King James Version
Isaiah 13
22 verses with commentary
Prophecy Against Babylon
The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
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KJV Study Commentary
Chapter 13 begins oracles against nations, starting with Babylon. 'The burden of Babylon' introduces a prophetic message of judgment. Isaiah receives this vision 'which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see' during Babylon's rise, predicting its fall—remarkable since Babylon hadn't yet conquered Judah. This demonstrates prophetic insight into future events and God's sovereignty over all nations, not just...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
XIII.
(1) **The burden of Babylon . . .**—The title “burden,” which is repeated in Isaiah 15:1; Isaiah 17:1; Isaiah 19:1; Isaiah 21:1; Isaiah 22:1; Isaiah 23:1, indicates that we have in this division a collection of prophetic utterances, bearing upon the future of the surrounding nations, among which Babylon was naturally pre-eminent. The authenticity of the first of these oracles has been questi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. by judgment--**that is, righteous decisions, opposed to those procured by gifts (compare Pr 28:21), by which good government is perverted.
**land--**for nation.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 13
The armies of God's wrath. (Is. 13:1-5) The conquest of Babylon. (Is. 13:6-18) Its final desolation. (Is. 13:19-22)
**Verses 1-5** The threatenings of God's word press heavily upon the wicked, and are a sore burden, too heavy for them to bear. The persons brought together to lay Babylon waste, are called God's sanctified or appointed ones; designed for this service, and made able ...
Read full commentary →Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
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KJV Study Commentary
God commands raising a banner on a high mountain, summoning armies for judgment. The 'exalted voice' and beckoning hand mobilize forces to enter 'gates of the nobles'—Babylon's palaces. This depicts God sovereignly orchestrating military campaigns. He commands armies (though they don't know Him) to execute His purposes. The imagery shows God's absolute control over international politics and warfa...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain . . .**—Strictly speaking, *a bare mountain. *where there were no trees to hide the standard round which the forces that the prophet sees were to rally. The word and thought are the same as in Isaiah 5:26; but there the summons lies for the invaders of Israel, here for its avengers. The voice that summons is, as the next verse shows, that of Jehovah...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
5. (Compare Pr 26:28).
**spreadeth ... feet--**By misleading him as to his real character, the flatterer brings him to evil, prepared by himself or others.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 13
The armies of God's wrath. (Is. 13:1-5) The conquest of Babylon. (Is. 13:6-18) Its final desolation. (Is. 13:19-22)
**Verses 1-5** The threatenings of God's word press heavily upon the wicked, and are a sore burden, too heavy for them to bear. The persons brought together to lay Babylon waste, are called God's sanctified or appointed ones; designed for this service, and made able ...
Read full commentary →I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.
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KJV Study Commentary
God has 'sanctified' (set apart) and 'called' His mighty ones—the Medo-Persian army—for His anger. They are His warriors who rejoice in His highness, though unwittingly. This reveals that God sanctifies even pagan armies for specific purposes. Being 'sanctified' here means set apart for divine use, not moral purification. God can consecrate any instrument for His purposes. This demonstrates compre...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **I have commanded my sanctified ones . . .**—The word is applied even to the fierce tribes of the future destroyers, as being appointed, or *consecrated, *by Jehovah for that special work. The thought and the words (there translated “prepare”) appear in Jeremiah 6:4; Jeremiah 22:7; Jeremiah 51:27. So in the later prophecies Cyrus appears as “the anointed” of the Lord (Isaiah 45:1).
**Even the...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. In--**or, "By"
**the transgression--**he is brought into difficulty (Pr 12:13), but the righteous go on prospering, and so sing or rejoice.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 13
The armies of God's wrath. (Is. 13:1-5) The conquest of Babylon. (Is. 13:6-18) Its final desolation. (Is. 13:19-22)
**Verses 1-5** The threatenings of God's word press heavily upon the wicked, and are a sore burden, too heavy for them to bear. The persons brought together to lay Babylon waste, are called God's sanctified or appointed ones; designed for this service, and made able ...
