Isaiah 47:8 - Exposition

Therefore ; rather, and now. The third strophe begins here, but with a single, instead of a double, imperative. So also the fourth strophe in Isaiah 47:12 . Thou that art given to pleasures (see the comment on Isaiah 47:1 , sub fin.). That dwellest carelessly ; or, that sittest securely; i.e. in an imagined security. Herodotus says that, when Cyrus invested the city, the inhabitants "made light of his siege" (1.190), and occupied themselves "in dancing and revelry" (1.191). The Nabonidus Tablet seems to show that very slight and insufficient preparations for defence were made.! am, and none else Beside me. This is not self-deification, but only a boast of superiority to all other earthly powers. Zephaniah expresses in exactly similar terms the pride and arrogance of Assyria ( Zephaniah 2:15 ). I shall not sit as a widow; i.e. in solitude and desolation ( Lamentations 1:1 ), deserted by the crowds who had sought her marts and delighted in her luxury. This result, which now impended, had never been anticipated by the "careless" one, who had expected to be for ever "the lady of kingdoms." The loss of children ; i.e. diminution of population.