1The deplorable judgments of God upon the land. 13A remnant shall joyfully praise him. 16Amidst the general calamities of the earth God's kingdom shall be set up with glory.
1BEHOLD, the LORD maketh 1the earth 2empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth 3it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
1 Namely, the land of the Jews, and of them who take part with the Jews. This was to be done first by the Assyrians, and afterward by the Chaldeans.
2 Or, the LORD emptieth it, draweth it out.
3 Hebr. the face of it, that is, the form, countenance, shape thereof. That is, He will turn the land, with all that is in it, upside down, so that it shall not be like itself.
2And it shall be, 4as with the people, so with the 5priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; asa with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.
4 The sense is that the miseries, whereof he speaks, shall happen to every rank of men, the one as well as the other. See Hosea 4:9.
5 Or, ruler, or, regent. The Hebrew word cohen signifies the one as well the other. See Gen. 41 on verse 45.
a Ezek. 7:12, 13.
36The land shall be 7utterly emptied, and 8utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.
6 Namely, that land whereof mention was made in verse 1.
7 Hebr. being emptied be emptied.
8 Hebr. being spoiled be spoiled, that is, it shall be utterly spoiled and plundered.
4The earth mourneth and fadeth away, 9the world 10languisheth and 11fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do 12languish.
9 Namely, that part of the earth wherein Judea was situated.
10 Namely, through grief and heaviness of heart.
11 Namely, through grief and heaviness of heart.
12 Or, they grow weak, weary, faint.
5The earth also is defiled 13under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed 14the ordinance, broken 15the everlasting covenant.
13 Other, because of the inhabitants thereof. The meaning is: The people of this land, namely, the land of the Jews, are so wicked and corrupt, that they pollute and profane the land they tread on.
14 Namely, of God.
15 Namely, that covenant which God made with Abraham and His seed and confirmed by the sacrament of circumcision, Genesis 17, and which God afterward renewed, Exodus 24.
6Therefore hath 16the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are 17burned,b and 18few men left.
16 This curse unto which the Israelites make themselves subject, when they entered into covenant with God, engaging themselves to keep His laws and commandments, Exodus 19; 24; Deuteronomy 29. Other, the oath of the curse. Of this phrase see Gen. 24:41.
17 That is, they shall perish, either by fire or other ways; or by the burning and heat of God’s wrath.
b Isa. 9:18; 10:16.
18 The greatest part of men was slain, or carried away out of the land into bondage and slavery. See Isa. 1:9:17:6.
7The new wine 19mourneth, the vine 20languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh.21
19 Namely, because it shall be wastefully drunk and spilled by the enemies.
20 That is, it decays or fades away, namely, because it shall be trodden down and destroyed by the enemies.
21 All the words of this verse and some of the following verses serve to this effect to show that all things would come to pass very miserably in the land.
822The mirthc of tabrets 23ceaseth, 24the noise of them that rejoice endeth, 25the joy of the harp 26ceaseth.
22 That is, the joy which one wishes to create from the sound of the tabrets and of the harps.
c Jer. 7:34; 16:9; 25:10; Ezek. 26:13; Hosea 2:10.
23 That is, rests. The Hebrew word signifies as much as to keep a Sabbath.
24 Or, the rumbling, the sound.
25 That is, the joy which one wishes to create from the sound of the tabrets and of the harps.
26 That is, rests. The Hebrew word signifies as much as to keep a Sabbath.
9They shall not drink wine 27withd a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.
27 Or, in singing, that is, when they are jolly and merry with singing and roaring in their drinking-bouts.
d Isa. 16:10.
1028The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, 29that no man may come in.
28 Which shall be made desolate by the violence and cruelty of her enemies that shall take it. And understand here the city of Jerusalem, with other cities which are round about. See Isa. 30:14.
29 Hebr. from entering in or coming in. Compare Isa. 23 on verse 1.
11There is a crying 30for wine in the streets; all joy 31is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.
30 Because the wine is spoiled, or because there is no more to be had.
31 Or, hath its evening, that is, it wanes, it has its end, as the clear or bright-shining sunlight in the evening or at nighttime waxes dark, and withdraws itself.
12In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.
13¶When thus it 32shall be in the midst of the land 33among the people, there shall be 34ase the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintagef is done.
