Isaiah 14:8

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Isaiah 14:8

fir trees. Compare Isaiah 37:24 ; Isaiah 41:19 ; Isaiah 55:13 ; Isaiah 60:13 . the cedars of Lebanon, Baying, &c. It refers to Nebuchadnezzar's and Esar-haddon's cutting down, as recorded in their Inscriptions, p. 58 (published by Oppert, Paris, 1865). They tell how they "brought the greatest trees from the summits of Lebanon to Babylon". Nebuchadnezzar moreover boasts that he will do it in his message to Hezekiah (Isaiah 37:28 . See App-67 .). laid down = laid low. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 14:8

8. the fir trees—now left undisturbed. Probably a kind of evergreen. rejoice at thee— ( :-). At thy fall (Psalms 35:19; Psalms 35:24). no feller—as formerly, when thou wast in power (Isaiah 10:34; Isaiah 37:24). Isaiah 37:24- :. THE SCENE CHANGES FROM EARTH TO HELL. Hades (the Amenthes of Egypt), the unseen abode of the departed; some of its tenants, once mighty monarchs, are represented by a bold personification as rising from their seats in astonishment at the descent among them of the... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Isaiah 14:1-27

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

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Isaiah 14:4-8

The first strophe of this poem rejoices in the peace on earth that would result from the king’s death. Both animate and inanimate creatures could rest and be quiet after his reign of terror. The measure of an ancient Near Eastern king’s power was how much he destroyed. [Note: See Oswalt, p. 317.] Mesopotamian kings regularly took parties of lumberjacks to the forests of Lebanon to cut timber to build their palaces and public buildings. Such timber was unavailable in Mesopotamia and Palestine.... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 14:1-23

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

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 14:1-32

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

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Isaiah 14:8

(8) Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee.—The tree has been identified (Carruthers, in Bible Educator, 4, 359) with the Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), which grows abundantly on the Lebanon range above the zone of the evergreen oaks. The LXX. often translates it by “cypress,” the Vulgate and Authorised version commonly by “fir tree.” Its wood was largely used in house and ship-building, but was less precious than the cedar (1 Kings 5:10; 1 Kings 6:15; 1 Kings 6:34; Isaiah 41:19; Ezekiel 27:5).No... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Isaiah 14:1-32

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

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Isaiah 14:1-23

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

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Isaiah 14:1-32

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

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