Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 34:9
And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.
9, 10. The description is no doubt suggested by the volcanic phenomena which accompanied the destruction of the neighbouring cities of the Plain (Genesis 19; Jer 49:18). The division of clauses in the LXX. is much preferable to that in the Hebrew Text. Render accordingly: and its land shall become pitch, burning night and day; it shall not be quenched for ever; its smoke shall go up from generation to generation; it shall lie waste to all eternity, none passing through it (so Cheyne). The last two clauses prepare for the transition to the other picture of ruin, which is elaborated in the verses that follow.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
9 17. The fate of the land of Edom is next represented under two incompatible images, first that of a perpetual conflagration ( Isa 34:9-10), and second that of a dreary solitude, peopled only by “doleful creatures” ( Isa 34:11 ff.).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And the streams thereof – The idea here is, that there would be as great and awful a destruction as if the streams everywhere should become pitch or resin, which would be set on fire, and which would fill the land with flame. This image is very striking, as we may see by supposing the rivers and streams in any land to flow not with water, but with heated pitch, turpentine, or tar, and that this was all suddenly kindled into a flame. It cannot be supposed that this is to be taken literally. The image is evidently taken from the destruction of Sodom and Gamorrah (Gen 19:25-28), an image which is more fully used in reference to the same subject in Jer 49:17-18 : And Edom shall be a desolation;… as in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the neighbor cities thereof, saith the Lord, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.
And the dust thereof into brimstone – The ruin shall be as entire as if all the soil were turned into brimstone, which should be ignited and left burning.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
The streams, which seem most secure from this danger, and much more the land. Idumea shall be dealt with as Sodom and Gomorrah were, even utterly destroyed, as it were, by fire, or burning pitch and brimstone thrown down upon it from heaven.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. Images from the overthrow ofSodom and Gomorrah (Ge19:24-28; so Deu 29:23;Jer 49:17; Jer 49:18).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch,…. The Septuagint render it, “the valleys”; the word signifying both rivers and valleys, most render it rivers or streams. The Targum is express,
“the rivers of Rome shall be turned into pitch;”
by which may be meant the maritime places belonging to the Romish jurisdiction, the same on which the third vial will be poured, by which the rivers and fountains of waters will become blood; and which refers to this very time, when blood shall be given to the whore of Rome to drink, Re 16:4. The allusion, in this and some following clauses, is to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; see
Jer 49:17:
and the dust thereof into brimstone; and so easily take fire:
and the land thereof shall become burning pitch: plainly pointing to the destruction of Rome by fire, Re 17:16.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Threatenings against God’s Enemies. | B. C. 720. |
9 And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. 10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. 11 But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. 12 They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing. 13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be a habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. 14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. 15 There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate. 16 Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them. 17 And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.
This prophecy looks very black, but surely it looks so further than upon Edom and Bozrah. 1. It describes the melancholy changes that are often made by the divine Providence, in countries, cities, palaces, and families. Places that have flourished and been much frequented strangely go to decay. We know not where to find the places where many great towns, celebrated in history, once stood. Fruitful countries, in process of time, are turned into barrenness, and pompous populous cities into ruinous heaps. Old decayed castles look frightful, and their ruins are almost as much dreaded as ever their garrisons were. 2. It describes the destroying judgments which are the effects of God’s wrath and the just punishment of those that are enemies to his people, which God will inflict when the year of the redeemed has come, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. Those that aim to ruin the church can never do that, but will infallibly ruin themselves. 3. It describes the final desolation of this wicked world, which is reserved unto fire at the day of judgment, 2 Pet. iii. 7. The earth itself, when it, and all the works that are therein, shall be burnt up, will (for aught I know) be turned into a hell to all those that set their affections on earthly things. However, this prophecy shows us what will be the lot of the generation of God’s curse.
