Isaiah 5:25

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹⁸Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes, ¹⁹to those who say, "Let Him hurry and hasten His work so that we may see it! Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come so that we may know it!" ²⁰Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter. ²¹Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. ²²Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine, and champions in mixing beer, ²³who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of justice. ²⁴Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes straw and dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of Hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. ²⁵Therefore the LORD's anger burns against His people; He has raised His hand against them and struck them; the mountains quaked, and their corpses lay like refuse in the streets. Yet through all this, His anger is not spent, and His hand is still upraised.²⁶He lifts a banner for the distant nations and whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Behold-how speedily and swiftly they come! ²⁷None of them grows weary or stumbles; no one slumbers or sleeps. No belt is loose and no sandal strap is broken.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the anger: Deuteronomy 31:17, Deuteronomy 32:19-22, 2 Kings 13:3, 2 Kings 22:13-17, 2 Chronicles 36:16, Psalms 106:40, Lamentations 2:1-3, Lamentations 5:22, 1 Thessalonians 2:16

stretched: Isaiah 14:26, Isaiah 14:27

the hills: Psalms 18:7, Psalms 68:8, Psalms 77:18, Psalms 114:7, Jeremiah 4:24, Micah 1:4, Nahum 1:5, Habakkuk 3:10, Revelation 20:11

torn: or, as dung, 1 Kings 14:11, 1 Kings 16:4, 1 Kings 21:24, 2 Kings 9:37, Psalms 83:10, Jeremiah 8:2, Jeremiah 9:22, Jeremiah 15:3, Jeremiah 16:4, Zephaniah 1:17

For all: Isaiah 9:12, Isaiah 9:13, Isaiah 9:17, Isaiah 9:21, Isaiah 10:4, Leviticus 26:14-46, Psalms 78:38, Daniel 9:16, Hosea 14:4

Reciprocal: Numbers 11:10 - the anger 1 Kings 14:10 - as a man taketh Job 1:11 - But put Psalms 60:2 - made Psalms 138:7 - thou shalt stretch Isaiah 25:10 - even Isaiah 25:11 - he shall spread Isaiah 29:2 - I will Jeremiah 4:8 - the Jeremiah 6:12 - I will Jeremiah 17:4 - for Jeremiah 21:5 - with an Jeremiah 23:19 - General Jeremiah 25:33 - they shall be Ezekiel 6:14 - will I Ezekiel 14:9 - and I will Ezekiel 15:6 - General Ezekiel 16:27 - I have Amos 2:4 - because Amos 8:8 - the land Micah 4:11 - many

Cross-References

Genesis 4:18
Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methusael, and Methusael was the father of Lamech.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people,.... His professing people; which character, as it aggravated their sin in rejecting and despising the word of the Lord, so it increased his anger and indignation against them:

and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them; which some understand of past judgments and afflictions upon them, under Joash, Amaziah, and Ahaz; and others of future ones, under Shalmaneser and Nebuchadnezzar:

and the hills did tremble; which Jarchi interprets of their kings and princes; or it may be only a figurative expression, setting forth the awfulness of the dispensation:

and their carcasses [were] torn in the midst of the streets. The Targum renders it, "were as dung"; so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions; being slain there, and lying unburied, were trampled upon, and trodden down like "clay", as the Syriac version; or like the mire of the streets.

For all this his anger is not turned away; this being abundantly less than their sins deserved; which shows how great were their sins, and how much the Lord was provoked to anger by them:

but his hand [is] stretched out still; to inflict yet sorer judgments. The Targum is

"by all this they turn not from their sins, that his fury may turn from them; but their rebellion grows stronger, and his stroke is again to take vengeance on them;''

which expresses their impenitence and hardness of heart, under the judgments of God, which caused him to take more severe methods with them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled - The Lord is “enraged,” or is angry. Similar expressions often occur; Num 11:33; 2 Kings 23:26; Deuteronomy 11:17; Psa 56:1-13 :40; Job 19:11; Psalms 2:12. The “cause” of his anger was the crimes which are specified in this chapter.

And he hath stretched forth his hand - To stretch forth the hand may be an action expressive of protection, invitation, or punishment. Here it is the latter; compare Isaiah 14:27.

And hath smitten them - Punished them. To what this refers particularly is not clear. Gesenius supposes that the expressions which follow are descriptive of pestilence. Lowth and Rosenmuller suppose that they refer to the earthquakes which occurred in the days of Uzziah, and in the time of the prophets; Amos 1:1; Zechariah 14:5. The words, perhaps, will bear either construction.

And the hills did tremble - This expression is one that is often used in the Scriptures to denote the presence and anger of God. It is well adapted to describe an earthquake; but it is also often used poetically, to describe the presence and the majesty of the Most High; compare Psalms 144:5; Job 9:6; Job 26:11; Psalms 114:7; Jeremiah 4:24; Habakkuk 3:10; Psalms 18:7; Psalms 97:5; Psalms 104:32. The image is one that is very sublime. The earth, as if conscious of the presence of God, is represented as alarmed, and trembling. Whether it refers here to the earthquake, or to some other mode of punishment, cannot be determined. The fact, however, that such an earthquake had occurred in the time of Isaiah, would seem to fix the expression to that. Isaiah, from that, took occasion also to denounce future judgments. This was but the beginning of woes.

And their carcasses were torn - The margin here is the more correct translation. The passage means that their dead bodies were strewed, unburied, like filth, through the streets. This expression would more naturally denote a pestilence. But it may be descriptive of an earthquake, or of any calamity.

For all this - Notwithstanding all this calamity, his judgments are not at an end. He will punish the nation more severely still. In what way he would do it, the prophet proceeds in the remainder of the chapter to specify; compare Isaiah 9:12; Isaiah 10:4.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 5:25. The hills did tremble - "And the mountains trembled"] Probably referring to the great earthquakes in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, in or not long before the time of the prophet himself, recorded as a remarkable era in the title of the prophecies of Amos., Amos 1:1, and by Zechariah, Zechariah 14:5.