Isaiah 13:19

19 Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms, the flower of Chaldean pride, will be devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah when God destroyed them.

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 “Look, I will stir up the Medes against Babylon. They cannot be tempted by silver or bribed with gold.
18 The attacking armies will shoot down the young men with arrows. They will have no mercy on helpless babies and will show no compassion for children.”
19 Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms, the flower of Chaldean pride, will be devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah when God destroyed them.
20 Babylon will never be inhabited again. It will remain empty for generation after generation. Nomads will refuse to camp there, and shepherds will not bed down their sheep.
21 Desert animals will move into the ruined city, and the houses will be haunted by howling creatures. Owls will live among the ruins, and wild goats will go there to dance.
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