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Isa_14:3-23
From thy sorrow, and from thy fear,
And from the hard bondage
Wherein thou wast made to serve,
4 That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say,
How hath the oppressor ceased!
The golden city ceased!
5The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked,
And the sceptre of the rulers.
6He who smote the people in wrath
With a continual stroke,
He that ruled the nations in anger,
Is persecuted, and none hindereth.
7The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet:
They break forth into singing.
8Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee,
And the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
Since thou art laid down,
No feller is come up against us.
9Hell 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.
10All they shall speak and say unto thee,
Art thou also become weak as we?
kArt thou become like unto us?
11Thy pomp is brought down to the grave,
And the noise of thy viols:
The worm is spread under thee, and the worms 1cover thee.
12How art thou fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How art thou cut down to the ground,
Which didst weaken the nations!
13For 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:
14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will be like the Most High.
15Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell,
To the sides of the pit.
16They 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;
17That made the world as a wilderness,
And destroyed the cities thereof;
That opened not the house of his prisoners?
18All the kings of the nations, even all of them,
Lie in glory, every one in his own house.
19But 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.
20Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial,
Because thou hast destroyed thy land,
And slain thy people:
The seed of evil doers shall never be renowned.
21Prepare slaughter for his children
For the iniquity of their fathers;
That they do not rise, nor possess the land,
Nor nil the face of the world with cities.
22 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.
23 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.
Isa_14:4. Whatever may be the fundamental meaning of îָùַׁì , and whether îָùַׁì , to rule, and îָùַׁì , to compare, come from one or from two roots (Gesen. Winer, Delitzsch assume constitit erectus as the common radical meaning; comp. Del. Commentary and Zur Geschichte d. jud. Poesie, p 196), the word any way signifies a dictum in terse language, distinguished from a merely prosaic statement, let the dictum be fable, parable, allegory, aphorism, proverb, riddle, didactic poem, or satire. It is here used in the last named sense, i.e., sarcastic address, as in Hab_2:6; Mic_2:4; comp. Deu_28:37; Jer_24:9; Psa_69:12; 1Ki_9:7. [“Its most general sense seems to be that of tropical or figurative language. Here it may have a special reference to the bold poetic fiction following.”—J. A. A.]. The word does not again occur in Isaiah.— îãäáä is ἅð . ëåã . The LXX., translates ἔðéóðïõäáóôÞò , which means the driver, inciter. It is thus synonymous with ðֹâֵùׂ . Vulg. tributum, according to which the word is derived either from æָäָá = ãְּäַá . gold, or from øָäָá insistere, opprimere, so that the notion oppress would be taken in the sense of collecting tribute. In the latter sense the meaning as regards etymology would coinclde with the Greek ἐðéóðïõäáóôÞò . For, according to the sense, the Greek translation seems to signify rather the driver who urges prisoners or slaves to make haste. The Peschito also, which translates operis exactor, and the Targ. Jonathan which translates fortitudo peccatoris appear to have read îַøְäֵëָä . So, too, perhaps Saadia (timiditas). As Aquila translates ëéìüò , he must either have taken îַøְòֵëָä = îַøְäֵáָä , or îַãְàֵáָä = îַãְäֵáָä , from ãָּàַë , languere. Delitzsch sides with the last meaning, construing î as Mem loci, and translates, place of torture. Yet it seems to me that locus languendi, even if one overlooks the permutation of à and ä , is still a vocabulum satis languidum for place of torture. I would like therefore, with J. D. Michaelis, Gesenius, Knobel, Meier and others, to assume that îãäáä is an error of transcribing for îøäáä , as also an old edition (Thessalon, 1,600) actually reads. It favors this, too, that øָäַá (superbire, opprimire) and ðָâַùׂ also correspond in parallelism, Isa_3:5.
Isa_14:5. ùׁáè îùׁìéí (comp. Eze_19:11), as epexegesis of îèä øùׁòéí is any way to be understood as a tyrant’s sceptre. This is confirmed by the statement of Isa_14:6.
