Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 47:8
Therefore hear now this, [thou that art] given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I [am], and none else beside me; I shall not sit [as] a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:
Therefore hear now this – The prophet proceeds, in this verse and the following, to detail more particularly the sins of Babylon, and to state the certainty of the punishment which would come upon her. In the previous verses, the denunciation of punishment had been figurative. It had been represented under the image of a lady delicately trained and nurtured, doomed to the lowest condition of life, and compelled to stoop to the most menial offices. Here the prophet uses language without figure, and states directly her crimes, and her doom.
That art given to pleasures – Devoted to dissipation, and to the effeminate pleasures which luxury engenders (see the notes at Isa 47:1). Curtius, in his History of Babylon as it was in the times of Alexander (v. 5. 36), Herodotus (i. 198), and Strabo Georg. xvi.), have given a description of it, all representing it as corrupt, licentious, and dissipated in the extreme. Curtius, in the passage quoted on Isa 47:1, says, among other things, that no city was more corrupt in its morals; nowhere were there so many excitements to licentious and guilty pleasures.
That dwellest carelessly – In vain security; without any consciousness of danger, and without alarm (compare Zep 2:15).
I am, and none else besides me – The language of pride. She regarded herself as the principal city of the world, and all others as unworthy to be named in comparison with her (compare the note at Isa 45:6). Language remarkably similar to this occurs in Martials description of Rome (xii. 8):
Terrarum dea gentiumque, Roma,
Cui par est nihil, et nihil secundum –
Rome, goddess of the earth and of nations, to whom nothing is equal, nothing second.
I shall not sit as a widow – On the word sit, see the note at Isa 47:1. The sense is, that she would never be lonely, sad, and afflicted, like a wife deprived of her husband, and a mother of her children. The figure is changed from Isa 47:1, where she is represented as a virgin; but the same idea is presented under another form (compare the note at Isa 23:4).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
I am; I am independent, and self-sufficient, and unchangeable, as that phrase implies, which therefore is appropriated to God, Isa 41:4; 43:10, and elsewhere. The prophet doth not here use the very phrase which the Babylonians used, but expresseth their sense in a Scripture phrase.
None else beside me; which is not either subject to me, or far inferior to me in power and glory; so that in comparison of me it may be said not to be, because it disappears like stars at the presence of the sun.
I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children; I shall never want either a king or people to defend me from all dangers.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. given to pleasures(See onIsa 47:1). In no city werethere so many incentives to licentiousness.
I am . . . none . . . besideme (Isa 47:10).Language of arrogance in man’s mouth; fitting for God alone (Isa45:6). See Isa 5:8, latterpart.
widow . . . loss ofchildrenA state, represented as a female, when it has fallenis called a widow, because its king is no more; andchildless, because it has no inhabitants; they having beencarried off as captives (Isa 23:4;Isa 54:1; Isa 54:4;Isa 54:5; Rev 18:7;Rev 18:8).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures,…. To carnal lusts and pleasures; gratifying her sensual appetite; indulging herself in everything that was agreeable to the senses; abounding in delicacies, and living deliciously; as is said of mystical Babylon, Re 18:4, particularly given to venereal pleasures. Curtius says g,
“no city was more corrupt in its manners, or furnished to irritate or allure to immoderate pleasures. Parents and husbands suffered their children and wives to prostitute themselves to strangers, so that they had but a price.”
Yea, every woman was obliged by a law to do this once in life, and that in a public manner, in the temple of Venus; the impurities of which are at large described by Herodotus h and Strabo i:
that dwelleth carelessly; in great confidence and security, being fearless of danger, and insensible of any:
that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else besides me: sole monarch of the world, empress of the whole universe; no competitor with me, none that can rival me. These words are sometimes used by the eternal and unchangeable Jehovah of himself, and indeed they suit with none but him; and it is the height of insolence and blasphemy in a creature to use them of itself; they fitly express that sovereignty, supremacy, infallibility, and even deity, which mystical Babylon assumes and ascribes to her head:
I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children; not be without a head, king, or monarch, which is as a husband to the state; nor without numerous subjects, which are as children. The like mystical Babylon says, “I sit a queen, and am no widow”, Re 18:7.
