Isaiah 13:19

19 Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the pride and glory of the Babylonians,[a]will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.

Isaiah 13:19 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
English Standard Version (ESV)
19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.
New Living Translation (NLT)
19 Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms, the flower of Chaldean pride, will be devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah when God destroyed them.
The Message Bible (MSG)
19 And Babylon, most glorious of all kingdoms, the pride and joy of Chaldeans, Will end up smoking and stinking like Sodom, and, yes, like Gomorrah, when God had finished with them.
American Standard Version (ASV)
19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
19 Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the proud beauty of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God destroyed them.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
19 And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
19 The city of Babylon is the jewel of kingdoms. It is the glory and pride of the Babylonians. But God will destroy it just as he did Sodom and Gomorrah.

Isaiah 13:19 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 13:19

And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms
The first and most ancient kingdom, ( Genesis 10:10 ) and now, at the time of its fall, the largest and most extensive; wherefore of the image Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream, which was a representation of several kingdoms, this was the head, the head of gold, ( Daniel 2:31 Daniel 2:38 ) so Babylon is called the "lady of kingdoms", ( Isaiah 47:5 ) the word here used for "glory" is the same with that which is rendered a "roe", ( Isaiah 13:14 ) . Babylon was once as a pleasant roe, but now a chased one: the beauty of the Chaldees excellency;
the glory of that nation; what they gloried in, being so famous for pompous buildings, number of inhabitants, riches and wealth, see ( Daniel 4:30 ) . Pliny F14 calls it the head of the Chaldean nations, and says it obtained great fame in the whole world: shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah;
which, though not at once, and by fire from heaven, as that was, yet was of God, and, when completed, was, like that, irrecoverable; which was begun by Cyrus and Darius, and in after times finished; and besides there was a circumstance which made it similar to that; for as the men of Sodom were eating and drinking, when their destruction came upon them, so Belshazzar, and his nobles, were feasting and revelling when the city was taken. The Jews F15 say, that, after Belshazzar was slain, Darius reigned one year, and in his second year the city was overthrown, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah by fire from heaven; but without any foundation; for certain it is that Babylon was in being many years after this, and continued to the time of Alexander the great.


FOOTNOTES:

F14 Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 26.
F15 Jarchi & Kimchi ex Seder Olam Rabba, c. 28.

Isaiah 13:19 In-Context

17 See, I will stir up against them the Medes, who do not care for silver and have no delight in gold.
18 Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants, nor will they look with compassion on children.
19 Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the pride and glory of the Babylonians,will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 She will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations; there no nomads will pitch their tents, there no shepherds will rest their flocks.
21 But desert creatures will lie there, jackals will fill her houses; there the owls will dwell, and there the wild goats will leap about.

Cross References 5

  • 1. S ver 1
  • 2. Isaiah 47:5; Daniel 2:37-38
  • 3. Daniel 4:30
  • 4. S Psalms 137:8; S Revelation 14:8
  • 5. S Genesis 19:25; Isaiah 1:9-10; Romans 9:29; Genesis 19:24

Footnotes 1

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