ISAIAH CHAPTER 13 God's armies, ISAIAH 13:1. The destruction of
Babylon by the Persians and Medes: their great distress and anguish;
and their utter desolation, ISAIAH 13:6. THE BURDEN: this title is
commonly given to sad prophecies, which indeed are grievous burdens to
them upon whom they are laid.... [ Continue Reading ]
LIFT YE UP A BANNER, to gather soldiers together for this expedition.
UPON THE HIGH MOUNTAIN; whence it may be discerned at a considerable
distance. Withal he seems to intimate that their enemies should come
from the mountainous country of Media. UNTO THEM; to the Medes, who
are named below, ISAIAH... [ Continue Reading ]
MY SANCTIFIED ONES; the Medes and Persians, fitly so called, because
they were solemnly designed and set apart by God for his own service,
and for this holy work of executing his just vengeance upon them. MY
MIGHTY ONES; those whom I have made mighty for this work. IN MY
HIGHNESS; or, as others rend... [ Continue Reading ]
THE KINGDOMS OF NATIONS; the Medes and Persians, and other nations
which served under them in this war; of which see JEREMIAH 25:14,
JEREMIAH 27:7 50:41.... [ Continue Reading ]
FROM THE END OF HEAVEN; from the ends of the earth under heaven, as
MATTHEW 24:30; which is not to be understood strictly and properly,
but popularly and hyperbolically, as such expressions are commonly
used in sacred and profane authors. And yet in some respects this
might be truly said of Persia,... [ Continue Reading ]
IT SHALL COME AS A DESTRUCTION; or rather, a destruction or
devastation shall come, as the LXX. and vulgar Latin render it. For
this was not AS A DESTRUCTION, but was a destruction indeed. And the
particle as is not seldom used to express, not the likeness, but the
reality of the thing, as 1 THESSAL... [ Continue Reading ]
No text from Poole on this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL BE AMAZED ONE AT ANOTHER, to see so populous and
impregnable a city as Babylon was, so easily and unexpectedly taken.
FLAMES, Heb. _faces of flame_; either pale with fear, or inflamed with
rage and torment, as men in misery frequently are. Some render it _the
faces of Lehabim_, a people d... [ Continue Reading ]
CRUEL BOTH WITH WRATH AND FIERCE ANGER; divers words are heaped
together, to signify the extremity of his anger. THE SINNERS THEREOF;
the inhabitants of that city, who were guilty of so much idolatry and
cruelty, and all sorts of luxury.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CONSTELLATIONS; which consist of many stars, and therefore give a
greater light. THE SUN SHALL BE DARKENED; either,
1. Properly and really, by an eclipse; for prodigies in heaven do
sometimes go before or accompany great and public calamities upon
earth. Or,
2. Figuratively, and in appearance.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WORLD; the Babylonish empire, which is called the world, as the
Roman empire afterward was, LUKE 2:1, because it was extended to a
great part of the world, and because it was vastly populous, and
Babylon itself looked more like a world than one city. OF THE
TERRIBLE; of them who formerly were ve... [ Continue Reading ]
The city and nation shall be so depopulated, that few men shall be
left in it.... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL SHAKE THE HEAVENS, AND THE EARTH SHALL REMOVE OUT OF HER PLACE;
a poetical and prophetical description of great errors and confusions,
as if heaven and earth were about to meet together.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT, to wit, Babylon, SHALL BE AS THE CHASED ROE; fearful in
itself, especially when it is pursued by the hunter. AS A SHEEP THAT
NO MAN TAKETH UP; in a most forlorn and neglected condition. EVERY
MAN; those soldiers of other and more warlike nations whom she had
hired to assist her; which she us... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT IS FOUND IN BABYLON, at the taking of it; the expectation whereof
made them flee away with all speed.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR CHILDREN ALSO SHALL BE DASHED TO PIECES BEFORE THEIR EYES, as a
just recompence for the like cruelty acted by them upon the Jews, 2
CHRONICLES 36:17, which also was foretold, PSALMS 137:9.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MEDES; under whom he comprehends the Persians, who were their
neighbours and confederates in this expedition. THEY SHALL NOT DELIGHT
IN IT; which is to be understood comparatively. They shall more
eagerly pursue the destruction of the people than the getting of
spoil; whereby it shall appear tha... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR BOWS; under which are comprehended their arrows, and possibly
other weapons of war; for so generally sometimes is the bow used in
Scripture, as 2 SAMUEL 1:18 PSALMS 78:9 ISAIAH 41:2. _Shall dash the
young men to pieces_; or, _shall pierce the young men through_, as the
Chaldee readers it.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GLORY OF KINGDOMS; which once was the most noble and excellent of
all the kingdoms then in being, and Was more glorious than the
succeeding empires, whence it was represented by _the head of gold_,
DANIEL 2:32. THE BEAUTY OF THE CHALDEES EXCELLENCY; the famous and
beautiful seat of the Chaldean... [ Continue Reading ]
IT SHALL NEVER BE INHABITED, after the destruction threatened shall be
fully accomplished. NEITHER SHALL THE ARABIAN, who dwelt in tents, and
wandered from place, where they could find pasture; but shall avoid
this place, either because the land, once noted for great
fruitfulness, is now become barr... [ Continue Reading ]
WILD BEASTS OF THE DESERT SHALL LIE THERE; the land being forsaken by
men, shall be possessed by wild beasts, which love solitary places.
What the Hebrew words used here, and in the next verse, signify, the
learned may see in my Latin Synopsis; and for others, it may suffice
to know that in which al... [ Continue Reading ]
HER TIME IS NEAR TO COME; so it was, though not according to man's
rash judgment and impatient expectation, yet according to God's
estimation, and to the eye of faith, whereby Abraham saw Christ's day
as present, many ages before it came, 1 THESSALONIANS 8:56: and
comparatively; for it happened with... [ Continue Reading ]