Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
Ver. 1. Behold the Lord emptieth.] It must needs be a matter of some rare and marvellous consequence, that "Behold" - the "oh yes!" of the Holy Ghost - is thus set before.
The Lord emptieth,] i.e., Will empty; an idiom proper to God's prophets, who saw in the Spirit things to come as if they were even then done.
The earth.] Or, The land, sc., Of Jewry, by a woeful desolation, Lege et luge, by law and lament. Some hold it to be a metaphor from ships overloaded, which therefore must be disburdened; so was the land to be eased of her inhabitants, which she could hardly stand under.
And waste.] Making havoc of persons and things of worth.
Turneth it upside down.] Ferens, agens sursum deorsum omnia, turning all things topsy turvy, as they say.