Isaiah 14
14
Restoration of Israel. 1But the Lord will take pity on Jacob and again choose Israel, and will settle them on their own land; foreigners will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob.#Is 56:3; 60:4; Ps 102:14; Jer 24:6; Zec 1:17. 2The nations will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them#Possess them: Israel will make slaves of the nations who escort it back to its land. as male and female slaves on the Lord’s land; they will take captive their captors and rule over their oppressors.#Is 49:22–23; 60:14; 66:20.
Downfall of the King of Babylon. 3On the day when the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow and turmoil, from the hard service with which you served,#Ex 33:14; Jos 1:13; Jer 30:10. 4you will take up this taunt-song#This taunt-song, a satirical funeral lament, is a beautiful example of classical Hebrew poetry. According to the prose introduction and the prosaic conclusion (vv. 22–23), it is directed against the king of Babylon, though Babylon is mentioned nowhere in the song itself. If the reference to Babylon is accurate, the piece was composed long after the time of Isaiah, for Babylon was not a threat to Judah in the eighth century. Some have argued that Isaiah wrote it at the death of an Assyrian king and the references to Babylon were made by a later editor, but this is far from certain. against the king of Babylon:#Hb 2:6.
How the oppressor has come to an end!
how the turmoil has ended!
5The Lord has broken the rod of the wicked,
the staff of the tyrants#Is 10:24–27.
6That struck the peoples in wrath
with relentless blows;
That ruled the nations in anger,
with boundless persecution.#Is 10:5–7.
7The whole earth rests peacefully,
song breaks forth;
8The very cypresses rejoice over you,
the cedars of Lebanon:
“Now that you are laid to rest,
no one comes to cut us down.”#Is 37:24; 44:23; 55:12; Ez 31:16.
9Below, Sheol is all astir
preparing for your coming;
Awakening the shades to greet you,
all the leaders of the earth;
Making all the kings of the nations
rise from their thrones.
10All of them speak out
and say to you,
“You too have become weak like us,
you are just like us!
11Down to Sheol your pomp is brought,
the sound of your harps.
Maggots are the couch beneath you,
worms your blanket.”#Sir 10:11.
12How you have fallen from the heavens,
O Morning Star,#Morning Star: term addressed to the king of Babylon. The Vulgate translates as “Lucifer,” a name applied by the church Fathers to Satan. Son of the dawn: Heb., ben shahar, may reflect the name of a pagan deity. son of the dawn!
How you have been cut down to the earth,
you who conquered nations!#Jb 14:10.
13In your heart you said:
“I will scale the heavens;
Above the stars of God#God: not Elohim, the common word for God, but El, the name of the head of the pantheon in Canaanite mythology, a god who was early identified with the Lord in Israelite thought. Mount of Assembly: mountain where the council of the gods met, according to Canaanite mythology. Zaphon: the sacred mountain of Baal, originally the Jebel el-Aqra north of Ugarit, but other mountains have been identified with it, including Mount Zion in Jerusalem (Ps 48:3). The attempt to usurp the place of God (v. 14), coupled with the dramatic reversal (“above the stars of God” to “the depths of the pit”) occasioned the interpretation that saw here the rebellion and fall of Satan.
I will set up my throne;
I will take my seat on the Mount of Assembly,
on the heights of Zaphon.#Jer 51:53; Am 9:2.
14I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will be like the Most High!”#Ez 28:2; Zep 2:15; 2 Thes 2:4.
15No! Down to Sheol you will be brought
to the depths of the pit!#Ez 28:8–9; 32:23; Mt 11:23; Acts 12:23.
16When they see you they will stare,
pondering over you:
“Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
who shook kingdoms?
17Who made the world a wilderness,
razed its cities,
and gave captives no release?”
18All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
each in his own tomb;#Jb 3:14–15.
19But you are cast forth without burial,
like loathsome carrion,
Covered with the slain, with those struck by the sword,
a trampled corpse,
Going down to the very stones of the pit.#Is 66:24.
20You will never be together with them in the grave,
For you have ruined your land,
you have slain your people!
Let him never be named,
that offshoot of evil!
21Make ready to slaughter his sons
for the guilt of their fathers;#Ex 20:5; Mt 23:35.
Lest they rise and possess the earth,
and fill the breadth of the world with cities.#Cities: if the text is correct, it presumably refers to cities as expressions of human pride, authority, and oppression (cf. Gn 11:1–9; Na 3:1–4).
22I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon name and remnant, progeny and offspring, says the Lord.#Jer 51:62; Jb 18:19. 23I will make it a haunt of hoot owls and a marshland; I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, oracle of the Lord of hosts.
