Isaiah 24:6
in Isaiah 24Therefore a curse has consumed the earth, and its inhabitants must bear the guilt; the earth’s dwellers have been burned, and only a few survive.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are found guilty: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Isaiah 24
Commentary
12 notes on this verse(Verse 6.) Because they have transgressed the law, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse devours the earth, and those who dwell in it are held guilty. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left. LXX: Because they have transgressed the law, changed the ordinances, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse devours the earth, because its inhabitants have sinned. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth shall be poor, and few men shall be left.
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
Therefore a curse has consumed the earth
The curse recalls the ground cursed for Adam's sake in Genesis 3:17, and Gill draws the line between them. The word for burned is difficult, and Clarke follows the ancient versions in reading destroyed. The few left are the gleaning of verse 13.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
After he rebukes those of the circumcision who have trespassed the law of the covenant of God and warns them with what he has written, he prophesies that only a small number of them will be saved. These few are those whom the apostle calls "the remnant according to the election of grace."
The Medieval Church1 voice
569. Second, he threatens a fourfold punishment because of this fault: first, a divine curse: a curse: the land has mourned by reason of cursing (Jer 23:10); second, divine desertion: they shall sin, as if the Lord has abandoned them: for this cause, God delivered …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), the general curse which sin brought upon the ground for man's sake ( Gen. iii. 17 ), and all the particular curses which families and countries bring upon themselves by their enormous wickedness. See the power of God's curse, how it makes all empty and lays all waste; those whom he curses are cursed indeed.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth,.... The inhabitants of it, and the fruits upon it, alluding to the earth being cursed for the sin of man, when it brought forth briers and thorns; this may denote the seven vials of God's wrath poured upon the earth, or the antichristian states.
When the earth languishes, and is not so fruitful as it used to be, then those that dwell therein, that make it their home, and rest, and portion, are desolate; whereas those that by faith dwell in God can rejoice in him even when the fir-tree does not blossom.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And this is their song, even glory to the righteous: the word is singular, and may refer to the righteous God, who is just in all he has brought upon us.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Therefore hath the curse devoured - Eaten it up; a figurative expression that is common in the Scriptures, denoting that the desolation is widespread and ruinous. Are burned - (חרוּ chârû). Instead of this reading, Lowth proposes to read: חרבוּ chârebû ‘Are destroyed.’ The Septuagint reads it, ‘Therefore the inhabitants of the land shall be poor.’ The Syriac, ‘The inhabitants of the land shall be slain.’ But there is no authority from the manuscripts to change the text as proposed by Lowth, Nor is it necessary.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
earth--the land. burned--namely, with the consuming wrath of heaven: either internally, as in Job 30:30 [ROSENMULLER]; or externally, the prophet has before his eyes the people being consumed with the withering dryness of their doomed land (so Joe 1:10, 12), [MAURER].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Are burned “Are destroyed” - For חרו charu, read חרבו charebu. See the Septuagint, Syriac, Chaldee and Symmachus.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַל־ | ʾal- | there- | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֵּ֗ן | ken | -fore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| אָלָה֙ | ʾalah | a curse | H423 → | |
| אָ֣כְלָה | ʾakhelah | it has consumed | H398 → | 810 times |
| אֶ֔רֶץ | ʾeretz | [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וַֽיֶּאְשְׁמ֖וּ | vaiye'shemu | and they have been held guilty | H816 → | |
| יֹ֣שְׁבֵי | yoshevei | [the] inhabitants | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בָ֑הּ | vah | in <the> it | ||
| עַל־ | ʾal- | there- | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֵּ֗ן | ken | -fore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| חָרוּ֙ | charu | they have diminished | H2787 → | |
| יֹ֣שְׁבֵי | yoshevei | [the] inhabitants of | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| אֶ֔רֶץ | ʾeretz | [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְנִשְׁאַ֥ר | venishar | and it will be left | H7604 → | 133 times |
| אֱנ֖וֹשׁ | ʾenoosh | humankind of | H582 → | 566 times |
| מִזְעָֽר׃ | mizar | smallness | H4213 → | 4 times |
עַל־there-
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֵּ֗ן-fore
kenH3651 →771 times
אָלָה֙a curse
ʾalahH423 →
אָ֣כְלָהit has consumed
ʾakhelahH398 →810 times
אֶ֔רֶץ[the] earth
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
וַֽיֶּאְשְׁמ֖וּand they have been held guilty
vaiye'shemuH816 →
יֹ֣שְׁבֵי[the] inhabitants
yosheveiH3427 →1079 times
בָ֑הּin <the> it
vah
עַל־there-
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֵּ֗ן-fore
kenH3651 →771 times
חָרוּ֙they have diminished
charuH2787 →
יֹ֣שְׁבֵי[the] inhabitants of
yosheveiH3427 →1079 times
אֶ֔רֶץ[the] earth
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
וְנִשְׁאַ֥רand it will be left
venisharH7604 →133 times
אֱנ֖וֹשׁhumankind of
ʾenooshH582 →566 times
מִזְעָֽר׃smallness
mizarH4213 →4 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 7:14But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.
it leads to
- Luke 13:23–30
“Lord,” someone asked Him, “will only a few people be saved?” Jesus answered,
- Matthew 22:14
For many are called, but few are chosen.”
- Matthew 16:24–25
Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
- Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of…
- Isaiah 35:8
And there will be a highway called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel it—only those who walk in the Way—and fools will not stray onto it.
- Luke 13:23–30
Through
Malachi 4:6And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
it leads to
- Luke 1:16–17
Many of the sons of Israel he will turn back to the Lord their God.
- Luke 1:16–17
Through
Malachi 4:1“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of…
it leads to
- 2 Thessalonians 1:8
in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
- 2 Peter 3:7
And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:8
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); Eusebius of Caesarea, PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 2:3; 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.