Isaiah 34:9

9 And the torrents thereof shall be turned into pitch, and its dust into brimstone; yea, the land thereof shall 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 And the buffaloes shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

8 For it is the day of Jehovah's vengeance, the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.

9 And the torrents thereof shall be turned into pitch, and its dust into brimstone; yea, the land thereof shall become burning pitch:

10 it shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.

11 And the pelican and the bittern shall possess it, and the great owl and the raven shall dwell in it. And he shall stretch out upon it the line of waste, and the plummets of emptiness.