God’s Plan for Assyria#The motif of God’s plan or work is a recurring thread running through Isaiah’s oracles. The plans of Judah’s enemies will not come to pass (7:5–7; 8:9–10; 10:7), but God’s plan for his work of disciplining his own people (5:12, 19; 28:21), and then for punishing the foreign agents God used to administer that discipline (10:12) will come to pass.
24The Lord of hosts has sworn:
As I have resolved,
so shall it be;
As I have planned,
so shall it stand:
25To break the Assyrian in my land
and trample him on my mountains;
Then his yoke shall be removed from them,
and his burden from their shoulder.#Is 9:3; 10:27a.
26This is the plan proposed for the whole earth,
and this the hand outstretched over all the nations.#Hand outstretched over all the nations: as it was once outstretched over Israel (9:11, 16, 20; 5:25).
27The Lord of hosts has planned;
who can thwart him?
His hand is stretched out;
who can turn it back?#Is 23:8–9; Jb 40:8; Jer 4:28.
Philistia.#This oracle seems to reflect the political situation soon after the death of Ahaz in 715 B.C., when Ashdod and the other Philistine cities were trying to create a united front to rebel against Assyria. Ahaz had refused to join the rebels in 735 B.C. and remained loyal to Assyria during the rest of his reign, but the Philistines may have had higher hopes for his son Hezekiah. Judah, however, did not join in Ashdod’s disastrous revolt in 713–711 B.C. (cf. 20:1). 28In the year that King Ahaz died,#The year that King Ahaz died: 715 B.C. there came this oracle:
29#The occasion for this oracle is usually taken to be the death of an Assyrian king; the Philistines were vassals of Assyria, whereas no victories of Ahaz over the Philistines are recorded. The chronological notice (in the year that King Ahaz died) may be incorrect, for no Assyrian king died around 715, the date usually assigned for the death of Ahaz. Flying saraph: a winged cobra, often portrayed in Egyptian art and on Israelite seals. The Hebrew saraph means “to burn” and perhaps is applied to the cobra because of the burning sensation of its bite. Do not rejoice, Philistia, not one of you,
that the rod which struck you is broken;
For out of the serpent’s root shall come an adder,
its offspring shall be a flying saraph.
30In my pastures the poor shall graze,
and the needy lie down in safety;
But I will kill your root with famine
that shall slay even your remnant.
31Howl, O gate; cry out, O city!
Philistia, all of you melts away!
For there comes a smoke from the north,#Smoke from the north: the dust raised from the approach of the Assyrian army.
without a straggler in its ranks.
32What will one answer the messengers of the nations?#Messengers of the nations: envoys from Philistia, and from Egypt and Ethiopia, the real powers behind the Philistine revolt (20:1–6; cf. 18:1–2).
“The Lord has established Zion,
and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.”
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Isaiah 14
14
Israel’s Taunt
1For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob (the captives in Babylon) and will again choose Israel, and will settle them in their own land. Foreigners (Gentiles) will join them [as proselytes] and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob (Israel). 2The peoples will take them along and bring them to their own place (Judea), and the house of Israel will possess them as an inheritance in the land of the Lord as male and female servants; and they will take captive those whose captives they have been, and they will rule over their [former] oppressors.
3And it will be in the day when the Lord gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and from the harsh service in which you have been enslaved, 4that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say,
“How the oppressor has ceased [his insolence],
And how the fury has ceased!
5The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
The scepter of the [tyrant] rulers
6Which used to strike the peoples in anger with incessant blows,
Which subdued and ruled the nations in wrath with unrelenting persecution.
7The whole earth is at rest and is quiet;
They break into shouts of joy.
8Even the cypress trees rejoice over you [kings of Babylon], even the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you were laid low, no woodcutter comes up against us.’
9 # I.e. the nether world, the place of the dead, Hades. Sheol below is excited about you to meet you when you come [you tyrant of Babylon];
It stirs up the spirits of the dead [to greet you], all the leaders of the earth;
It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones [in astonishment at your fall].
10All of them will respond [tauntingly] and say to you,
‘You have become as weak as we are.
You have become like us.
11Your pomp and magnificence have been brought down to Sheol,
Along with the music of your harps;
The maggots [which prey on the dead] are spread out under you [as a bed]
And worms are your covering [Babylonian rulers].’
