John Gill Commentary Isaiah 34:1

John Gill Commentary

Isaiah 34:1

1697–1771
Reformed Baptist
John Gill
John Gill

John Gill Commentary

Isaiah 34:1

1697–1771
Reformed Baptist
SCRIPTURE

"Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples: let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all things that come forth from it." — Isaiah 34:1 (ASV)

Come near, you nations, to hear; and listen, you people ,
&c.] Not the people of the Jews, as some, whose utter destruction, after their rejection of the Messiah, is here thought to be prophesied of; and much less are these people called upon to hear the Gospel preached to them, as Cocceius thinks; for not good, but bad news they are called to listen to, even the account of their utter ruin.

let the earth hear, and all that is in it :
not the land of Judea, but all the earth, and the inhabitants of it.

the world, and all things that come forth from it ;
which may either be understood of those that dwell in it, as the Targum interprets it; of the people that are in it, as the Septuagint and the Oriental versions; and so the phrase may denote the original of them, being of the earth, earthly, and to which they must return again; and may be designed to humble men, and hide pride from them; or else the fruits of the earth, trees, and everything that springs out of it, which are called upon to hear the voice of the Lord, when men would not; and so is designed to rebuke the stupidity and sluggishness of men to listen to what is said to them, even from the Lord, when upon the brink of destruction.