I. The country shall become like the lake of Sodom, Isa 34:9; Isa 34:10. The streams thereof, that both watered the land and pleased and refreshed the inhabitants, shall now be turned into pitch, shall be congealed, shall look black, and shall move slowly, or not at all. Their floods to lazy streams of pitch shall turn; so Sir R. Blackmore. The dust thereof shall be turned into brimstone; so combustible has sin made their land that it shall take fire at the first spark of God’s wrath struck upon it; and, when it has taken fire, it shall become burning pitch; the fire shall be universal, not a house, or town, on fire, but a whole country; and it shall not be in the power of any to suppress or extinguish it. It shall burn continually, burn perpetually, and shall not be quenched night nor day. The torment of those in hell, or that have a hell within them in their own consciences, is without interruption; the smoke of this fire goes up for ever. As long as there are provoking sinners on earth, from one generation to another, an increase of sinful men, to augment the fierce anger of the Lord (Num. xxxii. 14), there will be a righteous God in heaven to punish them for it. And as long as a people keep up a succession of sinners God will have a succession of plagues for them; nor will any that fall under the wrath of God be ever able to recover themselves. It will be found, how light soever men make of it, that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. If the land be doomed to destruction, none shall pass through it, but travellers will choose rather to go a great way about than come within the smell of it.
II. The cities shall become like old decayed houses, which, being deserted by the owners, look very frightful, being commonly possessed by beasts of prey or birds of ill omen. See how dismally the palaces of the enemy look; the description is peculiarly elegant and fine. 1. God shall mark them for ruin and destruction. He shall stretch out upon Bozrah the line of confusion with the stones or plummets of emptiness, v. 11. This intimates the equity of the sentence passed upon it; it is given according to the rules of justice and the exact agreeableness of the execution with the sentence; the destruction is not wrought at random, but by line and level. The confusion and emptiness that shall overspread the face of the whole country shall be like that of the whole earth when it was Tohu and Bohu (the very words here used)–without form and void. Gen. i. 2. Sin will soon turn a paradise into a chaos, and sully the beauty of the whole creation. When there is confusion there will soon be emptiness; but both are appointed by the governor of the world, and in exact proportions. 2. Their great men shall be all cut off, and none of them shall dare to appear (v. 12): They shall call the nobles of the kingdom to take care of the arduous affairs which lie before them, but none shall be there to take this ruin under their hand, and all her princes, having the sad tidings brought them, shall be nothing, shall be at their wits’ end, and not be able to stand them in stead, to shelter them from destruction.
III. Even the houses of state, and those of strength, shall become as wildernesses (v. 13); not only grass shall grow, but thorns shall come up, in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof, and there shall be none to cut them up or tread them down. We sometimes see ruined buildings thus overgrown with rubbish. It intimates that the place shall not only be uninhabited and unfrequented where a full court used to be kept, but that it shall be under the curse of God; for thorns and thistles were the production of the curse, Gen. iii. 18.
IV. They shall become the residence and rendezvous of fearful frightful beasts and birds, which usually frequent such melancholy places, because there they may be undisturbed, and, when they are frightened thither, they help to frighten men thence. This circumstance of the desolation, being apt to strike a horror upon the mind, is much enlarged upon here, v. 11. The cormorant shall possess it, or the pelican, which affects to be solitary (Ps. cii. 6); and the bittern, which makes a hideous noise, the owl, a melancholy bird, the raven, a bird of prey, invited by the dead carcases, shall dwell there (with all the ill-boding monsters of the air, Sir R. B.), all the unclean birds, which were not for the service of man, v. 13. It shall be a habitation for dragons, which are poisonous and hurtful.
| And in their lofty rooms of state, Where cringing sycophants did wait, Dragons shall hiss and hungry wolves shall howl; In courts before by mighty lords possess’d The serpent shall erect his speckled crest, Or fold his circling spires to rest. |
| SIR R. BLACKMORE. |
That which was a court for princes shall now be a court for owls or ostriches, v. 14. The wild beasts of the desert, the dry and sandy country, shall meet, as it were by appointment, with the wild beasts of the island, the wet marshy country, and shall regale themselves with such a perfect desolation as they shall find there.
| Leopards, and all the rav’ning brotherhoods That range the plains, or lurk in woods, Each other shall invite to come, And make this wilder place their home. Fierce beasts of every frightful shape and size Shall settle here their bloody colonies. |
| SIR R. BLACKMORE. |
The satyr shall cry to his fellow to go with him to this desert place, or, being there, they shall please themselves that they have found such an agreeable habitation. There shall the screech-owl rest, a night-bird and an ominous one. The great owl shall there make her nest (v. 15) and lay and hatch; the breed of them shall be kept up to provide heirs for this desolate place. The vultures which feast on carcases, shall be gathered there, every one with his mate. Now observe, 1. How the places which men have deserted, and keep at a distance from, are proper receptacles for other animals, which the providence of God takes care of, and will not neglect. 2. Whom those resemble that are morose, unsociable, and unconversable, and affect a melancholy retirement; they are like these solitary creatures that take delight in desolations. 3. What a dismal change sin makes; it turns a fruitful land into barrenness, a frequented city into a wilderness.