Isa_14:6. The expression áìúé ñøä occurs only here: ñøä in Isa_1:5; Isa_31:6; Isa_59:13, in the sense of revolt. On áìúé see at Isa_10:4. The conjecture of Doederlein, that instead of îֻøְãָó we should read îִøְãַּú has, according to the analogy of îַëַּú , much plausibility. The confounding of ó and ú might easily happen in the unpointed text. Neither îִøְãָּä nor îֻøְãָּó occur elsewhere. îããó is nom. passivum: the being pursued, being hounded on, like îֻðָã being scared off, cast away, 2Sa_23:6. îֻöָּá stations, Isa_29:3. îֻøְáֶּëֶú , stirred in, Lev_6:14, etc.— çùׂê occurs again Isa_54:2; Isa_58:1.— áìé kindred to áìúé (comp. Ewald, 322, a.), is poetic negation. It occurs in Isaiah, again only Isa_32:10. See on áַּì Isa_14:21.
Isa_14:7. ôöç øðä is an expression peculiar to the second part of Isa. (Isa_44:23; Isa_49:13; Isa_52:9; Isa_54:1; Isa_55:12) and does not occur elsewhere.
Isa_14:8. ùָׂîַç with ìְ involves the notion of rejoicing at misfortune: Psa_30:2; Psa_35:19; Psa_35:24; Psa_38:17; Mic_7:8; Oba_1:12.
Isa_14:9. ìְêָ after øâæä is constructio praegnans. (comp. Mic_7:14), ì÷øàú áåàê however is the nearer qualification of the ìְêָ : hell gets into uproar toward thee, that is in order to welcome thee as an arrival.— òåֹøֵø Isa_10:26; Isa_23:13.— ùְׁàåֹì is, in the first half of the verse, like Isa_5:14, construed as feminine. But when the discourse continues with the masculine form òåֹøֵø , the reason can hardly be because ùׁàåì elsewhere (Job_26:6) is used as masculine. For the question still arises, why does the Prophet vary the gender? I think the Prophet in the first clause has the totality in mind, whereas in òåֹøֵø åâå× he means that special dominant will that he ascribes to Sheol as to a person. The former, as with all collectives, he conceives as feminine: but this person, as a ruler he conceives of as masculine. [“Hitzig explains this on the ground that in the first clause Sheol is passive, in the second active: Maurer, with more success, upon the ground that the nearest verb takes the feminine or proper gender of the noun, while the more remote one, by a common license, retains the masculine or radical form, as in Isa_33:9, (see Gesenius, § 141, Rem. 1).”—J. A. A.]
Isa_14:10. éòðå is employed according to well-known usage, whereby, not only the discourse responsive to other discourse, but discourse responsive to action is designated as answer (Isa_21:9; Deu_21:7; Deu_26:5; Job_3:2; Mat_11:25; Mat_22:1, etc.).—The Pual äֻìֵּéúָ only here. Comp. passages like Isa_53:10; Isa_57:10; Gen_48:1, etc.; Deu_29:21, etc., and the meaning cannot be ambiguous: tu quoque debilitatus es. Also àìéðå ðîùׁìú is a pregnant phrase: thou art made like us and brought to us. [Of this constr. praegn. J. A. A., says: “this supposition is entirely gratuitous.”]
Isa_14:11. äֶîְéָä from äָîָä strepere, synonymous with äָîåֹï (Isa_13:4), is ἅð . ëåã . Concerning ðֶëֶì comp. at Isa_5:12.— øִîָּä only here in Isaiah.— úּåֹìֵòָä , Isa_41:14; Isa_66:24.
Isa_14:12. äֵéìֵì is by some expositors (Jerome, Aquila, Rosenmueller, Gesenius) taken as imperative from äֵéìִéì = howl, in which sense, in fact, the word occurs Eze_21:17; Zec_11:2. But this meaning is forced and mars the context. Only that meaning will correspond with the context which takes this word in the sense of bright star, from äָìַì to shine (Job_29:3, etc.). The form äֵéìֵì can be formed after analogy of ùֵׁéìָì , äֵéãָã (Mic_1:8 K’thibh). It is, however, possible, too, that äֵéìֵì is derived from äִìֵּì , although there is no analogy for this, for àֵùֶׁú , îֵàֵê are not analogous, and i before strong consonants always lengthens to i as substitute for doubling (Ewald, § 84 a.). It must only be that at the same time a sort of attraction took place, and thus the Tsere of the final syllable conformed to the vowel of the preceding syllable. Then helel could be identical with the name Hillel (Jdg_12:13; Jdg_12:15); to which the remark may be added, that Rabbi Hillel the younger (in the 4th Cent., after Christ) is named ἙëëÞë by Epiphanius (Adv. Haer. II. p. 127. Ed. Paris.). Also Buxtorf (Lex. Chald. talm. et Rabb. p. 617) writes: äִéìֵּì Hillel, olim Hellel ut Emmanuel et Immanuel, de qua scriptione vide Drus. Observ. L. IX. 100:1. ” That this bright star is the morning star appears from the addition áïÎùׁçø .— çָìַùׁ with Accus. Exo_17:13 : with òַì only in this place, which seems to depend on the latent notion of lording it, like øָãַó çָáַùׁ , øָôָà , are construed with the Accus., and ìְ .
