Isaiah 5:24

Isa 5:24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, [so] their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Ver. 24. Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble.] For all the crimes aforementioned, and for that, to all the former they add this, that they have cast away the law of the Lord, and despised his Word.

As the fire.] Heb., The tongue of fire; that is, the top of the flame, which resembleth a tongue, that is also thin, broad, long, and of a fiery colour: "Setting on fire the course of nature, and is itself set on fire of hell." {Jas 3:6}

Devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff.] Sin doth as naturally draw and suck judgments to it as the lodestone doth iron, as dry stubble and light chaff doth fire; suddenly and with no ado shall sinners be consumed, when God once taketh them to do; exorientur et exurentur.

So their root shall be rottenness.] In allusion to the vine {Isa 5:1} which brought forth rotten grapes. {Isa 5:4}

And their blossom shall go up as dust.] Shall vanish and come to nothing, as it needs must where the root is putrified. Of wild vines Pliny {a} saith, Ostentant fructum potius quam porrigunt, they rather make a show of fruit than yield any. And there are some vines, saith Varro, {b} whose fruit ever rotteth before it hath time to ripen. He meaneth they shall vanish in their greatest flourish of seeming felicity.

{a} Lib. xvi. cap. 27.

{b} Var. ap. Cas. Dion.

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_5:24-30

Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble

Sin brings judgment in its train

Let not those expect to live easily that live thus wickedly, for the righteous God wilt take vengeance.

Observe--

I. HOW COMPLETE this ruin will be, and how necessarily and unavoidably it will follow upon their sins. The prophet had compared this people to a vine (Isa_5:7), well fixed and which it was hoped would be flourishing and fruitful. But the grace of God towards it was received in vain, and then the root became rottenness, being dried up from beneath, and the blossom would of course blow off as dust, as a light and worthless thing (Job_18:16). Sin weakens the strength the root of a people, so that they are easily rooted up; it defaceth the beauty, the blossoms of a people, and takes away the hopes of fruit. Sinners make themselves as stubble and chaff, combustible matter, proper fuel to the fire of Gods wrath.

II. How Just the ruin will be. Because they have cast away the law, etc. God doth not reject men for every transgression of His law and word, but when His word is despised and His law cast away, what can they expect but that God should utterly abandon them?

III. WHENCE this ruin should come (Isa_5:25). It is destruction from the Almighty.

1. The justice of God appoints it.

2. The power of God effects it. He hath stretched forth His hand against them.

IV. The CONSEQUENCES AND CONTINUANCE of this ruin. When God comes forth in wrath against a people, the hills tremble; fear seizeth even their great men, that are strong and high; the earth shakes under men, and is ready to sink; and as this feels dreadful (what doth more so than an earthquake?) so what sight can be more frightful than the carcasses of men torn with dogs, or thrown as dung (margin) in the midst of the streets? This intimates that great multitudes should be slain, not only soldiers in the field of battle, but the inhabitants of their cities put to the sword in cold blood, and that the survivors should neither have hands nor hearts to bury them.

V. The INSTRUMENTS that should be employed in bringing this ruin upon them. It should be done by the incursions of a foreign enemy. When God designs the rum of a provoking people--

1. He can send a great way off for instruments to be employed in it. From the end of the earth (Isa_5:26). If God set up His standard, He can incline mens hearts to enlist themselves under it, though, perhaps, themselves know not why or wherefore.

2. He can make them come into the service with incredible expedition. With speed swiftly (Isa_5:26). Those that defy Gods judgments will be ashamed of their insolence when it is too late; they scornfully said (Isa_5:19), Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, and they shall find to their terror and confusion that so He will.

3. He can carry them on in the service with amazing forwardness and fury (Isa_5:27-30).

(1) Though their marches be very long, yet none among them shall be weary; so desirous shall they be to engage that they shall forget their weariness and make no complaints of it.

(2) Though the way be rough, and, perhaps embarrassed by the usual policies of war, yet none among them shall stumble, but all the difficulties in their way shall easily be got over.

(3) Though they are forced to keep constant watch, yet none shall slumber or sleep; so intent shall they be upon their work in prospect of having the plunder of the city for their pains.

(4) They shall not desire any rest or relaxation; they shall not put off their clothes, not loose the girdle of their loins, but shall always have their belts on and swords by their sides.

(5) They shall not meet with the least hindrance to retard their march, or oblige them to halt; not a latchet of their shoes shall be broken, which they must stay to mend, as Jos_9:13.

(6) Their arms and ammunition should all be fixed and in good posture (verse 28).

(7) Their horses and chariots of war shall all be fit for service (verse 28).

(8) All the soldiers bold and daring; their roaring, or shouting before a battle, shall be like a lion, who with his roaring animates himself and terrifies all about him.

