All the kings of the nations, [even] all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.
18. every one in his own house ] This yields a perfectly good sense as it stands, the “house” being the tomb prepared by the king in his lifetime. But it forms a short half-line where a long one is required by the measure; hence the proposal to transfer the words to Isa 14:17 (see on that verse).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
18, 19. The contrast here is that between the honourable burial accorded to other kings and the indignity to which the king of Babylon is subjected by being deprived of sepulchral rites.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
All the kings of the nations – That is, this is the common way in which the kings are buried.
Lie in glory – They lie in a magnificent mausoleum; they are surrounded with splendor even in their tombs. It is well known that vast sums of money were expended to rear magnificent mausoleums as the burial place of kings. With this design, probably, the pyramids of Egypt were reared; and the temple of Bel in Babylon, we are told, was employed for this purpose. Josephus says that vast quantities of money were buried in the sepulchre of David. The kings of Israel were buried in a royal burying place on Mount Zion 2Ch 21:20; 2Ch 35:24; Neh 3:16. For a description of the sepulchre of David, and of sepulchres in general, see Calmets Dict. Art. Sepulchre (compare Ezek. 32.)
Every one in his own house – In a sepulchre constructed for himself. It was usual for kings to have a splendid tomb constructed for themselves.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
All of them; other kings most commonly do, as the word all is frequently used.
Every one in his own house; are buried in their own sepulchres, having stately monuments erected to their honour and memory.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. Allthat is, This is theusual practice.
in gloryin a grandmausoleum.
housethat is,”sepulchre,” as in Ec12:5; “grave” (Isa14:19). To be excluded from the family sepulcher was a mark ofinfamy (Isa 34:3; Jer 22:19;1Ki 13:22; 2Ch 21:20;2Ch 24:25; 2Ch 28:27).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
All the kings of the nations,…. Of other nations, besides those he governed, and even of those whom he had subdued, at least their ancestors, the greatest part of them however; for the word “all” does not always signify every individual, though by the repetition of it, it here bids fair for such a sense, there being but very few, or scarce any exceptions to this observation; for, on some account or another, both good and bad kings are interred in great state:
[even] all of them lie in glory; in rich tombs and stately monuments, erected for the honour of them; and where they “sleep”, as the word signifies, with their fathers, their ancestors, and are at rest, in the state of the dead, where they will continue to the resurrection:
everyone in his own house; or grave, see Job 30:23 the same with his long home, Ec 12:5 or the house of his world: in reference to which, the Targum paraphrases it by the same phrase here; and though their graves were not in their dwelling houses or palaces, yet often near them, and in their own country, and were what had been erected, or caused to be erected by them, in their lifetime.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The prophet, whose own words now follow the words of the spectators, proceeds to describe the state in which the tyrant lies, and which calls for such serious reflections. “All the kings of the nations, they are all interred in honour, every one in his house: but thou art cast away far from thy sepulchre like a shoot hurled away, clothed with slain, with those pierced through with the sword, those that go down to the stones of the pit; like a carcase trodden under feet.” Every other king was laid out after his death “in his house” ( b’betho ), i.e. within the limits of his own palace; but the Chaldean lay far away from the sepulchre that was apparently intended for him. The in signifies procul ab, as in Num 15:24; Pro 20:3. He lies there like netzer nithab , i.e., like a branch torn off from the tree, that has withered and become offensive, or rather (as neetzer does not mean a branch, but a shoot) like a side-shoot that has been cut off the tree and thrown away with disgust as ugly, useless, and only a hindrance to the regular growth of the tree (possibly also an excrescence); nithab (cast away) is a pregnant expression, signifying “cast away with disgust.” The place where he lies is the field of battle. A vaticinium post eventum would be expressed differently from this, as Luzzatto has correctly observed. For what Seder ‘Olam says – namely, that Nebuchadnezzar’s corpse was taken out of the grave by Evilmerodach, or as Abravanel relates it, by the Medo-Persian conquerors – is merely a conclusion drawn from the passage before us, and would lead us to expect rather than . It is a matter of indifference, so far as the truth of the prophecy is concerned, whether it was fulfilled in the person of Nebuchadnezzar I, or of that second Nebuchadnezzar who gave himself out as a son of Nabonet, and tried to restore the freedom of Babylon. The scene which passes before the mind of the prophet is the field of battle. To clear this they made a hole and throw stones ( abne – bor , stones of the pit) on the top, without taking the trouble to shovel in the earth; but the king of Babylon is left lying there, like a carcase that is trampled under foot, and deserves nothing better than to be trampled under foot ( m ubas , part. hoph. of bus , conculcare ). They do not even think him worth throwing into a hole along with the rest of the corpses.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
18. All the kings of the nations. He contrasts the king of Babylon with other kings, in order to show that, after his death, he will be more wretched than all the rest. And thus by comparison he gives a more enlarged view of the judgment of God, by which he would avenge the injuries done to his Church. This passage is the reason why I do not venture to limit, what Isaiah here foretells about the king of Babylon, to the person of Nebuchadnezzar alone; because it does not appear from history that he was denied burial. The Jews, indeed, relate that Evil-merodach gave orders that he should be dug out of his grave, because the nobles of the kingdom would not venture to pay homage to him, unless there were evidence that his father was dead; but Jerome, though otherwise credulous enough, treats this as a fable.
