Isaiah 24:17

17 Fear, and death, and the net, are come on you, O people of the earth.

Isaiah 24:17 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 24:17

Fear, and the pit, and the snare, [are] upon thee, O
inhabitant of the earth.
] This is to be understood not of the land of Judea only, and the inhabitants of it, but of all the earth; Kimchi interprets it of the nations of the world, particularly the Greeks and Turks; but the whole world, and the inhabitants of it, are meant, as the following verses show. There is an elegant play on words in the Hebrew, which cannot well be expressed in English, in the words "pachad, pachath, pach", fear, pit, and a snare; which are expressive of a variety of dangers, difficulties, and distresses; there seems to be an allusion to creatures that are hunted, who flee through fear, and fleeing fall into pits, or are entangled in snares, and so taken. Before the last day, or second coming of Christ to judge the world, there will be great perplexity in men's minds, great dread and fear upon their hearts, and much distress of nations; and the coming of the Son of Man will be as a snare upon the earth; see ( Luke 21:25 Luke 21:26 Luke 21:35 ) .

Isaiah 24:17 In-Context

15 Give praise to the Lord in the east, to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, in the sea-lands.

16 From the farthest part of the earth comes the sound of songs, glory to the upright. But I said, I am wasting away, wasting away, the curse is on me! The false ones go on in their false way, yes, they go on acting falsely.

17 Fear, and death, and the net, are come on you, O people of the earth.

18 And it will be that he who goes in flight from the sound of fear will be overtaken by death; and he who gets free from death will be taken in the net: for the windows on high are open, and the bases of the earth are shaking.

19 The earth is completely broken, it is parted in two, it is violently moved.