Isaiah 34:17

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

⁹Her streams will be turned to tar, and her soil to sulfur; her land will become a blazing pitch. ¹⁰It will not be quenched-day or night. Its smoke will ascend forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will ever pass through it again. ¹¹The desert owl and screech owl will possess it, and the great owl and raven will dwell in it. The LORD will stretch out over Edom a measuring line of chaos and a plumb line of destruction. ¹²No nobles will be left to proclaim a king, and all her princes will come to nothing. ¹³Her towers will be overgrown with thorns, her fortresses with thistles and briers. She will become a haunt for jackals, an abode for ostriches. ¹⁴The desert creatures will meet with hyenas, and one wild goat will call to another. There the nocturnal creature will settle and find her place of repose. ¹⁵There the owl will make her nest; she will lay and hatch her eggs and gather her brood under her shadow. Even there the birds of prey will gather, each with its mate. ¹⁶Search and read the scroll of the LORD: Not one of these will go missing, not one will lack her mate, because He has ordered it by His mouth, and He will gather them by His Spirit. ¹⁷He has allotted their portion; His hand has distributed it by measure. They will possess it forever; they will dwell in it from generation to generation.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

he hath cast: Joshua 18:8, Psalms 78:55, Acts 13:19, Acts 17:26

they shall: Isaiah 34:10, Isaiah 13:20-22

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he hath cast the lot for them,.... The Targum adds,

"by his word:''

and his hand hath divided it unto them by line; the same adds,

"by his will.''

The allusion is to the dividing of the land of Canaan by lot and line, to the children of Israel, for their inheritance and possession; and in like manner, it is suggested, shall Rome and its territories be distributed to those wild beasts and birds of prey, and everyone shall know and take its proper place and portion:

they shall possess it for ever; as their inheritance, allotted and appointed to them:

from generation to generation shall they dwell therein:

:- where Jarchi, out of the Derash, has this note,

"this is the curse of Moses; the war of the Lord against Amalek, from generation to generation; from the generation of Moses to the generation of Saul; from thence to the generation of Mordecai; and from thence to the generation of the King Messiah.''

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And he hath cast the lot for them - He hath assigned to them the land of Edom to be occupied by them as their portion. This language is taken from the fact that countries were commonly apportioned, particularly among conquerors, by the lot. In this way Judea was divided among the tribes of Israel Numbers 26:55-56.

His hand hath divided it unto them by line - He has marked out, as a surveyor does, the land of Edom as the dwelling-place of the beasts of the forest. A land was usually surveyed and divided into proper parts or portions before the lot was cast Joshua 18:4-6.

They shall possess it - The wild beasts mentioned in the previous verses. The testimony of all travelers demonstrates that thus far this prediction has been strikingly fulfilled.