:26; Isa 60:19-20). The ‘host of heaven’ could mean sun, moon and stars, but it could also mean the gods they represented, the worship of whom was constantly condemned. Here they are seen as but leaves on a tree, to be dispensed with just as easily. However the point here is that as far as those under judgment are concerned there will be no help for them from the gods and that their last moments will make it seem as though the heavens themselves are dying and ceasing in their function, in a similar way to the leaves on trees when the harvest is past.
Note the extremeness of the language. It is drawn on in Rev 6:13-14. If it really happened earth would not survive it. But it is not intended to be taken literally. It is stressing how great the catastrophe will be for Edom. They will never see the stars again.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Isa 34:4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling [fig] from the fig tree.
Ver. 4. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved. ] Inusitati supplicii atrocitas sic designatur. So great shall be the slaughter of the nations, that the heavenly bodies shall seem to be sensible of it, and amazed at it, and the whole heaven to be rolled together as a scroll, lest it should be forced to behold it. In a bloody fight between Amurath III, King of Turks, and Lazarus, Despot of Servia, many thousands fell on both sides; the Turkish histories, to express the terror of the day, vainly say that the angels in heaven, amazed with that hideous noise, for that time forgot the heavenly hymns wherewith they always glorify God.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
all the: Isa 13:10, Isa 14:12, Psa 102:25, Psa 102:26, Jer 4:23, Jer 4:24, Eze 32:7, Eze 32:8, Joe 2:30, Joe 2:31, Joe 3:15, Mat 24:29, Mat 24:35, Mar 13:24, Mar 13:25, Act 2:19, Act 2:20, 2Pe 3:7-12, Rev 6:13, Rev 6:14, Rev 8:12, Rev 20:11
Reciprocal: Gen 2:1 – host Isa 24:19 – General Isa 51:6 – the heavens Jer 4:28 – the heavens Joe 2:10 – the sun Hag 2:6 – and I Heb 1:11 – shall perish 2Pe 3:11 – all these 2Pe 3:12 – the heavens
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 34:4. And all the host of heaven The sun, moon, and stars; shall be dissolved We have frequently had occasion to observe, that, in the prophetic language, the heavenly luminaries represent kings, empires, and states: see note on Isa 13:10. The prophet here foretels the overthrow and dissolution of such states and kingdoms as were hostile to his church, whether under the Jewish or Christian dispensation. Or, alluding to a horrid tempest raging furiously, during which the heavens grow black, the sun disappears, and the stars seem to fall to the earth, and it appears as if the whole body of the heavens were about to be utterly dissolved, he intends to signify, that, during these destructive judgments, of which he speaks, the confusion and consternation of mankind would be as great as if all the frame of the creation were broken into pieces. Some, indeed, understand the words as intended of the day of general and final judgment, but the context preceding and following will not agree with such an interpretation. And it is very usual for the prophetic writers, both of the Old and New Testaments, to represent great and general changes and calamities in such words and phrases as properly agree to the day of judgment, and the dissolution of all things: as, on the contrary, they often set forth the glorious deliverances of Gods people by such expressions as properly and literally belong to the resurrection from the dead.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
34:4 And all the host of heaven {c} shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their hosts shall fall down, as the leaf falleth from the vine, and as a falling [fig] from the fig tree.
(c) He speaks this in respect to man’s judgment, who in great fear and horrible troubles, think that heaven and earth perishes.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Evidently the whole universe will be involved in this judgment. The sins of nations, and the necessary divine reaction, affect all creation. [Note: John D. W. Watts, Isaiah 34-66, p. 9.] The Lord will roll up the heavens like a scroll that He has finished reading. The sun, moon, and stars will wither and fall like grapes or figs (cf. Mat 24:29; 2Pe 3:10; Rev 6:13-14). This implies also the destruction of the pantheon of gods that these heavenly bodies represented in the ancient world.