Isaiah 24:5
in Isaiah 24The earth is defiled by its people; they have transgressed the laws; they have overstepped the decrees and broken the everlasting covenant.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The earth also is polluted under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant.
KJV
The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
⋯
This verse in Isaiah 24
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Verse 4, 5.) The earth mourned and declined, and became weak: the world declined, the height of the people of the earth became weak, and the earth was destroyed by its inhabitants. (LXX: The earth mourns, the world is corrupted, the lofty ones of the earth mourn, but the earth acts wickedly due to its inhabitants. God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).
This site's exposition
The earth mourns and withers
on Isaiah 24:4-9
The mourning spreads from the land to the vine and the harp: "The earth mourns and withers". The people "have transgressed the laws" and "broken the everlasting covenant", and Henry sets that covenant beside the one made with Noah in Genesis 9. So "a curse has consumed the earth".
This site's exposition
The earth is defiled by its people
Sin defiles the earth under its people, and Henry reads the desolation of the land as its fruit. Numbers 35:33 uses the same verb for bloodshed that defiles the land. Wesley takes the everlasting covenant as the one made with Abraham.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
And he sets out the killing of men: and the earth is killed: the land was killed (Ps 106:38). 568. Third, he shows the equity of the punishment: because they have transgressed, and he does this by comparing it to their fault; hence he does …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Covenant - The covenant made between God and Abraham, and all his posterity, which was everlasting, both on God's part, who, upon the conditions therein expressed, engaged himself to be a God to them and to their seed forever; and on Israel's part, who were obliged thereby to constant and perpetual obedience thro' all generations.
); it is polluted by the sins of men, and therefore it is made desolate by the judgments of God. Such is the filthy nature of sin that it defiles the earth itself under the sinful inhabitants thereof, and it is rendered unpleasant in the eyes of God and good men.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants of it,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof - The statements in this verse are given as a reason why the curse had been pronounced against them, and why these calamities had come upon them, Isa 24:6. The first reason is, that the very earth become polluted by their crimes. This phrase may denote that injustice and cruelty prevailed to such an extent that the very earth was stained with gore, and covered with blood under the guilty population. So the phrase is used in Num 33:33; Psa 106:
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
earth--rather, "the land." defiled under . . . inhabitants--namely, with innocent blood (Ge 4:11; Ps 106:38). laws . . . ordinance . . . everlasting covenant--The moral laws, positive statutes, and national covenant designed to be for ever between God and them.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The laws “The law” - תורה torah, singular: so read the Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָאָ֥רֶץ | vehaaretz | and the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| חָנְפָ֖ה | chanefah | it has been polluted | H2610 → | |
| תַּ֣חַת | tachat | under | H8478 → | 505 times |
| יֹשְׁבֶ֑יהָ | yosheveiha | inhabitants its | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עָבְר֤וּ | ʾaveru | they have transgressed | H5674 → | 556 times |
| תוֹרֹת֙ | torot | laws | H8451 → | 219 times |
| חָ֣לְפוּ | chalfu | they have overstepped | H2498 → | 28 times |
| חֹ֔ק | chok | [the] decree | H2706 → | |
| הֵפֵ֖רוּ | heferu | they have broken | H6565 → | 50 times |
| בְּרִ֥ית | berit | [the] covenant of | H1285 → | 284 times |
| עוֹלָֽם׃ | olam | perpetuity | H5769 → | 438 times |
וְהָאָ֥רֶץand the earth
vehaaretzH776 →2504 times
חָנְפָ֖הit has been polluted
chanefahH2610 →
תַּ֣חַתunder
tachatH8478 →505 times
יֹשְׁבֶ֑יהָinhabitants its
yosheveihaH3427 →1079 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
עָבְר֤וּthey have transgressed
ʾaveruH5674 →556 times
תוֹרֹת֙laws
torotH8451 →219 times
חָ֣לְפוּthey have overstepped
chalfuH2498 →28 times
חֹ֔ק[the] decree
chokH2706 →
הֵפֵ֖רוּthey have broken
heferuH6565 →50 times
בְּרִ֥ית[the] covenant of
beritH1285 →284 times
עוֹלָֽם׃perpetuity
olamH5769 →438 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
Hebrews 13:20Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,
it leads to
- John 10:11
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
- Hebrews 10:22
let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
- Psalms 23:1
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
- John 10:11
Through
Daniel 7:25He will speak out against the Most High and oppress the saints of the Most High, intending to change the appointed times and laws; and the saints will be given into his hand for…
it leads to
- Daniel 12:7
And the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by Him who lives forever,…
- Revelation 12:14
But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle to fly from the presence of the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, and times,…
- 2 Thessalonians 2:4
He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
- Revelation 13:5–11
The beast was given a mouth to speak arrogant and blasphemous words, and authority to act for 42 months.
- Revelation 12:6
And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place for her to be nourished for 1,260 days.
- Daniel 12:7
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.