Isaiah 34:4
in Isaiah 34All the stars of heaven will be dissolved. The skies will be rolled up like a scroll, and all their stars will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like foliage from the fig tree.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all their host shall fade away, as the leaf fadeth from off the vine, and as a fading leaf from the fig-tree.
KJV
And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.
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This verse in Isaiah 34
Commentary
12 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And all the host of heaven - On the word ‘host’ (צבא tsâbâ'), see the note at Isa 1:9. The heavenly bodies often represent kings and princes (compare the note at Isa 24:21). Shall be dissolved - (ינמקוּ venâmaqqû. This figure Vitringa supposes to be taken from the common prejudice by which the stars appear to be crystals, or gems, set in the azure vault of heaven, which may melt and flow down by the application of heat.
This site's exposition
Come near, O nations, to listen
on Isaiah 34:1-4
The chapter opens beyond Edom with a summons to the whole world: Come near, O nations, to listen. The LORD is angry with all the nations, and the skies will be rolled up like a scroll. Revelation 6:14 uses the same image at the sixth seal.
This site's exposition
The skies will be rolled up
Wesley observes that the prophets describe great national calamities in the language that belongs to the day of judgment. The stars of heaven can also stand for kings and princes, as the heavenly host does at Isaiah 24:21. Edom's fall is told as the end of a world.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
"You have spread out the heavens like a tent cloth." The prophet means to say that from the beginning God spread out the heavens, just as if he were unfolding a scroll and rolling it back again, as it is written in Holy Scripture: "And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll." You have constructed your palace upon the waters, as similarly in Genesis, there were waters above the firmament and, likewise, below the firmament. "You travel on the wings of the wind." This typifies the presence of God everywhere.
Daniel said, "I beheld in the night a vision, and saw one coming with the clouds of heaven as the Son of man, and he came on to the Ancient of Days and was brought near to him. To him was given the dominion and the honor and the kingdom. And all people, tribes and tongues will serve him. His dominion is an eternal dominion, which shall not pass away. And his kingdom shall not be destroyed." … Then all the gates of heaven will be opened, or rather the heaven itself is taken away. For we read, "The heaven shall be rolled up like a scroll," wrapped up to the middle like the skin and covering of some tent, so as to be made into a more useful shape.
So, our Lord Jesus Christ comes from heaven, and he comes with glory at the last day to bring this world to its close. For this world will accomplish its course, and the world that once came into being is hereafter to be renewed. For seeing that corruption, theft, adultery and every form of sin has been poured out on the earth, and in the world fresh blood has been ever mingled with previous blood, this astonishing habitation filled with iniquity is not to last. This world passes away that the fairer world may be revealed. Now would you have this proved by the express words of Scripture? Listen to these from Isaiah: "And the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all the stars shall fall down, as the leaf falls off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree."
(Chapter 34, Verse 1, etc.) Come near, you nations, and listen; pay attention, you peoples! Let the earth and all that fills it hear, the world and all that springs from it. For the Lord's indignation is against all the nations, and His fury is against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them and given them over to slaughter. Their slain will be thrown out, and the stench of their corpses will rise; the mountains will be drenched with their blood.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Third, as to the destruction of their idols; and concerning this he does three things. 736. And first, he shows that the help of idols will cease in wars: and all the host of the heavens, namely, of the air, that is, the demons; or, …
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
It is usual for prophetic writers, both in the Old and New Testament, to represent great and general calamities, in such words and phrases, as properly agree to the day of judgment; as on the contrary, the glorious deliverances of God's people, in such expressions, as properly agree to the resurrection from the dead.
And all the hosts of heaven shall be dissolved,....
Old decayed castles look frightful, and their ruins are almost as much dreaded as ever their garrisons were. It describes the destroying judgments which are the effects of God's wrath and the just punishment of those that are enemies to his people, which God will inflict when the year of the redeemed has come, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
And all the host of heaven See note on Isa 24:21, and De Sacra Poesi Hebraeorum, Prael. ix.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְנָמַ֙קּוּ֙ | venamaku | and they will rot away | H4743 → | |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| צְבָ֣א | tzeva' | [the] host of | H6635 → | 485 times |
| הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וְנָגֹ֥לּוּ | venagolu | and they will be rolled up | H1556 → | |
| כַסֵּ֖פֶר | khasefer | like <the> scroll | H5612 → | 186 times |
| הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| צְבָאָ֣ם | tzevaam | host their | H6635 → | 485 times |
| יִבּ֔וֹל | yibol | it will wither | H5034 → | 25 times |
| כִּנְבֹ֤ל | kinvol | as withers | H5034 → | 25 times |
| עָלֶה֙ | ʾaleh | leafage | H5929 → | 18 times |
| מִגֶּ֔פֶן | migefen | from a vine | H1612 → | 55 times |
| וּכְנֹבֶ֖לֶת | ukhenovelet | and like withered fruit | H5034 → | 25 times |
| מִתְּאֵנָֽה׃ | miteenah | from a fig tree | H8384 → | 39 times |
וְנָמַ֙קּוּ֙and they will rot away
venamakuH4743 →
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
צְבָ֣א[the] host of
tzeva'H6635 →485 times
הַשָּׁמַ֔יִםthe heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
וְנָגֹ֥לּוּand they will be rolled up
venagoluH1556 →
כַסֵּ֖פֶרlike <the> scroll
khaseferH5612 →186 times
הַשָּׁמָ֑יִםthe heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
צְבָאָ֣םhost their
tzevaamH6635 →485 times
יִבּ֔וֹלit will wither
yibolH5034 →25 times
כִּנְבֹ֤לas withers
kinvolH5034 →25 times
עָלֶה֙leafage
ʾalehH5929 →18 times
מִגֶּ֔פֶןfrom a vine
migefenH1612 →55 times
וּכְנֹבֶ֖לֶתand like withered fruit
ukhenoveletH5034 →25 times
מִתְּאֵנָֽה׃from a fig tree
miteenahH8384 →39 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
Matthew 24:29Immediately after the tribulation of those days: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will…
it leads to
- Amos 8:9
And in that day, declares the Lord GOD, I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the daytime.
- Joel 3:15
The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine.
- Isaiah 13:10
For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.
- Mark 13:24–25
But in those days, after that tribulation: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;
- Isaiah 24:23
The moon will be confounded and the sun will be ashamed; for the LORD of Hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His elders with great glory.
- Amos 8:9
Through
Joel 3:15The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine.
it leads to
- Joel 2:10
Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness.
- Matthew 24:29
Immediately after the tribulation of those days: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will…
- Luke 21:25–26
There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among the nations, bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the surging of the waves.
- Joel 2:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
This page draws on 12 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); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 15:3; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jerome, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 30 (PSALM 103); Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Chrysostom, LETTER TO THE FALLEN THEODORE 1:12; 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.