Read full commentary →The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. like: Heb. the likeness of
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KJV Study Commentary
The chapter opens with 'the burden of Babylon' (v.1), then Isaiah describes hearing 'a noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people.' This is no ordinary army but a tumultuous gathering of kingdoms and nations. The phrase 'the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle' reveals this is divine warfare—God assembling His forces for judgment. The Medes and others serve as God'...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **The noise of a multitude . . .**—The prophet hears, as it were, the tramp of the armies gathering on the mountains north of Babylonia (possibly the Zagros range, or the plateau of Iran, or the mountains of Armenia; but the prophet’s geography was probably vague) before they descend to the plain, and march against the haughty city. (Comp. Jeremiah 51:27.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. considereth--**literally, "knows," as Psa 1:6.
**the cause--**that is, in courts of justice (compare Pr 29:14). The voluntary neglect of it by the wicked (Pr 28:27) occasions oppression.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 13
The armies of God's wrath. (Is. 13:1-5) The conquest of Babylon. (Is. 13:6-18) Its final desolation. (Is. 13:19-22)
**Verses 1-5** The threatenings of God's word press heavily upon the wicked, and are a sore burden, too heavy for them to bear. The persons brought together to lay Babylon waste, are called God's sanctified or appointed ones; designed for this service, and made able ...
Read full commentary →They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
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KJV Study Commentary
The invading army comes 'from a far country, from the end of heaven'—emphasizing both geographical distance and cosmic significance. Media and Persia lay far east of Babylon. But more than that, they come as 'the weapons of his indignation'—divine instruments of wrath. Their purpose: 'to destroy the whole land.' This is not mere military conquest but execution of divine judgment. God's indignation...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **They come from a far country . . .**—The same phrase is used of Cyrus in Isaiah 46:11, and in Isaiah 39:3 of Babylon itself in relation to Jerusalem. The “end of heaven” represents the thoughts of Isaiah’s time, the earth as an extended plain, and the skies rising like a great vault above. The phrase represents (Deuteronomy 4:32; Psalm 19:6), as it were, the *ultima Thule *of discovery. For ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. Scornful men--**those who contemptuously disregard God's law.
**bring--**(Compare Margin), kindle strife.
**turn away wrath--**that is, "abate wrath."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 13
The armies of God's wrath. (Is. 13:1-5) The conquest of Babylon. (Is. 13:6-18) Its final desolation. (Is. 13:19-22)
**Verses 1-5** The threatenings of God's word press heavily upon the wicked, and are a sore burden, too heavy for them to bear. The persons brought together to lay Babylon waste, are called God's sanctified or appointed ones; designed for this service, and made able ...
Read full commentary →Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
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KJV Study Commentary
'Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.' The command to howl (lament with loud wailing) reflects the terror of impending judgment. 'The day of the LORD' is a major prophetic theme—God's intervention in history to judge sin and vindicate righteousness. Here it comes 'as a destruction from the Almighty' (Hebrew: Shaddai). The wordplay is intent...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand.**—The verse is an almost verbal reproduction of Joel 1:15. On the “day of Jehovah,” see Note on Isaiah 2:12.
**As a destruction from the Almighty.**—The Hebrew *shodmish-Shaddai *comes with the emphasis of assonance, possibly coupled with that of etymology, the Hebrew *Shaddai *being derived by many scholars from the verb *Shadad *=to destroy. On ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. contendeth--**that is, in law.
**whether ... laugh--**The fool, whether angry or good-humored, is unsettled; or referring the words to the wise man, the sense is, that all his efforts, severe or gentle, are unavailing to pacify the fool.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-18** We have here the terrible desolation of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. Those who in the day of their peace were proud, and haughty, and terrible, are quite dispirited when trouble comes. Their faces shall be scorched with the flame. All comfort and hope shall fail. The stars of heaven shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened. Such expressions are often employed by ...
Read full commentary →Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt: be faint: or, fall down
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KJV Study Commentary
The immediate physical effects of terror: 'all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt.' This describes total demoralization before overwhelming judgment. Faint hands cannot wield weapons; melted hearts cannot maintain courage. The Hebrew word for 'melt' (masas) suggests wax liquefying—complete dissolution of strength and will. This is not merely military defeat but psychological and spir...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Shall all hands be faint.**—Better, *be slack, *hanging down in the helpless despondency of the terror which the next clause paints (Hebrews 12:12).