V. Here is an assurance given of the full accomplishment of this prediction, even to the most minute circumstance of it (Isa 34:16; Isa 34:17): “Seek you out of the book of the Lord and read. When this destruction comes compare the event with the prediction, and you will find it to answer exactly.” Note, The book of the prophets is the book of the Lord, and we ought to consult it and converse with it as of divine origin and authority. We must not only read it, but see out of it, search into it, turn first to one text and then to another and compare them together. Abundance of useful knowledge might thus be extracted, by a diligent search, out of the scriptures, which cannot be got by a superficial reading of them. When you have read the prediction out of the book of the Lord then observe, 1. That according to what you have read so you see; not one of these shall fail, either beast or fowl: and, it being foretold that they shall possess it from generation to generation, in order to that, that the species may be propagated, none shall want her mate; these marks of desolation shall be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the land. 2. That God’s mouth having commanded this direful muster his Spirit shall gather them, as the creatures by instinct were gathered to Adam to be named and to Noah to be housed. What God’s word has appointed his Spirit will effect and bring about, for no word of God shall fall to the ground. The word of God’s promise shall in like manner be accomplished by the operations of the Spirit. 3. That there is an exact order and proportion observed in the accomplishment of this threatening: He has cast the lot for these birds and beasts, so that each one shall know his place as readily as if it were marked by line. See the like, Joe 2:7; Joe 2:8, They shall not break their ranks, neither shall one thrust another. The soothsayers among the heathen foretold events by the flight of birds, as if the fate of men depended on them. But here we find that the flight of birds is under the direction of the God of Israel: he has cast the lot for them. 4. That the desolation shall be perpetual: They shall possess it for ever. God’s Jerusalem may be laid in ruins; but Jerusalem of old recovered itself out of its ruins, till it gave place to the gospel Jerusalem, which may be brought low, but shall be rebuilt, and shall continue till it give place to the heavenly Jerusalem. But the enemies of the church shall be for ever desolate, shall be punished with an everlasting destruction.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
9. And its streams shall be turned into pitch. What the Prophet now adds contains nothing new, but describes more fully this desolation. We have formerly explained the reason wily the prophets employ these lively pictures in representing the judgments of God. It is for the purpose of leading men to view them as actually present, and of compelling them to acknowledge those things which their eyes and minds do not discern, or which, as soon as they are beheld and known, are immediately forgotten. But it ought also to be observed that the Prophets spoke of things which were dark and secret, and which were generally thought to be incredible; for many persons imagined that the Prophets uttered them at random. It was, therefore, necessary to add many confirmations, such as those which he employs in this and in other passages; and thus he denotes a horrible change, which shall destroy the whole face of Judea.
Moreover, he alludes to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, (Gen 19:24,) as the prophets very frequently do. In that destruction, as Jude informs us, we have a perpetual representation of the wrath of God against the reprobate, (Jud 1:7😉 and it is not without good reason that the prophets call it to our remembrance, that all may learn to dread the judgments of God. To the same purpose is what he adds, —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9, 10) The streams thereof shall be turned into pitch . . .The imagery of the punishment which is to fall on Edom is suggested partly by the scenery of the Dead Sea, partly by the volcanic character of Edom itself, with its extinct craters and streams of lava. (Comp. Jer. 49:18.) The prophet sees the destruction, as continuing not merely in its results, but in its process, the smoke of the burning craters rising up perpetually, and making the land uninhabitable.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
The All-Embracing Nature of the Judgment and Its Permanence ( Isa 34:9-17 ).
It is important to note that God’s judgment on Edom will be all-embracing and permanent. Nothing will survive it. It is an indication of the consequences of treachery and apostasy.