(9) There shall not be the least prospect of relief or succour. Let the distressed look which way they will, everything appears dismal; for if God frown upon us how can any creature smile? (M. Henry.)

Divine judgments as fire and flame

They cannot be resisted, their direction cannot be altered, their force abated, nor can the flame be extinguished by human efforts. As threatened calamities cannot be averted, so inflicted judgments cannot be removed, unless by true repentance and earnest supplication to the supreme Disposer of all events. (R. Macculloch.)

Root and blossom

The posterity of Israel are here compared to a fruit-bearing tree, whose root gives it strength and stability, conveys to it nourishment, and preserves it firm amidst the storms to which it may be exposed. By their root may be meant everything whereby they thought to secure and establish themselves, such as their secret counsels, their deep-laid designs, their strength and riches, their friends and connections, from all which they derived support, and expected to keep their station. Viewing them in their social capacity, by their root we may understand parents, heads of families, judges, governors and princes, who give stability and support to the state and preserve it in a flourishing condition . . . The blossoms denote the beautiful promising appearances among that people, which seemed to presage plenty of fruit; such as their religion, their children, their magnificence and influence as a nation; in short, everything which constituted their excellence, and displayed their glory was to be consumed. (R. Macculloch.)

Universal judgment

The judgment here foretold was to prove universal; for what remains of a tree when its roots and branches are destroyed! (R. Macculloch.)

Sin and judgment

Sin doth as naturally draw and suck judgments to it as the loadstone doth iron, as dry stubble and light chaff doth fire. (J. Trapp.)

The law and the word

The law of Jehovah was given by Moses and embodied in institutions and a code; the word was that exposition of the meaning and life of these which the prophets were, from time to time, declaring in the ears of the people. The nation had cast away this law and despised this word. (Sir E. Strachey, Bart.)

Withered roots

When all heart and morality are gone from a nation, its roots below ground are rotten, and its flourishing appearance is ready to turn to dust. There is no substance in such a people, nothing which can stand calamity of any kind. It will sweep them away as the fire licks up the stubble which men burn when the crop of corn or hay has been gathered in. (Sir E. Strachey, Bart.)

Unfruitfulness: cause and effect

The sin of unfruitfulness is punished with the plague of unfruitfulness. (M. Henry.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Isa 5:24. Therefore as the fire, &c. — “The latter part of the parabolic song, contained in Isa 5:6, begins here to be more fully explained; and, to the end of the chapter, we have an account of that total destruction of the republic, which was to be brought upon it by a people most skilful in war, and coming from a very distant country.” The greatness and impelling cause of this threatened destruction are explained in this and the following verse: the instruments of it, a fierce and warlike people, are described Isa 5:26-29. And the consequence of it, the trouble and desperation of those that remained from this slaughter, Isa 5:30. See Vitringa. Their root shall be as rottenness — They shall be like a tree, which not only withers in its branches, but dies and rots at the roots, and therefore is past all hopes of recovery. That is, they shall be destroyed, both root and branch, and that as certainly and irresistibly as fire devours the stubble on which it kindles, and the flame consumes the chaff which it touches. Their blossom shall go up as dust — Shall vanish as the dust, which is blown away with every wind, or shall be resolved into dust, and yield no fruit; because they have cast away the law of the Lord, &c. — Have cast off all obedience to it, and treated it with contempt.

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

THE DOOM OF DESPISERS

Isa_5:24. Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Shut God out of the heart, and this is what it comes to at last. In Jewish history, we have a commentary on the judgments announced in the text, written in fire and blood. We have here—

I. God’s merciful approaches to the soul.

1. God begins with law. In the present day there is a nervous dread of law, as if it were the offspring of severity rather than of grace [679] But law checks, rectifies, and blesses in innumerable ways (Psa_19:7-11; Psa_119:105, &c).

2. To His law, He adds His word; His “word” of persuasion, exhortation, promise, and especially the great “word” of the Gospel.

[679] The spring of the law is love. With its “Thou shalt not do this,” and “Thou shall not do that,” the law presents rather an ungracious aspect. We like ill to be bidden, but worse to be forbidden. But does love never forbid? A mother, does she never forbid her child; but, on the contrary, indulge every caprice and grant all its wishes? How disastrous the fate, and brief the life, of a child denied nothing, indulged in everything, allowed to play with fire, or fire-arms; to devour the painted but poisonous fruit—to bathe where the tide runs like a racehorse or the river rushes roaring into the black, swirling pool. And he who frets against the restraints of God’s holy law because it forbids this and the other thing, is no wiser than the infant who weeps, and screams, and struggles, and perhaps beats the kind bosom that nurses it, because its mother has snatched a knife from its foolish hands.—Guthrie.

II. God’s merciful approaches rejected. “They have cast away the law,” &c. Man meets God’s law with resistance, His love with contempt.