Isa_14:15. The adversative thought is introduced by àַêְ . The restrictive fundamental meaning (“only,” which receives adversative force in such a connection = nisi rectius dixeris i.e. sed. comp. Jer_5:5) seems to involve here a certain irony: but pity, that thou must own to Orkus.— éøëúé áåø stands opposed to é× öôåï . The deepest corner of the deep grave. áåø properly, pit, grave, but the underworld, is, so to speak, the deepening and extending of the grave Isa_38:18 and often.—The imperf. úåøã , according to Delitzsch, comes unsuitably both from the mouth of the dwellers in Hades, and from Israel that sings this Maschal; it is therefore to be construed as resumption of the discourse by the Prophet, who has before his mind as future, what the Maschal recites as past (comp. äåøã Isa_14:11). But this departure from the role is improbable. Moreover it is grammatically unnecessary to take úåøã as future. It is present. It describes the descent into Hades as something now taking place, a movement not yet concluded. Thus Joshua (Isa_9:8) questions the emissaries of the Gibeonites îֵàַéִï úָּáֹàåּ ; but Joseph his brethren (Gen_42:7) îֵàַéִï áָּàúֶí . The former regarded those questioned as arrivals, as it were still in the act of coming; the latter as ones who had arrived.
Isa_14:16. ùָׁâַç (only here in Isaiah; beside this in Psa_33:14; Son_2:9), with àì in connection with øàéí evidently means attentively gazing. The same thought is still more strongly emphasized by éúáåððå . The word occurs in Isaiah again Isa_1:3; Isa_43:18; Isa_52:15. With àֵì or òַì it signifies an intent, scrutinizing contemplation (1Ki_3:21; Psa_37:10; Job_31:1).— îøâéæ comp. on Isa_13:13, where it is associated with øòùׁ .
Isa_14:17. The masculine suffixes in òøéå and àñéøéå refer to a latent masculine notion in úáì , probably to àøõ , which Isaiah is wont to use as parallel with úáì (Isa_18:3; Isa_26:18), and uses as masculine oftener than all other Old Testament writers (Isa_9:18; Isa_18:2; Isa_26:18; Isa_66:8, beside these only Gen_13:6). This is favored, also, by àñéøéå , for there is no àñéøé úáì , but àñéøé àøõ occurs (Lam_3:34). [“The anomaly of gender may be done away by referring both the pronouns to the King himself, who might just as well be said to have destroyed his own cities, as his own land and his own people (Isa_14:20), the rather as his sway is supposed to have been universal.—J. A. A.].—Concerning the pregnant construction ôúç áéúä comp. Jer_50:33.—
Isa_14:19. ðöø is an exclusively Isaianic word. It occurs, beside the present, only Isa_11:1, Isa_60:21, except where Dan_11:7 quotes Isa_11:1.— ðúòá , in Isaiah only here, is probably chosen for the sake of the alliteration.— ìְáåּùׁ in Isaiah again Isa_63:12.—— îèòï only here.— ëְּ in ëôâø is Kaph veritatis (comp. on Isa_13:6) and what has been said figuratively is now said without figure.— ôֶâֶø occurs again Isa_34:3; Isa_37:36; Isa_66:24. Part. îåáí only here; other forms of áåּí Isa_14:25; Isa_63:6; Isa_63:18.
Isa_14:20. úçã from éçã only here in Isaiah. Comp. Gen_19:6. Isa_14:21. áַּì poetic = àַì ; occurs again Isa_26:10-11; Isa_26:14; Isa_26:18; Isa_33:20-21; Isa_33:23-24; Isa_35:9; Isa_40:24; Isa_43:17; Isa_44:8-9; comp. on Isa_26:8.
