The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us. The high-places - Idol temples.
Of Aven - Beth-aven.
The thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars - Owing to the uncultivated and unfrequented state of the land, and of their places of idol worship, the people being all carried away into captivity.
"And they shall say to the mountains, Cover us, And to the hills, Fall on us."
"This sublime description of fear and distress our Lord had in view, Luke 23:30, which may be a reference, and not a quotation. However, the Septuagint, in the Codex Alexandrinus, has the same order of words as occurs in the evangelist. The parallelism makes the passages more beautiful than Revelation 6:16; and Isaiah 2:19 wants the animated dramatic form. That there is a reference to the caverns that abounded in the mountainous countries of Palestine, see the note on Isaiah 2:19 (note)." - Newcome.