Charles Ellicott Commentary


Charles Ellicott Commentary
"For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine." — Isaiah 13:10 (ASV)
The constellations thereof. —The noun in the singular (kesîl, foolhardy, or impious) is translated as Orion in Job 9:9 and Amos 5:8. It is significant, as pointing to some widely-diffused legend, that the Persian name for the constellation is Nimrod and the Arabian Giant. In Greek mythology Orion is a giant hunter, conspicuous for acts of outrage against the gods, and finally slain by Zeus.
It is obvious that the words in their first application had a figurative, and not a literal, fulfillment. Such imagery has been at all times the natural symbolism of a time of terror (Joel 2:31; Joel 3:15; Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24; Luke 21:25).