III. God’s merciful approaches giving place to indignation and wrath. “Therefore as the fire devoureth,” &c. Law being resisted, and love despised, things cannot be as they were before; one of two things must happen—there must be either pardon or punishment. If pardon be rejected, only punishment remains. The images under which this is set forth in the text are most alarming. They show—

1. That at last God’s anger strikes at the root of our being—at the very substance of our life. The wrath of man at the worst rages only on the surface, but God strikes at the root (Luk_12:4; Mat_10:28).

2. God’s anger smites the blossom of our being. All that constitutes the show, promise, and pride of our life, is scattered like dust.

3. When God smites in anger, He smites suddenly and swiftly, “as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff.

4. When God smites in anger, man can offer no resistance. What power to resist a hurricane has a tree whose roots are not only rotten, but “rottenness”? How can the stubble withstand the fire, or the chaff defend itself against tongues of flame?—J. R. Wood.

THE DOOM OF IMPENITENT ISRAEL

Isa_5:24-30. Therefore as the fire devoureth, &c.

In this threatening, fulfilled in the utter destruction of Israel by Assyria, we find illustrations of the following facts:—I. That the Lord is a God of judgment as well as of mercy [682] The mercy of God had been exemplified in His long forbearance with sinful Israel: His justice was manifested in the utter destruction that came upon Israel when it was seen that that forbearance had been shown in vain. God is still as He revealed Himself in His Word and in His actual dealings with His people. It is utterly vain for us to frame for ourselves an ideal God in whose character the sternest justice has no place. II. That we can sustain no relation to God which will render it safe for us to break His commandments, or exempt us from the consequences of wrong-doing (Isa_5:25. Compare Isa_5:5; Amo_3:2). III. That all the forces of the universe are at God’s disposal for the execution of His purposes. Appalling is the variety of the scourges and swords that lie ready to His hand for the chastisement of the rebellious [685] and for the destruction of the incorrigible! IV. That in addressing Himself to the work of judgment, God is moved by the highest moral considerations. “Because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel: therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against His people.” In His wrath, as well as in His love, He is holy: in neither is there any caprice. V. That consequently God will not pause in His work of judgment out of any weak regard to the mere sufferings of wrong-doers. It is against sin that His anger burns, and while sin endures the fires of His wrath will continue to flame. Eternal punishment! For impenitent transgressors there is woe upon woe, and no severity of suffering that they may endure abates the anger of the Lord against them. There is no such thing as salvation by personal suffering. See how all this is expressed in our text, from beginning to end.

[682] See my Homiletic Encyclopædia of Illustrations in Theology and Morals, Nos. 2288–2301.

[685] As for example, conscience, the awakening of which Henry Smith has thus depicted:—“There is a warning conscience and a gnawing conscience. The warning comes before sin; the gnawing conscience follows after sin. The warning conscience is often lulled asleep, but the gnawing conscience wakes her again. If there be any hell in this world, they who feel the worm of conscience gnawing on their hearts may truly say that they have felt the torments of hell. Who can express that man’s horror but himself? Nay, what horrors are those which he cannot express himself! Sorrows are met in his soul as at a feast; and fear, thought, and anguish divide the soul between them. All the furies of hell leap upon his heart like a stage. Thought calls to Fear; Fear whistles to Horror; Horror beckons to Despair, and says, Come, and help me to torment this sinner. One says that she comes from this sin, and another says that she comes from that sin. So he goes through a thousand deaths, and cannot die. Irons are laid upon his body like a prisoner. All his lights are put out at once. He has no soul fit to be comforted. Thus he lives as it were upon the rack, and says that he hears the world upon his shoulders, and that no man suffers that which he suffers. So let him lie, says God, without ease, until he confess and repent and call for mercy.”

GENERAL CONCLUSION.—“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” The history of the Jews since Israel’s day is a terrible comment on this declaration.

PARTICULAR CONCLUSIONS.—

1. As sinners, let us bestir ourselves to avert the consequences of our transgressions by a timely and genuine repentance (Isa_55:6-7; Hos_14:1-4, &c.)

2. Having obtained mercy, let us be in the fear of the Lord all the daylong (Joh_5:14).

3. For our guidance in life, let us keep constantly before us the Biblical presentation of God, as a God of justice and of mercy;—of justice, that we may be restrained from transgression; of mercy, that there may grow up in our hearts that love for Him which will cause us to find our highest joy in doing His will.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

