Isaiah 13:6

6 Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty. ^[a]

Isaiah 13:6 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 13:6

Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is at hand
These words are an address to the Babylonians, who instead of rejoicing and feasting, as Belshazzar and his nobles were the night that Babylon was taken, had reason to howl and lament; seeing the day that the Lord had fixed for their destruction was very near, and he was just about to come forth as a judge to take vengeance on them; for though it was about two hundred and fifty years from the time of this prophecy, to the taking of Babylon, yet it is represented as at hand, to show the certainty of it, both for the comfort of the Jewish captives, when they should be in it, and for the awakening of the sluggish inhabitants, who were secure, and thought themselves out of danger: it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty:
suddenly, swiftly, and irresistibly: there is a beautiful paronomasia in the Hebrew text, "ceshod mishaddai" ^F3; as destruction from the destroyer; from God, who is able to save, and to destroy; he is almighty and all sufficient, so some render the word; the hand of God was visible in it.

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 (ydvm dwvk) .

Isaiah 13:6 In-Context

4 Listen, a tumult on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations gathered together! The LORD of Hosts is mobilizing an army for war.

5 They are coming from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens— the LORD and the weapons of His wrath— to destroy the whole country.

6 Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty.

7 Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart will melt.

8 Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another, their faces flushed with fear.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew Shaddai