Isaiah 34:9

9 Its 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 The wild oxen will come down with them, and the young bulls with the mighty bulls; and their land will be drunken with blood, and their dust made greasy with fat.

8 For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

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

10 It won’t be quenched night or day. Its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation, it will lie waste. No one will pass through it forever and ever.

11 But the pelican and the porcupine will possess it. The owl and the raven will dwell in it. He will stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plumb line of emptiness.