Isaiah 30:25

25 On every high mountain and lofty hill will be streams and flowing brooks, on a day of great slaughter, when the towers fall.

Isaiah 30:25 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 30:25

And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon
every high hill
Which were round about Jerusalem, and in other parts of Judea:

rivers [and] streams of water;
such abundance of rain, that it should flow in streams like rivers, from the higher to the lower lands, and water them. This may in a spiritual sense be understood of the great plenty of the ministry of the Gospel, in all the kingdoms of the world, great and small, signified by mountains and hills; and which may also intimate the open and public ministrations of it in them, ( Zechariah 14:8 ) ( Joel 3:18 ) or of the blessings of grace, and the graces of the Spirit, communicated everywhere; see ( Isaiah 41:18 ) ( 44:3 ) ( John 7:38 John 7:39 ) . This is applied to the times of the Messiah by the Jews F7 themselves, and respects the latter part of those times:

in the day of the great slaughter;
not of Sennacherib's army by the angel, as many Jewish and Christian interpreters understand it; nor of the Babylonians, at the taking of Babylon by Cyrus; but of the antichristian kings, and their armies, ( Revelation 19:17-21 ) . So the Targum paraphrases it,

``for the ruin of kings and their armies, in the day of the great slaughter;''

and a great slaughter it will be indeed:

when the towers fall;
not the batteries and fortifications raised in the Assyrian camp, at the siege of Jerusalem, which fell when they were destroyed by the angel; or the great men and princes in that army, which then fell; though towers sometimes signify great persons, such as princes; see ( Isaiah 2:15 ) and so the Targum interprets it here; and may be true of the antichristian princes; for of the fall of the great city of Rome, and of other cities of the nations, with the towers thereof, is this to be understood, even of mystical, and not of literal Babylon; see ( Revelation 11:13 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F7 Bemidbar Rabba, fol. 212. 3.

Isaiah 30:25 In-Context

23 Then he will give you rain for the seed you use to sow your land; and the food that comes from the ground will be rich and abundant. When that day comes, your cattle will graze in spacious pastures.
24 The oxen and donkeys that work the land will eat a tasty mixture, winnowed free of chaff, spread by pitchfork and shovel.
25 On every high mountain and lofty hill will be streams and flowing brooks, on a day of great slaughter, when the towers fall.
26 Moreover, the light of the moon will be as bright as the light of the sun; and the light of the sun will be seven times stronger, like the light of seven days [in one], on the day ADONAI binds up the wounds of his people and heals the bruise caused by the blow.
27 Here comes the name of ADONAI from afar, his anger burning, in thick rising smoke. His lips are full to the brim with fury, his tongue a consuming fire.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.