Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 13:9
Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
9. land ] Rather, earth, as in Isa 13:5.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
9 16. The middle division of the prophecy enlarges on the nature, purpose and effects of this day of Jehovah.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The day of the Lord cometh – See Isa 13:6.
Cruel – ( ‘akezary). This does not mean that God is cruel, but that the day of Yahweh that was coming should be unsparing and destructive to them. It would be the exhibition of justice, but not of cruelty; and the word stands opposed here to mercy, and means that God would not spare them. The effect would be that the inhabitants of Babylon would be destroyed.
Fierce anger – Hebrew, ( ‘aph charon) A glow, or burning of anger. The phrase denotes the most intense indignation (compare Num 25:4; Num 32:14; 1Sa 28:18).
To lay the land desolate – Chaldea, Isa 13:5.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Cruel both with wrath and fierce anger; divers words are heaped together, to signify the extremity of his anger.
The sinners thereof; the inhabitants of that city, who were guilty of so much idolatry and cruelty, and all sorts of luxury.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. cruelnot strictly, butunsparingly just; opposed to mercy. Also answering tothe cruelty (in the strict sense) of Babylon towards others (Isa14:17) now about to be visited on itself.
the land“theearth” [HORSLEY]. Thelanguage of Isa 13:9-13can only primarily and partially apply to Babylon; fully andexhaustively, the judgments to come, hereafter, on the wholeearth. Compare Isa 13:10; Mat 24:29;Rev 8:12. The sins of Babylon,arrogancy (Isa 13:11;Isa 14:11; Isa 47:7;Isa 47:8), cruelty, falseworship (Jer 50:38),persecution of the people of God (Isa47:6), are peculiarly characteristic of the Antichristian worldof the latter days (Dan 11:32-37;Rev 17:3; Rev 17:6;Rev 18:6; Rev 18:7;Rev 18:9-14; Rev 18:24).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh,…. Or “is come” e; said in Isa 13:6 to be at hand, but now it is represented in prophecy as already come:
cruel both with wrath and fierce anger; which, whether referred to “the Lord”, or to “the day”, the sense is the same; the day may be said to be cruel, and full of wrath and fury, because of the severity and fierceness of the Lord’s anger, exercised upon the Babylonians in it; and he may be said to be so, not that he really is cruel, or exceeds the bounds of justice, but because he seemed to be so to the objects of his displeasure; as a judge may be thought to be cruel and severe by the malefactor, when he only pronounces and executes a righteous judgment on him; a heap of words are here made use of, to express the greatness and fierceness of divine wrath:
to lay the land desolate; the land of the Chaldeans:
and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it; this shows that what is before said most properly belongs to the Lord, to whom the destruction of Babylon, and the country belonging to it, must be ascribed; and indeed it was such as could not be brought about by human force; the moving cause of which was the sin of the inhabitants, some of whom were notorious sinners, for whose sakes it was destroyed by the Lord, and they in the midst of it, or out of it; see Ps 104:35.
e “venit”, Piscator; “veniens”, Montanus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The day of Jehovah’s wrath is coming – a starless night – a nightlike, sunless day. “Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, a cruel one, and wrath and fierce anger, to turn the earth into a wilderness: and its sinners He destroys out of it. For the stars of heaven, and its Orions, will not let their light shine: the sun darkens itself at its rising, and the moon does not let its light shine.” The day of Jehovah cometh as one cruelly severe ( ‘ aczari , an adj. rel. from ‘ aczar , chosh , kosh , to be dry, hard, unfelling), as purely an overflowing of inward excitement, and as burning anger; lasum is carried on by the finite verb, according to a well-known alteration of style (= ul e hashmd ). It is not indeed the general judgment which the prophet is depicting here, but a certain historical catastrophe falling upon the nations, which draws the whole world into sympathetic suffering. ‘Eretz , therefore (inasmuch as the notions of land generally, and some particular land or portion of the earth, are blended together – a very elastic term, with vanishing boundaries), is not merely the land of Babylon here, as Knobel supposes, but the earth. Verse 10 shows in what way the day of Jehovah is a day of wrath. Even nature clothes itself in the colour of wrath, which is the very opposite to light. The heavenly lights above the earth go out; the moon does not shine; and the sun, which is about to rise, alters its mind. “ The Orions ” are Orion itself and other constellations like it, just as the morning stars in Job 38:7 are Hesperus and other similar stars. It is more probable that the term cesiil is used for Orion in the sense of “the fool” (= foolhardy),
(Note: When R. Samuel of Nehardea, the astronomer, says in his b. Berachoth 58 b, “If it were not for the heat of the cesil, the world would perish from the cold of the Scorpion, and vice versa,” – he means by the cesil Orion; and the true meaning of the passage is, that the constellations of Orion and the Scorpion, one of which appears in the hot season, and the other in the cold, preserve the temperature in equilibrium.)
