King James Version
Isaiah 14
32 verses with commentary
Israel's Return from Exile
For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.
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KJV Study Commentary
After judgment oracles, hope emerges: 'the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel.' Divine mercy and election persist despite judgment. God will 'set them in their own land'—restoration after exile. Remarkably, 'strangers shall be joined with them'—Gentile inclusion in Israel's restoration. This prophesies both physical return from exile and spiritual inclusion of Gentiles in Go...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
XIV.
(1) **For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob . . .**—The words imply a prevision of the return of the Israelites from exile, and therefore of the exile itself. The downfall of Babylon was certain, because without it the mercy of the Lord to Israel could not be manifested. The whole section is an anticipation of the great argument of Isaiah 40-66, and the question of its authorship stands or fa...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
26. (Compare Margin; Psa 27:8). God alone will and can do exact justice.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors. whose: Heb. that had taken them captives
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KJV Study Commentary
The nations ('people') will help Israel return to their land, and Israel will possess them as servants. This reversal—former captors becoming servants—demonstrates poetic justice. The oppressed become rulers; those who ruled now serve. This pictures both political restoration and spiritual reality. In Christ's kingdom, Gentiles willingly serve Jewish Messiah, and all believers rule with Christ. Th...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **The people shall take them . . .**—Literally, *the peoples. *In Ezra 1:1-4; Ezra 6:7-8, we have what answered, in a measure, to the picture thus drawn; but here, as elsewhere, the words paint an ideal to which there has been as yet no historical reality fully corresponding. No period of later Jewish history has beheld the people ruling over a conquered race; and if we claim a real fulfilment...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
27. (Compare Pr 3:32). On last clause, compare Pr 29:16; Psa 37:12.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse transitions from Babylon's judgment (chapter 13) to Israel's restoration. 'The LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve'—a three-fold deliverance: from sorrow (emotional anguish), fear (terror of oppression), and hard bondage (literal slavery). This echoes Exodus language, positioning Babylonian exile and ret...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **It shall come to pass . . .**—The condition of the exiles in Babylon is painted in nearly the same terms as in Habakkuk 2:13. A monarch bent on building towers and walls and palaces, who had carried off all the skilled labour of Jerusalem, was likely enough to vex their souls with “fear” and “hard bondage.” So Assurbanipal boasts that he made his Arabian prisoners carry heavy burdens and bui...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! proverb: or, taunting speech golden: or, exactress of gold
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KJV Study Commentary
Israel, now delivered, will 'take up this proverb against the king of Babylon'—a taunt song mocking fallen tyrants. 'How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!' The rhetorical question expresses amazed wonder: the oppressor has stopped oppressing; the golden (or alternatively 'proud' or 'raging') city has ended. What seemed permanent proved temporary; what seemed invincible was defeate...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon.**—The prophet appears once more (comp. Isaiah 5:1; Isaiah 12:1) in his character as a psalmist. In the *mashal *or *taunting-song *that follows, the generic meaning of “proverb” is specialised (as in Micah 2:4; Habakkuk 2:6; Deuteronomy 28:37, 1Kings 9:7, and elsewhere) for a derisive utterance in poetic or figurative speech. ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 30
Pr 30:1-33.
1. This is the title of this chapter (see Introduction).
**the prophecy--**literally, "the burden" (compare Is 13:1; Zec 9:1), used for any divine instruction; not necessarily a prediction, which was only a kind of prophecy (1Ch 15:27, "a song"). Prophets were inspired men, who spoke for God to man, or for man to God (Ge 20:7; Ex 7:14, 15, 16). Such, also, were the New...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.
