He shall mightily roar upon his habitation. — The use of the same English word for two Hebrew words of very different meaning is here singularly infelicitous. The first “habitation” is the dwelling-place of Jehovah, from which the thunders of His wrath are heard. The second is the “pasture” or dwelling-place of the flock and its shepherds, as in Jeremiah 6:2; Jeremiah 10:25; Psalms 79:7, upon whom the storm falls. Possibly, under its association with this new word, the roaring becomes to the prophet’s mind as that of the lion which attacks the flock. The same bold imagery for the Divine judgments meets us in Joel 3:16; Amos 1:2; Amos 3:8.
A shout, as they that tread the grapes. — The image is reproduced from Isaiah 63:3. The “shout” of those who tread the wine-press, crushing the grapes beneath their feet (Isaiah 16:10), is as the victorious war-cry of the Lord of Hosts, working through human conquerors, and crushing the nations of the earth in His avenging wrath.