Yeshayah 34:4

4 And kol Tz’va HaShomayim (all the host of heaven) shall be dissolved, and the Shomayim shall be rolled up like a sefer; and all their tz’va shall fall, like the aleh (leaf) falleth from the gefen, like that falling from the te’enah (fig tree).

Yeshayah 34:4 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 34:4

And all the hosts of heaven shall be dissolved
"Pine away" F9, as with sickness, grow languid, become obscure, lose their light, and be turned into blood and darkness; this figure is used to express the horror of this calamity, as if the very heavens themselves, and the sun, and moon, and stars, were affected with it; see ( Isaiah 13:10 ) and the heavens shall be rolled gether as a scroll;
a book, or volume, which when rolled up, one letter of it could not be read; and it was the manner formerly of making and writing books in the form of a roll; hence the word volume; and here it signifies that there should be such a change in the heavens, as that not a star should be seen, much less the sun or moon; and may signify the utter removal and abolition of all dignities and offices, supreme and subordinate, civil and ecclesiastical, in the whole Roman jurisdiction; thus the destruction of Rome Pagan is described in ( Revelation 6:14 ) as the destruction of Rome Papal is here; from whence the language seems to be borrowed: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from
the vine, and as a falling [fig] from the fig tree;
that is, the stars should fall down: by whom may be meant persons in office, that made a considerable figure; who shall fall from their stations, in which they shone with much splendour and grandeur, as leaves fall from trees in autumn, particularly the vine; or as unripe and rotten figs fall from the fig tree when shaken by a violent wind; the same metaphor is used in ( Revelation 6:13 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F9 (wqmn) "tabescet", Vatablus; "centabescet", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "contabescent", Cocceius, Gataker.

Yeshayah 34:4 In-Context

2 For the ketzef Hashem (wrath of Hashem) is upon kol HaGoyim, and His chemah (fury, wrath) upon all their tz’va; He hath utterly destroyed them, He hath delivered them to the tevach (slaughter).
3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stench shall go up out of their pegarim (corpses), and the harim shall be drenched with their dahm.
4 And kol Tz’va HaShomayim (all the host of heaven) shall be dissolved, and the Shomayim shall be rolled up like a sefer; and all their tz’va shall fall, like the aleh (leaf) falleth from the gefen, like that falling from the te’enah (fig tree).
5 For My cherev shall be satiated in Shomayim; hinei, it shall come down upon Edom, and shall descend on the Am (people) of My Cherem (ban of destruction) in mishpat.
6 The Cherev Hashem (Sword of Hashem) is filled with dahm, it is gorged with chelev, and with the dahm of lambs and goats, with the chelev of the kidneys of rams; for Hashem hath a zevach in Botzrah, and a tevach gadol in Eretz Edom.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.