Isa_14:22. Of the pairs of alliterated words ùׁàø is a current word with Isaiah (comp. at Isa_7:13; Isa_10:19), ðéï åðëã stand together in the three passages where they recur: Gen_21:23; Job_18:19 and here.
[“The specific meaning son and nephew (i.e., nepos, grandson), given in the Engl. Version, and most of the early writers, and retained by Umbreit, is derived from the Chaldee Paraphrase ( áø åáø áø ). Aben Ezra makes the language still more definite by explaining ùׁí to be a man himself, ùׁàø a father, ðéï a son, and ðëã a grandson.——But the more general meaning of the terms now held to be correct, is given in the LXX. ( ὄíïìá êáὶ êáôÜëåéììá êáὶ óðÝñìá ) and the Vulgate (nomen et reliquias et germen et progeniem.)”—J. A. A.]
Isa_14:23. èִàְèֵàúִé is Pilp., of a root èָà ( èåּà ) pellere, protrudere, that occurs only here, from which also the substantive îַèְàֲèֵà is formed. Some have justly found in this word a reference to èִéè clay, out of which the brick-builded Babylon emerged. But the broom, of which Jehovah makes use, is äַùְׁëֵã (infin. nomin.), destruction.
2. And it shall come to pass——hindereth.
Isa_14:3; Isa_14:6. A song of derision about the representative of the Babylonish world-power cannot be appropriate while one is in its power. When one is out of reach of his arm, then the long pent-up resentment may find expression. The service ( òֲáֹãָä . comp. Isa_28:21; Isa_32:17) is also called “hard” ( ÷ָùָׁä , Exo_1:6; Exo_6:9; Deu_26:6) in the description of the Egyptian bondage. Thus we have a reminder of the resemblance between the first and the second exile.
3. The whole earth——against us.
Isa_14:7-8. But not merely the world of mankind, the impersonal creatures were disquieted by this world-despot, who knew no law but his own passions, and they, too, rejoice, jubilant at the repose. Representative of all others, the elevated giants of the forest high up on Lebanon speak, to utter their joy that, since the end of the tyrant, they are no more felled. Cypress (Isa_37:24; Isa_41:19; Isa_55:13; Isa_60:13), a hard and lasting wood, was used, not only for house and ship-building (1Ki_5:8; 1Ki_5:10; Eze_27:5), but also in the manufacture of lances (Nah_2:4) and musical instruments (2Sa_6:5; comp. Isa_14:11). [“According to J. D. Michaelis, Antilibanus is clothed with firs as Libanus or Lebanon proper is with cedars, and both are here introduced as joining in the general triumph. J. A. A.]
4. Hell from beneath——like unto us.
Isa_14:9-10. On Sheol see Isa_14:14. [“The English word Hell, though now appropriated to the condition or place of future torments, corresponds in etymology and early usage to the Hebrew word in question. Gesenius derives it, with the German Hölle, from Höhle, “hollow;” but the English etymologists from the Anglo-Saxon helan, “to cover,” which amounts to the same thing,—the ideas of a hollow and a covered place being equally appropriate. As Sheol, retained by Henderson, and the Greek word Hades, introduced by Lowth and Barnes, require explanation also, the strong and homely Saxon form will be preferred by every unsophisticated taste. Ewald and Umbreit [and Naegelsbach] have the good taste to restore the old word Hölle in their versions. J. A. A.] As the Prophet has before personified the trees of Lebanon, so here he personifies the world of the dead. He presents it as governed by a common will. This will, so to speak, the will of the ruler, roused by the appearance of the king of Babylon, electrifies the entire kingdom, so that it gets into unusual commotion and turns to the approaching king in wonder (comp. Isa_14:16). Especially the kings already there in the kingdom of the dead, the colleagues of the Babylonian, are in commotion. øôàéí (Isa_26:14; Isa_26:19) are the lax, nerveless, powerless, who have no body, and thus no life-power more, who are only outlines, shades. The word is without article, likely because not all øôàéí , but only a part of them, i.e., all òúåãéí (the strong ones, or he-goats) shall be made to rise. These are called he-goats (Isa_1:11; Isa_34:6), not only because on earth they were the leader-goats of the nation-flocks (Zec_10:3; Psa_68:31; Jer_50:8), but because they are still such. It seems to me that there underlies here the representation of Psa_49:15 (14) : “Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall pasture them” [feed on them, Eng. Version.]