g Hist. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 1. h Clio, sive l. 1. c. 199. i Geograph. l. 16. p. 513.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
A third strophe of this proclamation of punishment is opened here with , on the ground of the conduct censured. “And now hear this, thou voluptuous one, she who sitteth so securely, who sayeth in her heart, I am it, and none else: I shall not sit a widow, nor experience bereavement of children. And these two will come upon thee suddenly in one day: bereavement of children and widowhood; they come upon thee in fullest measure, in spite of the multitude of thy sorceries, in spite of the great abundance of thy witchcrafts. Thou trustedst in thy wickedness, saidst, No one seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, they led thee astray; so that thou saidst in thy heart, I am it, and none else. And misfortune cometh upon thee, which thou dost not understand how to charm away: and destruction will fall upon thee, which thou canst not atone for; there will come suddenly upon thee ruin which thou suspectest not.” In the surnames given to Babylon here, a new reason is assigned for the judgment – namely, extravagance, security, and self-exaltation. is an intensive from of (lxx ). The i of is regarded by Hahn as the same as we meet with in = ; but this is impossible here with the first person. Rosenmller, Ewald, Gesenius, and others, take it as c hirek c ompaginis , and equivalent to , which would only occur in this particular formula. Hitzig supposes it to be the suffix of the word, which is meant as a preposition in the sense of et praeter me ultra ( nemo ); but this nemo would be omitted, which is improbable. The more probable explanation is, that signifies absolute non-existence, and when used as an adverb, “exclusively, nothing but,” e.g., , nothing, the utmost extremity thereof, i.e., only the utmost extremity of it (Num 23:13; cf., Num 22:35). But it is mostly used with a verbal force, like ( ), ( utique ) non est (see Isa 45:14); hence , like , ( utique ) non sum . The form in which the presumption of Babylon expresses itself, viz., “I (am it), and I am absolutely nothing further,” sounds like self-deification, by the side of similar self-assertion on the part of Jehovah (Isa 45:5-6; Isa 14:21, Isa 14:22 and Isa 46:9). Nineveh speaks in just the same way in Zep 2:15; compare Martial: “ Terrarum Dea gentiumque Roma cui par est nihil et nihil secundum .” Babylon also says still further (like the Babylon of the last days in Rev 18:7): “I shall not sit as a widow (viz., mourning thus in solitude, Lam 1:1; Lam 3:28; and secluded from the world, Gen 38:11), nor experience the loss of children” ( orbitatem ). She would become a widow, if she should lose the different nations, and “the kings of the earth who committed fornication with her” (Rev 18:9); for her relation to her own king cannot possibly be thought of, inasmuch as the relation in which a nation stands to its temporal king is never thought of as marriage, like that of Jehovah to Israel. She would also be a mother bereaved of her children, if war and captivity robbed her of her population. But both of these would happen to her suddenly in one day, so that she would succumb to the weight of the double sorrow. Both of them would come upon her k e thummam ( secundum integritatem eorum ), i.e., so that she would come to learn what the loss of men and the loss of children signified in all its extent and in all its depth, and that in spite of ( , with, equivalent to “notwithstanding,” as in Isa 5:25; not “through = on account of,” since this tone is adopted for the first time in Isa 47:10) the multitude of its incantations, and the very great mass ( otsmah , an inf. noun, as in Isa 30:19; Isa 55:2, used here, not as in Isa 40:29, in an intensive sense, but, like atsum , as a parallel word to rabh in a numerical sense) of its witchcrafts ( c hebher , binding by means of incantations, ). Babylonia was the birth-place of astrology, from which sprang the twelve-fold division of the day, the horoscope and sun-dial (Herod. ii. 109); but it was also the home of magic, which pretended to bind the course of events, and even the power of the gods, and to direct them in whatever way it pleased (Diodorus, ii. 29). Thus had Babylon trusted in her wickedness (Isa 13:11), viz., in the tyranny and cunning by which she hoped to ensure perpetual duration, with the notion that she was exalted above the reach of any earthly calamity.
She thought, “None seeth me” ( non est videns me ), thus suppressing the voice of conscience, and practically denying the omnipotence and omnipresence of God. (with a verbal suffix, videns me , whereas saere in Gen 16:3 signifies videns m ei = m eus ), also written , is a pausal form in half pause for (Isa 29:15). Tzere passes in pause both into pathach (e.g., Isa 42:22), and also, apart from such hithpael forms as Isa 41:16, into kametz, as in (Job 22:20, which see). By the “wisdom and knowledge” of Babylon, which had turned her aside from the right way, we are to understand her policy, strategy, and more especially her magical arts, i.e., the mysteries of the Chaldeans, their (Strabo, xxi. 1, 6). On hovah (used here and in Eze 7:26, written havvah elsewhere), according to its primary meaning, “yawning,” , then a yawning depth, , utter destruction, see at Job 37:6. signifies primarily a desert, or desolate place, here destruction; and hence the derivative meaning, waste noise, a dull groan. The perfect consec. of the first clause precedes its predicate in the radical form (Ges., 147, a). With the parallelism of , it is not probable that , which rhymes with it, is a substantive, in the sense of “from which thou wilt experience no morning dawn” (i.e., after the night of calamity), as Umbreit supposes. The suffix also causes some difficulty (hence the Vulgate rendering, ortum ejus , sc. mali ); and instead of , we should expect . In any case, shachrah is a verb, and Hitzig renders it, “which thou wilt not know how to unblacken;” but this privative use of shicher as a word of colour would be without example. It would be better to translate it, “which thou wilt not know how to spy out” (as in Isa 26:9), but better still, “which thou wilt not know how to conjure away” ( shicher = Arab. shhr , as it were incantitare , and here incantando averruncare ). The last relative clause affirms what shachrah would state, if understood according to Isa 26:9: destruction which thou wilt not know, i.e., which will come suddenly and unexpectedly.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Vs. 8-11: A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY THROUGH PRIDE AND PRESUMPTION
1. The pride of wickedness of Babylon is evident in the presumptuous attitude of one who feels so secure that she may abandon herself to pleasure, (vs. 8; Jer 50:11-12).
