Bible Strands
Isaiah 34:4
All the stars of heaven will be dissolved. The skies will be rolled up like a scroll, and all their stars will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like foliage from the fig tree.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God pronounces judgment on Edom and the surrounding nations within a prophetic vision that immediately follows the description of unburied corpses and mountains flowing with blood.
The words — The Hebrew verb נָמַקּוּ (na.ma.ku) literally means "they will rot away," describing the dissolution of the stars, while נָגֹלּוּ (na.go.lu) translates to "they will be rolled up," depicting the skies folding like a scroll.
The thread — This cosmic imagery parallels Revelation 6:13, where stars fall like unripe figs from a shaken tree, and Matthew 24:29, which records the sun darkening and the moon withholding its light after tribulation.
Why it lands — It demands recognition that divine judgment operates on both terrestrial and cosmic scales, requiring the reader to confront the absolute scope of God's wrath without minimizing its severity.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.
Cross-references
- Revelation 6:13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth like unripe figs dropping from a tree shaken by a great wind.
- Matthew 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’
- Ezekiel 32:7 When I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light.
- Joel 3:15 The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine.
- Psalms 102:25 In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
- Mark 13:24 But in those days, after that tribulation: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;
- 2 Peter 3:7 And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
- Jeremiah 4:23 I looked at the earth, and it was formless and void; I looked to the heavens, and they had no light.
- Joel 2:30 I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.
- Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.