Isaiah 24:20
in Isaiah 24The earth staggers like a drunkard and sways like a shack. Earth’s rebellion weighs it down, and it falls, never to rise again.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The earth shall stagger like a drunken man, and shall sway to and fro like a hammock; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again.
KJV
The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
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This verse in Isaiah 24
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard - This is descriptive of the agitation that occurs in an earthquake when everything is shaken from its foundation, and when trees and towers are shaken by the mighty concussion. The same figure is used in Isa 29:9. See also the description of a tempest at sea, in Psa 107:27: They reel to and fro, And stagger like a drunken man, And are at their wit’s end. And shall be removed like a cottage - Or rather, shall move or vacillate (התנודדה hitenôdedâh) like a cottage.
This site's exposition
Terror and pit and snare
on Isaiah 24:17-20
"Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of the earth", a triple trap that Jeremiah 48:43 and 44 turns on Moab. "Whoever flees the sound of panic will fall into the pit". Then the earth "staggers like a drunkard", and "it falls, never to rise again".
This site's exposition
The earth staggers like a drunkard
Like a drunkard, the earth staggers under its rebellion, and Clarke compares the swaying shack to the hut of 1:8, a lodge for a night. Henry calls sin a burden under which the whole creation groans. It falls at last.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 19, 20.) For the gates from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth will be shaken. The earth will be crushed to pieces, shattered, and shaken. It will be thrown into agitation like a drunkard, and it will be taken away like a temporary shelter, and its own iniquity will weigh it down, and it will fall and not be able to rise again.
The Medieval Church1 voice
And through the similitude of shaken things, which are not made stable: with trembling shall the earth be moved, from place to place, shaken, as if trembling in its own place, as a drunken man, above: they have caused Egypt to err in all its …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
It is the transgression thereof that shall be heavy upon it. Note, Sin is a burden to the whole creation; it is a heavy burden, a burden under which it groans now and will sink at last. Sin is the ruin of states, and kingdoms, and families; they fall under the weight of that talent of lead, Zech. v. 7, 8 .
5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard,....
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Like a cottage “Like a lodge for a night” - See note on Isa 1:8.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נ֣וֹעַ | noa' | wildly <stagger> | H5128 → | 40 times |
| תָּנ֤וּעַ | tanua' | it will stagger | H5128 → | 40 times |
| אֶ֙רֶץ֙ | ʾeretz | [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| כַּשִּׁכּ֔וֹר | kashikor | like <the> drunkard | H7910 → | 13 times |
| וְהִֽתְנוֹדְדָ֖ה | vehitnodah | and it will sway | H5110 → | |
| כַּמְּלוּנָ֑ה | kamelunah | like <the> hut | H4412 → | |
| וְכָבַ֤ד | vekhavad | and it will be heavy | H3513 → | 113 times |
| עָלֶ֙יהָ֙ | ʾaleiha | on it | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| פִּשְׁעָ֔הּ | pishah | transgression its | H6588 → | 93 times |
| וְנָפְלָ֖ה | venafelah | and it will fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תֹסִ֥יף | tosif | it will repeat | H3254 → | 212 times |
| קֽוּם׃ ס | kum | to rise | H6965 → | 628 times |
נ֣וֹעַwildly <stagger>
noa'H5128 →40 times
תָּנ֤וּעַit will stagger
tanua'H5128 →40 times
אֶ֙רֶץ֙[the] earth
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
כַּשִּׁכּ֔וֹרlike <the> drunkard
kashikorH7910 →13 times
וְהִֽתְנוֹדְדָ֖הand it will sway
vehitnodahH5110 →
כַּמְּלוּנָ֑הlike <the> hut
kamelunahH4412 →
וְכָבַ֤דand it will be heavy
vekhavadH3513 →113 times
עָלֶ֙יהָ֙on it
ʾaleihaH5921 →5755 times
פִּשְׁעָ֔הּtransgression its
pishahH6588 →93 times
וְנָפְלָ֖הand it will fall
venafelahH5307 →435 times
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
תֹסִ֥יףit will repeat
tosifH3254 →212 times
קֽוּם׃ סto rise
kumH6965 →628 times
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
Revelation 18:21Then a mighty angel picked up a stone the size of a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be cast down, never…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 26:21
I will make you an object of horror, and you will be no more. You will be sought, but will never be found,’ declares the Lord GOD.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 51:63–64
When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and cast it into the Euphrates.
- Ezekiel 26:21
Through
Isaiah 29:9Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink.
it leads to
- Isaiah 51:21–22
Therefore now hear this, you afflicted one, drunken, but not with wine.
- Isaiah 19:14
The LORD has poured into her a spirit of confusion. Egypt has been led astray in all she does, as a drunkard staggers through his own vomit.
- Isaiah 33:13–14
You who are far off, hear what I have done; you who are near, acknowledge My might.”
- Isaiah 51:21–22
Through
Amos 8:14Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, ‘As surely as your god lives, O Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as the way of Beersheba lives’—they will fall, never to rise again.”
it leads to
- Amos 5:5
Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal; do not journey to Beersheba, for Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing.
- 1 Kings 12:28–29
After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out…
- Amos 5:5
Through
Daniel 11:19After this, he will turn back toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall and be no more.
it leads to
- Psalms 37:36
yet he passed away and was no more; though I searched, he could not be found.
- Psalms 37:36
About Isaiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Joseph Addison Alexander, Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.