Isaiah 13:18

18 And their bows will mow down the ¹young men, They will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb, Nor will their ²eye pity children.

Isaiah 13:18 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 13:18

[Their] bows also shall dash their young men to pieces,
&c.] That is, the bows of the Medes should dash in pieces the young men of the Babylonians. The meaning is, either that they should put them into their bows, instead of arrows, and shoot them upon the ground, or against a wall, and so dash them to pieces; or that they should first shoot them through with their arrows, and then dash them with their bows; according to Xenophon ^F12, Cyrus came to Babylon with great numbers of archers and slingers: and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb;
even of those that were in the womb, but should rip up women with child, and cut them in pieces: their eyes shall not spare children;
in the arms of their parents, or running to them, shrieking and crying, and in the utmost fright; and yet their tender and innocent age would meet with no mercy. The Medes were notorious for their cruelty ^F13, and which issued at last in the ruin of their empire.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 Cyropaedia, l. 2. sect. 1.
F13 Ammian. Marcellin. l. 23. c. 6. Diodor. Sicul. l. 13. p. 342.

Isaiah 13:18 In-Context

16 Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces Before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished.

17 Behold, I am going to stir up the Medes against them, Who will not value silver or take pleasure in gold.

18 And their bows will mow down the young men, They will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb, Nor will their eye pity children.

19 And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans' pride, Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

20 It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation; Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there, Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.

Cross References

• 1. 2 Kings 8:12; 2 Chronicles 36:17
• 2. Ezekiel 9:5, 10

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "dash in pieces"
• [b]. Lit "sons"