2. the people—of Babylon, primarily. Of the whole Gentile world ultimately (Isaiah 49:22; Isaiah 66:20; Isaiah 60:9). their place—Judea (Isaiah 60:9- :). possess—receive in possession. captives—not by physical, but by moral might; the force of love, and regard to Israel's God (Isaiah 60:14). read more
The focal point of this oracle against Babylon is Israel’s security and future after this judgment. These verses summarize what Isaiah later recorded in more detail in chapters 40-66.Earlier Isaiah predicted that Israel would experience defeat and captivity. After that Yahweh would have compassion on her, choose her again for blessing, as He had following the Exodus (Exodus 19:4-6), and resettle her in her own land. Consequently many Gentiles would voluntarily attach themselves to God’s people.... read more
The first oracle against Babylon 13:1-14:27The reader would expect that Isaiah would inveigh against Assyria, since it was the most threatening enemy in his day, and since he referred to it many times in earlier chapters. However, he did not mention Assyria in this section but Babylon, an empire that came into its own about a century after Isaiah’s time. Babylon was a symbol of self-exalting pride, and its glory, dating back to the tower of Babel (cf. Isaiah 13:5; Isaiah 13:10-11). Thus what he... read more
The Judgment of Babylon and its KingThis is the first of a series of prophecies dealing mainly with foreign nations. Its subject is Babylon, where the Jews are represented as undergoing exile, from which they are about to be delivered (Isa 14:1-3) owing to the capture of Babylon by the Medes (Isa 13:17). The historical setting of the prophecy is thus much later than the age of Isaiah, in whose time the Assyrians were the great-enemies of God's people. On this ground most modern scholars regard... read more
1. Strangers] The thought of the voluntary adhesion of strangers is prominent in the later chapters of the book (Isaiah 44:5; Isaiah 55:5; Isaiah 60:5).2. People] RV ’peoples.’ Similar anticipations are found in Isaiah 49:22; Isaiah 60:10; Isaiah 61:5: these were in some measure fulfilled in the time of Ezra: Ezra 1:1-4; Ezra 6:7, Ezra 6:8.4. Proverb] RV ’parable’ (Habakkuk 2:6), or ’taunting-song.’ The King] Nabonidus was king of Babylon from 555 till its fall 549 b.c. Golden city] rather, RM,... read more
(2) The people shall take them . . .—Literally, the peoples. In Ezra 1:1-4; Ezra 6:7-8, we have what answered, in a measure, to the picture thus drawn; but here, as elsewhere, the words paint an ideal to which there has been as yet no historical reality fully corresponding. No period of later Jewish history has beheld the people ruling over a conquered race; and if we claim a real fulfilment of the last clause of the verse, it is only in the sense in which the Latin poet said that Grœcia capta... read more
Isaiah 14:8 Ruskin says on this text: 'Consider such expressions as that tender and glorious verse in Isaiah, speaking of the cedars on the mountains as rejoicing over the fall of the king of Assyria: "Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art gone down to the grave, no feller is come up against us." See what sympathy there is here, as if with the very hearts of the trees themselves.' References. XIV. 9. D. Biggs, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lx.... read more
BOOK 5PROPHECIES NOT RELATING TO ISAIAH’S TIMEIn the first thirty-nine chapters of the Book of Isaiah-the half which refers to the prophet’s own career and the politics contemporary with that - we find four or five prophecies containing no reference to Isaiah himself nor to any Jewish king under whom he laboured, and painting both Israel and the foreign world in quite a different state from that in which they lay during his lifetime. These prophecies are chapter 13, an Oracle announcing the... read more
CHAPTER XXVIIBABYLON AND LUCIFERDATE UNCERTAINIsaiah 13:1-22; Isaiah 14:1-23THIS double oracle is against the City {Isaiah 13:2-22; Isaiah 14:1-2} and the Tyrant {Isaiah 14:3-23} of Babylon.I. THE WICKED CITY{Isaiah 13:2-22; Isaiah 14:1-23}The first part is a series of hurried and vanishing scenes-glimpses of ruin and deliverance caught through the smoke and turmoil of a Divine war. The drama opens with the erection of a gathering "standard upon a bare mountain" (Isaiah 13:2). He who gives the... read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Isaiah 14:2
the people = peoples. their place = their own place. See Isaiah 49:22 ; Isaiah 60:9 ; Isaiah 66:20 . the house of Israel. See note on Isaiah 5:7 . possess them. For servants and handmaids. This is to be fulfilled at a later day: still future (Isaiah 49:23 ; Isaiah 60:9-14 ; Isaiah 61:5 ). oppressors. Compare Isaiah 60:14 . read more