according to the older translators (lxx , Targum nephilehon from nephila’ , Syr. gaboro , Arab. gebbar , the giant), than that it refers to Suhel , i.e., Canopus (see the notes on Job 9:9; Job 38:31), although the Arabic suhel does occur as a generic name for stars of surpassing splendour (see at Job 38:7). The comprehensive term employed is similar to the figure of speech met with in Arabic (called taglb , i.e., the preponderance of the pars potior ), in such expressions as “the two late evenings” for the evening and late evening, “the two Omars” for Omar and Abubekr, though the resemblance is still greater to the Latin Scipiones , i.e., men of Scipio’s greatness. Even the Orions, i.e., those stars which are at other times the most conspicuous, withhold their light; for when God is angry, the principle of anger is set in motion even in the natural world, and primarily in the stars that were created “for signs (compare Gen 1:14 with Jer 10:2).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
9. Behold the day of the Lord will come cruel. He repeats what he had slightly noticed a little before, that though the inhabitants of Babylon are now at ease, and rely on their wealth, the day of the Lord is at hand, to terrify those who are at ease.
But a question might here be raised, Why is the day of the Lord called cruel, since nothing is more desirable than to have God present with us; for his presence alone makes us truly happy? I answer, we ought always to consider who they are that are addressed by the Prophet; for it is customary with the prophets to give various descriptions of God corresponding to the diversity of the hearers. In like manner, David also declares that God is
merciful to the merciful, and cruel and severe to the ungodly. (Psa 18:25.)
What could wicked men imagine to be in God but the utmost severity? And therefore the slightest mention of God fills them with terror.
The godly, on the other hand, whenever the name of God is mentioned, derive the greatest delight and joy from hearing it; so that nothing can be more highly gratifying. Thus, when the prophets address the godly, as soon as they have mentioned God, they speak of joy and gladness, because the godly will feel that he is gracious and merciful to them; but when they address the ungodly, they hold out the judgment of God, and speak of grief and mourning. As the godly are cheered by the presence of God, because by faith they behold his goodness; so the ungodly are terrified, because the testimony of their conscience reproves and convinces them that he comes as a severe Judge. Since even hypocrites pretend that they eagerly long for the day of the Lord, and boast that he will assist them, the prophets tear off from them this disguise, and show that to them the day of the Lord will be dreadful and alarming. (Amo 5:18.)
Isaiah applies the usual description to this prophecy, in order to show more fully how much we ought to dread the wrath of God; for, being by nature slow, or rather stupid, we would not be powerfully affected if the Lord spoke in plain terms about his judgments. Since, therefore, an unadorned style would be too cold, he contrived new modes of expression, that by means of them he might shake off our sluggishness. When he says, and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it, he means by sinners not all men without distinction, but the ungodly and wicked men who inhabited Babylon.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
b. PURPOSE OF JUDGMENT
TEXT: Isa. 13:9-16
9
Behold the day of Jehovah cometh, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10
For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine.
11
I will make a man more rare than fine gold, even a man than the pure gold of Ophir.
12
Therefore I will make the heavens to tremble, and the earth shall be shaken out of its place, in the wrath of Jehovah of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
13
And it shall come to pass, that as the chased roe, and as sheep that no man gathereth, they shall turn every man to his own people, and shall flee every man to his own land.
14
Every one that is found shall be thrust through: and every one that is taken shall fall by the sword.
15
Their infants also shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be rifled, and their wives ravished.
QUERIES
a.
How would the lights of the heavens cease to shine?
b.
How would the heavens and the earth be shaken?
c.
Why all the slaughter of human beings ?
PARAPHRASE
Behold! The judgment day of Jehovah upon Babylon is coming. It will be a day of terrifying cruelty when Gods wrath and anger is poured out. The land of the Babylonians will be made wasteland and its sinful people will be destroyed. The suddenness and completeness of the downfall of this world encompassing empire will be as if the whole universe of planets were destroyed and obliterated. The slaughter of men will be so great there would not be enough rare gold anywhere to buy a man. The downfall of Babylon will be so great it will shake the very foundations of society all over the earth. Long established structures will crumble and fall. The chaotic and helpless condition of the Babylonians will be as pathetic as the hunted deer and scattered sheep without a shepherd. People will flee Babylon like rats leaving a sinking ship. When their enemies pounce upon them they will slaughter every Babylonian they can find. Their enemies will perform atrocities upon their babies, dashing them to death before their eyes, ransacking their homes and raping their wives.
