Isaiah 24:19

Isa 24:19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.

Ver. 19. The earth is utterly broken down.] This he had said before. Oil, if not well rubbed in, pierceth not the skin. Menaces must be inculcated, or else they will be but little regarded. Let preachers press matters to the utmost, drive the nail home to the head; not forbearing through faint-heartedness, nor languishing through lukewarmness.

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.

Isa 24:19-20. The earth is utterly broken down — This is repeated again, to show the dreadfulness and certainty of these judgments, and to awaken the stupid Israelites. The earth shall reel to and fro — The people of the earth, the inhabitants of the land, shall be sorely perplexed and distressed, not knowing what to do, or whither to go. Or rather, the prophet here, in metaphorical expressions, borrowed from an earthquake, signifies how terribly Judea should be shaken by wars, desolations, and other divine judgments, to the entire overthrow of their church and commonwealth; and shall be removed — The people shall be removed, or their constitution, civil and religious, like a cottage — Or, like a lodge in a garden, of which this word is used, Isa 1:8, which is soon taken down and set up in another place: or, like a tent, which is easily and commonly carried from place to place. And the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it — Upon their state and nation, especially the sin of crucifying the Lord of glory. And it shall fall — Their government shall be overturned, their state dissolved, and their nation ruined; and not rise again — Not till the latter days, when they shall believe in and receive Him whom they rejected and crucified.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

earth--the land: image from an earthquake.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 19. The earth - "The land"] הארץ haarets, forte delendum ה he, ut ex praecedente ortum. Vid. seqq. - Secker. "Probably the ה he, in הארץ haarets, should be blotted out, as having arisen from the preceding."

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(19) The earth is utterly broken . . .—We note the characteristic form of Hebrew emphasis in the threefold iteration of “the earth.” (Comp. Isa_6:3; Jer_22:29.) There the form (more visibly in the Hebrew than in the English) is a climax representing the three stages of an earthquake: the first cleavage of the ground; the wide open gaping; the final shattering convulsion. The rhythm of the whole passage is almost an echo of the crashes.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19. is clean dissolved] Better, is utterly shivered. For is moved render staggereth.

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.

The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard,.... When it shall be moved and agitated to and fro, and dissolved; or this may be meant of the inhabitants, who shall be at their wits' end, and in the utmost confusion, not knowing what to do, nor where to go, having no more thought, nor sense, nor command of themselves, than a drunken man; and this is in just retaliation, that as they have been drunk with sin, having drank up iniquity like water, they shall now be drunk with punishment, which being heavy upon them, will make them stagger like a drunken man:

and shall be removed like a cottage; or, "a tent" (x); either of soldiers or shepherds, which are easily taken down and moved; or like "a lodge" (y), as the word is rendered Isa 1:8. The Septuagint render it a "fruit watch"; and, according to the Jewish writers, it signifies a booth or tent, in which the keepers of gardens or vineyards watched in the night; which Jarchi says was built on the top of a tree, and Kimchi on a hill; and, being made of light wood, was easily moved to and fro with the wind. The Targum is,

"and it goes and comes as a bed;''

that is, rocks as a cradle:

and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; that is, the punishment of transgression, which, like a talent of lead, in Zac 5:8 shall crush it, and the inhabitants of it, to pieces:

and it shall fall, and not rise again; in the form it now is; for there will be new heavens and a new earth, in which the righteous, who will share the first resurrection, will dwell; for as for the first earth, or present one, it shall pass away, and no place be found for it, Rev 20:11.

(x) "quasi tabernaculum", V. L. (y) "Ut diversoriolum", Piscator.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The earth is utterly broken down - The effect as it were of an earthquake where everything is thrown into commotion and ruin.

The earth is moved exceedingly - Everything in this verse is intense and emphatic. The verbs are in the strongest form of emphasis: ‘By breaking, the land is broken;’ ‘by scattering, the land is scattered;’ ‘by commotion, the land is moved.’ The repetition also of the expression in the same sense three times, is a strong form of emphasis; and the whole passage is designed to denote the utter desolation and ruin that had come upon the land.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

This is repeated again, partly to show the dreadfulness and certainty of these judgments, and partly to awaken and affect the stupid Israelites, who greatly needed it.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The earth is utterly broken down. The material globe itself breaks up and perishes. It is "the crack of doom." Mr. Cheyne remarks that "the language imitates the cracking and bursting with which the present world shall pass away." The Authorized Version is very feeble compared to the original.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The earth - This is repeated again, to shew the dreadfulness and, certainty of these judgments, and to awaken the stupid Israelites.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

“Broken, broken is the earth; shattered, shattered is the earth; shaken, shaken is the earth.”

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The earth will be completely broken, the earth ripped apart; the earth will be violently shaken

These passive clauses can be stated in active form. AT: "The earth will break and split apart; the earth will shake violently" (See: Active or Passive)

The earth will stagger like a drunken man and it will sway back and forth like a hut

These similes emphasize how the earth will shake back and forth. (See: Simile)

Its sin will be heavy on it and it will fall and never rise again

This speaks of the earth as if it were a person and transgressions were a heavy object. The person tries to carry the heavy weight but the weight causes the person to fall and not be able to stand back up. Here the earth represents the people of the earth who cause Yahweh to destroy the earth because of their sins. AT: "The sins of the people are many and so Yahweh will destroy the earth, and the earth will be like a person who falls and cannot get back up" (See: Metaphor and Metonymy)

translationWords

transgress

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

The earth has broken (רֹעָה הִתְרֹעֲעָה) an expression of breaking. Comp. (Ps. 2:9): “You shall break them (תְּרֹעֵם) with an iron rod.”

has crumbled (פּוֹר הִתְפּוֹרְרָה), an expression of crumbs.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

רעה Is broken. Comp. תרועם thou wilt break them (Ps. 2:9); a word found frequently in the Targum.

פור התפוררה Is broken asunder. Comp. ויפרפרני and he hath broken me asunder (Job 16:12); פוררת thou hast divided (Ps. 74:13)

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.