In the three exclamations in Isa 5:18-21, Jehovah rested contented with the simple undeveloped "woe" (hoi). On the other hand, the first two utterances respecting the covetous and the debauchees were expanded into an elaborate denunciation of punishment. But now that the prophet has come to the unjust judges, the denunciation of punishment bursts out with such violence, that a return to the simple exclamation of "woe" is not to be thought of. The two "therefores" in Isa 5:13, Isa 5:14, a third is now added in Isa 5:24 : "Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours stubble, and hay sinks together in the flame, their root will become like mould, and their blossom fly up like dust; for they have despised the law of Jehovah of hosts, and scornfully rejected the proclamation of the Holy One of Israel." The persons primarily intended as those described in Isa 5:22, Isa 5:23, but with a further extension of the range of vision to Judah and Jerusalem, the vineyard of which they are the bad fruit. The sinners are compared to a plant which moulders into dust both above and below, i.e., altogether (cf., Mal 4:1, and the expression, "Let there be to him neither root below nor branch above," in the inscription upon the sarcophagus of the Phoenician king Es'mun'azar). Their root moulders in the earth, and their blossom (perach, as in Isa 18:5) turns to fine dust, which the wind carries away. And this change in root and blossom takes place suddenly, as if through the force of fire. In the expression Ce'ecol kash leshon 'ēsh ("as the tongue of fire devours stubble"), which consists of four short words with three sibilant letters, we hear, as it were, the hissing of the flame. When the infinitive construct is connected with both subject and object, the subject generally stands first, as in Isa 64:1; but here the object is placed first, as in Isa 20:1 (Ges. 133, 3; Ewald, 307). In the second clause, the infinitive construct passes over into the finite verb, just as in the similarly constructed passage in Isa 64:1. As yirpeh has the intransitive meaning Collabi, to sink together, or collapse; either lehâbâh must be an acc. loci, or Chashash lehâbâh the construct state, signifying flame-hay, i.e., hay destined to the flame, or ascending in flame.

(Note: In Arabic also, Chashı̄sh signifies hay; but in common usage (at least in Syriac) it is applied not to dried grass, but to green grass or barley: hence the expression yachush there is green fodder. Here, however, in Isaiah, Chashash is equivalent to Chashish yâbis, and this is its true etymological meaning (see the Lexicons). But kash is still used in Syro-Arabic, to signify not stubble, but wheat that has been cut and is not yet threshed; whereas the radical word itself signifies to be dry, and Châshash consequently is used for mown grass, and kash for the dry halm of wheat, whether as stubble left standing in the ground, or as straw (vid., Comm. on Job, at Job 39:13-18).)

As the reason for the sudden dissolution of the plantation of Judah, instead of certain definite sins being mentioned, the sin of all sins is given at once, namely, the rejection of the word of God with the heart (mâ'as), and in word and deed (ni'ēts). The double 'ēth (with yethib immediately before pashta, as in eleven passages in all; see Heidenheim's Imspete hate'amim, p. 20) and v'êth (with tebir) give prominence to the object; and the interchange of Jehovah of hosts with the Holy One of Israel makes the sin appear all the greater on account of the exaltation and holiness of God, who revealed Himself in this word, and indeed had manifested Himself to Israel as His own peculiar people. The prophet no sooner mentions the great sin of Judah, than the announcement of punishment receives, as it were, fresh fuel, and bursts out again.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

5:24 The image of rotting roots reflects human transience (cp. 11:1; 27:6; 37:31). • To despise the Lord’s word means to ignore it, to live without regard for keeping it. Such an attitude toward God’s revelation leads to folly and ruin (Prov 1:30; 5:12; 15:5).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Both they and their posterity, so that nothing shall be left.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Literally, "tongue of fire eateth" (Act 2:3).

flame consumeth the chaff--rather, withered grass falleth before the flame (Mat 3:12).

root . . . blossom--entire decay, both the hidden source and outward manifestations of prosperity, perishing (Job 18:16; Mal 4:1).

cast away . . . law--in its spirit, while retaining the letter.

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 24. The flame - "The tongue of fire"] "The flame, because it is in the shape of a tongue; and so it is called metaphorically." Sal. ben Melec. The metaphor is so exceedingly obvious, as well as beautiful, that one may wonder that it has not been more frequently used. Virgil very elegantly intimates, rather than expresses, the image; -

Ecce levis summo de vertice visus Iuli

Fundere lumen apex; tactuque innoxia molli

Lambere flamma comas, et circum tempora pasci.

AEn. ii. 682.

"Strange to relate! from young Iulus' head

A lambent flame arose, which gently spread

Around his brows, and on his temples fed."

And more boldly of AEtna darting out flames from its top: -

Interdumque atram prorumpit ad aethera nubem,

Turbine fumantem piceo, et candente favilla:

Attollitque globos flammarum, et sidera lambit.

AEn. iii. 574.

"By turns a pitchy cloud she rolls on high,

By turns hot embers from her entrails fly,

And flakes of mountain flames, that lick the sky."

