Maketh the earth empty - That is, will depopulate it, or take away its inhabitants, and its wealth. The word 'earth' here (ארץ 'ārets) is used evidently not to denote the whole world, but the land to which the prophet particularly refers - the land of Judea. It should have been translated the land (see Joel 1:2). It is possible, however, that the word here may be intended to include so much of the nations that surrounded Palestine as were allied with it, or as were connected with it in the desolations under Nebuchadnezzar.

And turneth it upside down - Margin, 'Perverteth the face thereof.' That is, everything is thrown into confusion; the civil and religious institutions are disorganized, and derangement everywhere prevails.

And scattereth abroad ... - This was done in the invasion by the Chaldeans by the carrying away of the inhabitants into their long and painful captivity.

Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty,.... Some, by the "earth", only understand the land of Israel or Judea, and interpret the prophecy of the captivity of the ten tribes by Shalmaneser, as Kimchi, and other Jewish writers; and others, of the destruction of the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar; but some take in along with them the neighbouring nations who suffered by the same princes at the same time. Vitringa interprets the whole of the times of the Maccabees, as also the three following chapters Isaiah 25:1; though it is best to understand it of the Papal world, and all the antichristian states; and there are some things in it, at the close of it, which respect the destruction of the whole world. The Septuagint version uses the word by which Luke intends the whole Roman empire, Luke 2:1 and the Arabic version here renders it, "the whole world": the "emptying" of it is the removal of the inhabitants of it by wars and slaughters, which will be made when the seven vials of God's wrath will be poured upon all the antichristian states; see Revelation 16:1 and this being a most remarkable and wonderful event, is prefaced with the word "behold":

and maketh it waste; or desolate; the inhabitants and fruits of it being destroyed. R. Joseph Kimchi, from the use of the word in the Arabic language, renders it, "and opened it" (n); and explains it of the opening of the gates of a city to the enemy, so as that men may go out of it; to which the Targum inclines paraphrasing it,

"and shall deliver it to the enemy:''

and turneth it upside down; or, "perverteth the face of it" (o); so that it has not the form it had, and does not look like what it was, but is reduced to its original chaos, to be without form and void; cities being demolished, towns ruined, fields laid waste, and the inhabitants slain; particularly what a change of the face of things will there be in the destruction of the city of Rome! see Revelation 18:7. The Targum is,

"and shall cover with confusion the face of its princes, because they have transgressed the law:''

and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof; who will be obliged to fly from place to place from the sword of their victorious enemies. All is spoken in the present tense, though future, because of the certainty of it.

(n) So "aperuit totam portam", Golius, col. 321. (o) "et pervertet faciem ejus", Piscator.

It is thoroughly characteristic of Isaiah, that the commencement of this prophecy, like Isaiah 19:1, places us at once in the very midst of the catastrophe, and condenses the contents of the subsequent picture of judgment into a few rapid, vigorous, vivid, and comprehensive clauses (like Isaiah 15:1; Isaiah 17:1; Isaiah 23:1, cf., Isaiah 33:1). "Behold, Jehovah emptieth the earth, and layeth it waste, and marreth its form, and scattereth its inhabitants. And it happeneth, as to the people, so to the priest; as to the servant, so to his master; as to the maid, so to her mistress; as to the buyer, so to the seller; as to the lender, so to the borrower; as to the creditor, so to the debtor. Emptying the earth is emptied, and plundering is plundered: for Jehovah hat spoken this word." The question, whether the prophet is speaking of a past of future judgment, which is one of importance to the interpretation of the whole, is answered by the fact that with Isaiah "hinnēh" (behold) always refers to something future (Isaiah 3:1; Isaiah 17:1; Isaiah 19:1; Isaiah 30:27, etc.). And it is only in his case, that we do meet with prophecies commencing so immediately with hinnēh. Those in Jeremiah which approach this the most nearly (viz., Jeremiah 47:2; Jeremiah 49:35, cf., Isaiah 51:1, and Ezekiel 29:3) do indeed commence with hinnēh, but not without being preceded by an introductory formula. The opening "behold" corresponds to the confirmatory "for Jehovah hath spoken," which is always employed by Isaiah at the close of statements with regard to the future and occurs chiefly,

(Note: Vid., Isaiah 1:20; Isaiah 21:17; Isaiah 22:25; Isaiah 25:8; Isaiah 40:5; Isaiah 58:14; also compare Isaiah 19:4; Isaiah 16:13, and Isaiah 37:22.)

though not exclusively,

(Note: Vid., Obadiah 1:18, Joel 3:8, Micah 4:4; 1 Kings 14:11.)

