Isaiah 34:10
in Isaiah 34It will not be quenched—day or night. Its smoke will ascend forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will ever again pass through it.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever; from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
KJV
It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
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This verse in Isaiah 34
Commentary
8 notes on this verseSecond, he places the duration of the punishment: it shall not be quenched, that is, the effect of this fire will remain forever; smoke, the sign and memory of preceding fire: her smoke ascends for ever and ever (Rev 19:3); and this is to be …
This site's exposition
Edom’s streams will be turned to tar
on Isaiah 34:9-11
Edom's ruin is described as unending, her soil to sulfur, and its smoke will ascend forever. Where a kingdom stood, only wild creatures remain. The LORD will stretch out over Edom a measuring line of chaos, the surveyor's tools that lay out a city here marking out its emptiness.
This site's exposition
Its smoke will ascend forever
Aquinas reads the smoke that will ascend forever as the sign and memory of a fire whose effect remains. John uses the same words of fallen Babylon at Revelation 19:3. Later travellers' reports counted over thirty desolate towns in the land of Edom, deserted from generation to generation.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verses 8 and following) For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, the year of retribution in the judgment of Zion. Its streams will be turned into pitch, and its soil into sulfur; its land will become burning pitch. Night and day it will not be extinguished; its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will pass through it forever. The pelican and the hedgehog will possess it, the owl and the raven will dwell in it.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
It shall not be quenched night nor day,.... It will be long burning, and shall not be extinguished until it is utterly consumed.
As long as there are provoking sinners on earth, from one generation to another, an increase of sinful men, to augment the fierce anger of the Lord ( Num. xxxii. 14 ), there will be a righteous God in heaven to punish them for it.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
VOLNEY, the infidel, was forced to confirm the truth of this prophecy: "From the reports of the Arabs, southeast of the Dead Sea, within three days' journey are upwards of thirty ruined towns, absolutely deserted."
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
It shall not be quenched night nor day - That is, the burning brimstone and pitch Isa 34:9, the emblem of perpetual and entire desolation, shall not be extinguished. The smoke thereof shall go up for ever - Every river and rivulet is Supposed to be heated pitch, and every particle of dust sulphur, and a 1 on fire, sending up from an extended region dense columns of smoke to heaven. No idea of ruin could be more sublime; no idea of the vengeance of God more terrible.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
from generation to generation From that generation until the last generation. Another explanation is that this is Moses’ curse (Ex.:16): “The Lord has a war against Amalek from generation to generation.
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. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לַ֤יְלָה | laylah | night | H3915 → | 233 times |
| וְיוֹמָם֙ | veyomam | and by day | H3119 → | 50 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִכְבֶּ֔ה | tikhbeh | it will be extinguished | H3518 → | 24 times |
| לְעוֹלָ֖ם | leolam | for ever | H5769 → | 438 times |
| יַעֲלֶ֣ה | yaaleh | it will go up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| עֲשָׁנָ֑הּ | ʾashanah | smoke its | H6227 → | 25 times |
| מִדּ֤וֹר | midor | from generation | H1755 → | 167 times |
| לָדוֹר֙ | lador | to generation | H1755 → | 167 times |
| תֶּחֱרָ֔ב | techerav | it will be desolate | H2717 → | 40 times |
| לְנֵ֣צַח | lenetzach | to perpetuity of | H5331 → | 43 times |
| נְצָחִ֔ים | netzachim | perpetuities | H5331 → | 43 times |
| אֵ֥ין | ʾein | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| עֹבֵ֖ר | ʾover | [will be one who] passes | H5674 → | 556 times |
| בָּֽהּ׃ | bah | in <the> it |
לַ֤יְלָהnight
laylahH3915 →233 times
וְיוֹמָם֙and by day
veyomamH3119 →50 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תִכְבֶּ֔הit will be extinguished
tikhbehH3518 →24 times
לְעוֹלָ֖םfor ever
leolamH5769 →438 times
יַעֲלֶ֣הit will go up
yaalehH5927 →890 times
עֲשָׁנָ֑הּsmoke its
ʾashanahH6227 →25 times
מִדּ֤וֹרfrom generation
midorH1755 →167 times
לָדוֹר֙to generation
ladorH1755 →167 times
תֶּחֱרָ֔בit will be desolate
techeravH2717 →40 times
לְנֵ֣צַחto perpetuity of
lenetzachH5331 →43 times
נְצָחִ֔יםperpetuities
netzachimH5331 →43 times
אֵ֥יןthere not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
עֹבֵ֖ר[will be one who] passes
ʾoverH5674 →556 times
בָּֽהּ׃in <the> it
bah
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 66:24“As they go forth, they will see the corpses of the men who have rebelled against Me; for their worm will never die, their fire will never be quenched, and they will be a…
it leads to
- Isaiah 14:11
Your pomp has been brought down to Sheol, along with the music of your harps. Maggots are your bed and worms your blanket.
- Revelation 14:10–11
he too will drink the wine of God’s anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented in fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and…
- 1 Thessalonians 2:15–16
who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men,
- Daniel 12:2
And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.
- Revelation 21:8
But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This…
- Isaiah 14:11
Through
Revelation 18:18and cry out at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her. “What city was ever like this great city?” they will exclaim.
it leads to
- Revelation 13:4
They worshiped the dragon who had given authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can wage war against it?”
- Revelation 13:4
Through
Revelation 19:3And a second time they called out: “Hallelujah! Her smoke rises forever and ever.”
it leads to
- Revelation 18:18
and cry out at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her. “What city was ever like this great city?” they will exclaim.
- Revelation 14:11
And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. Day and night there is no rest for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of…
- Revelation 18:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.