Isaiah 13

11. world--the impious of the world (compare Isaiah 11:4 ).
arrogancy--Babylon's besetting sin ( Daniel 4:22 Daniel 4:30 ).
the terrible--rather, tyrants [HORSLEY].

12. man . . . precious--I will so cut off Babylon's defenders, that a single man shall be as rare and precious as the finest gold.

13. Image for mighty revolutions ( Isaiah 24:19 , 34:4 , Habakkuk 3:6 Habakkuk 3:10 , Haggai 2:6 Haggai 2:7 , Revelation 20:11 ).

14. it--Babylon.
roe--gazelle; the most timid and easily startled.
no man taketh up--sheep defenseless, without a shepherd ( Zechariah 13:7 ).
every man . . . to his own people--The "mingled peoples" of foreign lands shall flee out of her ( Jeremiah 50:16 Jeremiah 50:28 Jeremiah 50:37 , 51:9 ).

15. found--in the city.
joined--"intercepted" [MAURER]. "Every one that has withdrawn himself," namely, to hide in the houses [GESENIUS].

16. ( Psalms 137:8 Psalms 137:9 ).

17. Medes--( Isaiah 21:2 , Jeremiah 51:11 Jeremiah 51:28 ). At that time they were subject to Assyria; subsequently Arbaces, satrap of Media, revolted against the effeminate Sardanapalus, king of Assyria, destroyed Nineveh, and became king of Media, in the ninth century B.C.
not regard silver--In vain will one try to buy his life from them for a ransom. The heathen XENOPHON (Cyropædia, 5,1,10) represents Cyrus as attributing this characteristic to the Medes, disregard of riches. A curious confirmation of this prophecy.

18. bows--in the use of which the Persians were particularly skilled.

19. glory of kingdoms--( Isaiah 14:4 , 47:5 , Jeremiah 51:41 ).
beauty of . . . excellency--Hebrew, "the glory of the pride" of the Chaldees; it was their glory and boast.
as . . . Gomorrah--as utterly ( Jeremiah 49:18 , 50:40 , Amos 4:11 ). Taken by Cyrus, by clearing out the canal made for emptying the superfluous waters of the Euphrates, and directing the river into this new channel, so that he was able to enter the city by the old bed in the night.

20. Literally fulfilled.
neither . . . Arabian pitch tent--Not only shall it not be a permanent residence, but not even a temporary resting-place. The Arabs, through dread of evil spirits, and believing the ghost of Nimrod to haunt it, will not pass the night there (compare Isaiah 13:21 ).
neither . . . shepherds--The region was once most fertile; but owing to the Euphrates being now no longer kept within its former channels, it has become a stagnant marsh, unfit for flocks; and on the wastes of its ruins (bricks and cement) no grass grows.

21. wild beasts--Hebrew, tsiyim, animals dwelling in arid wastes. Wild cats, remarkable for their howl [BOCHART].
doleful creatures--"howling beasts," literally, "howlings" [MAURER].
owls--rather, "ostriches"; a timorous creature, delighting in solitary deserts and making a hideous noise [BOCHART].
satyrs--sylvan demi-gods--half man, half goat--believed by the Arabs to haunt these ruins; probably animals of the goat-ape species [VITRINGA]. Devil-worshippers, who dance amid the ruins on a certain night [J. WOLFF].

22. wild beasts of the islands--rather, "jackals"; called by the Arabs "sons of howling"; an animal midway between a fox and a wolf [BOCHART and MAURER].
cry--rather, "answer," "respond" to each other, as wolves do at night, producing a most dismal effect.
dragons--serpents of various species, which hiss and utter dolorous sounds. Fable gave them wings, because they stand with much of the body elevated and then dart swiftly. MAURER understands here another species of jackal.
her time . . . near--though one hundred seventy-four years distant, yet "near" to Isaiah, who is supposed to be speaking to the Jews as if now captives in Babylon ( Isaiah 14:1 Isaiah 14:2 ).