in the book of Isaiah, whom we may recognise in the detailed description in Isaiah 24:2 (vid., Isaiah 2:12-16; Isaiah 3:2-3, Isaiah 3:18-23, as compared with Isaiah 9:13; also with the description of judgment in Isaiah 19:2-4, which closes in a similar manner). Thus at the very outset we meet with Isaiah's peculiarities; and Caspari is right in saying that no prophecy could possibly commence with more of the characteristics of Isaiah than the prophecy before us. The play upon words commences at the very outset. Bâkak and bâlak (compare the Arabic ballūka, a blank, naked desert) have the same ring, just as in Nahum 2:11, cf., Isaiah 24:3, and Jeremiah 51:2. The niphal futures are intentionally written like verbs Pe-Vâv (tibbōk and tibbōz, instead of tibbak and tibbaz), for the purpose of making them rhyme with the infinitive absolutes (cf., Isaiah 22:13). So, again, caggebirtâh is so written instead of cigbirtâh, to produce a greater resemblance to the opening syllable of the other words. The form נשׁה is interchanged with נשׁא) (as in 1 Samuel 22:2), or, according to Kimchi's way of writing it, with נשׁא) (written with tzere), just as in other passages we meet with נשׁא along with נשׁה, and, judging from Arab. ns', to postpone or credit, the former is the primary form. Nōsheh is the creditor, and בו נשׁא אשׁר is not the person who has borrowed of him, but, as נשה invariably signifies to credit (hiphil, to give credit), the person whom he credits (with ב obj., like בּ נגשׂ in Isaiah 9:3), not "the person through whom he is נשׁא)" (Hitzig on Jeremiah 15:10). Hence, "lender and borrower, creditor and debtor" (or taker of credit). It is a judgment which embraces all, without distinction of rank and condition; and it is a universal one, not merely throughout the whole of the land of Israel (as even Drechsler renders הארץ), but in all the earth; for as Arndt correctly observes, הארץ signifies "the earth" in this passage, including, as in Isaiah 11:4, the ethical New Testament idea of "the world" (kosmos).

Behold, the LORD maketh the {a} earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad its inhabitants.

(a) This prophecy is as a conclusion of that which has been threatened to the Jews and other nations from the 13th chapter and therefore by the earth he means those lands which were named before.

24:1 The land - Of Canaan. Waste - He will shortly make it waste, first by the Assyrians, and then by the Chaldeans. Turneth - Brings it into great disorder and confusion.

turneth...: Heb. perverteth the face thereof

Margin maketh

See Scofield Note: "Gen 1:2" See Scofield Note: "Je 4:23"

CHAPTER 24

Isa 24:1-23. The Last Times of the World in General, and of Judah and the Church in Particular.

The four chapters (the twenty-fourth through the twenty-seventh) form one continuous poetical prophecy: descriptive of the dispersion and successive calamities of the Jews (Isa 24:1-12); the preaching of the Gospel by the first Hebrew converts throughout the world (Isa 24:13-16); the judgments on the adversaries of the Church and its final triumph (Isa 24:16-23); thanksgiving for the overthrow of the apostate faction (Isa 25:1-12), and establishment of the righteous in lasting peace (Isa 26:1-21); judgment on leviathan and entire purgation of the Church (Isa 27:1-13). Having treated of the several nations in particular-Babylon, Philistia, Moab, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Edom, and Tyre (the miniature representative of all, as all kingdoms flocked into it)-he passes to the last times of the world at large and of Judah the representative and future head of the churches.

1. the earth-rather, "the land" of Judah (so in Isa 24:3, 5, 6; Joe 1:2). The desolation under Nebuchadnezzar prefigured that under Titus.

24:1-12 All whose treasures and happiness are laid up on earth, will soon be brought to want and misery. It is good to apply to ourselves what the Scripture says of the vanity and vexation of spirit which attend all things here below. Sin has turned the earth upside down; the earth is become quite different to man, from what it was when God first made it to be his habitation. It is, at the best, like a flower, which withers in the hands of those that please themselves with it, and lay it in their bosoms. The world we live in is a world of disappointment, a vale of tears; the children of men in it are but of few days, and full of trouble, See the power of God's curse, how it makes all empty, and lays waste all ranks and conditions. Sin brings these calamities upon the earth; it is polluted by the sins of men, therefore it is made desolate by God's judgments. Carnal joy will soon be at end, and the end of it is heaviness. God has many ways to imbitter wine and strong drink to those who love them; distemper of body, anguish of mind, and the ruin of the estate, will make strong drink bitter, and the delights of sense tasteless. Let men learn to mourn for sin, and rejoice in God; then no man, no event, can take their joy from them.