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Isaiah 13

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The Oracle Concerning Babylon 1–5

1
The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. ​
2
Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. ​
3
I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness. ​
4
The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.
5
They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.

The Terror of the Day of the Lord 6–16

6
Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. ​
7
Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:
8
And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9
Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10
For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. ​
11
And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12
I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. ​
13
Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
14
And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.
15
Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.
16
Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.

The Execution of Judgment by the Medes 17–18

17
Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. ​
18
Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.

Babylon's Perpetual Desolation 19–22

19
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. ​
20
It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.
21
But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. ​
22
And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Isaiah 13

Verse 1

The burden of Babylon — Massa, from nasa, to lift: a load laid on, hence a weighty utterance, especially a doom. The same heading opens the words on Moab (15:1), Damascus (17:1), Egypt (19:1) and Tyre (23:1). Isaiah 'did see' (chazah) it, as the book's own opening says of Judah: 'The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw' (1:1).

Verse 2

Lift ye up a banner — Nes, a signal pole raised on a bare height so that those far off can see it; the LORD 'will lift up an ensign to the nations from far' (5:26). Jeremiah gives the same call against this city: 'set up a standard' (Jer 50:2; 51:27). 'The nobles' (nadiv) are the princes whose gates are entered.

Verse 3

my sanctified ones — Qadash, to set apart; the KJV renders the same verb 'prepare' where nations are readied for war against Babylon: 'prepare the nations against her' (Jer 51:27) and 'Prepare war' (Joel 3:9). They are 'mine anger' made an army; the verse counts them the LORD's, though they 'rejoice in my highness'.

Verse 6

the day of the LORD is at hand — 'Destruction' (shod) and 'the Almighty' (Shaddai) sound alike in Hebrew. Joel 1:15 has nearly the same line, and v.9 here continues, 'the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger'. The day falls first on Babylon; Isa 2:12 says it is 'upon every one that is proud'.

Verse 10

the constellations thereof — Kesil, the word the KJV renders 'Orion' in Job 9:9, Job 38:31 and Amos 5:8; here it is plural. The failing of sun, moon and stars is the figure of Ezek 32:7–8 for the fall of Pharaoh, and Christ uses it of his coming: 'the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light' (Matt 24:29).

Verse 12

more precious than fine gold — Yaqar, to be rare and costly. Two words for man stand together, 'enosh and 'adam; the sense is scarcity, since 'every one that is found shall be thrust through' (v.15). Kethem is pure gold, as mined; the gold of Ophir is the standard of worth in Job 28:16; 1 Kings 9:28 tells of its voyages.

Verse 17

I will stir up the Medes — Madai, a son of Japheth (Gen 10:2). Jeremiah says the same of this city: 'the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon' (Jer 51:11). Silver and gold will not buy them off. Daniel hears it come to pass: 'Darius the Median took the kingdom' (Dan 5:31).

Verse 19

the glory of kingdoms — Tsebi, beauty or glory, and tiph'arah, splendour: the city of Nebuchadnezzar's boast, 'Is not this great Babylon, that I have built… by the might of my power' (Dan 4:30). The comparison with Sodom and Gomorrah returns in Jer 50:40, and the word 'overthrew' (mahpekah) looks back to Gen 19:25.

Verse 21

wild beasts of the desert — Tsiyyim, desert creatures; 'ochim, 'doleful creatures', occurs only here; sa'ir, 'satyrs', is a hairy he-goat, translated 'devils' in Lev 17:7. Isa 34:14 has the same word for Edom's ruin. Rev 18:2 takes up the scene for the final Babylon: 'is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils'.