Yeshayah 14:20

20 Thou shalt not be joined with them in kevurah (burial), because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people; the zera of ra’im (evildoers) shall never be renowned.

Yeshayah 14:20 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 14:20

Thou shall not be joined with them in burial
The kings before mentioned; not that the sense is that he should not be interred in the same place they were, or lie in the same stately monuments they did, for that was never designed by him or others; but that he should not be buried in like manner, be embalmed as they, or have odours burned for him, or lie in such state and pomp, or have a "pyramid" or "mausoleum", or any rich monument, erected over him; unless this can be understood of his ancestors, the kings that were before him; and the sense be, that he should not have a burial with the kings of Babylon, or be inferred where they were, but, as before said, should be cast out, or be kept from the place of sepulture. The Targum is,

``thou shall not be as one of them in the grave;''

shall not be like them, or equal to them, in the glory and pomp of a funeral, not having the same funeral rites; obsequies, and ornaments they have had. So the whore of Rome shall have no funeral, but the kings of the earth will eat her flesh, and burn her with fire ( Revelation 17:16 ) , because thou hast destroyed thy land;
not only other lands and nations, but also his own, and the inhabitants of it, by his tyrannical government, by levies and exactions, by mulcts and fines, on various pretences: or, "hast corrupted, thy land" ^F7; which phrase is used of mystical Babylon, ( Revelation 19:2 ) see also ( Revelation 11:18 ) whose land or earth is the whole Romish jurisdiction, corrupted by her idolatries, and wasted and destroyed by the various methods used to drain away the substance thereof: [and] slain thy people;
put them to death at pleasure, without any just cause, for trifling matters; which is often done by arbitrary princes. Jarchi and Kimchi apply this to Nebuchadnezzar's slaying the wise men of Babylon, because they could not tell him his dream, and the interpretation of it. It is true of antichrist slaying such, that would not worship his image, and receive his mark, ( Revelation 13:10 Revelation 13:15 ) . The seed of evildoers shall never be renowned;
or, "not for ever"; though they may have a name, and be very famous for a while, yet not always; in process of time their honour is laid in the dust; or, "shall not be called for ever" ^F8; their name and their memory shall not always last; their name shall be cut off, and their memory shall rot; they shall have none to keep up their name, and they shall not be spoken of with respect; such a seed of evildoers were Belshazzar and his family, who descended from Nebuchadnezzar and Evilmerodach, and were at once extinct, as follows:

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 (txv Kura) "terram tuam corrupisti", Montanus, Cocceius, Junius, Tremellius, Piscator.
F8 (Mlwel arqy al) "non nominabitur in seculum", Forerius; "vocabitur", Pagninus, Montanus, Munster.

Yeshayah 14:20 In-Context

18 Kol melachim (all kings) of the Goyim, even all of them, lie in kavod, every one in his own bais (house, i.e., tomb).

19 But thou art cast out of thy kever like a rejected netzer (branch, see Mt 2:23); and your raiment is those that are slain, thrust through with a cherev, that go down to the stones of the bor (pit); as a peger (corpse) trodden under feet.

20 Thou shalt not be joined with them in kevurah (burial), because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people; the zera of ra’im (evildoers) shall never be renowned.

21 Prepare the matbe’ach (slaughterhouse) for his banim for the avon (iniquity) of their avot; that they do not rise, nor inherit eretz, nor cover the surface of the tevel (earth) with towns.

22 For I will rise up against them, saith Hashem Tzva’os, and I will cut off from Bavel the shem, and she’ar (remainder), and offspring, and posterity, saith Hashem.