The Meaning of Isaiah 34:1 Explained

Isaiah 34:1

KJV: Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.

YLT: Come near, ye nations, to hear, And ye peoples, give attention, Hear doth the earth and its fulness, The world, and all its productions.

Darby: Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples: let the earth hear, and all its fulness; the world, and all that cometh forth of it.

ASV: Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples: let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all things that come forth from it.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Come near,  ye nations,  to hear;  and hearken,  ye people:  let the earth  hear,  and all that is therein;  the world,  and all things that come forth  of it. 

What does Isaiah 34:1 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Isaiah called everyone in the world to hear what follows (cf. Isaiah 1:2; Psalm 25:1; Psalm 96:1-3; Psalm 97:1; Psalm 98:1-2; Psalm 98:4). It has universal significance and scope.

Context Summary

Isaiah 34:1-17 - Reaping The Whirlwind
This chapter is one prolonged description of the judgments which were to befall the nations at the hand of Assyria and Babylon. The imagery employed is borrowed from the destruction of the cities of the plain. Streams of pitch; dust of brimstone; the ever-ascending smoke of a furnace; the scream of the eagle, hawk, and owl; the invasion of palaces by the thistle; the howl of the wolf; the call of the jackal; the arrow-snakes nest; the kite with its mate-such are the illustrations employed to depict the scorching desolations which were impending. Edom is especially mentioned as suffering these awful desolations because of her long-standing hatred of Israel. See Psalms 137:7; Ezekiel 36:5; Lamentations 4:21-22. These terrible and graphic predictions have been literally fulfilled, but they foreshadow those further and eternal disasters which must overtake willful and designed rejection of the divine purposes and laws. Are not all nations at this hour standing before the Son of man and being judged? See Matthew 25:31. [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 34

1  The judgments wherewith God revenges his church
11  The desolation of her enemies
16  The certainty of the prophecy

What do the individual words in Isaiah 34:1 mean?

Come near you nations to hear and you people heed let hear the earth and all that is in it the world and all [things] that come forth from it
קִרְב֤וּ גוֹיִם֙ לִשְׁמֹ֔עַ ! וּלְאֻמִּ֖ים הַקְשִׁ֑יבוּ תִּשְׁמַ֤ע הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ וּמְלֹאָ֔הּ תֵּבֵ֖ל וְכָל־ צֶאֱצָאֶֽיהָ

קִרְב֤וּ  Come  near 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: קָרַב  
Sense: to come near, approach, enter into, draw near.
גוֹיִם֙  you  nations 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: גֹּוי 
Sense: nation, people.
לִשְׁמֹ֔עַ  to  hear 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: שָׁמַע 
Sense: to hear, listen to, obey.
! וּלְאֻמִּ֖ים  and  you  people 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural
Root: לְאֹם  
Sense: a people, nation.
הַקְשִׁ֑יבוּ  heed 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: קָשַׁב  
Sense: to hear, be attentive, heed, incline (of ears), attend (of ears), hearken, pay attention, listen.
תִּשְׁמַ֤ע  let  hear 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: שָׁמַע 
Sense: to hear, listen to, obey.
הָאָ֙רֶץ֙  the  earth 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
וּמְלֹאָ֔הּ  and  all  that  is  in  it 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person feminine singular
Root: מְלֹא  
Sense: fullness, that which fills.
תֵּבֵ֖ל  the  world 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: תֵּבֵל  
Sense: world.
וְכָל־  and  all  [things] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
צֶאֱצָאֶֽיהָ  that  come  forth  from  it 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person feminine singular
Root: צֶאֱצָאִים  
Sense: offspring, produce, issue.