Isaiah 24 - Introduction

It is admitted on all hands that this interesting and difficult group of Chapter s, although without a heading, forms a distinct section of the book of Isaiah. They consist of a single connected prophecy, interspersed with lyrical and devotional passages, which appear in some instances to interrupt the sequence of thought. The general theme is one of the most familiar in prophecy; it is the "day of Jehovah" in its terrors, and with its blessed consequences for Israel and for humanity. But the treatment of that theme is in many respects unique in the prophetic literature. That the writer had a definite historical situation in view is abundantly manifest; but its features are designedly veiled by the use of mysterious and symbolical language, the precise significance of which frequently eludes our grasp. This is one characteristic of the class of writings known as apocalypses, and the strongly-marked apocalyptic character of the ideas and imagery has impressed nearly all commentators. There has perhaps been a tendency to exaggerate this feature; if we compare the passage with a typical apocalypse, like the book of Daniel, the differences are certainly more striking than the resemblances. In religious importance and depth the Chapter s are second to nothing in the prophets. Two great truths in particular, the universality of salvation and the hope of immortality, stand out with a clearness and boldness of conception nowhere surpassed in the Old Testament.

The critical questions which arise in connexion with these Chapter s are so intricate, and depend so much on the explanation of obscure allusions, that it will be convenient to economise space by postponing the consideration of them until the detailed exposition is finished.

Ch. 24. The day of Judgment and its premonitory signs

The chapter is mainly an announcement of the last judgment, but partly also a gloomy survey of the actual state of the world. The writer feels that he is living in the last days, and in the universal wretchedness and confusions of the age he seems to discern the "beginning of sorrows." His thoughts glide almost imperceptibly from the one point of view to the other, now describing the distress and depression which exist, and now the more terrible visitation which is imminent. It is only at Isaiah 24:21 that the transition is finally made to the absolute language of prophecy. The line of thought is as follows:

Isaiah 24:1. The prophecy opens with a "word" of Jehovah, the announcement of an imminent and sweeping catastrophe affecting the whole earth, and involving all ranks and classes of society in a common destruction.

Isaiah 24:4. The earth is described as withering under a curse, because of the universal depravity and guilt of its inhabitants (4 6). Wine and music, the customary tokens of social enjoyment, have ceased; life has lost its zest; the world is profoundly unhappy (7 9).

Isaiah 24:10 depict the desolation and misery of an unnamed city, which, however, is but typical of the state of things everywhere.

Isaiah 24:13. Resuming the language of prophecy, the writer foretells, under an image borrowed from Isaiah, the almost complete extermination of the race of men (cf. Isaiah 24:6).

Isaiah 24:14. Here for a moment, "the vision of ruin is interrupted: borne from afar, over the western waters, the chorus of praise rising from the lips of the redeemed, falls upon the prophet's ear" (Driver). Yet, under the influence of his immediate surroundings, he feels that such rejoicing is premature; and the response of his heart is a cry of agony. For he knows that judgment has not yet had its perfect work; and accordingly, in

Isaiah 24:17, he returns to his main theme, accumulating images of destruction, in order to set forth the appalling magnitude of the catastrophe about to overwhelm the earth.

Isaiah 24:21. Here the prophecy reaches its climax in the announcement of Jehovah's appearance to vanquish the powers of evil in heaven and in the high places of the world, and to establish His everlasting throne in visible splendour on Mount Zion.

Concluding Note on Ch. 24 27

The above exposition has left some general questions in suspense; and for the most part they are such as cannot be adequately discussed in this commentary. There are two, however, on which a few additional observations are necessary, viz., (1) the unity and (2) the date, of the prophecy.

