And they have gone forth, And looked on the carcases of the men Who are transgressing against me, For their worm dieth not, And their fire is not quenched, And they have been an abhorrence to all flesh!Isaiah 66:24 Additional Translations
Clarke's Commentary on the BibleFor their worm shall not die - These words of the prophet are applied by our blessed Savior, Mark 9:44, to express the everlasting punishment of the wicked in Gehenna, or in hell. Gehenna, or the valley of Hinnom, was very near to Jerusalem to the south-east: it was the place where the idolatrous Jews celebrated that horrible rite of making their children pass through the fire, that is, of burning them in sacrifice to Moloch. To put a stop to this abominable practice, Josiah defiled, or desecrated, the place, by filling it with human bones, 2 Kings 23:10, 2 Kings 23:14; and probably it was the custom afterwards to throw out the carcasses of animals there, when it also became the common burying place for the poorer people of Jerusalem. Our Savior expressed the state of the blessed by sensible images; such as paradise, Abraham's bosom, or, which is the same thing, a place to recline next to Abraham at table in the kingdom of heaven. See Matthew 8:11. Coenabat Nerva cum paucis. Veiento proxies, atque etiam in sinu recumbebat. "The Emperor Nerva supped with few. Veiento was the first in his estimation, and even reclined in his bosom." Plin. Epist. 4:22. Compare John 13:23; for we could not possibly have any conception of it but by analogy from worldly objects. In like manner he expressed the place of torment under the image of Gehenna; and the punishment of the wicked by the worm which there preyed on the carcasses, and the fire that consumed the wretched victims. Marking however, in the strongest manner, the difference between Gehenna and the invisible place of torment; namely, that in the former the suffering is transient: - the worm itself which preys upon the body, dies; and the fire which totally consumes it, is soon extinguished: - whereas in the figurative Gehenna the instruments of punishment shall be everlasting, and the suffering without end; "for there the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."
These emblematical images, expressing heaven and hell, were in use among the Jews before our Savior's time; and in using them he complied with their notions. "Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God," says the Jew to our Savior, Luke 14:15. And in regard to Gehenna, the Chaldee paraphrase as I observed before on Isaiah 30:33, renders everlasting or continual burnings by "the Gehenna of everlasting fire." And before his time the son of Sirach, 7:17, had said, "The vengeance of the ungodly is fire and worms." So likewise the author of the book of Judith, chap. 16:17: "Wo to the nations rising up against my kindred: the Lord Almighty will take vengeance of them in the day of judgment, in putting fire and worms in their flesh;" manifestly referring to the same emblem. - L.
Kimchi's conclusion of his notes on this book is remarkable: -
"Blessed be God who hath created the mountains and the hills,
And hath endued me with strength to finish the book of salvation:
He shall rejoice us with good tidings and reports;
He shall show us a token for good: -
And the end of his miracles he shall cause to approach us."
Several of the Versions have a peculiarity in their terminations: -
And they shall be to a satiety of sight to all flesh.
Vulgate.
And thei schul ben into fyllyng of sigt to all fleshe.
Old MS. Bible.
And they shall be as a vision to all flesh.
continued...
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
and look
Isaiah 66:16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
Psalm 58:10,11 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked...
Ezekiel 39:9-16 And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers...
Zechariah 14:12,18,19 And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem...
Revelation 19:17-21 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the middle of heaven...
their worm
Isaiah 14:11 Your pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of your viols: the worm is spread under you, and the worms cover you.
Mark 9:44-49 Where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched...
Revelation 14:10,11 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation...
their fire
Isaiah 34:10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste...
Matthew 3:12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner...
and they
Isaiah 65:15 And you shall leave your name for a curse to my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay you, and call his servants by another name:
Daniel 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
1 Thessalonians 2:15,16 Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men...
Isaiah 66:24 Parallel Commentaries
Abhorrence Abhorring Bodies Carcases Carcasses Corpses Dead Die Evil Fear Fire Flesh Forth Look Mankind Quenched Rebelled Transgressed Transgressing WormAbhorrence Abhorring Bodies Carcases Carcasses Corpses Dead Die Evil Fear Fire Flesh Forth Look Mankind Quenched Rebelled Transgressed Transgressing WormTHE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica®.Isaiah 66:24 Mobile Bible
Isaiah 66:24 Bible Suite
Isaiah 66:24 Biblia Paralela
Isaiah 66:24 Chinese Bible
Bible Apps
Bible Hub
