In four verses, each beginning with “I beheld,” the prophet sees in vision the desolate condition of Judea during the Babylonian captivity.

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I beheld the earth. —In words of terrible grandeur the prophet speaks, as if he had already seen the consummated destruct…

As if they had gone back to chaos – to the primeval darkness – to the first disorder before God began to create.

The Prophet in this passage elaborates in highly metaphorical language on the terror of God’s vengeance, so that he might rouse the Jews, who were …

I beheld the earth
The land of Judea, not the whole world; and this the prophet says, either in spirit, as Jerom; or…

The prophet had no pleasure in delivering me ages of wrath. He is shown in a vision the whole land in confusion.

Compared with what it was, …

1. Here, the prophet shows the effect of the destruction.

   • First, on the country.
   • Second, on the people, where he says,…