Isaiah 34:9

9 Edom's streams will be turned into pitch, its dust into sulfur, and its land will become burning pitch.

Isaiah 34:9 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 34:9

And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch
The Septuagint render it, "the valleys"; the word signifying both rivers and valleys, most render it rivers or streams. The Targum is express,

``the rivers of Rome shall be turned into pitch;''

by which may be meant the maritime places belonging to the Romish jurisdiction, the same on which the third vial will be poured, by which the rivers and fountains of waters will become blood; and which refers to this very time, when blood shall be given to the whore of Rome to drink, ( Revelation 16:4-6 ) . The allusion, in this and some following clauses, is to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; see ( Jeremiah 49:17 Jeremiah 49:18 ) :

and the dust thereof into brimstone;
and so easily take fire:

and the land thereof shall become burning pitch:
plainly pointing to the destruction of Rome by fire, ( Revelation 17:16 ) ( 18:8 ) .

Isaiah 34:9 In-Context

7 Wild oxen will fall with them, steers with mighty bulls, and their land will be drenched with blood; its soil soaked with fat.

8 The LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of payback for Zion's cause.

9 Edom's streams will be turned into pitch, its dust into sulfur, and its land will become burning pitch.

10 Night and day won't be extinguished; its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation it will lie waste; no one will ever pass through it again.

11 Screech owls and crows will possess it; owls and ravens will live there. God will stretch over it the measuring line of chaos and the plummet stone of emptiness over its officials.