Isaiah 24:21

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹⁶From the ends of the earth we hear singing: "Glory to the Righteous One." But I said, "I am wasting away! I am wasting away! Woe is me." The treacherous betray; the treacherous deal in treachery. ¹⁷Terror and pit and snare await you, O dwellers of the earth. ¹⁸Whoever flees the sound of terror will fall into a pit, and whoever escapes from the pit will be caught in a trap. For the windows of heaven are open, and the foundations of the earth are shaken. ¹⁹The earth is utterly broken apart, the earth is split open, the earth is shaken violently. ²⁰The earth staggers like a drunkard and sways like a shack. Earth's rebellion weighs it down, and it falls, never to rise again. ²¹In that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven above and the kings of the earth below.²²They will be gathered together like prisoners in a pit. They will be confined to a dungeon and punished after many days. ²³The moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed; for the LORD of Hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and in the presence of His elders, He will display His glory.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the Lord: Isaiah 10:25-27, Isaiah 14:1, Isaiah 14:2, Isaiah 25:10-12, Isaiah 34:2-17, Psalms 76:12, Psalms 149:6-9, Ezekiel 38:1 - Ezekiel 39:29, Joel 3:9-17, Joel 3:19, Haggai 2:21, Haggai 2:22, Zechariah 14:12-19, Revelation 6:14-17, Revelation 17:14, Revelation 18:9, Revelation 19:18-21

punish: Heb. visit upon

Reciprocal: Joshua 10:16 - in a cave Job 12:21 - poureth Isaiah 2:11 - lofty Isaiah 13:10 - General Isaiah 26:1 - that day Isaiah 40:23 - General Jeremiah 8:13 - I will surely consume Jeremiah 21:14 - punish Jeremiah 25:35 - the shepherds Ezekiel 30:3 - the time Hosea 12:2 - punish Zephaniah 1:8 - punish Zechariah 10:3 - punished Zechariah 12:4 - that day Romans 8:39 - height Revelation 6:15 - the kings

Cross-References

Genesis 24:1
By now Abraham was old and well along in years, and the LORD had blessed him in every way.

Genesis 24:6
Abraham replied, "Make sure that you do not take my son back there.

Genesis 24:7
The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me from my father's house and my native land, who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, 'To your offspring I will give this land'-He will send His angel before you so that you can take a wife for my son from there.

Genesis 24:12
"O LORD, God of my master Abraham," he prayed, "please grant me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.

Genesis 24:18
"Drink, my lord," she replied, and she quickly lowered her jar to her hands and gave him a drink.

Genesis 24:20
And she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran back to the well to draw water, until she had drawn water for all his camels.

Genesis 24:56
But he replied, "Do not delay me, since the LORD has made my journey a success. Send me on my way so that I may go to my master."

Psalms 107:1
Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.

Psalms 107:8
Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men.

Psalms 107:15
Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And it shall come to pass in that day,.... Not at the precise exact time the earth shall be dissolved, but previous to it, within that dispensation that is called the last day:

[that] the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones [that are] on high; which is not to be understood of the darkening of the sun, moon, and stars in the heavens, as some; nor of the visiting of angels, as Aben Ezra; nor of the punishment of Satan, and his principalities and powers, who are reserved to the judgment of the great day; much less of the people of the Jews, their kings and rulers; nor the great monarchs of the earth, the Assyrian, Chaldean, and others; but of antichrist and, his dignified clergy, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, c. who are the "host or army of that high one" z, as it may be rendered of him that exalts himself above all that is called God, sitting in the high place in the temple of God, as if he was God; him, with all his mighty ones, will Christ, who is the true Jehovah, destroy with the breath of his mouth and the brightness of his coming; see 2 Thessalonians 2:4:

and the kings of the earth upon the earth; the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication with the whore of Rome; and who will make war with the Lamb, and shall be overcome by him, Revelation 17:2 or, "the kings of he earth" with "their earth" a; both they and their land shall be visited.

z על צבא המרום "super exercitum excelsi", Pagninus, Montanus, So Cocceius. a על האדמה "cum terra ipsorum", Junius & Tremellius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

In that day - In the time of the captivity at Babylon.

Shall punish - Hebrew as the Margin, ‘Shall visit upon’ (see the note at Isaiah 10:12).

The host of the high ones - There have been various interpretations of this expression. Jerome understands it of the host of heaven, and thinks it refers to the fact that in the day of judgment God will judge not only earthly things but celestial, and especially the sun and moon and stars, as having ‘been the objects of idolatrous worship (see Deuteronomy 4:19; Daniel 8:10; Daniel 11:13). Compare Psalms 18:17; Jeremiah 25:30, where the words ‘on high’ are used to denote heaven. Aben Ezra supposes that by the phrase is meant angels, who preside over the governors and kings of the earth, in accordance with the ancient opinion that each kingdom was under the tutelage of guardian angels. To this Rosenmuller seems to assent, and to suppose that the beings thus referred to were evil spirits or demons to whom the kingdoms of the world were subject. Others, among whom is Grotius, have supposed that the reference is to the images of the sun, moon, and stars, which were erected in high places, and worshipped by the Assyrians. But probably the reference is to those who occupied places of power and trust in the ecclesiastical arrangement of Judea, the high priest and priests, who exercised a vast dominion over the nation, and who, in many respects, were regarded as elevated even over the kings and princes of the land. The comparison of rulers with the sun, moon, and stars, is common in the Scriptures; and this comparison was supposed especially to befit ecclesiastical rulers, who were regarded as in a particular manner the lights of the nation.

Upon the earth - Beneath, or inferior to those who had places of the highest trust and honor. The ecclesiastical rulers are represented as occupying the superior rank; the princes and rulers in a civil sense as in a condition of less honor and responsibility. This was probably the usual mode in which the ecclesiastical and civil offices were estimated in Judea.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 24:21. On high - upon the earth. — That is, the ecclesiastical and civil polity of the Jews, which shall be destroyed. The nation shall continue in a state of depression and dereliction for a long time. The image seems to be taken from the practice of the great monarchs of that time; who, when they had thrown their wretched captives into a dungeon, never gave themselves the trouble of inquiring about them; but let them lie a long time in that miserable condition, wholly destitute of relief, and disregarded. God shall at length revisit and restore his people in the last age: and then the kingdom of God shall be established in such perfection, as wholly to obscure and eclipse the glory of the temporary, typical, preparative kingdom now subsisting.