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KJV Study Commentary
'The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.' The staff (symbol of authority and power to strike) and sceptre (symbol of kingship) are both broken—God terminates Babylon's power and rulership. The Hebrew emphasizes totality: broken, finished, ended. This is divine action ('the LORD hath broken'), not merely historical process. God actively intervenes to end tyranni...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked . . .**—The “staff” and the “sceptre” are alike symbols of power, the former being that on which a man supports himself, the other that which he wields in his arm to smite those who oppose him.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2-4. brutish--**stupid, a strong term to denote his lowly self-estimation; or he may speak of such as his natural condition, as contrasted with God's all-seeing comprehensive knowledge and almighty power. The questions of this clause emphatically deny the attributes mentioned to be those of any creature, thus impressively strengthening the implied reference of the former to God (compare De 30:12...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. a continual: Heb. a stroke without removing
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KJV Study Commentary
'He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.' The king who struck others relentlessly ('continual stroke'—unceasing oppression) is now himself persecuted. This is divine reversal—the oppressor becomes the oppressed; the striker becomes the stricken. 'None hindereth'—no one stops his persecution, just as no one sto...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **He who smote . . .**—Better, *which smote, *the whole verse being of the nature of a relative clause, with the “sceptre” for antecedent.
**A continual stroke.**—Literally, *a stroke without ceasing.*
**Is persecuted, and none hindereth.**—Better, *completing *the parallelism, *with a trampling that is not stayed.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2-4. brutish--**stupid, a strong term to denote his lowly self-estimation; or he may speak of such as his natural condition, as contrasted with God's all-seeing comprehensive knowledge and almighty power. The questions of this clause emphatically deny the attributes mentioned to be those of any creature, thus impressively strengthening the implied reference of the former to God (compare De 30:12...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.
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KJV Study Commentary
'The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.' Universal relief follows tyrant's fall. 'The whole earth'—not just Israel but all nations oppressed by Babylon—experiences rest and quiet. The natural response is singing—joy, praise, celebration. This is millennial/new creation language—when all evil is finally defeated, the whole earth will rejoice. The verse connects per...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **They break forth into singing . . .**—The phrase is noticeable as characteristic of Isaiah (Isaiah 44:23; Isaiah 49:13; Isaiah 52:9; Isaiah 54:1; Isaiah 55:12), and is not found elsewhere. The emancipated nations are represented as exulting in the unfamiliar peace that follows on the downfall of their oppressor.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2-4. brutish--**stupid, a strong term to denote his lowly self-estimation; or he may speak of such as his natural condition, as contrasted with God's all-seeing comprehensive knowledge and almighty power. The questions of this clause emphatically deny the attributes mentioned to be those of any creature, thus impressively strengthening the implied reference of the former to God (compare De 30:12...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.
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KJV Study Commentary
'Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.' Even trees celebrate! This poetic personification shows creation itself rejoices at Babylon's fall. Specifically, Lebanon's famous cedars and fir trees—which Babylonian kings cut down for their building projects—are safe now that the 'feller' (woodcutter/destroyer) is...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee.**—The tree has been identified (Carruthers, in *Bible Educator, 4, *359) with the Aleppo pine (*Pinus halepensis*)*, *which grows abundantly on the Lebanon range above the zone of the evergreen oaks. The LXX. often translates it by “cypress,” the Vulgate and Authorised version commonly by “fir tree.” Its wood was largely used in house and ship-building, bu...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
5. (Compare Psa 12:6; 119:140).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. Hell: or, The grave chief: Heb. leaders, or, great goats
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KJV Study Commentary
'Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.' The scene shifts to Sheol (Hebrew: hell/grave/underworld)—the realm of the dead. As the Babylonian king descends to death, Sheol itself is 'moved' (stirred, agitated, excited) to receive such a d...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **Hell from beneath is moved for thee . . .**—“Hell,” or *Sheol, *is, as elsewhere, the shadow-world, the region of the dead. Into that world the king of Babylon descends. The “dead” and the Rephaim are there, the *giant-spectres, *now faint and feeble (Deuteronomy 2:11; Deuteronomy 3:11), of departed forms of greatness. The verb (“it stirreth up”), which is masculine, while the noun is femini...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. Add ... words--**implying that his sole reliance was on God's all-sufficient teaching.
**reprove thee--**or, "convict thee"--and so the falsehood will appear.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?
