Isaiah 24:18
in Isaiah 24Whoever flees the sound of panic will fall into the pit, and whoever climbs from the pit will be caught in the snare. For the windows of heaven are open, and the foundations of the earth are shaken.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.
KJV
And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
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This verse in Isaiah 24
Commentary
11 notes on this verse(Verse 17, 18.) The treacherous have dealt treacherously; indeed, they have dealt treacherously with treachery. Fear, the pit, and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall be that he who flees from the noise of fear shall fall into the pit, and he who comes up from the midst of the pit shall be caught in the snare. LXX: woe to the treacherous who deal treacherously! Fear, the pit, and the snare are upon you, O inhabitants of the earth.
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
Whoever flees the sound of panic
The sound of panic is the hunter's shout, raised to drive game into the pit, as Barnes and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown explain. The open windows of heaven come from the flood in Genesis 7:11. The judgment is on the scale of Noah's day.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
576. Second, the impossibility of escaping: and it shall come to pass, that he that shall flee from the noise of the fear, shall fall into the pit: as if to say, he will decide upon Scylla, wanting to avoid Charybdis: that which the palmerworm …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
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
): Fear, and the pit, and the snare (fear of the pit and the snare) are upon them wherever they are; for the sons of men know not what evil they may suddenly be snared in, Eccl. ix. These three words seem to be chosen for the sake of an elegant paranomasia, or, as we now scornfully call it, a jungle of words: Pachad, and Pachath, and Pach; but the meaning is plain (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear,....
What this prophet threatens all the inhabitants of the earth with another makes part of the judgment of Moab, Jer. xlviii. But it is a common instance of the calamitous state of human life that when we seek to avoid one mischief we fall into a worse, and that the end of one trouble is often the beginning of another; so that we are least safe when we are most secure.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Out of the midst of the pit “From the pit” - For מתוך mittoch, from the midst of, a MS. reads מן min, from, as it is in Jer 48:44; and so likewise the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
noise of . . . fear--the shout designed to rouse the game and drive it into the pitfall. windows . . . open--taken from the account of the deluge (Ge 7:11); the flood-gates. So the final judgments of fire on the apostate world are compared to the deluge (2Pe 3:5-7).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
From the noise of the fear - A cry or shout was made in hunting, designed to arouse the game, and drive it to the pitfall. The image means here that calamities would be multiplied in all the land, and that if the inhabitants endeavored to avoid one danger they would fall into another. And he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit - A figure taken still from hunting. It was possible that some of the more strong and active of the wild beasts driven into the pitfall would spring out, and attempt to escape, yet they might be secured by snares or gins purposely contrived for such an occurrence. So the prophet says, that though a few might escape the calamities that would at first threaten to overthrow them, yet they would have no security. They would immediately fall into others, and be destroyed. For the windows on high are open - This is evidently taken from the account of the deluge in Gen 7:11: ‘In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows (or flood-gates, Margin) of heaven were opened.’ The word ‘windows’ here (ארבות 'ărubôth) is the same which occurs in Genesis, and properly denotes a grate, a lattice, a window, and then any opening, as a sluice or floodgate, and is applied to a tempest or a deluge, because when the rain descends, it seems like opening sluices or floodgates in the sky. The sense here is, that calamities had come upon the nation resembling the universal deluge. And the foundations of the earth do shake - An image derived from an earthquake - a figure also denoting far-spreading calamities.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְֽ֠הָיָה | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| הַנָּ֞ס | hanas | the [one who] flees | H5127 → | 159 times |
| מִקּ֤וֹל | mikol | from [the] sound of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| הַפַּ֙חַד֙ | hapachad | the dread | H6343 → | 49 times |
| יִפֹּ֣ל | yipol | he will fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַפַּ֔חַת | hapachat | the pit | H6354 → | 10 times |
| וְהָֽעוֹלֶה֙ | vehaoleh | and the [one who] goes up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| מִתּ֣וֹךְ | mitokh | from [the] midst of | H8432 → | 418 times |
| הַפַּ֔חַת | hapachat | the pit | H6354 → | 10 times |
| יִלָּכֵ֖ד | yilakhed | he will be caught | H3920 → | 121 times |
| בַּפָּ֑ח | bapach | in <the> snare | H6341 → | 27 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֲרֻבּ֤וֹת | ʾarubot | windows | H699 → | |
| מִמָּרוֹם֙ | mimarom | from a high place | H4791 → | 54 times |
| נִפְתָּ֔חוּ | niftachu | they have been opened | H6605 → | 144 times |
| וַֽיִּרְעֲשׁ֖וּ | vaiyirashu | and they have shaken | H7493 → | 30 times |
| מ֥וֹסְדֵי | mosdei | [the] foundations of | H4144 → | |
| אָֽרֶץ׃ | ʾaretz | [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
וְֽ֠הָיָהand it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
הַנָּ֞סthe [one who] flees
hanasH5127 →159 times
מִקּ֤וֹלfrom [the] sound of
mikolH6963 →506 times
הַפַּ֙חַד֙the dread
hapachadH6343 →49 times
יִפֹּ֣לhe will fall
yipolH5307 →435 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַפַּ֔חַתthe pit
hapachatH6354 →10 times
וְהָֽעוֹלֶה֙and the [one who] goes up
vehaolehH5927 →890 times
מִתּ֣וֹךְfrom [the] midst of
mitokhH8432 →418 times
הַפַּ֔חַתthe pit
hapachatH6354 →10 times
יִלָּכֵ֖דhe will be caught
yilakhedH3920 →121 times
בַּפָּ֑חin <the> snare
bapachH6341 →27 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אֲרֻבּ֤וֹתwindows
ʾarubotH699 →
מִמָּרוֹם֙from a high place
mimaromH4791 →54 times
נִפְתָּ֔חוּthey have been opened
niftachuH6605 →144 times
וַֽיִּרְעֲשׁ֖וּand they have shaken
vaiyirashuH7493 →30 times
מ֥וֹסְדֵי[the] foundations of
mosdeiH4144 →
אָֽרֶץ׃[the] earth
ʾaretzH776 →2504 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
Genesis 7:11In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.
it leads to
- Genesis 8:2
The springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained.
- Proverbs 8:28–29
when He established the clouds above, when the fountains of the deep gushed forth,
- Malachi 3:10
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of…
- Amos 9:5–6
The Lord GOD of Hosts, He who touches the earth and it melts, and all its dwellers mourn—all the land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt—
- Genesis 8:2
Through
Job 20:24Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce him.
it leads to
- Amos 5:19
It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a…
- Amos 5:19
Through
Psalms 18:15The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed, at Your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
it leads to
- Psalms 106:9
He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; He led them through the depths as through a desert.
- Micah 6:2
Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s indictment, you enduring foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against His people, and He will argue it against Israel:
- Psalms 106:9
Through
Psalms 18:7Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled; they were shaken because He burned with anger.
it leads to
- Acts 4:31
After they had prayed, their meeting place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
- Acts 4:31
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 on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.