Isaiah 14:4 - Exposition

Thou shalt take up this proverb ; rather, this parable , as the word is translated in Numbers 23:1-30 , and Numbers 24:1-25 .; in Job 26:1 ; Job 29:1 ; Psalms 49:4 ; Psalms 78:2 ; Ezekiel 17:2 ; Ezekiel 20:49 ; Ezekiel 21:5 ; Ezekiel 24:3 ; Micah 2:4 ; Habakkuk 2:6 ; or "this taunting speech," as our translators render in the margin (see Cheyne, ad loc .; and comp. Hebrews 2:6 ). The golden city . There are two readings here— madhebah and marhebah . The latter reading was preferred anciently, and is followed by the LXX ; the Syriac and Chaldee Versions, the Targums, Ewald, Gesenius, and Mr. Cheyne. It would give the meaning of" the raging one." Madhebah , however, is preferred by Rosenmüller, Vitringa, and Dr. Kay. It is supposed to mean "golden," from d'hab , the Chaldee form of the Hebrew zahob , gold. But the question is pertinent—Why should a Chaldee form have been used by a Hebrew writer ignorant of Chaldee and Chaldea?