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KJV Study Commentary
'All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?' The dead kings' greeting is taunting question: 'You too? Weak like us? Become like us?' This is stunning reversal. The living king dominated nations, seemed invincible, claimed unique power. Dead, he's like everyone else—weak, powerless, equal to those he once ruled. All earthly distinctions—po...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Art thou also become weak as we?**—The question implies, of course, an affirmative answer. The king of Babylon, the report of whose coming had roused awe and wonder, is found to be as weak as any of the other Rephaim, the *eidôla, *or shadowy forms, of Homer (*Il, xxiii.*, 72). With these words the vision of the spectral world ends, and the next verse takes up the taunting song of the liber...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7-9. A prayer for exemption from wickedness, and the extremes of poverty and riches, the two things mentioned. Contentment is implied as desired.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
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KJV Study Commentary
'Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.' From earthly splendor—pomp (magnificence, pride), viols (music, celebration)—to grave's horror: worms above and below. This is not just death but degradation. 'Pomp' (ga'on—can mean pride, majesty, arrogance) descends to Sheol; music (literally 'sound/noise of your harps') ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Thy pomp is brought down to the grave. **Literally, *to Sheol, *as in Isaiah 14:9. The “pomp” is the same as the “beauty” of Isaiah 13:19.
**The noise of thy viols.**—Perhaps *harps, *or *cymbals, *representing one of the prominent features of Babylonian culture (Daniel 3:5). The singers see, as it were, all this kingly state mouldering in the grave, *maggots *and worms (the two words are d...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7-9. A prayer for exemption from wickedness, and the extremes of poverty and riches, the two things mentioned. Contentment is implied as desired.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning ! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! O Lucifer: or, O day star
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse addresses the fall of Lucifer (Satan): 'How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!' While the immediate context describes Babylon's king, the language transcends human kingship, revealing Satan's primordial rebellion. Jesus references this in Luke 10:18: 'I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.' The taunt 'how art thou cut down to the ground' emphasizes the re...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!**—The word for Lucifer is, literally, *the shining one, *the planet Venus, the morning star, the *son of the dawn, *as the symbol of the Babylonian power, which was so closely identified with astrolatry. “Lucifer” etymologically gives the same meaning, and is used by Latin poets (Tibull. i., 10, 62) for Venus, as an equivalent ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7-9. A prayer for exemption from wickedness, and the extremes of poverty and riches, the two things mentioned. Contentment is implied as desired.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
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KJV Study Commentary
Lucifer's fivefold 'I will' reveals the essence of satanic rebellion: 'I will ascend into heaven...exalt my throne above the stars of God...sit also upon the mount of the congregation...ascend above the heights of the clouds...be like the most High.' Each declaration asserts autonomous will against divine authority. The desire to 'be like the most High' echoes the serpent's temptation in Eden (Gen...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **I will ascend into heaven.**—The boast of the Chaldæan king is represented as nothing less than an apotheosis, which they themselves claimed. So Shalmaneser describes himself as “a sun-god” (*Records of the Past, *iii. 83), Assurbanipal as “lord of all kings” (*ib., *iii. 78). In contrast with the *Sheol *into which the Chaldæan king had sunk, the prophet paints the heaven to which he sough...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. Accuse not--**Slander not (Psa 10:7).