He therefore describes, not a single man, but a whole dynasty; and, in like manner, when Scripture speaks of Antichrist, it includes the whole duration of his reign. Consequently, as if in the person of one man, the Prophet ridicules the pride of all those tyrants, and threatens what shall be their end, namely this, that they shall not have a spot of earth to bury them, though formerly they were insatiable whirlpools, and could not be satisfied with any possessions. They who have scarcely a foot of earth still retain their right to have a grave, which was also highly prized by the patriarchs; for it was reckoned disgraceful to be deprived of it.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(18) All the kings of the nations . . .The house in which the monarchs lie is, of course, their sepulchre. Such sepulchres, as in the case of the pyramid graves of the Egyptian kings, the eternal home as they themselves called it (comp. Ecc. 12:5), were often almost literally the house, or palace, of the dead.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18. All kings lie in glory This is the ordinary fact; and it is a great mark of dishonour not to be buried, even for a private person, (1Ki 13:22,) and how much more for a sovereign. 2Ch 21:20; 2Ch 34:24. The language is not that of derision, but of astonishment.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 14:18 All the kings of the nations, [even] all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.
Ver. 18. All the kings of the nations, ] i.e., Very many of them have their stately pyramids, tombs, mausolean monuments erected, as among us at Westminster Henry VII’s chapel is a curious and costly piece.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
lie = sleep. Hebrew. shakab. So rendered twelve times in O.T.
glory = state or honour.
house = burial-house, or mausoleum. 1Ki 2:10, 1Ki 2:34; 1Sa 25:1; 1Sa 28:3 Ecc 12:5.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
all of: Isa 22:16, 2Ch 24:16, 2Ch 24:25, Ecc 6:3, Eze 32:18-32
house: Job 30:23, Ecc 12:5
Reciprocal: 1Sa 25:1 – in his house 1Ki 13:22 – carcase 2Ki 9:35 – but they found 2Ki 9:37 – the carcase Isa 57:2 – rest Eze 32:27 – shall not Luk 16:22 – and was buried
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 14:18-20. All the kings of the nations That is, other kings generally; lie in glory, &c. Are buried in their own sepulchres, having stately monuments erected to their memory. The persons who are represented as uttering these words are supposed to have before their eyes the carcass of the king of Babylon, lying on the bare ground among the common slain, greatly disfigured and covered with blood and wounds. But thou art cast out of thy grave Deprived of a grave, or burying-place. Which very probably happened to Belshazzar, who, according to Dan 5:30, was slain in the night in which the city was taken by Cyrus, when his people had neither opportunity nor heart to bestow an honourable interment upon him, and the conquerors would not suffer them to do it. Like an abominable branch Like a rotten twig of a tree, which he that prunes the trees, casts away: and as raiment of those that are slain Which, being mangled, and besmeared with mire and blood, is cast away with contempt. That go down to the pit Who, being slain, are cast into some pit. He saith, to the stones of the pit, because when dead bodies are cast in thither, men use to throw a heap of stones upon them. As a carcass trodden under feet Neglected, like such a carcass. And this might literally happen to Belshazzars dead body. Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial Not buried, as they are. Because thou hast slain thy people Thou hast exercised great tyranny and cruelty, not only to thine enemies, but even to thine own subjects. The seed of evil-doers Such as Belshazzar was, being descended from that Nebuchadnezzar who had made such horrid slaughters and devastations in the world, merely to gratify his own insatiable lusts, and who had been so impious toward God and his temple, and so bloody toward his church and people; shall never be renowned Or, shall not be renowned for ever: although I have long borne with thee and thy family.