COMMENTS
Isa. 13:9-14 ABOLITION OF BABYLON: Jehovah, using the secondary means of the Medo-Persian conquest, is going to lay waste the massive and powerful Babylonian empire. Their societal structures, their culture, their name, their very existence is to be obliterated. It will be such an upheavel of the whole structure of society then known it would be as if God had turned off all the light in the world. When a government and culture like that of Babylon, which had such influence all over the world (Cf. Dan. 4:1-27), comes to such a sudden and chaotic end, it would seem as if the whole universe had caved in. The figure of the stars and the sun and the moon being darkened is a favorite figure of prophetic literature (Cf. Joe. 2:10; Joe. 2:31; Joe. 3:15; Amo. 8:9; Mic. 3:6; Mat. 24:29). It is a figure that depicts downfalls of anti-God human structures to such an extent that men turning everywhere and anywhere for light and hope find only darkness and despair. The destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. was such a downfall of Judaism that those who had rejected the Messiah and Christianity were victims of the wrath of God and it appeared to them as if the sun had darkened and the moon turned to blood, etc. (Cf. our comments in Minor Prophets on Joe. 2:30-32).
Babylons destruction will be so complete that a man cannot be found. So many Babylonian men will be killed that one man will be as rare as the finest gold in the world. The trembling of the heavens and the shaking of the earth out of its place is another figurative way of describing the complete downfall of this world-encompassing empire. It is our opinion that this is the figure the writer to the Hebrews in the New Testament (Heb. 12:25-29) is applying to the imminent downfall of Judaism in 70 A.D. God was going to shake down once and for all the old system of Judaism and the Hebrew Christians should be grateful for receiving a kingdom (the Church) that could not be shaken. Here, God is going to shake down the empire of Babylon, and it will be such a cataclysmic event it will be as if the whole earth were being shaken out of its place. All of this, is, of course, typical of the final judgment day of God when He will judge Babylon (Cf. Revelation) and shake down the old heavens and earth and create new ones. The condition of the people of Babylon, once so arrogant, haughty, wicked and complacent, is described as pathetic. They will run helter-skelter in wild-eyed fashion like a deer being hunted or like sheep being scattered.
Isa. 13:15-16 ATROCITIES UPON BABYLON: Historians tell us there was great bloodshed, carnage and atrocities of every kind perpetrated when the Medo-Persian coalition assaulted the city of Babylon. People of other nations (Babylon was a very cosmopolitan city) who were visiting fled in every direction to their own country. Those caught were destroyed. In the night of capture, there was a horrible massacre. A party of Persian soldiers burst into the palace and slew Belshazzar in the midst of great confusion and carnage. Young and old alike were impaled upon swords and spears. The city was fired and when morning came Cyrus was undisputed master of Babylon! (Cf. our comments in Daniel, ch. 5, College Press).
QUIZ
1.
Who did God use to carry out His wrath on Babylon?
2.
How thorough was their downfall?
3.
What does shake the heavens and the earth mean?
4.
What kinds of atrocities were committed upon the Babylonians?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
9, 10. Day of the Lord cometh The meaning the same as in Isa 13:6.
Cruel Applied to “day,” etc., and means, rather, terrible, inexorable; a judgment so viewed abstractly, and to human view.
Wrath fierce anger Predicates also applying to “day,” and characterizing it. If the preposition “with” is to be used, (which from the text is doubtful,) the sense remains the same.
Sinners They who in Babylon had incurred such fierce retribution.
Stars of heaven The Chaldeans were of note, far and near, as cultivators of astronomy; hence Isaiah’s use of this illustration.
Shall not give their light No metaphor so vividly represents calamity as extinguishment of light. (See Isa 34:4; Mat 24:29, et plura.) Not Babylonians alone, but Egyptians and Phenicians gave much attention to astronomy, as evidenced by very early attempts at regulating time divisions by the solar and lunar motions and revolutions. Exo 7:11; Lev 20:27; Lev 19:31; Deu 18:10. These passages show that astrology, which was interdicted to the Hebrews, was connected with their study of astronomy.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Day of the Lord – In Isa 13:9-10, the prophecy against Babylon begins to sound similar to the events described in the book of Revelation and in Jesus’ Eschatological discourse (Matthew 24-25) The phrases “day of the Lord” (Isa 13:9) (2Pe 3:10), the darkening of the sun, moon and stars (Isa 13:10) (Mat 24:29), punish upon the world (Isa 13:11), deaths of much of mankind (Isa 13:12), and the heavens and the earth being removed (Isa 13:13) (2Pe 3:10) all reflect eschatological passages found in the New Testament.
