Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 34:16

"Seek ye out of the book of Jehovah, and read: no one of these shall be missing, none shall want her mate; for my mouth, it hath commanded, and his Spirit, it hath gathered them." — Isaiah 34:16 (ASV)

Seek ye out of the book of the Lord ... — This phrase is an exceptional one. Isaiah applies that title either to this particular section or to the volume of his collected writings. When the time of fulfillment comes, people are invited to compare what they will then find with the picture Isaiah had drawn.

Keith and others have brought together from the descriptions of modern travelers illustrations of Edom's condition, as it is well summed up by Delitzsch in loc.: “It swarms with snakes, and the desolate heights and barren table-lands are only inherited by wild crows and eagles, and great flocks of birds.”

It has to be remembered, however, that the decay was very gradual. The ruins of Petra and other Idumean cities are of Roman origin and indicate a period of culture and prosperity stretching far into the history of the Empire.

His spirit. — In the sense of the creative Breath of the Almighty working in Nature (Psalms 104:30).