**curse ... guilty--**lest, however lowly, he be exasperated to turn on thee, and your guilt be made to appear.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
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KJV Study Commentary
'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.' This is the fifth and climactic 'I will' statement (vv.13-14), revealing the heart of the king's rebellion: the desire to be like God. 'Above the heights of the clouds' suggests surpassing all earthly and heavenly limitations. 'Most High' (Elyon) is God's title emphasizing supreme authority. This echoes Satan's original...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **I will be like the most High.**—The Chaldaean king is rightly represented as using a Divine name (*Elîôn*)*, *which was not essentially Israelite, but common to the Phœnicians and other kindred nations. (See Genesis 14:18; Daniel 4:24; Luke 8:28; Acts 16:17.) The Persians carried their adulation still further, and applied the title “god” to their kings (Æsch. *Pers. *623), as the Syrians af...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11-14. Four kinds of hateful persons--**(1) graceless children, (2) hypocrites, (3) the proud, (4) cruel oppressors (compare on Pr 30:14; Psa 14:4; 52:2)--are now illustrated; (1) Pr 30:15, 16, the insatiability of prodigal children and their fate; (2) Pr 30:17, hypocrisy, or the concealment of real character; (3 and 4) Pr 30:18-20, various examples of pride and oppression.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
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KJV Study Commentary
'Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.' Dramatic reversal: the one who would 'ascend above the heights' is 'brought down' to the lowest depths. 'Hell' (Sheol) and 'sides/depths of the pit' (bor—can mean grave, pit, cistern, or Sheol's deepest regions) represent ultimate degradation. The contrast is absolute: highest aspiration vs. lowest reality, upward striving vs. down...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **Yet thou shalt be brought . . .**—We note in the use of the same words (“ the sides, or *recesses,” *of the pit), as in the previous verse, the contrast of an indignant sarcasm. Yes, the prophet seems to say, the proud king has found his way to those “recesses;” but they are not in heaven, but in Hades.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11-14. Four kinds of hateful persons--**(1) graceless children, (2) hypocrites, (3) the proud, (4) cruel oppressors (compare on Pr 30:14; Psa 14:4; 52:2)--are now illustrated; (1) Pr 30:15, 16, the insatiability of prodigal children and their fate; (2) Pr 30:17, hypocrisy, or the concealment of real character; (3 and 4) Pr 30:18-20, various examples of pride and oppression.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
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KJV Study Commentary
'They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms?' Those who view the fallen king's corpse look intently ('narrowly look'—stare, gaze closely) and ponder in astonishment: 'Is THIS the one?' The question expresses shocked disbelief. This wretched corpse—this is the tyrant who terrorized nations? Thi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **They that see thee . . .**—**The context shows **that the picture before the prophet’s eye is no longer the shadow-world of Hades, but the field of battle, Men look at the corpse of the mighty conqueror as it lies dishonoured, bloody, and unburied.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11-14. Four kinds of hateful persons--**(1) graceless children, (2) hypocrites, (3) the proud, (4) cruel oppressors (compare on Pr 30:14; Psa 14:4; 52:2)--are now illustrated; (1) Pr 30:15, 16, the insatiability of prodigal children and their fate; (2) Pr 30:17, hypocrisy, or the concealment of real character; (3 and 4) Pr 30:18-20, various examples of pride and oppression.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? opened: or, did not let his prisoners loose homeward?
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KJV Study Commentary
'That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?' The observers recite the king's crimes: turning the world into wilderness (devastation, depopulation), destroying cities (not just conquering but ruining), never releasing prisoners (perpetual captivity, no mercy). These accusations indict tyranny's methods: environmental destructio...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **That opened not the house of his prisoners.**—Better, as in the margin, *he loosed not his prisoners to their homes. *This was, we may note, a characteristic feature of the cruelty of the Assyrian kings. So Sennacherib and Assurbanipal boast of having carried off captive kings in “chains of iron” (*Records of the Past, *i. pp. 43, 62, 72), and kept them chained like dogs in the court of the...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11-14. Four kinds of hateful persons--**(1) graceless children, (2) hypocrites, (3) the proud, (4) cruel oppressors (compare on Pr 30:14; Psa 14:4; 52:2)--are now illustrated; (1) Pr 30:15, 16, the insatiability of prodigal children and their fate; (2) Pr 30:17, hypocrisy, or the concealment of real character; (3 and 4) Pr 30:18-20, various examples of pride and oppression.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.
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KJV Study Commentary
'All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.' This sets up contrast with verse 19. Other kings, even defeated ones, receive honorable burial—lying 'in glory' (kabod—honor, dignity) in their own tombs ('house'). This was important in ancient culture: proper burial, ancestral tombs, monuments preserving memory. Kings particularly received elaborate buria...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **All the kings of the nations . . .**—The “house” in which the monarchs lie is, of course, their sepulchre. Such sepulchres, as in the case of the pyramid graves of the Egyptian kings, the “eternal home” as they themselves called it (comp. Ecclesiastes 12:5), were often almost literally the “house,” or palace, of the dead.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15-16. horse leech--**supposed by some to be the vampire (a fabulous creature), as being literally insatiable; but the other subjects mentioned must be taken as this, comparatively insatiable. The use of a fabulous creature agreeably to popular notions is not inconsistent with inspiration.
