Fear, and the pit, and the snare— The prophet proceeds to set forth the judgment itself, with its various gradations, the first of which is contained in these verses. The meaning is, that it should be a time of extreme straits and difficulties in which every one should be so surrounded with various dangers, that if he escaped one, he would easily fall into another, and undoubtedly perish. See Jeremiah 48:43 and Amos 5:19. There is a remarkable elegance in the original of the 17th verse, and great sublimity in the latter clause of the 18th, where the ideas and expressions are taken from the deluge, and are strongly expressive of that deluge of divine wrath which should fall upon, and totally overwhelm the apostate enemies of their religion and country. See Josephus, and the history of those times.
Related Commentaries of Isaiah 24:17
Isaiah 24:17-18
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.