Isaiah 14:17

17 Is this the one who destroyed the world and made it into a wasteland? Is this the king who demolished the world’s greatest cities and had no mercy on his prisoners?’

Isaiah 14:17 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 14:17

[That] made the world as a wilderness
Both by destroying the inhabitants of it, and by laying waste cities, towns, villages, fields, vineyards, gardens, and all places improved and cultivated, wherever he came, as it follows: and destroyed the cities thereof;
as the Assyrian kings had done, some of which are mentioned in ( Isaiah 10:9 ) ( Isaiah 37:11-13 Isaiah 37:18 ) : [that] opened not the house of his prisoners;
the prison house, in, which they were held; or,

``the gate to his prisoners,''

as the Targum; or rather the words may be rendered, "that opened not to his prisoners", that they might go "home"; or as De Dieu, in short, yet fully, expresses it, "that did not dismiss his prisoners home"; he not only cruelly and inhumanly put many to the sword, but such as surrendered, and were taken captives, he detained them in prison, and would not loose their bonds, but let them die there; which was an instance of great cruelty and inhumanity.

Isaiah 14:17 In-Context

15 Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths.

16 Everyone there will stare at you and ask, ‘Can this be the one who shook the earth and made the kingdoms of the world tremble?

17 Is this the one who destroyed the world and made it into a wasteland? Is this the king who demolished the world’s greatest cities and had no mercy on his prisoners?’

18 “The kings of the nations lie in stately glory, each in his own tomb,

19 but you will be thrown out of your grave like a worthless branch. Like a corpse trampled underfoot, you will be dumped into a mass grave with those killed in battle. You will descend to the pit.