**There are three ... yea, four--**(Compare Pr 6:16).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.
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KJV Study Commentary
'But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.' In stark contrast to v.18, the Babylonian king receives the opposite of honorable burial. 'Cast out of thy grave'—expelled, denied burial. 'Like an abominable branch' (nezer—can mean shoot/br...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **Like an abominable branch.**—The noun is the same as in Isaiah 11:1; Isaiah 60:21. The idea seems to be that of a scion or shoot which is mildewed and blasted, and which men fling away as loathsome.
**As the raiment of those that are slain . . .**—The image reminds us of the “garments rolled in blood “of Isaiah 9:5, gathered after the battle, and “cast forth” to be burnt. In such raiment, n...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15-16. horse leech--**supposed by some to be the vampire (a fabulous creature), as being literally insatiable; but the other subjects mentioned must be taken as this, comparatively insatiable. The use of a fabulous creature agreeably to popular notions is not inconsistent with inspiration.
**There are three ... yea, four--**(Compare Pr 6:16).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.
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KJV Study Commentary
'Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.' The reason for dishonorable burial: crimes against his own land and people. Unlike foreign conquest (which was expected), this king destroyed his own territory and killed his own people—perhaps through oppressive policies, internal purges, or re...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial . . .**—The curse of the dishonoured death is connected with its cause. The conqueror had inflicted that shame even on his own people, and was punished in like kind himself. Comp. Jeremiah’s prediction as to Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 22:19), and parallel instances in 2Chronicles 21:20; 2Chronicles 24:25; Ezekiel 29:5.
**The seed of evildoers shall neve...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. The eye--**for the person, with reference to the use of the organ to express mockery and contempt, and also as that by which punishment is received.
**the ravens ... eagles ... eat--**either as dying unnaturally, or being left unburied, or both.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities .
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KJV Study Commentary
'Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.' This is corporate judgment—children pay for fathers' sins. The command to 'prepare slaughter' (literally 'establish a slaughtering place') for the king's children is to prevent dynastic continuation. Three purposes: (1) that they not 'rise...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **Prepare slaughter for his children.**—Literally, as in Jeremiah 51:40, *a slaughter house. *The command may be addressed to the Medes of Isaiah 13:17, or to any minister of the Divine vengeance. In the judgment of God, as seen in history, that judgment falls necessarily on the last members of an evil and cruel dynasty. In this sense the sins of the fathers are visited on the children, while...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
18-20. Hypocrisy is illustrated by four examples of the concealment of all methods or traces of action, and a pertinent example of double dealing in actual vice is added, that is, the adulterous woman.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the LORD.
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KJV Study Commentary
'For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the LORD.' Divine first-person declaration: 'I will rise up'—God personally acts against Babylon. The judgment is comprehensive: 'name' (reputation, memory), 'remnant' (survivors), 'son' (immediate descendants), 'nephew' (extended descendants). Four-fold repetition ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) **Son, and nephew . . .**—The latter word, as throughout the Bible, is used in its true sense as “grandson,” or “descendant.” (Comp. 1Timothy 5:4.) Every word that could express descent is brought together to express the utter extirpation of the Babylonian dynasty. The Hebrew adds the emphasis of alliteration, as in our “bag and baggage,” and other like phrases.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
18-20. Hypocrisy is illustrated by four examples of the concealment of all methods or traces of action, and a pertinent example of double dealing in actual vice is added, that is, the adulterous woman.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.