Thus, we begin to realize that this prophecy has a two-fold application. It provides for Israel’s immediate restoration from the Babylonian Captivity; but it also predicts the ultimate destruction of this world’s corrupt system and the ushering in of the Kingdom of Heaven with Israel’s restoration immediately before the Tribulation Period and beginning of the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ upon earth. Israel’s restoration is only partial and temporary when King Cyrus issues his decree in the first year of his reign that allowed the Jews to return to their homeland; however, Israel’s redemption will be full and complete and everlasting at Jesus’ Second Coming.
2Pe 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”
Mat 24:29, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:”
Isa 13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
Isa 13:10 Isa 13:10
Job 9:9, “Which maketh Arcturus, Orion , and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.”
Job 38:31, “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion ?”
Amo 5:8, “Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion , and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:”
Isa 13:10, “For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.”
Comments – Webster says that Orion is “a large and bright constellation on the equator between the stars Aldebaran and Siriusit contains a remarkable nebula visible to the naked eye.” In addition, John Gill tells us that the Hebrew name “Cesil” ( ) is a derivative of the name of the Hebrew month “Cisleu,” which corresponds to the Roman calendar of November and December at which time this constellation is visible in the Middle East. He says because this constellation appears during the stormy, winter season, Virgil referred to it as “nimbosus Orion,” or “stormy Orion.” [35]
[35] John Gill, Job, in John Gill’s Expositor, in e-Sword, v. 7.7.7 [CD-ROM] (Franklin, Tennessee: e-Sword, 2000-2005), comments on Job 9:9.
The legend of this constellation is of a celebrated mythological hero who was bound in the heavens for an unsuccessful war against the gods. Thus, Job 38:31 describes Orion as being bound with cords. Among the Eastern tradition this individual was identified as Nemrod, who rebelled against the Lord in Genesis. [36] However, the Greeks identified this person as Orion, a celebrated hunter in the oldest Greek mythology of a gigantic stature. [37]
[36] Albert Barnes, Job, in Barnes’ Notes, Electronic Database (Seattle, WA: Hendrickson Publishers Inc., 1997), in P.C. Study Bible, v. 3.1 [CD-ROM] (Seattle, WA: Biblesoft Inc., 1993-2000), comments on Job 9:9.
[37] David H. Levy, “Orion,” in The World Book Encyclopedia, vol. 14 (Chicago: World Book, Inc., 1994), 856.
Since the Hebrew word in Isaiah for “constellations” is really the word “Cesil,” or “Orion,” the LXX translates it as “Orion” and adds the phrase, “and all the host of heaven.” It is possible that there was an older Hebrew manuscript with a smother reading that is different from the Masoretic text.
Brenton reads, “the stars of heaven, and Orion, and all the host of heaven , shall not give their light; and it shall be dark at sunrise, and the moon shall not give her light.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Isa 13:9-12. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, &c. The prophet begins here to describe the calamity itself coming upon the Babylonians, but in figures, according to his manner, grand, and adapted to raise a terrible image of that calamity. We have the proposition in the ninth verse, and the enarration of it in the three following. The proposition contains both a confirmation of the approach of the day of the Lord, and a general idea of its sorrowful attributes. The first is set forth in the words, Behold, the day of the Lord cometh; in which the prophet plainly alludes to the sixth verse; and the phrase means, the whole time destined by the divine councils for the chastisement of the Babylonians. See Jer 50:31. The attributes of this day are fierceness, wrath, hot anger, &c. phrases chosen to express in the most lively manner the greatness of the approaching calamity; the first and principal cause whereof he teaches to be the divine justice, about to take severe vengeance upon the Babylonians, whose crimes, we learn from this and other prophets, were particularly pride and luxury, cruelty and inhumanity, idolatry and superstition, and, above all, their sins against the people of God, his religion and sanctuary, and so against God himself. See Jer 24:10; Jer 24:10; Jer 24:10. The enarration of the three following verses is so constructed, that though the basis of the discourse is figurative, yet the proper expressions are mixed with the metaphorical ones. In the 10th verse the calamity to be brought upon the Babylonians is described under the figure of a dreadful tempest, inducing such a face of things in the heavens as the prophet here describes. See Isa 13:13. Eze 32:7 and Vitringa’s Comment on Rev 6:12. The general meaning of the prophet is, that a most grievous calamity should come upon the Babylonians, which should deprive them of all light; that is to say, of all joy and consolation, as well