. Therefore, perhaps it reads àøõ , earth, and not the earth, for the latter would be the earth as abode of the living. In the kingdom of the dead the dead are like a great flock—death pastures them: but those that were he-goats on earth are such also in the under-world. For the latter has no independent life. It only reflects in outline what life accomplished in complete, corporeal existence. Only to the end of Isa_14:10 do the words of the shades extend. For, on the one hand, much discourse does not become them (Knobel), and, on the other, much of what follows does not become the mouths of shades, viz.: the derision of the Babylonian that would retort on themselves, and because Isa_14:16 a and 20a they would speak of themselves in the third person. Therefore from Isa_14:11 on the author of the Maschal again speaks. [“The ancient versions and all the early writers understand øôàéí to mean giants. Its application to the dead admits of several explanations equally plausible with that of Gesenius (who in the earlier editions of his Lexicon and in his Commentary on Isaiah derives it from øôà , but in the last edition of his Lexicon derives it from øôä , to be still or quiet, a supposititious meaning founded on an Arabic analogy); and entitled to the preference according to the modern laws of lexicography, because instead of multiplying, they reduce the number of distinct significations. The shades or spectres of the dead might naturally be conceived as actually larger than the living man, since that which is shadowy and indistinct is commonly exaggerated by the fancy. Or there may be an allusion to the Canaanitish giants who were exterminated by divine command, and might be chosen to represent the whole class of departed sinners. Or, in this case, we may suppose the kings and great ones of the earth to be distinguished from the vulgar dead as giants or gigantic forms. Either of these hypotheses precludes the necessity of finding a new root for a common word, or of denying its plain use elsewhere. As to mere poetical effect, so often made a test of truth, there can be no comparison between the description of the dead as weak or quiet ones, and the sublime conception of gigantic shades or phantoms.” Some comment on the text as if it were “not a mere prosopopœia or poetical creation of the highest order, but a chapter from the popular belief of the Jews as to the locality, contents and transactions of the unseen world. Thus Gesenius, in his Lexicon and Commentary, gives a minute topographical description of Sheol, as the Hebrews believed it to exist. With equal truth a diligent compiler might construct a map of hell, as conceived by the English Puritans, from the descriptive portions of Paradise Lost. This kind of exposition is chargeable with a rhetorical incongruity in lauding the creative genius of the poet, and yet making all his grand creations commonplace articles of popular belief. The true view of the matter, as determined both by piety and taste, appears to he that the passage now before us comprehends two elements, and only two: religious verities or certain facts, and poetical embellishments. It may not he easy to distinguish clearly between these—but it is only between these that we are able or have any occasion to distinguish. The admission of a tertium quid in the shape of superstitious fables is as false in rhetoric as in theology.” J. A. A.]
5. Thy pomp——of the pit.
Isa_14:11-15. The contrasts between what the Babylonian would be and what he now is are here set forth. The pomp he prepared for his eyes to see, and the glorious sounds he let his ears hear are swallowed up by hell. His body, once so dearly cared for and couched, has now maggots for a couch and worms for a covering. Passages from Job (Job_7:5; Job_21:26) seem here to present themselves to the Prophet’s mind. Shining and high was he once, like the morning star; now he is fallen from heaven. äֵéìֵì , shining star, is called “son of the morning,” because it seems to emerge out of the morning dawn (comes et alumnus aurorae). “In the southern heavens, when mirrored in the waves of the sea, this planet has a brighter gleam than with us” (Leyrer in Herz.R. Encycl. XIX. p. 563). Tertullian, Gregory the Great, and latterly Stier, with reference to Luk_10:18, have taken the star fallen from heaven for Satan. Hence originates the name Lucifer (Vulgate—although îַæָּøåֹú , Job_38:32, is also so rendered), ἑùò öüñïò (LXX.). Once he was mighty over the nations—but now he is himself broken and cast to the earth (Isa_22:25).