Analysis.
a And its streams will be turned into pitch, and its dust into brimstone, and its land will become burning pitch (Isa 34:9).
b It will not be quenched night nor day, its smoke will go up for ever, from generation to generation it will lie waste, none will pass through it for ever and ever (Isa 34:10).
c But the pelican (or ‘hawk’) and the porcupine will possess it, and the owl and the raven will dwell in it (Isa 34:11).
d And He will stretch over it the line of formlessness (tohu), and the plummet of emptiness (bohu) over its nobility. They will call the kingdom ‘Not There’, and all her princes will be nothing (Isa 34:12).
e And thorns will come up in her palaces, nettles and thistles in its fortresses (Isa 34:13 a).
e And it will be a haunt of jackals (tannim – or ‘serpents’), an abode for ostriches (Isa 34:13 b).
d And the desert beasts will meet with the hyenas, and the satyr (or ‘he-goat’) will cry to his fellow, yes, the night hag (lilith) will settle there, and will find herself a place of rest (Isa 34:14).
c There will the arrow-snake make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow, yes, there will the kites be gathered, every one with her mate (Isa 34:15).
b Seek out the book of Yahweh and read, not one of these will be missing, none will want her mate. For my mouth it has commanded, and His spirit, it has gathered them (Isa 34:16).
a And He has cast the lot for them, and His hand has divided it to them by line, they will possess it for ever, from generation to generation they will dwell in it (Isa 34:17).
The whole picture in this description is one of desolation and emptiness. It commences in ‘a’ and ‘b’ with the emptying of the land and it becoming a burning waste for ever and ever, and ends in ‘b’ and ‘a’ with its possession by all the creatures that Yahweh will call there and write in His book, which will possess it from generation to generation. In between are all the evidences of its desert-like state. It is lost to all human habitation.
Isa 34:9-10
‘And its streams will be turned into pitch,
And its dust into brimstone,
And its land will become burning pitch.
It will not be quenched night nor day.
Its smoke will go up for ever.
From generation to generation it will lie waste.
None will pass through it for ever and ever.’
This will one day be the destiny of all who have rejected Yahweh (compare Isa 66:24). But here the reference is distinctively to Edom. It will be deserted by men because of its condition (compare Isa 13:20. See Mal 1:4), but that we are not to take the description too literally comes out in that plentiful wildlife would survive there (Isa 34:13-15), which would have been impossible on a literal application of the words. The thought is rather of God’s extreme judgment having come on them in terms of the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:24) and Deu 29:23, a fate that will continue for ever. And indeed Edom did cease to be a nation, and its land did become totally barren. Thus the message of its evil goes up for ever and ever. God’s brimstone of judgment has enveloped it.
Its fate is described in language typical of what God had promised to those who disobey Him and reject His covenant (Deu 29:23). It is saying that the covenant curse has come on them. Brimstone especially is a symbol of judgment (Isa 30:33). The description is not therefore intended to be taken as literally describing what will literally be seen on earth, but to describe how the action is seen from Heaven’s viewpoint, and to symbolise the fact that God has dealt with it in judgment for ever. It is Heaven that sees the burning sulphur and the eternal smoke arising, not men on earth. They just see the barrenness and the burning desert waste.
Note the great emphasis on its everlastingness. As in Isa 30:30, which spoke of vivid heavenly activity not seen on earth although the consequences were seen, what is described is ‘invisible’. It is how heaven sees it. It is a poetic description. Its land fell into Arab hands in 5th century BC, and was overrun by the Nabataeans in the 3rd century BC. Those Edomites who fled to Judah were finally compelled to become Jews under John Hyrcanus in 1st century BC (a kind of mercy out of judgment). Edom as a nation disappeared.
So the two nations who most symbolise the arrogance of the nations and their antipathy towards God, Babylon the great anti-God (Isa 34:13-14) and Edom, the faithless and treacherous brother, will share similar fates (Rev 19:3).
Isa 34:11-12
‘But the pelican (or ‘hawk’) and the porcupine will possess it,
And the owl and the raven will dwell in it.
And he will stretch over it the line of formlessness (tohu),
And the plummet of emptiness (bohu) over its nobility.’
‘They will call the kingdom Not There,
And all her princes will be nothing.’
The occupation by animals, birds and snakes is an indication of desertion by man. Compare Isa 14:23 of Babylon (It should be noted that we are not always able to identify exactly which animals and birds certain Hebrew words apply to. In some cases we only get a very general idea).
And the land has become tohu wa bohu, ‘formless and empty’ (Gen 1:2), as indicated by the measuring instruments passed over it. But the measuring line, which was used for marking off plots, is measuring what is without form, and the plummet for measuring building work is measuring emptiness. They are measuring ‘nothing’.
For the line and plummet compare Isa 28:17 where right judgment is the line and righteousness the plummet. Edom has lacked both.
No activities with regard to land and buildings will take place, for it has been emptied of its nobility. It will be called ‘Not There’, and its princes will be non-existent. It will be as if it had never been inhabited.