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KJV Study Commentary
'I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.' The great city becomes swampland inhabited by birds (bittern—a type of heron; could also be hedgehog or porcupine depending on translation). 'Pools of water' suggests environmental reversal—the irrigated, cultivated land returns to marsh. The metaphor ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **I will also make it a possession for the bittern . . .**—Naturalists are not agreed as to the meaning of the noun. In the LXX. and Vulgate it appears as “hedgehog,” or “porcupine,” and the “tortoise,” “beaver,” “otter,” and “owl” have all been suggested by scholars. Its conjunction with “pelican in Isaiah 34:11 and Zephaniah 2:14, and with” pools of water “here, is in favour of some kind of...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
18-20. Hypocrisy is illustrated by four examples of the concealment of all methods or traces of action, and a pertinent example of double dealing in actual vice is added, that is, the adulterous woman.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud monarch. (Is. 14:1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (Is. 14:24-27) The destruction of the Philistines. (Is. 14:28-32)
**Verses 1-23** The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom...
Read full commentary →Prophecy Against Assyria
The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
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KJV Study Commentary
'The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.' Divine oath ('the LORD of hosts hath sworn') guarantees fulfillment. God's thought and purpose determine reality: what He thinks becomes what occurs; what He purposes stands firm. This is divine sovereignty at its clearest: history conforms to God's will, not vice ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(24) **The Lord of hosts hath sworn . . .**—The long “oracle” of Babylon is followed by a fragmentary prophecy against Assyria (Isaiah 14:24-27), possibly misplaced, possibly, as opening with a solemn asseveration, like that of the preceding verse, added by way of proof, that the word of the Lord of Hosts would be fulfilled on Babylon, as it had been on Assyria, with which, indeed, Babylon was clo...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
21-23. Pride and cruelty, the undue exaltation of those unfit to hold power, produce those vices which disquiet society (compare Pr 19:10; 28:3).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 24-27** Let those that make themselves a yoke and a burden to God's people, see what they are to expect. Let those that are the called according to God's purpose, comfort themselves, that whatever God has purposed, it shall stand. The Lord of hosts has purposed to break the Assyrian's yoke; his hand is stretched out to execute this purpose; who has power to turn it back? By such dispensat...
Read full commentary →That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.
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KJV Study Commentary
'That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.' The shift from Babylon (future threat) to Assyria (immediate threat) shows God's sovereignty over all oppressors. Breaking 'the Assyrian' (singular, possibly the king or nation personified) happens 'in my land, on my moun...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(25) **That I will break the Assyrian in my land . . .**—The words found their fulfilment in the destruction of Sennacherib’s army. The “mountains” are the hills round Jerusalem on which the army of the Assyrians was encamped. They were sacred, as the phrase, *“my *mountains,” shows, to Jehovah (comp. Isaiah 49:11; Isaiah 65:9; Zechariah 14:5), and He, therefore, would put forth His power to rescu...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
21-23. Pride and cruelty, the undue exaltation of those unfit to hold power, produce those vices which disquiet society (compare Pr 19:10; 28:3).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 24-27** Let those that make themselves a yoke and a burden to God's people, see what they are to expect. Let those that are the called according to God's purpose, comfort themselves, that whatever God has purposed, it shall stand. The Lord of hosts has purposed to break the Assyrian's yoke; his hand is stretched out to execute this purpose; who has power to turn it back? By such dispensat...
Read full commentary →This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.
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KJV Study Commentary
'This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.' The specific judgments (Babylon, Assyria) illustrate a universal principle: God's purpose extends over 'the whole earth,' His hand over 'all the nations.' No nation escapes divine sovereignty; none exceeds divine jurisdiction. The 'stretched out hand' is covenant curse lang...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(26) **This is the hand that is stretched out** **. . .**—The words point, as it were, to the idea of a universal history. The fall of the Assyrian power and of Babylon does not stand alone, but forms part of a scheme embracing all nations and all ages (Isaiah 9:12).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
21-23. Pride and cruelty, the undue exaltation of those unfit to hold power, produce those vices which disquiet society (compare Pr 19:10; 28:3).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 24-27** Let those that make themselves a yoke and a burden to God's people, see what they are to expect. Let those that are the called according to God's purpose, comfort themselves, that whatever God has purposed, it shall stand. The Lord of hosts has purposed to break the Assyrian's yoke; his hand is stretched out to execute this purpose; who has power to turn it back? By such dispensat...
