Isaiah 14:17

17 who made the world a desert, who destroyed its cities, who would not set his prisoners free?'

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 are brought down to Sh'ol, to the uttermost depths of the pit.

16 Those who see you will stare at you, reflecting on what has become of you: 'Is this the man who shook the earth, who made kingdoms tremble,

17 who made the world a desert, who destroyed its cities, who would not set his prisoners free?'

18 "All other kings of the nations, all of them, lie in glory, each in his tomb.

19 But you are discarded, unburied, like a loathed branch, clothed like the slain who were pierced by the sword, then fall to the stones inside a pit, like a corpse to be trampled underfoot.