(7) **They shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth.**—The image of powerless agony occurs both in earlier and later prophets (Hosea 13:3; Micah 5:9; Jeremiah 6:24, *et al.*)*. *Perhaps the most striking parallelism is found in Psalm 48:6, pr...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. bloodthirsty--**(Compare Margin), murderers (Psa 5:6; 26:9).
**hate, &c.--**(Pr 1:11; Ge 3:4).
**seek ... soul--**that is, to preserve it.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-18** We have here the terrible desolation of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. Those who in the day of their peace were proud, and haughty, and terrible, are quite dispirited when trouble comes. Their faces shall be scorched with the flame. All comfort and hope shall fail. The stars of heaven shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened. Such expressions are often employed by ...
Read full commentary →And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. be amazed: Heb. wonder one: Heb. every man at his neighbour flames: Heb. faces of the flames
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KJV Study Commentary
Terror seizes Babylon's inhabitants: pangs and sorrows like a woman in labor, amazement at each other, faces aflame with shock and fear. The childbirth metaphor describes sudden, intense, unavoidable agony. 'They shall be amazed one at another' suggests mutual shock and helplessness—no one can help anyone else. 'Faces shall be as flames' indicates either shame, terror, or the glow of burning city....
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
11. (Compare Pr 12:16; 16:32).
**mind--**or, "spirit," for anger or any ill passion which the righteous restrain.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-18** We have here the terrible desolation of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. Those who in the day of their peace were proud, and haughty, and terrible, are quite dispirited when trouble comes. Their faces shall be scorched with the flame. All comfort and hope shall fail. The stars of heaven shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened. Such expressions are often employed by ...
Read full commentary →Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger.</strong> This prophetic announcement introduces one of Scripture's most sobering themes: the Day of the Lord (<em>yom YHWH</em>). The Hebrew word <em>akzari</em> (אַכְזָרִי, "cruel") describes not divine sadism but the unmitigated severity of God's judgment against sin. The dual emphasis on "wrath" (<em>evrah</em>,...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
12. His servants imitate him.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-18** We have here the terrible desolation of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. Those who in the day of their peace were proud, and haughty, and terrible, are quite dispirited when trouble comes. Their faces shall be scorched with the flame. All comfort and hope shall fail. The stars of heaven shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened. Such expressions are often employed by ...
Read full commentary →For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
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KJV Study Commentary
Cosmic signs accompany divine judgment: 'the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.' This apocalyptic language appears throughout Scripture (Joel 2:10; Matthew 24:29; Revelation 6:12-13). It can be understood literally (cosmic disturbances), symbolically (political/soc...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **The constellations thereof.**—The noun in the singular (*kesîl, *foolhardy, or impious) is translated as Orion in Job 9:9; Amos 5:8. It is significant, as pointing to some widely-diffused legend, that the Persian name for the constellation is *Nimrod *and the Arabian *Giant. *In Greek mythology Orion is a giant hunter, conspicuous for acts of outrage against the gods, and finally slain by Z...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
13. (Compare Pr 22:2).
**deceitful man--**literally, "man of vexations," an exactor.
**the Lord ... their eyes--**sustains their lives (1Sa 14:27; Psa 13:3); that is, both depend on Him, and He will do justice.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-18** We have here the terrible desolation of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. Those who in the day of their peace were proud, and haughty, and terrible, are quite dispirited when trouble comes. Their faces shall be scorched with the flame. All comfort and hope shall fail. The stars of heaven shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened. Such expressions are often employed by ...
Read full commentary →And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
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KJV Study Commentary
God declares He will 'punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity.' The judgment extends beyond Babylon to universal scope—'the world.' Specific targets: pride of the arrogant, haughtiness of the terrible (violent oppressors). This demonstrates that while historical judgments target specific nations (Babylon), they represent principles of universal judgment. God opposes prid...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
14. (Compare Pr 20:28; 25:5). Such is the character of the King of kings (Psa 72:4, 12).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-18** We have here the terrible desolation of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. Those who in the day of their peace were proud, and haughty, and terrible, are quite dispirited when trouble comes. Their faces shall be scorched with the flame. All comfort and hope shall fail. The stars of heaven shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened. Such expressions are often employed by ...