Read full commentary →For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
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KJV Study Commentary
'For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?' Two rhetorical questions expecting the answer 'No one!' Who can nullify God's purpose? No one. Who can turn back His hand? No one. This is divine immutability and omnipotence: God's plans cannot be thwarted, His actions cannot be reversed. The questions challenge all human p...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(27) **His hand is stretched out.**—Literally, and more emphatically, *His is the outstretched hand.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
24-31. These verses provide two classes of apt illustrations of various aspects of the moral world, which the reader is left to apply. By the first (Pr 30:25-28), diligence and providence are commended; the success of these insignificant animals being due to their instinctive sagacity and activity, rather than strength. The other class (Pr 30:30, 31) provides similes for whatever is majestic or co...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 24-27** Let those that make themselves a yoke and a burden to God's people, see what they are to expect. Let those that are the called according to God's purpose, comfort themselves, that whatever God has purposed, it shall stand. The Lord of hosts has purposed to break the Assyrian's yoke; his hand is stretched out to execute this purpose; who has power to turn it back? By such dispensat...
Read full commentary →In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.
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KJV Study Commentary
'In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.' This chronological marker places the following oracle (vv.28-32) in a specific historical moment—732 BC, Ahaz's death. The 'burden' (massa—oracle, prophecy, typically of judgment) concerns Philistia (Palestina). The timing is significant: Ahaz's death marked political transition in Judah, potentially encouraging Philistia to revolt against Assyria...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(28) **In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.**—The prophecies against Babylon and Assyria are naturally followed by a series of like predictions, dealing with other nations which played their part in the great drama of the time. The date of that which comes next in order is obviously specified, either by Isaiah himself or by the compiler of his prophecies, that it might be seen that it ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
24-31. These verses provide two classes of apt illustrations of various aspects of the moral world, which the reader is left to apply. By the first (Pr 30:25-28), diligence and providence are commended; the success of these insignificant animals being due to their instinctive sagacity and activity, rather than strength. The other class (Pr 30:30, 31) provides similes for whatever is majestic or co...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 28-32** Assurance is given of the destruction of the Philistines and their power, by famine and war. Hezekiah would be more terrible to them than Uzziah had been. Instead of rejoicing, there would be lamentation, for the whole land would be ruined. Such destruction will come upon the proud and rebellious, but the Lord founded Zion for a refuge to poor sinners, who flee from the wrath to c...
Read full commentary →Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. cockatrice: or, adder
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KJV Study Commentary
'Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.' Philistia (Palestina) is warned not to rejoice that their oppressor's 'rod is broken.' The 'rod' may refer to Ahaz, an Assyrian king, or Assyrian power generally. But the warning is: don't celebrate premat...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(29) R**ejoice not thou, whole Palestina.**—Better, *Rejoice not thou, Philistia, all of thee; i.e., *give not thyself wholly to rejoicing. Here, as in Exodus 15:14, “Palestina” is used, not in the wider meaning with which we are familiar, but specifically as the country of the Philistines. The historical circumstances connected with the “oracle” before us are found in 2Chronicles 18:18. The Phili...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
24-31. These verses provide two classes of apt illustrations of various aspects of the moral world, which the reader is left to apply. By the first (Pr 30:25-28), diligence and providence are commended; the success of these insignificant animals being due to their instinctive sagacity and activity, rather than strength. The other class (Pr 30:30, 31) provides similes for whatever is majestic or co...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 28-32** Assurance is given of the destruction of the Philistines and their power, by famine and war. Hezekiah would be more terrible to them than Uzziah had been. Instead of rejoicing, there would be lamentation, for the whole land would be ruined. Such destruction will come upon the proud and rebellious, but the Lord founded Zion for a refuge to poor sinners, who flee from the wrath to c...
Read full commentary →And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant.