12How you have fallen from heaven,
O #Many students of the Bible have felt that the passage which follows applies to Satan (cf Luke 10:18). It is clear from the larger context that the passage addresses the king of Babylon, but that does not rule out a secondary reference to Satan. Many commentators are of the opinion that the arrogance expressed here is satanic, and that the passage correctly represents Satan’s attitude because he was working through the Babylonian ruler. The Hebrew for this expression is translated “Lucifer” (“light-bringer”) in The Latin Vulgate, and is translated this way in the King James Version. But because of the association of that name with Satan, it is not used in this and other translations. Some students feel that the application of the name Lucifer to Satan, in spite of the long and confident teaching to that effect, is erroneous. The application of the name to Satan has existed since the third century a.d., and is based on the supposition that Luke 10:18 is an explanation of Is 14:12, which many authorities believe is not true. “Lucifer,” the light-bringer, is the Latin equivalent of the Greek word “Phosphoros,” which is used as a title of Christ in 2 Pet 1:19 and corresponds to the name “radiant and brilliant Morning Star” in Rev 22:16, a name Jesus called Himself. This passage here in Is 14:12ff clearly applies to the king of Babylon.star of the morning [light-bringer], son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the ground,
You who have weakened the nations [king of Babylon]!
13But you said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
In the remote parts of the north.
14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
15But [in fact] you will be brought down to Sheol,
To the remote recesses of the pit (the region of the dead).
16Those who see you will gaze at you,
They will consider you, saying,
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
17Who made the world like a wilderness
And overthrew its cities,
Who did not permit his prisoners to return home?’
18All the kings of the nations, all of them lie [dead] in glorious array,
Each one in his own sepulcher.
19But you [king of Babylon] have been cast out of your tomb (denied burial)
Like a rejected branch,
Clothed with the slain who are pierced by the sword,
Who go down to the stones of the pit [into which carcasses are thrown],
Like a dead body trampled [underfoot].
20You will not be united with them in burial,
Because you have destroyed your land,
You have slain your people.
May the descendants of evildoers never be named!
21Prepare a slaughtering place for his sons
Because of the wickedness [the sin, the injustice, the wrongdoing] of their fathers.
They must not rise and take possession of the earth,
And fill the face of the world with cities.”
22“I will rise up against them,” says the Lord of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and survivors, and son and grandson,” declares the Lord. 23“I will also make Babylon a possession of the hedgehog and of #The city of Babylon was in the middle of a very fertile area, and it would have seemed reasonable to suppose that, regardless of what happened to the population, the region would always furnish pasturage for flocks. But Isaiah said it would become the possession of wild animals and would be covered with “swamps of water.” This is how that prophecy was literally fulfilled: after Babylon was taken, the whole area around the city was put under water from neglect of the canals and dikes of the Euphrates River. It became stagnant “swamps of water” among ruins haunted by wild animals, proclaiming to any who might see it that it had happened just as the Lord intended (Is 14:24).swamps of water, and I will sweep it away with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord of hosts.
Judgment on Assyria
24The Lord of hosts has sworn [an oath], saying, “Just as I have intended, so it has certainly happened, and just as I have planned, so it will stand— 25to break the Assyrian in My land, and on My mountains I will trample him underfoot. Then the Assyrian’s #The prophecy against Assyria had actually by this time already been fulfilled, but Isaiah attached it to the as yet unfulfilled prophecy against Babylon as a pledge or guarantee of the fulfillment of the latter.yoke will be removed from them (the people of Judah) and his burden removed from their shoulder. 26This is the plan [of God] decided for the whole earth [regarded as conquered and put under tribute by Assyria]; and this is the hand [of God] that is stretched out over all the nations. 27For the Lord of hosts has decided and planned, and who can annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?”
Judgment on Philistia
28In the year that King Ahaz [of Judah] died this [mournful, inspired] oracle (#I.e. an urgent message the prophet is under compulsion to proclaim.a burden to be carried) came:
29“Do not rejoice, O Philistia, any of you,
Because the rod [of Judah] that struck you is broken;
For out of the serpent’s root will come a viper [King Hezekiah of Judah],
And its offspring will be a flying serpent.
30The firstborn of the helpless [of Judah] will feed [on My meadows],
And the needy will lie down in safety;
But I will kill your root with famine,
And your survivors will be put to death.
31Howl, O gate; cry, O city!
Melt away, O Philistia, all of you;
For smoke comes out of the north,
And there is no straggler in his ranks and no one stands detached [in Hezekiah’s battalions].
32Then what answer will one give the messengers of the [Philistine] nation?
That the Lord has founded Zion,
And the afflicted of His people will seek and find refuge in it.”
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