The disparted tongues, as it were of fire, Ac 2:3, which appeared at the descent of the Holy Spirit, on the apostles, give the same idea; that is, of flames shooting diversely into pyramidal forms, or points, like tongues. It may be farther observed that the prophet in this place has given the metaphor its full force, in applying it to the action of fire in eating up and devouring whatever comes in its way, like a ravenous animal whose tongue is principally employed in taking in his food or prey; which image Moses has strongly exhibited in an expressive comparison: "And Moab said to the elders of Midian, Now shall this collection of people lick up ali that are around about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field," Nu 22:4. See also 1Kg 18:38.

Their root shall be as rottenness] כמק cammak, like mak; whence probably our word muck, dung, was derived.

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

(24) Therefore as the fire devoureth.—Literally, the tongue of fire. The scene brought before us is—(1) that of a charred and burnt-up field, horrible and hideous to look upon (comp. Heb_6:8); (2) that of a tree decayed and loathsome. The double imagery represents the end of the riotous mirth of the unjust judges.

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

24. The conclusion. Render with R.V.

Therefore as the tongue of fire devoureth the stubble,

And as the dry grass sinketh down in the flame, &c.

The similes are taken from two common customs, the burning of the stubble in the fields, and the use of dry grass for fuel. The comparison is completed in a different figure.

root … blossom] The expression is found on a Phœnician sarcophagus (Eshmunazar), “let him not have root below or fruit above”; and frequently in the O.T., Isa_14:29; Isa_37:31; Amo_2:9; Hos_9:16, &c.

the law of the Lord of hosts] See on Isa_1:10. The last clause is a summary description of the sins of the nation; the source from which they all spring is the rejection of the prophetic message.

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.

Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble,.... Or "tongue of fire" (h); meaning the flame, the same as in the next clause; because it is in the form of a tongue; see Act 2:3,

and the flame consumeth the chaff; which is done easily, speedily, and entirely; the metaphors denote that their destruction would be easy, swift, sudden, irresistible, and irrecoverable. Reference may be had to the burning of Jerusalem, literally understood:

so their root shall be rottenness; and so utterly perish; meaning their fathers, as Aben Ezra and Abarbinel think; or their chief and principal men, before mentioned; or their riches and substance, and whatever they gloried of, or trusted in; see Mat 3:10,

and their blossom shall go up as dust; before the wind; either their children, or whatever was excellent or valuable with them; so Jarchi interprets it of their grandeur, pomp, and glory; it seems to express an utter destruction of them, root and branch, as in Mal 4:1,

because they have cast away the law of the Lord; or doctrine of the Lord; that is, the Gospel; which the Jews blasphemed, contradicted, and put away from them, and judged themselves unworthy of everlasting life: the preaching of a crucified Christ, and salvation by him, and justification by his righteousness, were a stumbling block to them: this is to be understood not of the law of works, but of the law or doctrine of faith:

and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel; meaning either the same as before; expressing their great contempt of the Gospel, and the reason why they rejected it, because they loathed, abhorred, and despised it: or else Christ, the essential Word of God; so the Targum,

"they rejected the Word, the Holy One of Israel;''

as the Messiah, and received him not; and this their rejection of him, and ill treatment of his Gospel and ministers, were the cause of the burning of Jerusalem, and of their utter ruin and destruction, Mat 22:4.

(h) "lingua ignis", Vatablus.

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

Therefore as the fire ... - The remainder of this chapter is occupied with predicting “judgments,” or punishments, upon the people for their sins which had been specified. The Hebrew here is, ‘The tongue of fire.’ The figure is beautiful and obvious. It is derived from the pyramidal, or tongue-like appearance of “flame.” The concinnity of the metaphor in the Hebrew is kept up. The word “devoureth” is in the Hebrew “eateth:” ‘As the tongue of fire eats up,’ etc. The use of the word “tongue” to denote “flame” is common in the Scriptures; see the note at Act 2:3.

And the flame consumeth the chaff - The word rendered “chaff here,” means rather “hay, or dried grass.” The word rendered ‘consumeth,’ denotes properly “to make to fall,” and refers to the appearance when a fire passes through a field of grain or grass, consuming the stalks near the ground, so that the upper portion “falls down,” or sinks gently into the flames.

So their root shall be as rottenness - Be rotten; or decayed - of course furnishing no moisture, or suitable juices for the support of the plant. The idea is, that all the sources of national prosperity among the Jews would be destroyed. The word “root” is often used to denote the source of “strength or prosperity;” Isa 14:30; Hos 9:16; Job 18:16.

And their blossom - This word rather means germ, or tender branch. It also means the flower. The figure is kept up here. As the root would be destroyed, so would all that was supported by it, and all that was deemed beautiful, or ornamental.

As dust - The Hebrew denotes “fine dust,” such as is easily blown about. The root would be rotten; and the flower, lacking nourishment, would become dry, and turn to dust, and blow away. Their strength, and the sources of their prosperity would be destroyed; and all their splendor and beauty, all that was ornamental, and the source of national wealth, would be destroyed with it.