The following And thou hast said,etc. (Isa_14:13) seems at first sight to stand in antithesis to what precedes (Isa_14:12). But examination shows that Isa_14:13-15 belong together. For the úåøã , “thou art brought down,” Isa_14:15, corresponds to the àòìä , “I will ascend,” of Isa_14:13-14, and Isa_14:12 is complete in itself, each clause of it containing a complete antithesis; the lofty star is fallen, the conqueror lies prostrate on the ground. Thus the åְ before àַúָּä is not adversative, but simply the copulative: and thou who thoughtst to mount to the heavens must go down to hell. The world-power is by its very nature inimical to God: its aim is to supplant God and put itself in His place. This tendency is indwelling in the world-power derived from its transcendental author, Satan, and is realized in every particular representative. Thus, then, here the Babylonian expresses his purpose of assuming the highest place, not simply on earth among the lords of the world, but in heaven itself, and that above the stars, which seem here to be conceived of as the residences of the spirits of God, the öáàåú , Job_38:7, and the spheres of their manifestation, according to heathen notions, which very well suit in the mouth of the Babylonian. Let him be enthroned above the stars, and he, too, is “god of hosts.” Let the throne of the potentate be above the stars; then he shall stand on the pinnacle of the sacred mountain of the gods, about which the constellations circle, and which the heathen notions of the Orient represent as in the North. This mountain is variously named by the different nations. It is called Meru (Kailasa, in the direction beyond the Himalaia) by those in India, Alburg by the others; nor does the Olympus of the Greeks stand wholly disconnected herewith. Comp. Rhode,Heil. Saga des Zendvolkes, p. 229 sq.; Gesenius,Jes. II. p. 516 sqq.; Lassen,Ind. Alterthumskunde I. p. 34 sq.; Movers,Phön. II. 1, p. 414; Kohut,Jüd. Angelol. u. Daemonol. in den Abhh. f. d. Kunde des Morgenl., 1866, p. 57.
Many expositors down to Fuerst (Conc. p. 501) and Shegg [J. A. A. states both views without deciding; so also substantially Birks] have been led by the expression äַøֹ îåֹòֵã to hold that the mountain meant in the text is Zion, as the gathering place of the Israelites, for which they appeal especially to Psa_48:3. But Zion lay neither to the north of Palestine nor to the north of Jerusalem, nor does the mention of Zion in this sense become the lips of the possessor of the world-power. éַøְëָּúַéִí (remotest corners, Eng. Vers.sides), are the thighs, which (considered from within outwardly), form the extremest boundaries, as well as (regarded in their junction), the extremest points. Thus the word stands for the inmost corner (e.g., of a cave, 1Sa_24:4) as well as for the extremest boundary of a land. Thus Jer_6:22; Jer_25:32 says éøëúé àøõ (sides, coasts of the earth); and here Isa. (and after him Eze_38:6; Eze_38:15; Eze_39:2) says öôéïé× (extremest, highest North). The expressions “above the stars of God” and “mount of the congregation” signify the loftiest height intensively, “the heights of the clouds” ( áîåúé òá —an expression found only here), in an extensive sense. For as far as the clouds extend (Psa_35:6; Psa_57:11; Psa_108:5) the dominion of the true God reaches, and everywhere the clouds are His air chariots and air thrones (Isa_19:1; Psa_97:2; Psa_104:3; Dan_7:13). If, then, the Babylonian reigns in the loftiest heights and every where, he has become like the highest God. But thereby he has supplanted the highest God: for two cannot at once occupy the highest place. And this, as remarked above, is the aim of Satan and of his earthly sphere of power, the world-power, which culminates in Antichrist (Dan_11:36; 2Th_2:3 sq.). This tendency of the world-power explains how, not only heathen, but now and then also Jewish and Christian princes, have laid claim to divine honors, or at least have suffered such to be paid them. Curtius (VIII. 5) praises the Persians because: non pie solum, sed etiam prudenter reges suos inter Deos colunt. In inscriptions Persian kings are explicitly called ἔêãïíïé èåῶí , ἐê ãÝíïõò èåῶí , and even èåïß . Comp. Hengstenberg,Introd. to the O. Test. I. [p. 124 sqq. of the German Ed.]. This is well known in regard to the Roman Emperors. Such deification had its extremest illustration in the case of Diocletian, who made himself an object of divine worship as a representative of the highest God. Comp. Alb. Vogel,Prof., Der Kaiser Diocletian, ein Vortrag, Gotha, 1857. Herod let himself be called God, and had to suffer dearly for that assumption of honor such as belongs to God alone (Act_12:21 sqq.). In Christian Europe, too, there have not been wanting instances of such heathenish adulation of princes. See under Doctrinal and Ethical remarks below.
