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Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 14:9-23

Song of redeemed Israel: the scene in Hades. I. ENTRANCE OF THE TYRANT INTO THE UNDERWORLD . ( Isaiah 14:9-11 .) The realm of the departed trembles with the excitement of expectation as the great potentate of Babylonia approaches to take up his abode in those gloomy regions. The shades of departed chiefs and kings bestir themselves, and rise from their thrones in amazement to greet the newcomer. "Hast thou also become weak like us? Art thou become one of us?' His pomp and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 14:12

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer! Babylon's sudden fall is compared, with great force and beauty, to the (seeming) fall of a star from heaven. The word translated "Lucifer" means properly "shining one," and no doubt here designates a star; but whether any particular star or no is uncertain. The LXX . translated by ἑωσφόρος , whence our "Lucifer." The subjoined epithet, "son of the morning" or "of the dawn," accords well with this rendering. How art thou cut down to the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 14:12

The ambitious spirit in man. The word "Lucifer" means the "light-bringer," and so has been in modern times associated with our matches. As standing in this text, it has often been taken as a synonym for Satan; but it really is a highly poetical description of the King of Babylon, and the Babylonian empire is in Scripture represented as the type of the ambitions, aspiring, tyrannical, and self-idolizing power. Isaiah 14:13 gives the supreme boasting of this king: "I will ascend into heaven,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 14:13

For thou hast said ; rather, and thou—thou saidst ; i.e. weak as thou art now shown to have been, it was thou that didst dare to say. I will ascend into heaven, etc. (comp. Isaiah 10:13 , Isaiah 10:14 ; Isaiah 37:24 , Isaiah 37:25 ). Isaiah represents rather the thoughts of the Babylonian monarch than his actual words. The Babylonian inscriptions are full of boasting egotism; but they do not contain anything approaching to impiety. The king may regard himself as, in a certain... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 14:14

I will be like the Most High (comp. Isaiah 47:8 ). It is a mistake to say that "the Assyrians gave the name of God to their monarchs" (Kay), or, at any rate, there is no evidence that they did. Nor does any king, either Assyrian or Babylonian, ever assume a Divine title. There is a marked difference in this respect between the Egyptian and the Assyro-Babylonian religions. Probably Isaiah only means that Babylonian monarchs thought of themselves as gods, worked their own wills, were... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 14:12

How art thou fallen from heaven - A new image is presented here. It is that of the bright morning star; and a comparison of the once magnificent monarch with that beautiful star. He is now exhibited as having fallen from his place in the east to the earth. His glory is dimmed; his brightness quenched. Nothing can be more poetic and beautiful than a comparison of a magnificent monarch with the bright morning star! Nothing more striking in representing his death, than the idea of that star... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 14:13

For thou hast said in thine heart - It was thy purpose or design.I will ascend into heaven - Nothing could more strikingly show the arrogance of the monarch of Babylon than this impious design. The meaning is, that he intended to set himself up as supreme; he designed that all should pay homage to him; be did not intend to acknowledge the authority of God. It is not to be understood literally; but it means that he intended “not” to acknowledge any superior either in heaven or earth, but... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 14:14

I will be like the Most High - There is a remarkable resemblance between this language and that used in 2 Thessalonians 2:4, in regard to antichrist: ‘He, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.’ And this similarity is the more remarkable, because antichrist is represented, in Revelation 17:4-5, as seated in babylon - the spiritual seat of arrogance, oppression, and pride. Probably Paul had the passage in Isaiah in his eye when he penned the description of... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Isaiah 14:12-14

Isaiah 14:12-14. How art thou fallen from heaven From the height of thy glory; O Lucifer Lucifer is properly a bright star, that ushers in the morning; but is here metaphorically taken for the mighty king of Babylon, who outshone all the kings of the earth by his great splendour. Son of the morning The title of son is given in Scripture, not only to a person or thing begotten or produced by another, but also to any thing which is related to it, in which sense we read of the son of a... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Isaiah 14:1-23

13:1-23:18 MESSAGES FOR VARIOUS NATIONSAll the nations are under the rule of God, who controls their rise to power and their final destruction according to his purposes. This is the truth that the prophet teaches in the collection of prophecies against various nations in Chapters 13 to 23. The first message is for Babylon, which in Isaiah’s day had not yet risen to a position of international power. The fall of Babylon that is pictured in these chapters would not take place for more than one... read more

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