Yesaya 24:16-22

24:16 From the ends of the earth we ¹  hear songs –

the Just One is majestic. ² 

But I ³  say, “I’m wasting away! I’m wasting away! I’m doomed!

Deceivers deceive, deceivers thoroughly deceive!” ⁴ 

24:17 Terror, pit, and snare

are ready to overtake you inhabitants of the earth! ⁵ 

24:18 The one who runs away from the sound of the terror

will fall into the pit; ⁶ 

the one who climbs out of the pit,

will be trapped by the snare.

For the floodgates of the heavens ⁷  are opened up ⁸ 

and the foundations of the earth shake.

24:19 The earth is broken in pieces,

the earth is ripped to shreds,

the earth shakes violently. ⁹ 

24:20 The earth will stagger around ¹⁰  like a drunk;

it will sway back and forth like a hut in a windstorm. ¹¹ 

Its sin will weigh it down,

and it will fall and never get up again.

The Lord Will Become King

24:21 At that time ¹²  the Lord will punish ¹³ 

the heavenly forces in the heavens ¹⁴ 

and the earthly kings on the earth.

24:22 They will be imprisoned in a pit, ¹⁵ 

locked up in a prison,

and after staying there for a long time, ¹⁶  they will be punished. ¹⁷ 

[24:16]  ¹ sn The identity of the subject is unclear. Apparently in vv. 15-16a an unidentified group responds to the praise they hear in the west by exhorting others to participate.

[24:16]  ² tn Heb “Beauty belongs to the just one.” These words may summarize the main theme of the songs mentioned in the preceding line.

[24:16]  ³ sn The prophet seems to contradict what he hears the group saying. Their words are premature because more destruction is coming.

[24:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “and [with] deception deceivers deceive.”

[24:16]  tn Verse 16b is a classic example of Hebrew wordplay. In the first line (“I’m wasting away…”) four consecutive words end with hireq yod ( ִי); in the second line all forms are derived from the root בָּגַד (bagad). The repetition of sound draws attention to the prophet’s lament.

[24:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “[are] upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.” The first line of v. 17 provides another classic example of Hebrew wordplay. The names of the three instruments of judgment (פָח,פַחַת,פַּחַד [pakhad, fakhat, fakh]) all begin with the letters פח (peh-khet) and the first two end in dental consonants (ת/ד, tet/dalet). Once again the repetition of sound draws attention to the statement and contributes to the theme of the inescapability of judgment. As their similar-sounding names suggest, terror, pit, and snare are allies in destroying the objects of divine wrath.

[24:18]  ⁶ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[24:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “from the height”; KJV “from on high.”

[24:18]  ⁸ sn The language reflects the account of the Noahic Flood (see Gen 7:11).

[24:19]  ⁹ tn Once more repetition is used to draw attention to a statement. In the Hebrew text each lines ends with אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”). Each line also uses a Hitpolel verb form from a geminate root preceded by an emphatic infinitive absolute.

[24:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “staggering, staggers.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb for emphasis and sound play.

[24:20]  ¹¹ tn The words “in a windstorm” are supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.

[24:21]  ¹² tn Or “in that day” (so KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[24:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “visit [in judgment].”

[24:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the host of the height in the height.” The “host of the height/heaven” refers to the heavenly luminaries (stars and planets, see, among others, Deut 4:19; 17:3; 2 Kgs 17:16; 21:3, 5; 23:4-5; 2 Chr 33:3, 5) that populate the divine/heavenly assembly in mythological and prescientific Israelite thought (see Job 38:7; Isa 14:13).

[24:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “they will be gathered [in] a gathering [as] a prisoner in a cistern.” It is tempting to eliminate אֲסֵפָה (’asefah, “a gathering”) as dittographic or as a gloss, but sound repetition is one of the main characteristics of the style of this section of the chapter.

[24:22]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and after a multitude of days.”

[24:22]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “visited” (so KJV, ASV). This verse can mean to visit for good or for evil. The translation assumes the latter, based on v. 21a. However, BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד B.Niph.2 suggests the meaning “visit graciously” here, in which case one might translate “they will be released.”