Isa_14:15 expresses, in contrast with the pretensions of the Babylonian, what his actual fate shall be. [See above in Text. and Gram.]
6. They that see——with cities.
Isa_14:16-21. “They that see” are not the denizens of hell, for they have before them the dead as an unburied corpse. The underlying thought of the passage is, however, that the sins of the deceased are enumerated (Isa_14:16-17), and his fate is designated as their merited punishment. Thus it says, “they that see thee,” i.e. they that see thee lying an unburied corpse look upon thee. Because he destroyed the rest of countries, he himself now finds no rest in the grave. Because he made a desert of the fruitful land ( úáì to be taken in this sense here in contrast with îãáø , comp. on Isa_13:11), he lies himself a deserted carcase; because he showed no pity to prisoners, he is himself pitilessly dealt with.
I do not think it probable that the following words are to be ascribed to others than the øàéí , those seeing thee, Isa_14:16, e.g. to the Prophet. The internal connection with Isa_14:16-17 is too close. “Is this the man,” says Isa_14:16? What kind of man? Why just that one who, according to Isa_14:19, lies as a trampled carcase. Then Isa_14:22, what the Prophet says in the name of the Lord, comes in all the more emphatically as confirming this. It is then the subjects of the king that remark, that whereas all other kings lie in state in the tombs of their ancestors (comp. 2Ki_21:18, 2Ch_33:20) their king is cast away far from his grave ( îִï =procul, Jer_48:45; Lam_4:9).
But he is cast away as a despised branch. When trees are felled, or pruned, many a small branch, which compared to the whole tree is worthless, is cast aside and trampled in the mud.
Most expositors in explaining the following words take ìְáֻùׁ as part. pass. But it seems to me that then the two following participles appear very superfluous. For what does it amount to to describe the Chaldean as covered with the slain that are thrust through and carried down to the pit? It is otherwise if, with Aqu., Theod., Luther, Fuerst (conc.), and others, we take ìְáֻùׁ as substantive. Then it is said that the corpse of the Chaldean is cast away, not only as a despised branch, but also as the garment of the slain who were thrust through with the sword and buried. For were they thrust through with a sword, then, too, the garment would be cut into holes, and at least spotted with blood, and if they are buried, it is explained how their garment comes into the hands of others. When the dead are buried on the field of battle, their clothes are taken off them, but those that are torn and cut in holes and smeared with blood, are cast away, while those unharmed are retained as valuable booty. “The stones of the pit” cannot be the stones of a grave on the top of the earth. For neither the rock-hewn grave, nor a walled-up tomb, nor a grave covered with stones to avoid the trouble of shoveling up a mound, has any meaning in this connection; though it may be said by the way, that heaping up stones is no less troublesome than shoveling up a mound. Buried in general is the chief thing. But there is only one áּåֹø , pit, that has stones under all circumstances. It is the widening and deepening of the grave ( ùְׁàåֹì see Isa_14:15), that is on the surface. This is in the interior of the earth. This interior is any way closed about by the òַîּåּøִéí , pillars, (Job_9:6), îְëåֹðִéí foundations, (Psa_104:5) of the earth; but these are the mountains (comp. Pro_7:25) which are thence called “strong foundations of the earth” Mic_6:2. But that the foundations or the roots of the earth consist of rock was known to the ancients as well as to us. The king, as an unburied, thrown away corpse, shall not be reunited in the grave with those other dead which, according to Isa_14:19, are buried.—The king destroyed his land by despotism and wars, and sacrificed his subjects in masses. Thus, not only himself, but his entire dynasty shall be destroyed. The name of his race shall become extinct as godless. To this end his seed must be slain. The people themselves demand it. They resolve that this generation shall not be raised up to possess the land and fill it with cities. Building cities contributes to security, the establishment of dominion, the interests of trade, and the cultivation of the ground. A builder of cities must ever be a mighty man. There is no need, therefore, to change òָøִéí , as some would do, to òָøִöִéí (Ewald), òִéִּéí (Hitzig), òָãִéí (Meier). On the other hand one must be careful not to press all the particular traits of this prophecy. What we said above concerning the ideal coloring of prophecy is appropriate also here.