as of the causes of them; and should fill them with sorrow and distress, and a fearful sense of the divine wrath poured forth from heaven upon them. See Job 18:5. Besides, that their state and government should be utterly subverted, their religion and polity entirely overthrown. This is meant by the darkening of the stars, the sun, &c. metaphors which are fully explained in the 11th verse; And I will visit upon this evil world, and upon these wicked, their iniquity, &c. We cannot help thinking of the pride of Nebuchadnezzar, and his remarkable fate, when we read the latter part of the 11th verse. Bishop Warburton observes, that the prophetic style seems to be a speaking hieroglyphic. In the tropical hieroglyphics, a star was the symbol of a king or a god; and to convince us that the figurative style of the prophets was derived thence, we should take notice, that they frequently call empires, kings, and nobles, by the names of the heavenly luminaries, the sun, moon, and stars; their temporary disasters or entire overthrows by eclipses and extinctions, and the destruction of the nobility by stars falling from heaven. See Mat 24:29. The 12th verse admits of a twofold sense: First, that there shall be so great a slaughter, that but few men shall remain, who, on this account, will become extremely precious, and more valuable than gold. The second, that the Medes and Persians should be so cruel and relentless, as not to be induced by any price to spare the Babylonians, so that a man will not be able to redeem his life for even the best gold, the gold of Ophir. Vitringa prefers the last sense, which he thinks is confirmed by the 17th verse.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Isa 13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
Ver. 9. Behold the day of the Lord cometh cruel. ] So it shall seem to the enemies, because “an evil, an only evil, behold, is come,” Eze 7:5 without mixture of mercy.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
cruel = stern.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Isa 13:9-16
Isa 13:9-11
“Behold the day of Jehovah cometh, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; and the sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity: and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.”
Some have failed to see the eschatological impact of this passage, but Kidner properly understood it:
“While Babylon is the focal point of this chapter, it stands for something much bigger than itself, since the ambiguous word “earth” (Isa 13:5; Isa 13:9) (`land’ in KJV) gives place to `world’ in Isa 13:11, in a setting of cosmic upheaval such as the New Testament uses to depict the last days (See Mat 24:29; Rev 6:12-13). Babylon here is the city of man, not of one nation.
Isa 13:12-16
“I will make a man more rare than fine gold, even a man than the pure gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens to tremble, and the earth shall be shaken out of its place, in the wrath of Jehovah of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. And it shall come to pass, that as the chased roe, and as sheep that no man gathereth, they shall turn every man to his own people, and shall flee every man to his own land. Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and everyone that is taken shall fall by the sword. Their infants also shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be rifled, and their wives ravished.”
These verses recount the atrocities that were common in the fall of ancient cities. Horrible as such cruelties were, they were the common procedures when any enemy of that ancient era overcame a city they attacked.
Isa 13:14 here speaks of a time when, “The forces of the king of Babylon, destitute of their leader and all of his auxiliaries, collected from Asia Minor and other distant countries, shall disperse and flee to their respective homes. Exactly the same things were prophesied of Nineveh (Nahum 1-3), especially Nah 2:8).
Isa 13:9-14 ABOLITION OF BABYLON: Jehovah, using the secondary means of the Medo-Persian conquest, is going to lay waste the massive and powerful Babylonian empire. Their societal structures, their culture, their name, their very existence is to be obliterated. It will be such an upheavel of the whole structure of society then known it would be as if God had turned off all the light in the world. When a government and culture like that of Babylon, which had such influence all over the world (Cf. Dan 4:1-27), comes to such a sudden and chaotic end, it would seem as if the whole universe had caved in. The figure of the stars and the sun and the moon being darkened is a favorite figure of prophetic literature (Cf. Joe 2:10; Joe 2:31; Joe 3:15; Amo 8:9; Mic 3:6; Mat 24:29). It is a figure that depicts downfalls of anti-God human structures to such an extent that men turning everywhere and anywhere for light and hope find only darkness and despair. The destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. was such a downfall of Judaism that those who had rejected the Messiah and Christianity were victims of the wrath of God and it appeared to them as if the sun had darkened and the moon turned to blood, etc. (Cf. Joe 2:30-32).
