1883 Haydock Douay Rheims Bible
Presents commentary in a tabular format for ease of reading.Click to learn more.
| Isaiah 24:1 | Behold, the Lord shall lay waste the earth, and shall strip it, and shall afflict the face thereof, and scatter abroad the inhabitants thereof. | Earth. After the ten preceding threats, the prophet denounces destruction to the whole world, (Worthington) at the day of judgment; though he may also allude to the desolation of the promised land, as our Saviour joins both in the same prediction, Matthew xxiv. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 24:2 | *And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest: and as with the servant, so with his master: as with the handmaid, so with her mistress: as with the buyer, so with the seller: as with the lender, so with the borrower: as with him that calleth for his money, so with him that oweth. Osee 4:9. | Priest. All distinctions shall be disregarded. (Worthington) --- When Jerusalem was taken, all became captives. |
| Isaiah 24:3 | With desolation shall the earth be laid waste, and it shall be utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word. | |
| Isaiah 24:4 | The earth mourned, and faded away, and is weakened: the world faded away, the height of the people of the earth is weakened. | Weakened: Joakim, etc., are made prisoners. The greatest monarchs must come before God's tribunal. |
| Isaiah 24:5 | And the earth is infected by the inhabitants thereof: because they have transgressed the laws, they have changed the ordinance, they have broken the everlasting covenant. | |
| Isaiah 24:6 | Therefore shall a curse devour the earth, and the inhabitants thereof shall sin: and therefore they that dwell therein shall be mad, and few men shall be left. | Sin. Towards the end of the world iniquity will abound, and men shall rage against each other, Matthew xxiv. (Worthington) --- They will also feel the effects of sin. --- Mad: abandoned to their passions, (Deuteronomy 28:28.) excepting only the elect. (Menochius) --- Few. The Chaldeans permitted only a few of the poorest sort to remain, 2 Paralipomenon 29:10. |
| Isaiah 24:7 | The vintage hath mourned; the vine hath languished away; all the merry hearted have sighed. | |
| Isaiah 24:8 | The mirth of timbrels hath ceased; the noise of them that rejoice is ended; the melody of the harp is silent. | |
| Isaiah 24:9 | They shall not drink wine with a song: the drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. | The drink. Hebrew shecar, "palm wine." |
| Isaiah 24:10 | The city of vanity is broken down; every house is shut up, no man cometh in. | Vanity. Jerusalem, (Calmet) or any other city, will be all in confusion. (Haydock) --- In, as was the case in times of mourning, Jeremias 9:21. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 24:11 | There shall be a crying for wine in the streets: all mirth is forsaken: the joy of the earth is gone away. | |
| Isaiah 24:12 | Desolation is left in the city, and calamity shall oppress the gates. | |
| Isaiah 24:13 | For it shall be thus in the midst of the earth, in the midst of the people, as if a few olives, that remain, should be shaken out of the olive-tree: or grapes, when the vintage is ended. | |
| Isaiah 24:14 | These shall lift up their voice, and shall give praise: when the Lord shall be glorified, they shall make a joyful noise from the sea. | Sea. The few elect (ver. 13.) being rescued from the misery of the world, shall praise God. (Haydock) --- They are exhorted to lift up their heads, Luke 21:28. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 24:15 | Therefore glorify ye the Lord in instruction: the name of the Lord God of Israel in the islands of the sea. | Instruction. The Church is like an island, compared with the rest of the world; or it preaches the gospel to all nations, and to the islands, like Great Britain. (Worthington) --- Apostolic men are required to preach incessantly to all sorts of people. Hebrew, "in light;" or Pagnin, "in vales." (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 24:16 | From the ends of the earth we have heard praises, the glory of the just one. And I said: My secret to myself, my secret to myself, wo is me: the prevaricators have prevaricated, and with the prevarication of transgressors they have prevaricated. | I said. The prophet, or any other, may speak thus in the latter days. (Calmet) --- Myself. I cannot recount what horrid pains I beheld. (St. Jerome) (Menochius) (2 Corinthians 12:4.) |
| Isaiah 24:17 | Fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, O thou inhabitant of the earth. | Snare. He alludes to the methods of taking wild beasts, Job 18:11. --- Opened, as they were in the days of Noe[Noah]. (Calmet) --- All sorts of misery hang over us. |
| Isaiah 24:18 | And it shall come to pass, *that he that shall flee from the noise of the fear, shall fall into the pit: and he that shall rid himself out of the pit, shall be taken in the snare: for the flood-gates from on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth shall be shaken. Jeremias 48:44. | |
| Isaiah 24:19 | With breaking shall the earth be broken; with crushing shall the earth be crushed; with trembling shall the earth be moved. | |
| Isaiah 24:20 | With shaking shall the earth be shaken, as a drunken man, and shall be removed as the tent of one night: and the iniquity thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall and not rise again. | Night, unexpectedly, (Haydock) and with the utmost speed. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 24:21 | And it shall come to pass, that in that day the Lord shall visit upon the host of heaven on high, and upon the kings of the earth, on the earth. | High. The stars, which in many places of the Scripture are so called. Some commentators explain that these words here signify the demons of the air. (Challoner) --- The apostate angels will be judged, 1 Corinthians 6:3., and Matthew 24:29. |
| Isaiah 24:22 | And they shall be gathered together as in the gathering of one bundle into the pit, and they shall be shut up there in prison: and after many days they shall be visited. | Visited. Hence Origen (Prin. 3:6., etc.) took occasion to assert, that the damned would one day be released, though the Scripture so often declares the contrary. The prophet speaks of the future liberation of the Jews; (Calmet) or he intimates that after many days, yea throughout eternity, the reprobate will still be punished. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 24:23 | *And the moon shall blush, and the sun shall be ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Sion, and in Jerusalem, and shall be glorified in the sight of his ancients. Joel 2:31.; Acts 2:20. | Blush: be turned into blood, Joel 2:10. Dreadful calamities shall ensue, to usher in the great day of judgment. (Calmet) |