Read full commentary →I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
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KJV Study Commentary
'I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.' This paradoxical statement means human life will become rare—casualties will be so immense that survivors are as precious as the finest gold. Ophir's gold was legendary for purity and value (1 Kings 10:11). Yet in Babylon's judgment, human scarcity will exceed gold's scarcity. This is both threat (devastat...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **I will make a man more precious.**—Both the words for man (*e*̓*nosh *and *a̓dam*) express, as in Psalm 8:2, the frailty of man’s nature. The words may point to the utter destruction, in which but few men should be left. The “gold of Ophir” (the gold coast near the mouth of the Indus) was proverbial for its preciousness (Job 22:24; Job 28:16; 1Chronicles 29:4; 1Kings 9:28; 1Kings 22:48).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
15. (Compare Pr 13:24; 23:13).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-18** We have here the terrible desolation of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. Those who in the day of their peace were proud, and haughty, and terrible, are quite dispirited when trouble comes. Their faces shall be scorched with the flame. All comfort and hope shall fail. The stars of heaven shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened. Such expressions are often employed by ...
Read full commentary →Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
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KJV Study Commentary
'Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.' This cosmic shaking indicates the magnitude of divine judgment. The Hebrew word for 'shake' (ragaz) suggests violent trembling or quaking—earthquake imagery applied cosmically. The earth 'removing out of her place' suggests foundations shaken, or...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **Therefore I will shake.**—The description of the great day of the Lord meets us in like terms in Haggai 2:6, Hebrews 12:26, carried in both instances beyond the overthrow of Babylon or any particular kingdom to that of every world-power that resists the righteousness of God.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
16. (Compare Pr 29:2, 12; Psa 12:1-8).
**shall see ... fall--**and triumph in it (Psa 37:34-38; 58:10, 11).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-18** We have here the terrible desolation of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. Those who in the day of their peace were proud, and haughty, and terrible, are quite dispirited when trouble comes. Their faces shall be scorched with the flame. All comfort and hope shall fail. The stars of heaven shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened. Such expressions are often employed by ...
Read full commentary →And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.
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KJV Study Commentary
The image shifts to panicked flight: 'it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.' The gazelle (roe) flees from hunters; the sheep without a shepherd scatters before predators. Babylon's cosmopolitan population—gathered from many nations through conquest and trade—will fragment and flee home...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **And it shall be as** **the chased roe.**—Better, *as with a chased roe **. . .** .* *as with sheep **. . .*** The roe and the sheep represent the “mixed multitude” (Ӕsch., *Pers. *52) of all nations who had been carried into Babylon, and who would naturally take to flight, some, though without a leader, returning to their own lands on the approach of the invader.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
17. (Compare Pr 29:3, 15; Pr 19:18).
**give thee rest--**peace and quiet (compare Pr 29:9).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-18** We have here the terrible desolation of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. Those who in the day of their peace were proud, and haughty, and terrible, are quite dispirited when trouble comes. Their faces shall be scorched with the flame. All comfort and hope shall fail. The stars of heaven shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened. Such expressions are often employed by ...
Read full commentary →Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.
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KJV Study Commentary
'Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.' This is brutal language of conquest—no quarter given, no prisoners taken. Those found (unable to flee) will be killed; those joined with Babylon (allies, mercenaries) share their fate. The Hebrew word for 'thrust through' (daqar) means pierced, stabbed—indicating violent death. This r...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **Every one that is joined unto them.**—Better, *every one that is caught. *The first clause of the verse refers to those that are in the city at the time of its capture, the second to those who are taken as they endeavour to escape.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18. no vision--**instruction in God's truth, which was by prophets, through visions (1Sa 3:1).
