Isaiah 14:3-23

The Downfall of the King of Babylon

3 And it shall happen on the day Yahweh gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and hard labor which {you had to perform},

4 that you will take this taunt against the king of Babylon, and you will say: "How [the] oppressor has ceased! [his] insolence has ceased.

5 Yahweh has broken [the] staff of [the] wicked, [the] scepter of rulers,

6 that struck [the] peoples in wrath, a blow without ceasing, that ruled [the] nations in anger {with unrestrained persecution}.

7 All of the earth rests [and] is quiet; they break forth [into] singing.

8 Even [the] cypresses rejoice over you, the cedars of Lebanon: 'Since you were laid down, no [wood] cutter comes up against us.'

9 Sheol below is getting excited over you, to meet {you when you come}; it arouses [the] dead spirits for you, all of [the] leaders of [the] earth. It raises all of [the] kings of [the] nations from their thrones.

10 All of them will respond and say to you, 'You yourself also were made weak like us! You have become the same as us!'

11 Your pride is brought down [to] Sheol, [and] the sound of your harps; maggots are spread out beneath you like a bed, and your covering is worms.

12 How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of dawn! You are cut down to the ground, conqueror of nations!

13 And you yourself said in your heart, 'I will ascend [to] heaven; I will raise up my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on [the] mountain of assembly on the summit of Zaphon;

14 I will ascend to [the] high places of [the] clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.'

15 But you are brought down to Sheol, to [the] depths of [the] pit.

16 Those who see you will stare at you, they will look closely at you: '[Is] this the man who made the earth tremble, who caused kingdoms to shake,

17 who made [the] world like the desert and destroyed its cities, [who] would not let his prisoners go home?'

18 All [the] kings of [the] nations, all of them, lie in glory, each one in his house.

19 But [as for] you, you are thrown away from your grave, like an abhorrent shoot, clothed with [the] slain, those pierced [by the] sword, those who go down to [the] stones of [the] pit, like a corpse that is trodden down.

20 You will not be united with them in burial because you have destroyed your land, you have killed your people. [The] descendants of evildoers will not be mentioned for eternity!

21 Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons because of the sin of their ancestors. Let them not rise and take possession of [the] earth or fill up [the] face of [the] world [with] cities."

22 "And I will rise up against them," {declares} Yahweh of hosts, "and I will cut off name and a remnant from Babylon, and offspring and posterity," {declares} Yahweh.

23 "And I will make her a possession of [the] hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep her away with [the] broom of destruction," {declares} Yahweh of hosts.

Isaiah 14:3-23 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 14

This chapter contains prophecies of the restoration of the Jews, of the fall of the king of Babylon, and the destruction of the Assyrian empire, and of the ruin of Palestine. The moving cause of the restoration of the Jews, and their settlement in their own land, is the distinguishing mercy of God towards them; the accomplishment of it, proselytes joined unto them; the means, people of other nations, who should bring them into it, and whom they should possess and rule over; and the consequence of it, rest from sorrow, fear, and hard bondage, Isa 14:1-3 upon which they are introduced as taking up a proverb, or a triumphant song, concerning the king of Babylon, wondering at his fall, and ascribing it to the Lord, Isa 14:4,5 representing the inhabitants of the earth, and great men of it, as at peace, and rest, and rejoicing, who before were continually disturbed, and smitten by him, Isa 14:6-8 introducing the dead, and those in hell, meeting him, and welcoming him into their regions, with taunts and jeers; upbraiding him with his weakness, shame, and disgrace he was come into; putting him in mind of his former pomp and splendour, pride, arrogance, and haughtiness, Isa 14:9-15 spectators are brought in, as amazed at the low, mean, and despicable condition he was brought into, considering what he had done in the world, in kingdoms and cities, but was now denied a burial, when other kings lay in their pompous sepulchres, Isa 14:16-20 and then it is foretold that that whole royal family should be cut off, and Babylon, the metropolis of his kingdom, should be utterly destroyed, Isa 14:21-23 all which was settled and fixed by the purpose of God, which could not be made void, Isa 14:24-27 and next follows a prophecy of the destruction of Palestine; the date of the prophecy is given Isa 14:28 the inhabitants of Palestine are bid not to rejoice at the death of one of the kings of Judah, since another should arise, who would be fatal to them, Isa 14:29 and while the Jews would be in safety, they would be destroyed by famine and war, Isa 14:30,31 from all which it would appear, and it might be told the messengers of the nations, or any inquiring persons, that Zion is of the Lord's founding, and under his care and protection, and that his people have great reason and encouragement to trust in him, Isa 14:32.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "was worked by you"
• [b]. The meaning of the word is uncertain; others translate it as "fury," "hostility," or even "golden city"
• [c]. Literally "persecution without withholding"
• [d]. Literally "your entrance"
• [e]. Hebrew "maggot"
• [f]. Hebrew "worm"
• [g]. Hebrew "cloud"
• [h]. Or "fathers"