Babylons destruction will be so complete that a man cannot be found. So many Babylonian men will be killed that one man will be as rare as the finest gold in the world. The trembling of the heavens and the shaking of the earth out of its place is another figurative way of describing the complete downfall of this world-encompassing empire. It is our opinion that this is the figure the writer to the Hebrews in the New Testament (Heb 12:25-29) is applying to the imminent downfall of Judaism in 70 A.D. God was going to shake down once and for all the old system of Judaism and the Hebrew Christians should be grateful for receiving a kingdom (the Church) that could not be shaken. Here, God is going to shake down the empire of Babylon, and it will be such a cataclysmic event it will be as if the whole earth were being shaken out of its place. All of this, is, of course, typical of the final judgment day of God when He will judge Babylon (Cf. Revelation) and shake down the old heavens and earth and create new ones. The condition of the people of Babylon, once so arrogant, haughty, wicked and complacent, is described as pathetic. They will run helter-skelter in wild-eyed fashion like a deer being hunted or like sheep being scattered.
Isa 13:15-16 ATROCITIES UPON BABYLON: Historians tell us there was great bloodshed, carnage and atrocities of every kind perpetrated when the Medo-Persian coalition assaulted the city of Babylon. People of other nations (Babylon was a very cosmopolitan city) who were visiting fled in every direction to their own country. Those caught were destroyed. In the night of capture, there was a horrible massacre. A party of Persian soldiers burst into the palace and slew Belshazzar in the midst of great confusion and carnage. Young and old alike were impaled upon swords and spears. The city was fired and when morning came Cyrus was undisputed master of Babylon! (Cf. Daniel, ch. 5).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Day of the Lord
(Day of Jehovah) vs.
Isa 2:10-22; Isa 4:1-6; Isa 11:10-13; Isa 13:9-16; Isa 24:21-23; Isa 26:20; Isa 26:21; Isa 63:1-6; Isa 66:15-24; Rev 19:11-21.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
cruel: Isa 13:15-18, Isa 47:10-15, Jer 6:22, Jer 6:23, Jer 50:40-42, Jer 51:35-58, Nah 1:2, Nah 1:6, Mal 4:1, Rev 17:16, Rev 17:17, Rev 18:8, Rev 19:17-21
he shall: Psa 104:35, Pro 2:22
Reciprocal: Jdg 20:41 – were amazed Isa 2:12 – the day Isa 13:6 – for the day Eze 13:5 – the day Joe 2:31 – sun Zec 14:1 – General Act 2:20 – sun Rev 6:12 – the sun
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 13:9-10. Behold the day cruel both with wrath and fierce anger Dr. Waterland renders the clause, fierceness, wrath, and hot anger: divers words are heaped together, to signify the extremity of the divine indignation; to lay the land desolate Hebrew, , to make it a desolation, an entire and perpetual desolation, Isa 13:19-22. And he shall destroy the sinners thereof The inhabitants of that city, who had persisted in their idolatries, oppressions, and all sorts of luxuries, notwithstanding the faithful testimony against their practices borne by Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and other pious Jews, and the solemn warnings given by God himself to Nebuchadnezzar, in repeated dreams and visions, and the humiliating and distressing affliction wherewith that monarch was chastised: see Dan 4:13-33. For the stars of heaven Here the calamity to be brought upon them is set forth under the figure of a dreadful tempest, inducing such a face of things in the heavens as the prophet describes. It would be so grievous as to deprive them of all light, that is, of all joy and consolation, as well as of the causes of them, and would fill them with sorrow and distress, and a fearful sense of the divine wrath poured forth from heaven upon them. Or, rather, the prophet foretels the utter subversion of their republic, and the entire overthrow of their religion and polity, under the emblem of the extinction or passing away of the sun, moon, and stars, and all the heavenly bodies. For, as Bishop Lowth observes, the Hebrew writers, to express happiness, prosperity, the instauration and advancement of states, kingdoms, and potentates, make use of images taken from the most striking parts of nature; from the heavenly bodies, from the sun, moon, and stars, which they describe as shining with increased splendour, and never setting; the moon becomes like the meridian sun, and the suns light is augmented seven-fold: see Isa 30:26. New heavens and a new earth are created, and a brighter age commences. On the contrary, the overthrow and destruction of kingdoms are represented by opposite images; the stars are obscured, the moon withdraws her light, and the sun shines no more; the earth quakes, and the heavens tremble; and all things seem tending to their original chaos.