Isa 34:13-15
‘And thorns will come up in her palaces,
Nettles and thistles in its fortresses,
And it will be a haunt of jackals (tannim – or ‘serpents’),
An abode for ostriches.
And the desert beasts will meet with the hyenas,
And the satyr (or ‘he-goat’) will cry to his fellow,
Yes, the night hag (lilith) will settle there,
And will find herself a place of rest.
There will the arrow-snake make her nest,
And lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow,
Yes, there will the kites be gathered,
Every one with her mate.’
The picture continues of the many wild creatures who will take possession of its ruined cities, and the weed growth that will infest them. There will be birds, beasts and snakes along with satyrs (‘goat-demons’ or ‘wild goats’) and night hags. The latter may be creatures of superstition, the thought being to convey the idea of a ‘haunted’ place, or may be picturesque and haunting names given to nocturnal animals (compare the modern Tasmanian devil). Note the emphasis on snakes and birds as being there to reproduce and as, with their mates, being a sign of permanence (demonstrating again that Isa 34:9 was not intended literally).
Isa 34:16-17
‘Seek out the book of Yahweh and read,
Not one of these will be missing,
None will want her mate.
For my mouth it has commanded,
And his spirit, it has gathered them.
And he has cast the lot for them,
And his hand has divided it to them by line,
They will possess it for ever,
From generation to generation they will dwell in it.’
‘Seek out the book of Yahweh and read.’ This suggests that Isaiah has recorded his own words and has called them ‘the Book of Yahweh’. He tells the people to read what he has written, so that when it happens they will know and recognise the fact. Every word he has spoken will be fulfilled, not one of these beasts, birds and snakes will be missing, nor with they lack their mates. Or it may indicate that Yahweh has written His own ‘book of the living’ for Edom, composed only of beasts and creatures, an evidence that it is no longer man’s.
And this will be so because under God he has commanded it and God has brought them there by His Spirit. It will be a deliberate and specific act of God.
Indeed God has shared it to these creatures by lot, as He did the promised land to His people of old (Jos 14:1-2), and He has divided it between them by measuring their territories, and they will possess it for ever. This is God’s inheritance to Edom because of what they have done to His people (contrast Deu 2:5). No greater condemnation of Edom’s antagonism to his brother nation could be made. The inheritance of Edom was specifically divided up by God between wild animals, birds and snakes.
But even behind this total judgment was a kind of blessing, for history shows us that the remnant of Edom were eventually absorbed into Israel and became one with the people of God. They were thus in a position to respond when the King came.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Isa 34:9-15. And the streams thereof, &c. The prophet, whose copiousness of speaking is every where inexhausted, paints, in the most chosen figures, an image of the land and city desolated by war, wasted by fire, and devoted to eternal devastation, by the divine judgment; which should not only be deprived of its inhabitants, and left to impure beasts and birds, accustomed to dwell in desarts and desolate places, but also, by the desolation brought upon it, should be rendered uninhabitable, and present the appearance of the infernal flame, like another Sodom and Gomorrah, sending forth continually black smoke and horrid smells. This is the sense of the period, as must be plain to every one. See ch. Isa 13:19, &c. where the desolation of Babylon is set forth in similar terms. Though Rome pagan, and the Roman powers, have already suffered great desolation from the Goths and others, yet Vitringa is of opinion, that this prophesy has not yet had its full completion, but will hereafter have it in the destruction of papal Rome. The state of Italy, and the sulphureous soil in the vicinity of Rome, render the probability of this devastation greater.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
If we read these scriptures through the medium of the gospel, and drop the similitudes in the realities, we shall find an exact description of the human heart, void of grace; and the dreadful condition of all such as live and die in an unregenerate state.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 34:9 And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.
Ver. 9. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch. ] Like the lake of Sodom, which is near to Idumea, and whereof Josephus a writes, that an ox, having all his legs bound, will not sink into it, the water is so thick and pitchy. Strabo, though a stranger to this prophecy, attesteth the accomplishment of it. Lyra saith that in some part of Idumea there is still ascending a smoke of fire and brimstone, as out of Mount Etna in Sicily. b And Hyperius thinketh that the Edomites are here further threatened with hell torments. It should seem so by the next words.
a Alludit ad vicinam et situ et scelare et clade Sodomam – Lib. v. De Bell. Jud.