a. “1 am,” she said, “and there is none beside me!”
1) This involved the claiming of a title that belongs to God alone, (see on Isa 45:5-6; Isa 46:9).
2) The Babylonian tablets, in the British Museum, show that the rulers of Babylon were entitled “King Vicars” – the same title that is given to the Roman Pope on his coronation day.
3) This signified that the king was the earthly voice of God; as such he had no equal among men.
4) One king of Babylon learned by experience that his rule was totally dependent on the God of Israel, (Dan 4:4-37).
b. “I shall not sit as a widow, nor shall I suffer the loss of children!” (Rev 18:7).
1) She cannot conceive of herself as mourning or experiencing any sense of personal loss.
2) She feels perfectly secure in the midst of all her wickedness.
2. The calamity that befalls Babylon will be sudden and shocking; “In a moment” (in one single day) she will suffer both “widowhood and the loss of children”, (vs. 9a; Isa 13:16-18; Isa 14:22; Psa 73:19; comp. 1Th 5:3; Rev 18:1-8).
3. Babylon has looked, for counsel, to her sorcerers and enchanters, (vs. 9b, 13; Rev 18:23; comp. Nah 3:4-6).
4. Trusting in her wickedness, she presumed herself unaccountable for her actions, (vs. 10a).
a. Her heart perverted, through wisdom and knowledge, she said: “1 AM”, and, in essence, “NOTHING ELSE MATTERS!”
b. The inevitable fruit of such an attitude is CALAMITY that cannot be charmed away.
c. Desolation, sudden and unexpected, is her inescapable lot! (Jer 51:8; Jer 51:43).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
8. And now hear this, thou delicate woman. The Prophet again threatens the destruction of Babylon, and employs appropriate words for strengthening the hearts of believers, that the prosperity of the Babylonians may not stupify and lead them to despondency; and yet he does not address Babylon in order to produce an impression upon her, but to comfort believers. He adds, that she was intoxicated with pleasures; for prosperity, being the gift of God, ought not in itself to be condemned, but it is well known how prone the children of the world are, to pass from luxury to insolence.
Who saith in her heart. He now explains what is meant by the word to say, of which we spoke in the exposition of the preceding verse, namely, that one convinces himself and believes that it will be thus and thus, as proud and insolent men commonly do, although they often conceal it through pretended modesty, and do not wish it to be publicly known.
I am, and there is none besides me. This arrogance, by which she prefers herself to the whole world, is intolerable. First, she thinks that she is; secondly, she imagines that the rest of the world does not deserve to be compared to her; thirdly, she promises to herself everlasting repose, for she says, I shall not sit as a widow. As to the first, there is none of whom it can be said with truth that he is, but God alone, who has a right to say, “I am what I am,” (Exo 3:14😉 for by this mark he is distinguished from the creatures. Thus, he who thinks that he subsists by his own power robs God of the honor due to him, and so Babylon, by exalting herself, made war with God. Secondly, she treated the whole world with contempt, when she preferred herself to it. In this manner proud men begin with God, by representing him to be their enemy, and they end by making all men, without exception, their enemies, through their haughtiness. The third clause, which may be regarded as the copestone of her pride, is, that she considers her condition to be eternal, and does not take into account the liability of the affairs of men to undergo change; for the higher men have been exalted, they sometimes on that account sink the lower.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(8) I am, and none else beside me . . .The boasts of Babylon are purposely embodied by the prophet in praises that recall Jehovahs assertion of His own eternity. She practically deified herself. So a like boast is put into the mouth of Nineveh in Zep. 2:15, and was repeated almost verbally by the poets of Rome: Terrarum dea gentiumque Roma, cui par est nihil, et nihil secundum (Martial).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. Carelessly In no anxiety about efforts of Cyrus to take the city. According to Xenophon, the princes and whole court at Babylon looked with contempt on Cyrus. She said,
I am, and none else besides me Literally, I am, and the absence of me there is none. Profanely she parodies the divine saying, “I am Jehovah, and besides me there is none else.” This strain of defiance and of self-security continues to Isa 47:11.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Now therefore hear this, you are who are given to pleasures,
You who dwell carelessly, who say in your heart,
‘I am and there is none else beside me.