(1) The question of unity, as raised by the recent criticisms of Duhm and Cheyne, relates principally to the lyrical passages already marked off in the notes (Isaiah 25:1-5; Isaiah 25:9-12; Isaiah 26:1-19; Isaiah 27:2-6), although it is acknowledged that the section Isaiah 27:7-11 presents difficulties almost as great. As has been hinted above, the commonly accepted view has been that the lyrics represent flights of the author's imagination, depicting the feelings of the redeemed community after the great judgment is past. The chief considerations urged against this view are as follows. (a) If we read consecutively 24, Isaiah 25:6-8; Isaiah 26:20 to Isaiah 27:1; Isaiah 27:7-13, we have a series of conceptions which readily fit into a consistent picture of the future, and (at least up to Isaiah 27:1) a very natural sequence of thought. (b) the songs are distinguished from the main prophecy in poetic structure and rhythm, as well as in the point of view they represent. (c) They do not occur at places where their insertion would be natural if due to the literary plan of the composition, while one of them (Isaiah 25:1-5) appears to interrupt a close connexion of thought. (d) The most important of all (Isaiah 26:1-19) is written in a vein of mingled exultation and despondency inappropriate to the supposed situation. Although the reader is naturally averse to entertaining the idea of interpolation if it can possibly be avoided, it can hardly be denied that these arguments have a considerable cumulative force. (b) counts for little or nothing by itself, while the others may involve merely subjective differences of critical judgment. The crucial case is probably (d), where the -ideal standpoint" theory could only be maintained by assuming that the writer's imagination lacks the strength of wing needful to bear him triumphantly away from the discouraging outlook of his actual present. It must be pointed out, however, that the demarcation of the lyrics given in the notes is adopted from Duhm and Cheyne, and to discuss the question of unity on this basis necessarily does some injustice to the views of other critics, who might prefer a different division.

(2) The question of the dateof the prophecy is of course influenced by the view held as to its unity, although to a less extent than might be imagined, since both the critics named agree in regarding the whole series of compositions as belonging to the literature of a single general period. Duhm assigns them to the reign of John Hyrcanus, and finds allusions to the Parthian campaign of Antiochus Sidetes (b.c. 129) and the destruction of Samaria (c.107). But there is really nothing to warrant these precise determinations, and the theory is negatived by well-established conclusions as to the close of the O.T. Canon. Cheyne's view is free from this objection and is in itself very attractive. The historical background of the prophecy is found in the events which preceded the dissolution of the Persian Empire (say 350 330). The gloomy survey of ch. 24 is explained by the "desolating and protracted wars" of the period, in which the Jews are known to have suffered severely and during which Jerusalem was not improbably laid waste by Persian armies. The premature songs of triumph referred to in ch. Isaiah 24:16 are supposed to have been called forth by rumours of the expedition of Alexander the Great, whilst the interspersed lyrical passages celebrate the Jewish deliverance achieved by the Macedonian victories. Perhaps the least convincing part of the hypothesis is the identification of the conquered city of Isaiah 25:2; Isaiah 26:5, with Tyre or Gaza, destroyed by Alexander; but in spite of that Cheyne's view is probably the one which best harmonises the varied indications of the prophecy (see his Introduction, pp. 155 ff., and the refs. there).

Of rival theories there is perhaps but one that deserves careful examination, that, viz., which seeks the occasion of the prophecy in the age immediately succeeding the Exile, particularly the Babylonian troubles under Darius Hystaspis. There is, indeed, a surprising number of coincidences between the phenomena of this prophecy and the circumstances of that time or the contemporary literature. The expectation of a great overturning of existing political conditions occurs in the writings of Haggai (Isaiah 2:6-7; Isaiah 2:21-22) and Zechariah (Isaiah 1:11 ff.); the idea of a world-judgment in Isaiah 13:6 ff.; the universalism of Isaiah 25:6-8 finds nowhere a more sympathetic response than in Isaiah 40-55; and even the -songs of the righteous" (Isaiah 24:16) have a certain resemblance to Isaiah 45:10. The allusion to recent idolatry in Isaiah 27:9 is amply accounted for; and the "city" (although too much has been made of this point) of Isaiah 24:10 ff., Isaiah 27:10 f., Isaiah 25:2; Isaiah 26:5 might be Babylon, the "world-city," now humbled and soon to be utterly destroyed.

The ultimate decision probably turns on certain general features of the prophecy, which are thought to point to a very late age. These are (a) its apocalyptic colouring and imagery (see, however, the caveaton p. 179 above), (b) the advanced form in which it presents the doctrines of immortality (Isaiah 25:8) and the resurrection (Isaiah 26:19); and (possibly) (c) the belief in tutelary genii of the nations. With regard to these phenomena many will agree with Cheyne that they "become the more intelligible the later we place this composition in the Persian period."