b Geog., lib. xvi.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 19:28, Deu 29:23, Job 18:15, Psa 11:6, Luk 17:29, Jud 1:7, Rev 19:20, Rev 21:8
Reciprocal: Psa 107:33 – turneth Isa 1:7 – burned Isa 1:31 – and they Isa 30:27 – burning Isa 33:14 – everlasting Jer 49:13 – a desolation Jer 49:17 – Edom Jer 49:33 – a dwelling Zep 2:9 – as Gomorrah Mal 1:3 – laid Rev 14:10 – be Rev 18:9 – the smoke
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 34:9-15. And the streams thereof The rivers, which seem most secure from the judgment here threatened; shall be turned into pitch, &c. The country shall be dealt with as Sodom and Gomorrah were, even utterly destroyed, as it were, by fire, or burning pitch and brimstone, thrown down upon it from heaven. From generation to generation it shall lie waste It shall be irrecoverably ruined, and shall remain a spectacle of Gods vengeance to all succeeding ages. The cormorant, &c., shall possess it The inhabitants shall be wholly cut off, and it shall be entirely possessed by those creatures which delight in deserts and waste places: see Isa 13:21-22; and Isa 14:23. He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, &c. He shall use the line, and the stone, or plummet, joined to it, not to build it up, but to mark it out for destruction and desolation. Thus the prophet goes on to paint, in the most chosen figures, an image of the land and city desolated by war, wasted by fire, and devoted to eternal desolation, by the divine judgment; which should not only be deprived of its inhabitants, and left to impure beasts and birds, but also, by the desolations brought upon it, should be rendered uninhabitable, and present the appearance of the infernal flames, like another Sodom and Gomorrah, sending forth continually black smoke and horrid smells. The desolation of Babylon is set forth in similar terms, Isa 13:19, &c. Though Rome pagan and the Roman powers have already suffered great desolation from the Goths and others, yet Vitringa is of opinion that this prophecy has not yet had its full completion, but will hereafter have it in the destruction of Papal Rome. The state of Italy, and the sulphurous soil in the vicinity of Rome, render the probability of this devastation greater. Dodd.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 34:9-17. Edom is near to the Dead Sea, and the country is volcanic, and these facts suggest this lurid picture of judgment. Edoms rivers will be turned to pitch, its dust to brimstone, the land shall be a smoking, desolate wilderness for ever and ever. Pelican and bittern (Isa 14:23*), owl and raven, shall dwell in it; it shall be reduced to utter chaos. Satyrs shall dwell in it, its rulers shall be destroyed. The palaces will be overrun with thorns and thistles, and be the dwelling-place of wild beasts and uncanny monsters. Let those who read this book verify the description for themselves, for Yahweh has allotted Edom to these creatures as their promised land, just as He allotted Canaan to the tribes of Israel.
Isa 34:11 b. Confusion and emptiness are the words which describe the primeval chaos in Gen 1:2. The line and plummet are used to secure exactness in building. With just the same care and completeness Yahweh will execute the work of destruction.
Isa 34:12. Read, partially following LXX, And satyrs shall dwell therein, Her rulers shall not be; There shall be no kingdom there to proclaim, And all her princes shall be no more.
Isa 34:13-15. Cf. Isa 13:21 f.*
Isa 34:14. night monster: better Lilith (mg.), a night demon among the Babylonians and Assyrians. The Jews of Mesopotamia kept up the superstition about her till late in the Christian era, and she is the subject of several Rabbinical stories. The representation of her as Adams first wife appears in Faust.place of rest: cf. Mat 12:43, Luk 11:24.
Isa 34:15. arrowsnake: the reference to hatching seems to favour the view that a bird is intended, but the writer may have been unaware that pythons are the only snakes that hatch.gather under her shadow: read, brood over her eggs.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
34:9 And its streams shall be turned into pitch, and its dust into {i} brimstone, and its land shall become burning pitch.
(i) He alludes to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Gen 19:24 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The prophet described Edom’s overthrow in terms reminiscent of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (cf. Gen 19:24-28; Deu 29:23; Psa 11:6; Jer 49:18; Rev 14:10-11), which lay in the same general direction as Edom from Jerusalem. Edom’s actions brought on this destruction. The world’s end will be total, and its territory will be uninhabitable from then on (Isa 66:24; Rev 19:3; cf. Lev 6:13). The absence of specific references to Edom in Isa 34:9-17 helps the reader appreciate that a judgment far beyond that one nation’s future is in view. The only reason people will be able to inhabit the earth during the Millennium, following the Tribulation, is because God will renovate it (chs. 35; 40-66). Human sin affects humanity’s environment.