Isaiah 14:19 - Exposition

But thou art cast out (see Isaiah 14:13 ). Again "thou" is emphatic. Translate, But thou—thou art cast out . The Babylonian monarch did not rest in the tomb which he had prepared for himself. His body was "cast out"—left, apparently, where it fell in battle. If there is allusion to any individual, it is probably to Belshazzar ( Daniel 5:30 ). Like an abominable branch. As a shoot from a tree, which is disapproved, and so condemned and cut away. As the raiment of those that are slam . The garments of the slain, soaked in blood ( Isaiah 9:5 ), were useless, and were consequently flung away or left to rot uncured for. So was it with the corpse of the great king. That go down to the stones of the pit . This clause is thought to be misplaced. It deranges the meter and damages the sense. Corpses were not interred on fields of battle in the East (Herod; 3.26). They were left to be "trodden underfoot." It is best, with Ewald and Mr. Cheyne, to transfer the clause to the commencement of the next verse. Thus the fourth stanza is relieved, and the fifth properly filled out.