They have cast away - They have refused to “obey” it. This was the cause of all the calamities that would come upon them.

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

Their root shall be as rottenness; they shall be like a tree which not only withers in its branches, but dies and rots at the roots, and therefore is past all hopes of recovery. The sense is, They shall be destroyed both root and branch.

Their blossom shall go up as dust; shall vanish (for so the word ascend or go up is oft used, as Exo 16:14; Job 5:26; Jer 48:15; Eze 11:23,24) as the dust, which is blown away with every wind; or, shall be resolved into dust, and yield no fruit.

They have cast away; which implies disobedience joined with contempt.

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

24. Therefore — The general subject of destructive judgments is here resumed from Isa_5:14.

As the fire devoureth — Very like the stubble and chaff by fire shall Judah’s glory disappear; root and branch it shall be burned up and pass off in air as smoke.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore, etc. A general judgment is now pronounced against all the forms of wickedness enumerated a judgment of ruin or destruction. It is expressed by a mixed metaphor, or "combination of two figures," the former taken from the burning of stubble and withered grass by the farmer when he is cleaning his fields, the latter from the natural decay of a blossoming plant or tree. In either case the destruction is complete, but in the one it arises from an external force, fire; in the other from an internal failure of vitality. The ruin of Israel would include both; it would be brought about by an internal cause, their corruption, and an external one, God"s anger. As the fire devoureth the stubble; literally, as a tongue of fire eats up stubble. Tongue of fire" is an unusual phrase, occurring in all Scripture only here and in Act_2:3. But it well depicts the power of fire to lick up clean all that comes in its way. Isaiah elsewhere notes the analogy, making it the foundation of simile. (Isa_30:27) And the flame consumeth the chaff; rather, and as dry grass sinks down inflame. The withered grass of pastures was burnt by farmers to improve the after-growth (Lucan, "Pharsal.," 9:182). Their root shall be as rottenness. (comp. Hos_9:16) The root is the last thing to decay. When that fails, the case is desperate. Judah"s "root" did not utterly fail; (Isa_11:1) but the present warning is to individuals and classes (vers. 8, 11, 18, 20-23), not to the nation. Their blossom shall go up as dust; i.e. their external glory shall crumble and waste away. Because they have cast away the Law. All the sins of Israel had this one thing in common they were transgressions of the Law of God as delivered to them by Moses, and enforced upon them by the prophetical order. (comp. 2Ki_17:13-16) Despised the word; or, the speech. Imrah is rarely used by Isaiah. It does not refer to the written "Word," but to the declarations of God by the mouth of his prophets. (see Isa_28:23 Isa_32:9)

Vers. 24-30. The judgments of the Lord.

These verses are obviously pictorial and figurative; they must be treated as highly hyperbolical or they will be misconceived. Though their primary reference is to the judgments which impended over the guilty nation, we may discover in them some principles which not only extend to every age, but apply to every individual soul.

I THAT THE INDIVIDUAL AS WELL AS THE NATION MAY BE THE OBJECT OF THE AWFUL ANGER OF ALMIGHTY GOD. "The anger of the Lord is kindled against his people" (ver. 25). Without attributing to the Divine Spirit the very same sentiment as that which fills our human minds, we may and should feel that the burning indignation of which we are conscious when we witness wrong-doing is the reflection of the "anger of the Lord" against all unrighteousness; and we do well to think that what we now feel in regard to others God may feel toward us, if, like his ancient people, we fall into disobedience and condemnation. Well may we, "who are his offspring," shrink from the high displeasure of the holy Father of souls.

II THAT GOD"S ANGER IS EXCITED BY OUR INATTENTION AND DISOBEDIENCE. "Because they have cast away the Law... and despised the Word of the Holy One of Israel" (ver. 24). The evil thing which God hates takes many forms, the later and darker ones being shocking even in the sight of good men. But they all spring from a disregard of his will as revealed in his Word. Despising the Word in the mind leads to a casting out of the Law from the rule of life, and thus shows itself in all kinds of iniquity. He who is neglecting the will of God, as that will is stated in his Word, is at the source of the stream of sin, and is in danger of being carried down to the rapids of destruction.

III THAT THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD ARE SOMETIMES SWIFT IN THEIR APPROACH. "They shall come with speed swiftly." Sometimes they are "leaden-footed but heavy-handed;" yet at other times they speedily overtake the transgressor. At all times, indeed, a violation of righteousness is instantly attended with some spiritual injury and. loss; but, beyond this, the more apparent punishment often comes with rapid march to confront and confound the transgressor.

