Isaiah 24:5

24:5 The earth is defiled by its inhabitants,

for they have violated laws,

disregarded the regulation,

and broken the permanent treaty.

Isaiah 33:8

33:8 Highways are empty,

there are no travelers.

Treaties are broken,

witnesses are despised,

human life is treated with disrespect.


tn Heb “beneath”; cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV “under”; NAB “because of.”

sn Isa 26:21 suggests that the earth’s inhabitants defiled the earth by shedding the blood of their fellow human beings. See also Num 35:33-34, which assumes that bloodshed defiles a land.

tn Heb “moved past [the?] regulation.”

tn Or “everlasting covenant” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the ancient covenant”; CEV “their agreement that was to last forever.”

tn Or “desolate” (NAB, NASB); NIV, NRSV, NLT “deserted.”

tn Heb “the one passing by on the road ceases.”

tn Heb “one breaks a treaty”; NAB “Covenants are broken.”

tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “he despises cities.” The term עָרִים (’arim, “cities”) is probably a corruption of an original עֵדִים (’edim, “[legal] witnesses”), a reading that is preserved in the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa. Confusion of dalet (ד) and resh (ר) is a well-attested scribal error.

tn Heb “he does not regard human beings.”