Isaiah 24 · a question people ask
Who are "the army of the high ones on high" (24:21), and what does "visited" mean in 24:22?
The chapter doesn't say who they are. It sets them beside "the kings of the earth on the earth" (24:21): some on high, some on the earth, and the LORD will punish both. It says, "They will be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and will be shut up in the prison; and after many days they will be visited" (24:22). On high is marom, and the chapter has the word four times: "The lofty people of the earth languish" (24:4), "the windows on high are opened" (24:18), and twice in 24:21. Punish in 24:21 and visited in 24:22 are one Hebrew verb, paqad (tap punish), which Brown-Driver-Briggs gives as "attend to, visit, muster, appoint" and Strong's as "to visit (with friendly or hostile intent)". The chapter doesn't say what the visiting after many days will be, or when, and these notes don't either.
The verses
“The earth mourns and fades away. The world languishes and fades away. The lofty people of the earth languish.”
“It will happen that he who flees from the noise of the fear will fall into the pit; and he who comes up out of the middle of the pit will be taken in the snare; for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.”
“It will happen in that day that the LORD will punish the army of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth on the earth. They will be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and will be shut up in the prison; and after many days they will be visited.”