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KJV Study Commentary
'And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant.' Contrast between God's people and Philistia: the poor and needy (likely Israel, often described thus) will be fed and safe, while Philistia faces destruction ('kill thy root with famine,' 'slay thy remnant'). 'Firstborn of the poor' may mean the p...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(30) **And the firstborn of the poor shall feed.**—As the “children of the needy” in Psalm 72:4 are simply the poor as a class, so the “firstborn” are those who, as it were, inherit the double portion, not of riches, but of poverty. (Comp. “the firstborn of death” in Job 18:13.) The people spoken of are those of Judah, which in the days of Ahaz had been “brought very low” (2Chronicles 28:19). For ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
24-31. These verses provide two classes of apt illustrations of various aspects of the moral world, which the reader is left to apply. By the first (Pr 30:25-28), diligence and providence are commended; the success of these insignificant animals being due to their instinctive sagacity and activity, rather than strength. The other class (Pr 30:30, 31) provides similes for whatever is majestic or co...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 28-32** Assurance is given of the destruction of the Philistines and their power, by famine and war. Hezekiah would be more terrible to them than Uzziah had been. Instead of rejoicing, there would be lamentation, for the whole land would be ruined. Such destruction will come upon the proud and rebellious, but the Lord founded Zion for a refuge to poor sinners, who flee from the wrath to c...
Read full commentary →Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times. none: or, he shall not be alone appointed: or, assemblies
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KJV Study Commentary
'Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times.' The command to howl and cry signals coming disaster. 'Dissolved' (mug) means melted, fainting, losing courage—total demoralization. The threat comes 'from the north'—typical invasion route and standard prophetic language for enemy approach....
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(31) **Howl, O gate . . .**—The “gate,” as elsewhere, is the symbol of the city’s strength. The “city*” *stands probably for Ashdod, as the most conspicuous of the Philistine cities.
**From the north.**—Here of the Assyrian invaders, as in Jeremiah 1:14; Jeremiah 10:22; Jeremiah 46:20 of the Chaldean. The “smoke” may be either that of the cities which the Assyrians burnt, or, more probably, the to...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
24-31. These verses provide two classes of apt illustrations of various aspects of the moral world, which the reader is left to apply. By the first (Pr 30:25-28), diligence and providence are commended; the success of these insignificant animals being due to their instinctive sagacity and activity, rather than strength. The other class (Pr 30:30, 31) provides similes for whatever is majestic or co...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 28-32** Assurance is given of the destruction of the Philistines and their power, by famine and war. Hezekiah would be more terrible to them than Uzziah had been. Instead of rejoicing, there would be lamentation, for the whole land would be ruined. Such destruction will come upon the proud and rebellious, but the Lord founded Zion for a refuge to poor sinners, who flee from the wrath to c...
Read full commentary →What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it. trust: or, betake themselves unto it
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KJV Study Commentary
'What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.' Philistine messengers (possibly seeking alliance or gauging Judah's response) ask about security. Isaiah's answer: Zion's security rests not on military might or political alliances but on divine foundation—'the LORD hath founded Zion.' Because God established J...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(32) **What shall one then answer . . .?**—The words obviously imply that the prophet either had received, or expected to receive, a message of inquiry from the Philistines, and that this is his answer. It seems not improbable, indeed, that the series of prophecies that follow were delivered in answer to such inquiries. The fame of the prophet had spread beyond the confines of Israel, and men of d...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
24-31. These verses provide two classes of apt illustrations of various aspects of the moral world, which the reader is left to apply. By the first (Pr 30:25-28), diligence and providence are commended; the success of these insignificant animals being due to their instinctive sagacity and activity, rather than strength. The other class (Pr 30:30, 31) provides similes for whatever is majestic or co...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 28-32** Assurance is given of the destruction of the Philistines and their power, by famine and war. Hezekiah would be more terrible to them than Uzziah had been. Instead of rejoicing, there would be lamentation, for the whole land would be ruined. Such destruction will come upon the proud and rebellious, but the Lord founded Zion for a refuge to poor sinners, who flee from the wrath to c...
Read full commentary →