Isaiah 5:24

24 Therefore, just as fire licks up stubble and dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will rot and their flowers wither. For they have rejected the law of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies; they have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 5:24 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 5:24

Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble
Or "tongue of fire" ^F8; meaning the flame, the same as in the next clause; because it is in the form of a tongue; see ( Acts 2:3 ) : and the flame consumeth the chaff;
which is done easily, speedily, and entirely; the metaphors denote that their destruction would be easy, swift, sudden, irresistible, and irrecoverable. Reference may be had to the burning of Jerusalem, literally understood: [so] their root shall be rottenness;
and so utterly perish; meaning their fathers, as Aben Ezra and Abarbinel think; or their chief and principal men, before mentioned; or their riches and substance, and whatever they gloried of, or trusted in; see ( Matthew 3:10 ) : and their blossom shall go up as dust;
before the wind; either their children, or whatever was excellent or valuable with them; so Jarchi interprets it of their grandeur, pomp, and glory; it seems to express an utter destruction of them, root and branch, as in ( Malachi 4:1 ) : because they have cast away the law of the Lord;
or doctrine of the Lord; that is, the Gospel; which the Jews blasphemed, contradicted, and put away from them, and judged themselves unworthy of everlasting life: the preaching of a crucified Christ, and salvation by him, and justification by his righteousness, were a stumbling block to them: this is to be understood not of the law of works, but of the law or doctrine of faith: and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel;
meaning either the same as before; expressing their great contempt of the Gospel, and the reason why they rejected it, because they loathed, abhorred, and despised it: or else Christ, the essential Word of God; so the Targum,

``they rejected the Word, the Holy One of Israel;''

as the Messiah, and received him not; and this their rejection of him, and ill treatment of his Gospel and ministers, were the cause of the burning of Jerusalem, and of their utter ruin and destruction, ( Matthew 22:4-7 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 (va Nwvl) "lingua ignis", Vatablus.

Isaiah 5:24 In-Context

22 What sorrow for those who are heroes at drinking wine and boast about all the alcohol they can hold.

23 They take bribes to let the wicked go free, and they punish the innocent.

24 Therefore, just as fire licks up stubble and dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will rot and their flowers wither. For they have rejected the law of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies; they have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25 That is why the LORD ’s anger burns against his people, and why he has raised his fist to crush them. The mountains tremble, and the corpses of his people litter the streets like garbage. But even then the LORD ’s anger is not satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike!

26 He will send a signal to distant nations far away and whistle to those at the ends of the earth. They will come racing toward Jerusalem.