**people perish--**(Compare Margin), are deprived of moral restraints.
**keepeth the law--**has, and observes, instruction (Pr 14:11, 34; Psa 19:11).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-18** We have here the terrible desolation of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. Those who in the day of their peace were proud, and haughty, and terrible, are quite dispirited when trouble comes. Their faces shall be scorched with the flame. All comfort and hope shall fail. The stars of heaven shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened. Such expressions are often employed by ...
Read full commentary →Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished .
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KJV Study Commentary
The horror intensifies: 'Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.' This describes war's most appalling atrocities—children murdered, property plundered, women violated. Modern readers recoil from such language, questioning how a loving God could decree such judgment. Yet several points must be considered: (1) This des...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **Their children also shall be** **dashed.**—Better, *their sucklings. *The words of the prediction seem to have been in the minds of the exiles in Babylon when they uttered their dread beatitude on those who were to be the ministers of a righteous vengeance (Psalm 137:9). Outrages such as these were then, as they have been ever since, the inevitable accompaniments of the capture of a besiege...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19. A servant--**who lacks good principle.
**corrected--**or discovered.
**will not answer--**that is, will not obey.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-18** We have here the terrible desolation of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. Those who in the day of their peace were proud, and haughty, and terrible, are quite dispirited when trouble comes. Their faces shall be scorched with the flame. All comfort and hope shall fail. The stars of heaven shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened. Such expressions are often employed by ...
Read full commentary →Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.
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KJV Study Commentary
'Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.' God explicitly names the instrument of judgment: the Medes (later allied with Persians under Cyrus). Remarkably, these conquerors cannot be bribed—they don't regard silver or delight in gold. Their motivation isn't plunder but conquest and possibly divine destiny (Cyrus sa...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **Behold, I will stir up the Medes.**—The Hebrew form *Madai *meets us in Genesis 10:2, among the descendants of Japheth. Modern researches show them to have been a mixed people, Aryan conquerors having mingled with an earlier Turanian race, and differing in this respect from the Persians, who were pure Iranians, both in race and creed. The early Assyrian inscriptions, from Rimmon Nirari III....
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
20. (Compare Pr 21:5).
**hasty in ... words?--**implying self-conceit (Pr 26:12).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-18** We have here the terrible desolation of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. Those who in the day of their peace were proud, and haughty, and terrible, are quite dispirited when trouble comes. Their faces shall be scorched with the flame. All comfort and hope shall fail. The stars of heaven shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened. Such expressions are often employed by ...
Read full commentary →Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.
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KJV Study Commentary
The brutality continues: 'Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.' Medo-Persian archers were legendary. The image of bows dashing young men suggests both arrows killing soldiers and perhaps brutal treatment after conquest. The specific mention of no pity on unborn children ('fruit of the womb') or...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces.**—These, as in Isaiah 22:6, Jeremiah 1:9-14, were the characteristic weapons of the Medo-Persian armies.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21. become his son--**assume the place and privileges of one.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-18** We have here the terrible desolation of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. Those who in the day of their peace were proud, and haughty, and terrible, are quite dispirited when trouble comes. Their faces shall be scorched with the flame. All comfort and hope shall fail. The stars of heaven shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened. Such expressions are often employed by ...
Read full commentary →And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. as: Heb. as the overthrowing
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KJV Study Commentary
Babylon, 'the glory of kingdoms' and 'beauty of the Chaldees' excellency,' will become like Sodom and Gomorrah—utterly destroyed. The comparison to Sodom emphasizes complete, permanent desolation. Babylon's magnificence—hanging gardens, massive walls, architectural wonders—would be reduced to ruins. What humanity considers glorious and excellent, God can reduce to ash. This warns against trusting ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms.**—The words paint the impression which the great city, even in Isaiah’s time, made upon all who saw it. So Nebuchadnezzar, though his work was mainly that of a restorer, exulted in his pride in the greatness of the city of which he claimed to be the builder (Daniel 4:30). So Herodotus (i. 178) describes it as the most famous and the strongest of all the c...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
22. (Compare Pr 15:18). Such are delighted by discord and violence.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-22** Babylon was a noble city; yet it should be wholly destroyed. None shall dwell there. It shall be a haunt for wild beasts. All this is fulfilled. The fate of this proud city is a proof of the truth of the Bible, and an emblem of the approaching ruin of the New Testament Babylon; a warning to sinners to flee from the wrath to come, and it encourages believers to expect victory over ...