7. For I will——saith the Lord of hosts.
Isa_14:22-23. These are words of the Prophet which he speaks in the name of Jehovah. Therefore the word of God constitutes the, formal conclusion of the prophecy, the Prophet resuming the thread of discourse and keeping it to the end. He confirms thereby the words of the people by giving them a general and more comprehensive direction. What they had said only against the royal race is changed to a denunciation of punishment against the kingdom of Babylon in general. Its cities shall become the possession (Job_17:11; Oba_1:17) of the porcupine (Isa_34:11; Zep_2:14), and, (in consequence of the ruin of the embankments of the Euphrates), swampy marshes (Isa_35:7; Isa_41:18; Isa_42:15). By the porcupine appears to be meant the echinus aquatica, which was found of unusual size (according to Strabo, Isa_16:1) on the islands of the Euphrates. Comp. Bochart,Hieroz. II., p. 454 sqq.
Footnotes:
labor.
unrest.
which was wrought by thee.
raise.
Or, taunting speech.
upon.
Or, exactress of gold.
oppression.
Heb. a stroke without removing.
trod down.
by persecution without sparing.
Or, The grave.
spectres, or giants.
Heb. leaders.
Or, great goats.
answer.
Thou art.
Or, O day star.
subdue.
And yet.
saidst.
Only.
art.
remotest corners.
Or, did not let his prisoners loose homewards.
in state.
despised.
named.
And.
issue and offspring.
porcupine.
2. On Isa_13:4 sqq. “God cannot do otherwise than punish accumulated wickedness. But He overthrows violence and crime, and metes out to tyrants the measure they have given to others, for He gives to them a master that the heathen shall know that they too are men (Ps. 9:21; Psa_11:5).”—Cramer.
[On 13 Isa_13:3. “It cannot be supposed that the Medes and Persians really exulted, or rejoiced in God or in His plans.—But they would exult as if it were their own plan, though it would be really the glorious plan of God. Wicked, men often exult in their success: they glory in the execution of their purposes; but they are really accomplishing the plans of God, and executing His great designs.”—Barnes.]
[On Isa_13:9. “The moral causes of the ruin threatened are significantly intimated by the Prophet’s calling the people of the earth or land its sinners. As the national offences here referred to, Vitringa enumerates pride (Isa_13:11; Isa_14:11; Isa_47:7-8), idolatry (Jer_50:38), tyranny in general (Isa_14:12; Isa_14:17), and oppression of God’s people in particular (Isa_47:6).”—J. A. Alexander.]
3. On Isa_13:19 sqq. Imperiti animi, etc. “Unlearned minds when they happen on allegories, can hold no certain sense of Scripture. And unless this Papal business had kept me to the simple text of the Bible, I had become an idle trifler in allegories like Jerome and Origen. For that figurative speech has certain allurements by which minds seek to dispose of difficulties. … The true allegory of this passage is concerning the victory of conscience over death. For, the law is Cyrus, the Turk, the cruel and mighty enemy that rises up against the proud conscience of justitiaries who confide in their own merits. These are the real Babylon, and this is the glory of Babylon, that it walks in the confidence of its own works. When, therefore, the law comes and occupies the heart with its terrors, it condemns all our works in which we have trusted, as polluted and very dung. Once the law has laid bare this filthiness of our hearts and works, there follows confusion, writhing, and pains of parturition; men become ashamed, and that confidence of works ceases and they do those things which we see now-a-days: he that heretofore has lived by confidence of righteousnesss in a monastery, deserts the monkish life, casts away to ashes all glory of works, and looks to the gratuitous righteousness and merit of Christ, and that is the desolation of Babylon. The ostriches and hairy creatures that remain are Eck, Cochleus and others, who do not pertain to that part of law. They screech, they do not speak with human voice, they are unable to arouse and console any afflicted conscience with their doctrine. My allegories, which I approve, are of this sort, viz., which shadow forth the nature of law and gospel.” Luther.
4. On Isa_13:21 sqq. “There the Holy Spirit paints for thee the house of thy heart as a deserted, desolate Babylon, as a loathsome cesspool, and devil’s hol