Isaiah 13:4-22

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 13:1-5

The general title of this book was, The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, Isa. 1:1. Here we have that which Isaiah saw, which was represented to his mind as clearly and fully as if he had seen it with his bodily eyes; but the particular inscription of this sermon is the burden of Babylon. 1. It is a burden, a lesson they were to learn (so some understand it), but they would be loth to learn it, and it would be a burden to their memories, or a load which should lie heavily upon them and under... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 13:6-18

We have here a very elegant and lively description of the terrible confusion and desolation which should be made in Babylon by the descent which the Medes and Persians should make upon it. Those that were now secure and easy were bidden to howl and make sad lamentation; for, I. God was about to appear in wrath against them, and it is a fearful thing to fall into his hands: The day of the Lord is at hand (Isa. 13:6), a little day of judgment, when God will act as a just avenger of his own and... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 13:19-22

The great havoc and destruction which it was foretold should be made by the Medes and Persians in Babylon here end in the final destruction of it. 1. It is allowed that Babylon was a noble city. It was the glory of kingdoms and the beauty of the Chaldees? excellency; it was that head of gold (Dan. 2:37, 38); it was called the lady of kingdoms (Isa. 47:5), the praise of the whole earth (Jer. 51:41), like a pleasant roe (so the word signifies); but it shall be as a chased roe, Isa. 13:14. The... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 13:4

The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people ,.... That is, like the noise of a very numerous people; this noise was heard either on the mountains of Media, where they flocked in vast numbers to the standard set; or on the mountains upon the borders of Chaldea, when the army under Cyrus was marching towards Babylon: a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together ; for Cyrus's army consisted of several kingdoms and nations; for besides the thirty... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 13:5

They come from a far country, from the end of heaven ,.... The east, as Kimchi observes; the Targum is, from the ends of the earth; the furthermost parts of it, as Persia and Media were: the former is bounded on the south side by the main ocean; and the latter, part of it by the Caspian sea; and between Babylon and these kingdoms lay the large kingdom of Assyria; so that this army might be truly said to come from a far country: even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation ; the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 13:6

Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is at hand ,.... These words are an address to the Babylonians, who instead of rejoicing and feasting, as Belshazzar and his nobles were the night that Babylon was taken, had reason to howl and lament; seeing the day that the Lord had fixed for their destruction was very near, and he was just about to come forth as a judge to take vengeance on them; for though it was about two hundred and fifty years from the time of this prophecy, to the taking of Babylon,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 13:7

Therefore shall all hands be faint ,.... Or hang down; that is, the hands of all the Babylonians, the city being taken suddenly and at once, so that they should not be able to lift them up to lay hold on a weapon, and defend themselves: and every man's heart shall melt ; like wax before the fire; be dispirited, and lose all their valour and courage, have neither power nor heart to resist their enemies, and attempt to save themselves. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 13:8

And they shall be afraid ,.... Troubled, dismayed, frightened, at the sudden taking of the city, and at the sight of Cyrus's troops marching up into the very heart of it, and to the king's palace: pangs and sorrow shall take hold of them ; as convulsions, pains in the bowels, &c.; more fully explained in the next clause: they shall be in pain, as a woman that travaileth ; that is in labour, and ready to bring forth her child, whose pains are very sharp, and agonies great; the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 13:9

Behold, the day of the Lord cometh ,.... Or "is come" F5 בא "venit", Piscator; "veniens", Montanus. ; said in Isaiah 13:6 to be at hand, but now it is represented in prophecy as already come: cruel both with wrath and fierce anger ; which, whether referred to "the Lord", or to "the day", the sense is the same; the day may be said to be cruel, and full of wrath and fury, because of the severity and fierceness of the Lord's anger, exercised upon the Babylonians in it; and he may... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 13:10

For the stars of heaven ,.... This and what follows are to be understood, not literally, but figuratively, as expressive of the dismalness and gloominess of the dispensation, of the horror and terror of it, in which there was no light, no comfort, no relief, nor any hope of any; the heavens and all the celestial bodies frowning upon them, declaring the displeasure of him that dwells there: and the constellations thereof shall not give their light ; which are assemblages of stars, or... read more

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