Isaiah 13 Footnotes

13:8-16 Isaiah presented a picture of “the day of the LORD” that is coming for the destruction of sinners (v. 9). Although the context was the warfare of Isaiah’s time, the prophet described it in cosmic word-pictures: darkness of the sun and stars (v. 10), and the shaking of the earth (v. 13). Equally extreme, in typical prophetic rhetoric, is the description of the cruelty to be inflicted upon men, women, and children (vv. 15-16). In reality, such horror was typical of ancient warfare, as ancient Assyrian war records illustrate, and is not unknown in medieval and modern times as well. To describe these pitiless acts, even in the name of the Lord, is not to claim that he approves of them. The prophet merely predicted what sinful people will do to each other.