32 Or, thus shall it come to pass, this shall be the opportunity of the land.
33 Understand here the tribes of the Jewish people, as also the Syrians, Egyptians, Moabites, and other nations, against whom the prophet prophesied above.
34 The sense is: As when the fruit is gathered from of an olive tree and the vintage is done, yet notwithstanding some olives are left still on the tree and some grapes remain still on the vines; even so, though the land shall be laid waste and My people shall be slain and scattered abroad, yet notwithstanding some shall be left to whom God the Lord will show mercy.
e Isa. 17:6.
f time of grape gathering*
1435They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for 36the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud 37from the sea.
35 Namely, those few who shall be left, and shall have obtained mercy from God.
36 Or, majesty, or, highness.
37 That is, being in far and strange countries, or wheresoever they may be.
15Wherefore glorify ye the LORD 38in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.
38 That is, in all places where faithful and godly persons are. Other, in the fires, that is, ye who are yet in great afflictions and persecutions.
16 ¶ 39From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the 40righteous. 41But I said, 42My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.
39 Hebr. from the wing of the earth.
40 Namely, of God. See the previous verses. Other, that glory be given to the righteous, namely, unto all those whom God justifies by grace, and understand then by glory, the glory of the children of God, Rom. 8:30.
41 Here the prophet begins again to speak of the destruction of the land of the Jews, as if he said: But when I consider the perverseness of men, and know for certain that God will not suffer the same to go unpunished, then do I speak in a mournful and lamenting manner, as follows:
42 That is, I take this so to heart, that I do languish for grief, considering the treachery of the greatest part of my countrymen, whereby they provoke God’s anger against themselves. Other, I consume away, I consume away.
1743Fear,g and the pit, and 44the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
43 See Psalm 11 on verse 6. In this 17th verse three words are used all sounding alike, namely, pachad, pachath, pach, which elegancy we are not able to express in our language.
g Jer. 48:43.
44 Other, the net.
18And it shall come to pass, that 45he who fleeth 46from the noise of the fear shallh fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of 47the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the 48windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
45 Compare Job 20:24, etc.
46 That is, from the noise of the enemies, who shall cause fear and terror. The meaning is: Though a man would escape one danger, yet he shall fall into another.
h Jer. 48:44. Compare Amos 5:19.
47 Hebr. out of the midst of the pit.
48 Or, floodgates, or, sluices. The prophet intimates that God would reveal and pour out His wrath upon them, both from heaven above and on earth beneath, as happened in the time of the flood. Other, windows. See the annotation on Gen. 7 on verse 11.
19The earth is 49utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
49 Hebr. breaking be broken. The sense is: All things shall burst and be broken; the bottom shall be on the top on the earth. But understand here properly those countries wherein the Jews and their confederates lived in those times.
2050The earth shall reel to and fro likei a drunkard, and shall be removed likej51a cottage; and 52the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and 53not rise again.
50 Understand here by the earth usually the inhabitants of the land.
i Isa. 19:14.
j Job 27:18; Isa. 1:8.
51 Which may easily be shaken to and fro by the wind, or also be carried and removed from one place to another. See Jer. 9:2. Also by shepherds, Isa. 1:8, by soldiers, Isa. 10:29.
52 That is, the punishment of her transgression.
53 Hebr. not add to rise, namely, in such excellent prosperity and glory as she was aforetime.
21And it shall come to pass 54in that day, that the LORD shall 55punish the host 56of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
54 That is, in the time appointed for it by the Lord God.
55 Namely, to visit in His wrath, that is, shall punish.
56 Or, of the highness. He wants to say: the host of the high exalted kings of this world.
22And they 57shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and 58after many days shall they be 59visited.
57 Hebr. they shall be gathered with the gathering as a prisoner, that is, as prisoners are gathered together, shut up together in a pit.
58 Hebr. after the multitude of days.
59 Namely, in mercy, at the time of Christ’s coming.
23Thenk the 60moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign 61in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and 62before his ancients 63gloriously.
k Isa. 13:10; Ezek. 32:7; Joel 2:31; 3:15.
60 That is, the clear brightness and shine of the sun and moon shall be nothing at all in comparison to the glory of our Head Jesus Christ in His church, and when He shall come in the glory of His Father.
61 This is to say here: in the christian church.
62 Those whom He appoints to be protectors and defenders of His church.
63 Other, most glorious, or, and there shall be glory in the presence of his ancients.