Isaiah 13:1 to Isaiah 14:23. The Fall of Babylon This is the first of the collection of oracles, dealing mainly with foreign nations, which forms the second great division of the first part of the Book of Isaiah (see General Introd., pp. lxxii f.). It contains two distinct and complete pieces: (1)... [ Continue Reading ]
The superscription, prefixed by an editor who attributed the prophecy to Isaiah. _The burden_ Rather, THE UTTERANCE, or "oracle." The word occurs ten times in the headings of this section of the book (also in ch. Isaiah 30:6). The Heb. is _massâ"_, and means literally a "lifting up (of the voice).... [ Continue Reading ]
_Lift ye up a banner_ A SIGNAL, ch. Isaiah 5:26. _upon the high mountain_ Render, UPON A BARE MOUNTAIN; i.e. one denuded of trees, so that the signal might be clearly distinguished. _the gates of the nobles_ The city gates through which the Babylonian magnates passed to and fro. The name Babel (Ba... [ Continue Reading ]
Jehovah musters His hosts.... [ Continue Reading ]
Jehovah speaks. _my sanctified_(or CONSECRATED) _ones_ In ancient times a campaign was inaugurated with religious ceremonies (1 Samuel 13:9; Jeremiah 22:7; Jeremiah 51:28 [R.V. marg.]) and each warrior was a consecrated man (1 Samuel 21:5). _them that rejoice in my highness_ Translate as in R.V. M... [ Continue Reading ]
Already the prophet seems to hear from afar the din of the gathering multitude. _The noise of a multitude_ Better as an exclamation, HARK, A TUMULT. And so in the next clause, HARK, THE UPROAR OF … The "mountains" are those beyond the Zagros range, N.E. of Babylonia, where the territory of the Mede... [ Continue Reading ]
The host is now seen in motion, advancing under the guidance of Jehovah to its appointed goal. _the whole land_ Rather, THE WHOLE EARTH. The judgment is directed against the Babylonian Empire, which from the writer's point of view was practically co-extensive with the civilised world.... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse is almost identical with Joel 1:15. On the "day of Jehovah" see on ch. Isaiah 2:12. _as a destruction from the Almighty_ The Heb. phrase contains an alliteration which cannot be easily reproduced in English. The Germans render "wie Gewalt vom Gewaltigen." The word for "Almighty" is the Div... [ Continue Reading ]
"Hands hanging down" and "hearts melting" are frequent images of despair (ch. Isaiah 19:1; Ezekiel 21:7; Job 4:3; Joshua 7:5, &c.).... [ Continue Reading ]
_they shall be amazed one at another_ i.e. "look in horror on each other." _their faces shall be as flames_ Lit. FACES OF FLAMES ARE THEIR FACES, burning with feverish excitement, or perhaps with shame (Ezekiel 7:18). There are no exact parallels to the expression; cf. Joel 2:6; Nahum 2:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
_land_ Rather, EARTH, as in Isaiah 13:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
The middle division of the prophecy enlarges on the nature, purpose and effects of this day of Jehovah.... [ Continue Reading ]
"The day of the Lord is darkness, and not light," Amos 5:18. _the constellations thereof_ The Heb. word (_kěsîl_) is used in the singular in Amos 5:8; Job 9:9; Job 38:31, of a particular constellation, probably Orion (but according to another tradition, the star Canopus). Its meaning, -fool" or -fo... [ Continue Reading ]
Jehovah is again the speaker, as in Isaiah 13:3. The prophet has already in Isaiah 13:9 intimated the purpose of the judgment; here the thought is added that in its execution the existing generation will be all but exterminated; so wide-spread is the wickedness and tyranny of the world.... [ Continue Reading ]
_golden wedge_ Render simply GOLD. Both the words for gold are rare and poetic.... [ Continue Reading ]
By the outbreak of Jehovah's wrath the material universe is shaken to its foundations. Such representations are common in the descriptions of the day of the Lord, and are not to be dismissed as merely figurative. Cf. ch. Isaiah 2:12 ff.... [ Continue Reading ]
Those who flee to their own land are the foreign residents who had been attracted by the wealth and commerce of Babylon from all parts of the world, cf. Jeremiah 51:44; Nahum 2:8; Nahum 3:16. _a sheep that no_man _taketh up_ Better: SHEEP WITH NONE TO GATHER THEM, Nahum 3:18. For the figure cf. 1 K... [ Continue Reading ]
The dispersion and slaughter of the population of Babylon. The prophecy from this point becomes more explicit in its main reference to Babylon.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Every one that is found_ Chiefly the natives of Babylon, who had no land to flee to. The phrase - _every one that is joined_unto them" is better translated, EVERY ONE THAT IS CAUGHT.... [ Continue Reading ]
That the capture of Babylon should be marked by the atrocities here spoken of was no doubt to be expected from the character of the Medes (Isaiah 13:17 f.), but no such crimes appear to have stained the actual victory of Cyrus. According to Babylonian records he took possession of the city peacefull... [ Continue Reading ]
_the Medes_ This Iranian people first became a leading power in Asia when it divided with the Chaldæans the spoils of the Assyrian Empire (b.c. 606), but it was not till the rise of the great conqueror Cyrus that it became a formidable enemy to Babylon. Cyrus, according to the classical historians,... [ Continue Reading ]
The description of the character of the invaders, perhaps even the mention of their name, is of the nature of a climax to the terrors of the picture.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the Chaldees" excellency_ The territory of the Chaldæans lay near the head of the Persian Gulf. Their dominion over Babylon began with Nabopolassar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar. _as when God overthrew, &c._ See on Isaiah 1:7 and cf. Amos 4:11, where the same phrase occurs (also Jeremiah 50:40).... [ Continue Reading ]
_the Arabian_ Cf. Jeremiah 3:2. The word seems originally to mean "dweller in the desert," but ultimately acquired the force of a proper name (see Jeremiah 25:24; 2 Chronicles 9:14, &c.). The site of Babylon will be shunned even by the wandering nomad, as an accursed and "uncanny" place.... [ Continue Reading ]
Babylon, after its overthrow, shall be a perpetual desolation.... [ Continue Reading ]
_wild beasts of the desert_ The word used means strictly "dwellers in the desert" and is applied to men in Psalms 72:9. In ch. Isaiah 34:14 it seems to denote a particular kind of desert creature. _doleful creatures_ Probably "howlers," but what kind of howlers are meant is altogether uncertain. So... [ Continue Reading ]
It shall be haunted by wild beasts and creatures of demon kind, like the _jinn_of the Arabs. See ch. Isaiah 34:11-15; Zephaniah 2:14 f.; Jeremiah 50:39; Jeremiah 51:37.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the wild beasts of the islands_ R.V. WOLVES. The word has certainly nothing to do with that for "island." It probably comes from another root meaning "to howl"; but again it is impossible to specify the particular animal. _their desolate houses_ The word is _"almânôth_, "widows," which A.V. follow... [ Continue Reading ]