Read full commentary →It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.
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KJV Study Commentary
Babylon will remain perpetually uninhabited—never settled, no nomads pitching tents, no shepherds grazing flocks. The three negatives (never, neither, neither) emphasize permanent desolation. Even nomads and shepherds—who use any land—will avoid it. This curse of complete abandonment demonstrates divine judgment's thoroughness. What God curses remains cursed. The land itself bears witness to God's...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **Neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there . . .**—The word “Arabian” is used in its widest extent, as including all the nomadic tribes of the Bedouin type east and north of Palestine as far as Babylon (2Chronicles 21:16; Strabo, xvi., p. 743). Here, again, we note a literal fulfilment. The Bedouins themselves, partly because the place is desolate, partly from a superstitious horror, shrink...
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23. (Compare Pr 16:18; 18:12).
**honour ... spirit--**or, "such shall lay hold on honor" (Pr 11:16).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-22** Babylon was a noble city; yet it should be wholly destroyed. None shall dwell there. It shall be a haunt for wild beasts. All this is fulfilled. The fate of this proud city is a proof of the truth of the Bible, and an emblem of the approaching ruin of the New Testament Babylon; a warning to sinners to flee from the wrath to come, and it encourages believers to expect victory over ...
Read full commentary →But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. wild: Heb. Ziim doleful: Heb. Ochim owls: or, ostriches: Heb. daughters of the owl
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KJV Study Commentary
Babylon's ruins will be inhabited only by wild beasts—'wild beasts of the desert,' 'doleful creatures,' 'owls,' and 'satyrs' (wild goats). This complete reversal from human habitation to animal occupation emphasizes desolation's totality. What once echoed with human voices now hosts only animal cries. The listing of specific creatures paints a vivid picture of abandonment. This demonstrates that G...
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(21) **Wild beasts of the desert . . .**—The Hebrew term, which in Psalm 72:9, and perhaps in Isaiah 23:13, is used of men, has been rendered by “wild cats,” but is probably generic, *the ferœ naturœ *that haunt such desolate regions. The “doleful creatures” (literally *groaners*) are probably “horned owls;” while the word rendered “owls (literally, *daughters of screaming*) may be taken as *ostri...
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**24. hateth ... soul--**(Compare Pr 8:36).
**heareth cursing--**(Le 5:1), risks the punishment, rather than reveal truth.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-22** Babylon was a noble city; yet it should be wholly destroyed. None shall dwell there. It shall be a haunt for wild beasts. All this is fulfilled. The fate of this proud city is a proof of the truth of the Bible, and an emblem of the approaching ruin of the New Testament Babylon; a warning to sinners to flee from the wrath to come, and it encourages believers to expect victory over ...
Read full commentary →And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged. the wild: Heb. Iim desolate: or, palaces
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KJV Study Commentary
Wild beasts will 'cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces.' The timing: 'her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.' This emphasizes imminence—judgment approaches rapidly. The contrast between 'pleasant palaces' (past glory) and wild beasts crying there (future desolation) highlights the dramatic reversal. 'Days shall not be prolonged' indicates that...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) **Wild beasts of the islands . . .**—The Authorised version rests on a false etymology of the words, which strictly mean “wailers,” and in its form *ey *probably represents the cry of a wild beast, such as the *jackal, *with which it is commonly identified (see Isaiah 34:14; Jeremiah 50:39), or, possibly, the hyæna. Perhaps, however, as the word “jackal” is wanting in the next clause, it woul...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25. The fear ... snare--**involves men in difficulty (compare Pr 29:6).
**shall be safe--**(Compare Margin; Pr 18:10).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-22** Babylon was a noble city; yet it should be wholly destroyed. None shall dwell there. It shall be a haunt for wild beasts. All this is fulfilled. The fate of this proud city is a proof of the truth of the Bible, and an emblem of the approaching ruin of the New Testament Babylon; a warning to sinners to flee from the wrath to come, and it encourages believers to expect victory over ...
Read full commentary →