IV THAT THESE DIVINE JUDGMENTS ARE SOMETIMES UNEXPECTEDLY PROLONGED. "For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still" (ver. 25). Men are apt to think, when they have suffered some great adversity, that God has poured out his anger, and that they may thenceforth expect continuous prosperity. But they overlook the two facts:

(1) that at any time in each man"s life there is a vast amount of unpaid penalty for which God may righteously punish him, and

(2) that God is seeking a remedial as well as a punitive end in his inflictions, and that impenitence has always reason to fear perhaps we should more properly say hope that the hand of the Lord will still be stretched out in the attitude and act of correction.

V THAT THEY ARE IRRESISTIBLY STRONG. "Their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust," etc. (ver. 24; see vers. 27-30). God"s judgments cannot be evaded; there is no escape from them by human strength or cunning: They move up with steady, unflinching step (ver. 27); they strike with unerring aim and piercing newer (vet 285; they reach the source as well as the sign of prosperity root as well as blossom (ver. 24); they leave no way of escape open seaward, heavenward, landward (ver. 30). "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.... Who may stand in his sight, when once he is angry?" Therefore:

1. Hearken diligently to his Word and hasten to obey, that the anger of the Lord be not kindled, but that his good pleasure may abide and abound unto you.

2. If any one of his judgments fall, turn unto him with unhesitating penitence, and his anger will be "turned away". C. (see Joe_2:12-14)

Vers. 24, 25. God"s judgments through natural agencies.

The Prophet Isaiah lived in anxious times. He was keenly observant of the social and moral features of his age a discerner of the "signs of the times." He was sent by God to show the people how national wrong-doing bore its sure fruitage in bad harvests and in national calamities, and to help them to see in such fruitage the operation of Divine judgments. In the text the prophet clearly sees trouble coming on apace, and taking form as scant and withered harvests, either through unkindly seasons or the visitation of locusts. "Their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust." Ewald well describes the social conditions which Isaiah observed in their more serious aspects in relation to the Divine will and Law. "The constant increase of the power and security of the realm, and the profusion of an age rendered prosperous by the development of arts and distant commerce, were accompanied by an equally vigorous growth of other things; the craving for enjoyment and luxury among the people, and especially among the women of the capital; the foolish predilection for foreign manners and foreign superstitions of every kind, and a wantonness of life, from which many, even of the judges, were not altogether free, and under which the defenseless inhabitants had to suffer with increasing severity; all of which Isaiah, the great prophet of his age, who lived in Jerusalem, recognized and depicted in the sharpest outlines." Dean Stanley gives a yet more striking picture of that luxurious age. "The luxury and insolence of the nobles was in a high degree oppressive and scandalous. Bribery was practiced in the seats of judgment, and enormous landed property was accumulated against the whole spirit of the Israelite commonwealth. With the determination and, we may add, the avarice of their race, they laid their deep schemes at night, and carried them out with their first waking. They "did evil with both hands;" they skinned the poor to the very quick; they picked their bones and ground them to powder. The great ladies of Zion were haughty, and paced along the streets tossing their necks, and leering with their eyes, walking and mincing as they went, covered with tinkling ornaments, chains, bracelets, mantles, veils, of all fashions and sizes." Isaiah declares that Jehovah observed all these moral and social evils, and that he used the agencies of nature to execute his judgments on such sinners. They would find, when the harvest came round, that ten acres of land would only yield one bath, and the seed of a homer would only yield an ephah." God would smite them through the fields. Is Isaiah"s teaching obsolete? Does God speak to the men of this age by the voice of nature? Having found out that the world is ruled by law, have we gained the right to banish the Lawgiver? Whether men call us superstitious or not, we unhesitatingly say that God is in the harvest still, and its limitation is the voice of God calling on us to humble ourselves concerning our social and national iniquities. That this is a right and reasonable view to take will appear if we consider

I MAN IS SENSITIVE TO NATURE, AND NATURE TO MAN. If we are still thus sensitive, God can use nature still as a medium by which to communicate his will to us. Nature has not yet become one of the dead languages; God can speak to us in it. We are affected by the nature-moods of each passing day. Crisp frost braces us to exertion; glowing sunshine and clear skies are reflected in bright and cheerful feelings; cloudy, dull days make our work drag heavily. Storm-times fill us with fear. Everybody anxiously observes the character of the seasons. The nation alternates between hope and fear as reports come of rains, or late frosts, or blight, or flood. Nature is ever bringing to us messages from God, gracious testimonies of his acceptance or of his reproof. And no voices are so loud or so clear as those of the harvest, which is God"s yearly replenishing of our exhausted stores, and so the intimation of Divine regard or Divine disfavor. And nature is sensitive to man, and responsive to man"s conditions and doings. Go into some parts of our land, some metal and mining districts, and notice how nature, in response to man, has changed her aspect. Her trees cannot live. Her atmosphere has become damp and chill. See her fields responding to man"s draining. She now runs off her moisture in sudden and desolating floods. See the thick smoke-cloud hanging over great towns. Nature responds by breeding fatal diseases beneath it. God is ever fitting issues to actions, and in the issues revealing the character of the action. "Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." Visit the Holy Land, now desolate and barren, once fruitful and cultivated. It has but responded to the destruction of its timber, by the invading armies that have tramped over it again and again. The prophets seem to have, as one great part of their mission, to show that changes in seasons, loss of fruitage, bad harvests, fearful storms, locusts and caterpillars, are really the judgment-responses of nature to the doings, the wrong-doings, of men. Close up our Scriptures if it is no longer true that God speaks to men through nature; for St. Paul says, "God gave them rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness." Surely the invisible things of God may be clearly understood by the things that are made.

