Isaiah 40:24 - Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Bible Comments

Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

They - the 'princes and judges' (Isaiah 40:23) who oppose God's purposes and God's people.

Shall not be planted. They are often compared to tall trees (Psalms 37:35; Daniel 4:10).

Not be sown - the seed, i:e., race, shall become extinct (Nahum 1:14).

Their stock - not even shall any shoots spring up from the stump when the tree has been cut down. No descendants whatever (Job 14:7: note, Isaiah 11:1).

And he shall also - so the Septuagint. But Maurer translates the previous clauses in connection with this clause. 'They are hardly (literally, not yet, as in 2 Kings 20:4) planted, etc., when He (God) blows upon them.'

Blow upon them, and they shall wither. The image is from the hot east wind (simoom) that 'withers' vegetation.

The whirlwind shall take them away as stubble - (Psalms 83:13, where "like a wheel" refers to the rotatory action of the whirlwind on the stubble).

Isaiah 40:24

24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.