Isaiah 24:13
in Isaiah 24So will it be on the earth and among the nations, like a harvested olive tree, like a gleaning after a grape harvest.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For thus shall it be in the midst of the earth among the peoples, as the shaking of an olive-tree, as the gleanings when the vintage is done.
KJV
When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done.
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This verse in Isaiah 24
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
In the midst of the land - That is, in the midst of the land of Canaan. There shall be as the shaking of an olive-tree - A few shall be left, as in gathering olives a few will remain on the highest and outermost boughs (see the notes at Isa 17:5-6).
This site's exposition
The city of confusion is broken down
on Isaiah 24:10-13
An unnamed city stands for the doomed world order, every house shut up that no man may come in, the gate smitten with destruction, a crying for wine in streets that have nothing left to celebrate. The commentators do not agree on one referent, Barnes and Delitzsch weigh Babylon against a symbolic city standing for organized human rebellion generally, and the text itself never names it, which the bench takes as deliberate. Verse 13 supplies the chapter's one note of mercy inside the ruin, a shaking of an olive tree and gleaning grapes when the vintage is done, the sparse fruit left on branches after the main harvest, a remnant surviving the general collapse. Judgment this wide still leaves gleanings, and the gleanings are the seed of what the next verses sing about.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verses 13-15) Just as when a few olives, which remain, are shaken from the olive tree, and the grape harvest is finished, these will lift up their voice and praise when the Lord is glorified, they will neigh from the sea: therefore, glorify the Lord in your teachings, in the islands of the sea proclaim the name of the Lord God of Israel.
The Medieval Church1 voice
573. As if. Here he places the joys of the good. And first, he foretells the praise of those to come, whose salvation he foretells: as if a few; few will be saved, in relation to the others, above: the fruit thereof that shall be …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
16-18 ), who, when all faces gather blackness, can lift up their heads with joy, Luke xxi. These few are dispersed, and at a distance from each other, like the gleanings of the olive-tree; and they are concealed, hid under the leaves. The Lord only knows those that are his; the world does not.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
When - When this judgment shall be executed, there shall be left a remnant; as there are some few olives or grapes left after the vintage is over. They - The remnant shall sing for the glorious power and goodness of God, manifested in their deliverance.
When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
For so shall Israel remain in the midst of the peoples, one in a city and two in a family.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Through desolation, the gate is battered Through the desolation of loneliness, that the houses are desolate, without an occupant, the gates shall become battered by demons and destructive creatures.
They shall raise their voice For those few survivors shall come the good that I prophesied above.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 1 further source is cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כֹ֥ה | khoh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| יִהְיֶ֛ה | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בְּקֶ֥רֶב | bekerev | in [the] midst of | H7130 → | 227 times |
| הָאָ֖רֶץ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| בְּת֣וֹךְ | betokh | in among | H8432 → | 418 times |
| הָֽעַמִּ֑ים | haamim | the peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| כְּנֹ֣קֶף | kenokef | like [the] beating of | H5363 → | |
| זַ֔יִת | zayit | an olive tree | H2132 → | |
| כְּעוֹלֵלֹ֖ת | keolelot | like gleanings | H5955 → | |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| כָּלָ֥ה | kalah | it has come to an end | H3615 → | 208 times |
| בָצִֽיר׃ | vatzir | [the] grape harvest | H1210 → |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
כֹ֥הthus
khohH3541 →577 times
יִהְיֶ֛הit will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
בְּקֶ֥רֶבin [the] midst of
bekerevH7130 →227 times
הָאָ֖רֶץthe earth
haaretzH776 →2504 times
בְּת֣וֹךְin among
betokhH8432 →418 times
הָֽעַמִּ֑יםthe peoples
haamimH5971 →1873 times
כְּנֹ֣קֶףlike [the] beating of
kenokefH5363 →
זַ֔יִתan olive tree
zayitH2132 →
כְּעוֹלֵלֹ֖תlike gleanings
keolelotH5955 →
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
כָּלָ֥הit has come to an end
kalahH3615 →208 times
בָצִֽיר׃[the] grape harvest
vatzirH1210 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 6:13And though a tenth remains in the land, it will be burned again. As the terebinth and oak leave stumps when felled, so the holy seed will be a stump in the land.”
it leads to
- Job 14:7–9
For there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender shoots will not fail.
- Romans 11:5–6
In the same way, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.
- Genesis 22:18
And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
- Romans 11:16–29
If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
- Job 14:7–9
Through
Isaiah 1:9Unless the LORD of Hosts had left us a few survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.
it leads to
- Romans 9:29
It is just as Isaiah foretold: “Unless the Lord of Hosts had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.”
- Isaiah 37:31–32
And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root below and bear fruit above.
- Genesis 19:24
Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.
- Lamentations 3:22
Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.
- Romans 9:29
About Isaiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.