Discovery BoxIsaiah 24:17-21 
Context24:17 Terror, pit, and snare
are ready to overtake you inhabitants of the earth! 1
24:18 The one who runs away from the sound of the terror
will fall into the pit; 2
the one who climbs out of the pit,
will be trapped by the snare.
For the floodgates of the heavens 3 are opened up 4
and the foundations of the earth shake.
24:19 The earth is broken in pieces,
the earth is ripped to shreds,
the earth shakes violently. 5
24:20 The earth will stagger around 6 like a drunk;
it will sway back and forth like a hut in a windstorm. 7
Its sin will weigh it down,
and it will fall and never get up again.
24:21 At that time 8 the Lord will punish 9
the heavenly forces in the heavens 10
and the earthly kings on the earth.
1 tn Heb “[are] upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.” The first line of v. 17 provides another classic example of Hebrew wordplay. The names of the three instruments of judgment (פָח,פַחַת,פַּחַד [pakhad, fakhat, fakh]) all begin with the letters פח (peh-khet) and the first two end in dental consonants (ת/ד, tet/dalet). Once again the repetition of sound draws attention to the statement and contributes to the theme of the inescapability of judgment. As their similar-sounding names suggest, terror, pit, and snare are allies in destroying the objects of divine wrath.
2 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
3 tn Heb “from the height”; KJV “from on high.”
4 sn The language reflects the account of the Noahic Flood (see Gen 7:11).
5 tn Once more repetition is used to draw attention to a statement. In the Hebrew text each lines ends with אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”). Each line also uses a Hitpolel verb form from a geminate root preceded by an emphatic infinitive absolute.
6 tn Heb “staggering, staggers.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb for emphasis and sound play.
7 tn The words “in a windstorm” are supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.
8 tn Or “in that day” (so KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
9 tn Heb “visit [in judgment].”
10 tn Heb “the host of the height in the height.” The “host of the height/heaven” refers to the heavenly luminaries (stars and planets, see, among others, Deut 4:19; 17:3; 2 Kgs 17:16; 21:3, 5; 23:4-5; 2 Chr 33:3, 5) that populate the divine/heavenly assembly in mythological and prescientific Israelite thought (see Job 38:7; Isa 14:13).