II NATURE CAN STILL BE USED AS AN AGENT OF DIVINE JUDGMENT ON MAN. If God is, then he cannot pass by sin. If God visits the sins of cities and of nations as such, then he must find some instruments of chastisement which will directly affect cities and nations. His instruments may be the destructive forces of nature famine, pestilence, fear, and war which directly reach corporate and national feeling.

Herein is a curious thing. Men are ready enough to hear the voice of God when he sends a bountiful harvest. The whole land rings with the harvest-song, and men do not mind our saying that God sent the harvest. Bat how blind and deaf men become when harvest fails! Our blessings come from God; but how we try to make out that our disasters are only consequences of some unwisdom, or some neglect of social or agricultural laws! We need not see God"s hand in them. Let us not, however, be afraid of either side of the great truth. If God would recognize our faithfulness to him, he can find rich golden corn, and sunny autumn for its ripening and its ingathering. If he needs to chastise, and awaken in us the sense of sin, then he can make withered ears stand in the fields, summer floods damage the shocks, and sunless autumn hinder the ripening. Can it ever take away from the judgment-aspect of national calamity that we are able to explain how the earth, in its movements through space, has come rote a damp region, or rote a cold region; how certain atmospheric conditions have developed the blight; and how the current of certain winds has brought the locusts; and how a disturbance of nature"s limiting agencies has developed unduly the caterpillar? But if God speaks to us in judgment, let us never forget that he really speaks to us in mercy. He ever blends mercy with judgment; and the response he asks from our hearts will go into the old words: "Come, let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight." "To the Lord our God belongeth mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him. R.T.

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

Rottenness - They shall be like a tree which not only withers in its branches, but dies and rots at the roots, therefore is past recovery. Dust - Shall be resolved into dust, and yield no fruit.

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

To the series of sins enumerated in the six preceding verses there is now added a general description of their punishment. In the first clause, the Prophet represents the divine visitation, with its sudden, rapid, irresistible effect, by the familiar figure of chaff and dry grass sinking in the flames. In the second clause he passes from simile to metaphor, and speaks of the people as a tree whose root is rotten and its growth above ground pulverized. In the third, he drops both figures, and in literal expressions summarily states the cause of their destruction. “Therefore (because of the abounding of these sins) as a tongue of fire (i.e., a flame, so called from its shape and motion), (Act 2:3; 1Ki 18:38) devours chaff (or stubble), and as ignited grass falls away, their roots shall be as rottenness, and their blossom as fine dust shall go up (i.e., be taken up and scattered by the wind). For they have rejected the law of Jehovah of Hosts, and the word (the revealed will) of the Holy One of Israel they have treated with contempt.”

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

tongue of fire

"flame of fire" or "flame"

as the tongue of fire devours stubble, and as the dry grass goes down in flame

These phrases mean basically the same thing. God will punish the people described in Isaiah 5:18-23. AT: "as a fire burns up stubble and grass" (See: Parallelism and Simile)

stubble

The dry pieces of plants that are left in the ground after the stalks have been cut.

their root will rot, and their blossom will blow away like dust

Isaiah speaks of these people as if they were a dying plant. AT: "they will die like a plant whose roots have rotted and whose blossom has dried up and blown away in the wind" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

law

Yahweh of hosts

word of God

Holy One

Israel

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

Therefore this thing shall be to them...

as a flame of fire consumes stubble [lit.] as consuming the stubble a flame of fire.

and straw Jonathan renders: chaff, the straw of ears of grain; and like straw that the flame shrivels and turns to ashes.

like rot Like something that melts.

and their blossom Their greatness; just as the dust that is raised before the wind and goes away, so will it go away.

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.

קש Stubble. Objective case. לשון אש The flame of fire. Subject.

חשש Chaff; comp. 33:11.

בלהבה ═ להבה through the flame; comp. בששת ═ ששת in six (Exod. 20:11); בבית ═ בית in the house (2 Kings 18:15); for ירפה, the predicate to חשש, is an intransitive verb.

Their root shall be as rottenness. Their root will rot, and they will not be able to stand.

כאבק As the dust of. It is the construct state; supply הארץ the earth, or a similar word. Their root. Their blossom. The parents and their children.

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.