Isaiah 24 · a question people ask

"and broken the everlasting covenant" (24:5). Which covenant does it mean?

In the text

The verse doesn't say. It says what was done: "they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant" (24:5), and what followed: "The earth also is polluted under its inhabitants" (24:5) and "Therefore the curse has devoured the earth" (24:6) (tap covenant, curse). In Hebrew everlasting covenant is berit olam, and the Hebrew Bible has the two words side by side 16 times: Genesis 9:16, 17:7, 17:13, 17:19, Exodus 31:16, Leviticus 24:8, 2 Samuel 23:5, 1 Chronicles 16:17, Psalm 105:10, Isaiah 24:5, 55:3, 61:8, Jeremiah 32:40, 50:5, Ezekiel 16:60 and 37:26. The WEB gives them as everlasting covenant in 15 and as "a perpetual covenant" in Exodus 31:16. They are said of "the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth" (Genesis 9:16), of God's covenant with Abraham and his offspring (Genesis 17:7, 17:13, 17:19), confirmed "to Israel for an everlasting covenant" (Psalm 105:10; also 1 Chronicles 16:17), of the Sabbath (Exodus 31:16) and the bread set in order before the LORD every Sabbath (Leviticus 24:8), and of God's covenant with David (2 Samuel 23:5). In the prophets the LORD says, "I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David" (Isaiah 55:3), and the words stand again in Isaiah 61:8, Jeremiah 32:40, 50:5, Ezekiel 16:60 and 37:26. These are the places the words stand. Isaiah 24:5 names none of them, and these notes don't choose among them.

The verses

“The earth also is polluted under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell therein are found guilty. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.”
Isaiah 24:5-6 · World English Bible
“The rainbow will be in the cloud. I will look at it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.””
Genesis 9:16 · World English Bible
“I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring after you.”
Genesis 17:7 · World English Bible
“He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your money, must be circumcised. My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.”
Genesis 17:13 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Isaiah 24

Isaiah 24: The earth made empty

"The confused city" of 24:10 is, in Hebrew, the city of tohu, the word of Genesis 1:2's "formless". And a chapter that empties the earth ends not with its fall but with a reason: the moon and sun are put to shame, "for the LORD of Armies will reign on Mount Zion" (24:23).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions