Isaiah 14:1-23 contains (1) an Introduction connecting the ode with the preceding prophecy (Isaiah 14:1 _a_), (2) a song of triumph over the king of Babylon (Isaiah 14:4; Isaiah 14:4), (3) an Epilogue (Isaiah 14:22).... [ Continue Reading ]
The immediate result of the judgment on Babylon will be the emancipation of Israel from captivity. _will yet choose Israel_ Rather, WILL AGAIN CHOOSE, as formerly in Egypt (cf. Zechariah 2:12). _the strangers_ THE SOJOURNER, or protected guest; here used, as in later Hebrew, with the sense of "pro... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the people_ AND PEOPLES (ch. Isaiah 49:22 f.). _shall possess them_ Lit. "serve themselves heirs to them" (Leviticus 25:46). For the idea cf. ch. Isaiah 60:10; Isaiah 60:14; Isaiah 61:5. _they shall take them captives, whose captives they were_ Judges 5:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
_thy fear_ Rather THY UNREST, or "trouble" (R.V.). _the hard bondage_ R.V. SERVICE. From Exodus 1:14. The analogy of the Egyptian oppression is prominent in the writer's thoughts.... [ Continue Reading ]
_this proverb_ The Hebrew word (_mâshâl_) is used in a variety of senses. Originally signifying a similitude, it came naturally to denote a popular proverb or gnomic saying, and finally acquired the sense of a satire or TAUNT-SONG, as here (Habakkuk 2:6; Numbers 21:27). In ancient Israel wit seems t... [ Continue Reading ]
_b_ 8. The first strophe is like a sigh of relief breathed by the whole of creation, when the disturber of its peace has vanished from the scene.... [ Continue Reading ]
_b_ 21. The song of triumph over the king of Babylon is one of the finest specimens of Hebrew poetry which the Old Testament contains. A division into five strophes, each containing seven long lines, is distinctly recognisable, and the occasional deviations from strict symmetry of form are probably... [ Continue Reading ]
_the rulers_ here used in the sense of TYRANTS.... [ Continue Reading ]
_He who_ Better, as R.V., THAT; the antecedent being the staff, _is persecuted_, and _none hindereth_ R.V. "with a persecution that none restrained." The parallelism requires instead of "persecution" a noun cognate with the verb rendered "rule," as in the preceding line. An easy emendation (_mirdat... [ Continue Reading ]
_they break forth_into _singing_ A favourite idea in the second part of the book: ch. Isaiah 44:23; Isaiah 49:13; Isaiah 54:1; Isaiah 55:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the fir trees_ Some render "cypresses." _no feller is come up_ Assyrian kings frequently mention among their exploits the cutting of trees in Lebanon and Amanus. Nebuchadnezzar, whose inscriptions have been found on Lebanon, doubtless did the same thing.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hell from beneath_ Rather, SHEOL BENEATH. It is best to retain the Hebrew name of the under-world (_shě"ôl_) as is sometimes done by the Revisers, though not in this passage. An almost exact equivalent would be the Greek _Hades_, For _the dead_, render THE SHADES (_rěphâ"îm_) as in R.V. marg. _the... [ Continue Reading ]
The second strophe forms an effective contrast to the first. He who had so long troubled the earth becomes a disturbing presence in the under-world; the earth is now at rest, Sheol is troubled.... [ Continue Reading ]
It is doubtful whether this verse continues the address of the shades. It certainly does not extend further. For _the grave_read SHEOL. _the noise of thy viols_ possibly indicating that the king had been cut down suddenly at a riotous feast (see Isaiah 21:5; Daniel 5). _the worm is spread under the... [ Continue Reading ]
_O Lucifer; son of the morning_ In his splendour he is likened to the morning star; which was worshipped by the Babylonians under the name of Istar, and is described in Assyrian by an epithet, _mustilil_(shining star), which seems to correspond to the word here used (Schrader, _Cuneiform Inscription... [ Continue Reading ]
The third strophe contains the prophet's reflection on the sudden fall of the king of Babylon. That he should go to Sheol at all was a fate never contemplated by his soaring and self-deifying pride.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north_ Render: THE MOUNT OF ASSEMBLY IN THE UTTERMOST NORTH. We have here apparently an allusion to Babylonian mythology which is partly elucidated by Assyrian inscriptions. There the chief gods are spoken of as born in "the house of the mountain-s... [ Continue Reading ]
Not content with his exalted position the king aspired to equality of rank with the great gods. A similar impiety had already been put by Ezekiel into the mouth of the prince of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:2; Ezekiel 28:6; Ezekiel 28:9; Ezekiel 28:14).... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will be like the most High_ Better: I WILL MAKE MYSELF LIKE TO THE MOST HIGH. The sense of all the previous metaphors is gathered up in this sentence. The king arrogates to himself divine honour.... [ Continue Reading ]
_thou shalt be brought down to_ SHEOL] Such is the end of the "vaulting ambition that o'erleaps itself." The Babylonian Hades (_Aralu_) seems to have been conceived as situated _under_the mountain of the gods. The _pit_means Sheol, and the _sides of the pit_are its inmost recesses, the most dismal p... [ Continue Reading ]
_made the earth to tremble_ Better perhaps, TROUBLED THE EARTH.... [ Continue Reading ]
The fourth strophe. The scene here is no longer in Hades, but on the battle-field, where the dead body of the king lies unburied, exposed to the derision of men.... [ Continue Reading ]
_opened not the house of his prisoners_ Translate as R.V. LET NOT LOOSE HIS PRISONERS TO THEIR HOME (a so-called pregnant construction). But from this point the rhythm is defective, and the text is almost certainly in some disorder. The immediate difficulty might be surmounted by bringing the words... [ Continue Reading ]
_every one in his own house_ This yields a perfectly good sense as it stands, the "house" being the tomb prepared by the king in his lifetime. But it forms a short half-line where a long one is required by the measure; hence the proposal to transfer the words to Isaiah 14:17 (see on that verse).... [ Continue Reading ]
The contrast here is that between the honourable burial accorded to other kings and the indignity to which the king of Babylon is subjected by being deprived of sepulchral rites.... [ Continue Reading ]
_cast out of thy grave_ Better as in R.V., CAST FORTH AWAY FROM THY SEPULCHRE, i.e. flung out unburied. The idea that the body had been _disinterred_is inconsistent with Isaiah 14:20. _like an abominable branch_ A worthless scion of the family. and as _the raiment of those that are slain_ Render a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt not be joined with them_ i.e. either with the kings of the nations (Isaiah 14:18) or (if the transposition mentioned be adopted) with those who lie in stone sepulchres. _thou hast destroyed thy land_ The king has acted as a tyrant not only to Israel but to his own people. _shall never... [ Continue Reading ]
The fifth strophe. The guilt of the king of Babylon, which descends like a curse on his children and leads to their extermination. The impression of textual confusion is confirmed by the fact that this last strophe falls short by about two lines of its proper length.... [ Continue Reading ]
_slaughter_ A PLACE OF SLAUGHTER (R.V. marg.). that _they do not rise … land_ R.V. THAT THEY RISE NOT UP, AND POSSESS THE EARTH. _full the face of the world_with _cities_ This could hardly be reckoned a crime, for it would be undoing the wrong that their father had wrought (Isaiah 14:17). Some ren... [ Continue Reading ]
_son, and nephew_ A phrase recurring in Genesis 21:23; Job 18:19. The proper translation is PROGENY AND OFFSPRING. In old English "nephew" means "grandson." Comp. Spenser's _Fairy Queen_, ii. 8. 29: But from the grandsyre to the nephewes sonne, And all his seede, the curse doth often cleave. (_Ca... [ Continue Reading ]
The Epilogue, going back on the concluding threat of ch. 13.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the bittern_ (ch. Isaiah 34:11; Zephaniah 2:14). Usually rendered "hedgehog" (R.V. PORCUPINE) in accordance with the LXX. and Vulg. and the analogy of Arabic. The bittern certainly suits the scene best, and it is said to have the hedgehog's trick of rolling itself up into an unrecognisable mass. (T... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord of hosts hath sworn_ cf. Amos 4:2; Amos 6:8; Amos 8:7; Isaiah 45:23; Isaiah 54:9; Isaiah 62:8. The formula is nowhere else used by Isaiah. _come to pass … stand_ Combined as in ch. Isaiah 7:7.... [ Continue Reading ]
Isaiah 14:24-32. Two Isaianic Fragments 2 Samuel 14:24; 2 Samuel 14:24. An announcement of Jehovah's purpose to destroy the Assyrians on the soil of Canaan. In spite of the absence of a title these verses cannot without violence be explained as a continuation of the oracle on Babylon. They bear eve... [ Continue Reading ]
_my mountains_ i.e. the mountain land of Palestine. _then shall his yoke depart_ See ch. Isaiah 9:4; Isaiah 10:27.... [ Continue Reading ]
This plan of Jehovah embraces the destinies of all nations (see ch. Isaiah 28:22; Isaiah 10:23; Isaiah 8:9). The expression "the whole earth" is not to be restricted to the Assyrian Empire, nor on the other hand is the meaning that all other peoples shall suffer the same fate as Assyria; it is simpl... [ Continue Reading ]
The superscription. The word "burden" (_massâ"_) makes it improbable that the verse was written by Isaiah. It may nevertheless embody a sound tradition. _the year that king Ahaz died_ Cf. ch. Isaiah 6:1. Probably 727 b.c. (but see Chronological Note, pp. lxxvi f.). Each verse of the short oracle f... [ Continue Reading ]
_whole Palestina_ R.V. PHILISTIA, ALL OF THEE. On the history of the name "Palestine" see G. A. Smith, _Historical Geography_, p. 4. "_All_Philistia" is addressed because the country was broken up into a number of cantons, which might not always be united in political sentiment, as they are at this... [ Continue Reading ]
While Philistia is utterly destroyed, Israel enjoys perfect security under Jehovah's protection (see Isaiah 14:32). _the firstborn of the poor_ must be explained as a superlative "the poorest of the poor." But many commentators prefer, by slightly altering the word for "firstborn," to read "in my m... [ Continue Reading ]
As in Isaiah 14:29 the prophet had rebuked the premature rejoicing of the Philistines, so here he calls them to public lamentation in view of the advancing enemy. _thou_… art _dissolved_ Render as an imper. MELT AWAY, ENTIRE PHILISTIA! _Smoke_may be either a symbol of war (Jeremiah 1:13 f.) or it m... [ Continue Reading ]
The oracle ends, in a manner characteristic of Isaiah, with a piece of practical advice to the political leaders of the state. Some words have probably dropped out of the first half of the verse. _the messengers of the nation_ are no doubt Philistine envoys endeavouring to negotiate an alliance wit... [ Continue Reading ]