I will not sit as a widow, nor will I know the loss of children.’ ”
This is all one with the previous statement. She was given to excessive pleasures and considered that she had a unique right to them. And history records the extravagant living in Babylon. She was noted for it. She dwelt carelessly, confident that no one could call her to account. And above all she spoke as though she was above all others, almost the equal of Yahweh (compare Isa 45:5-6; Isa 45:18; Isa 45:21; see Isa 14:12-14). And she arrogantly assumed that no harm could befall her, and that she could not lose her protector, either her king or her god Marduk (Bel), nor see her children, her citizens, slaughtered. This may be seen as reflecting a time when she was virtually independent, but not necessarily. Babylon felt herself superior even to her conquerors. She seduced them to her will. It was an attitude that prevailed whatever condition she was in.
Isaiah sees no inconsistency between ‘bethulah’ in Isa 47:1 and widowhood and children here. At this time a ‘bethulah’ could be married and have children (unlike an ‘almah). She was not at this time an intact virgin in the modern sense.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Babylon’s Vain Attempt to Avert the Threatened Destruction
v. 8. Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, v. 9. but these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, v. 10. For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness, v. 11. Therefore shall evil come upon thee, v. 12. Stand now with thine enchantments, v. 13. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels, v. 14. Behold, they, v. 15. Thus shall they,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Isa 47:8 Therefore hear now this, [thou that art] given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I [am], and none else beside me; I shall not sit [as] a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:
Ver. 8. Thou that art given to pleasure. ] Delisatula; It is not good to take pleasure in pleasure; no, not to go as far here as we may. Verecunda sunt omnia initia peecati, Sin seemeth modest at first, &c.
Thou sayest in thine heart, I am,
And none else besides me,
I shall not sit as a widow,
Neither shall I know the loss of children.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 47:8-11
8Now, then, hear this, you sensual one,
Who dwells securely,
Who says in your heart,
‘I am, and there is no one besides me.
I will not sit as a widow,
Nor know loss of children.’
9But these two things will come on you suddenly in one day:
Loss of children and widowhood.
They will come on you in full measure
In spite of your many sorceries,
In spite of the great power of your spells.
10You felt secure in your wickedness and said,
‘No one sees me,’
Your wisdom and your knowledge, they have deluded you;
For you have said in your heart,
‘I am, and there is no one besides me.’
11But evil will come on you
Which you will not know how to charm away;
And disaster will fall on you
For which you cannot atone;
And destruction about which you do not know
Will come on you suddenly.
Isa 47:8-9 Who dwells securely. . .but these two things shall come upon you suddenly It seems from Daniel 5 and from Herodotus that the people of Babylon laughed at the approaching Persian army. However, the Persian army rechanneled the waters of the Euphrates River, went under the walls of this magnificent city, and in one day the city fell (cf. Daniel 5). The people of Babylon saw the Persians as liberators because Belshazzar and his father, Nabonidus, had begun to worship a strange moon goddess called Sin (Nanna, see Special Topic: Moon Worship ) and Cyrus allowed them to return to their traditional deities-Bel, Marduk, and Nebo.
Isa 47:8 I am, and there is no one beside me This is an obvious challenge to YHWH (cf. Isa 47:10). Which One delivered His people? Which One is the true, unique God
Isa 47:9 Loss of children Note Isa 13:16; Isa 13:18. What she did to others will happen to her!
many sorceries. . .the great power of your spells The emphasis on Babylon’s occultic practices, made so specific here in Isa 47:9, is continued in Isa 47:11-13. These practices are condemned in Deu 18:9 ff. For all her magical arts Babylon could not protect herself, which shows the corruptness and ineffectiveness of occult practices (i.e., the weakness of her gods).
Isa 47:10 secure in your wickedness The Dead Sea Scrolls change wickedness by changing a d to an r, which makes it mean knowledge. Either of these words fits the context.
No one sees me This implies that they knew what they were doing was wicked and were trying to hide themselves (cf. Isa 29:15).
Isa 47:11 charm This means to bribe. Their magical charms could not bribe YHWH (cf. Isa 47:3 c).
atone This is the Hebrew word to cover and is used of the OT concept of atonement as being a blood covering on the mercy seat (cf. Leviticus 16).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
carelessly = confidently.
none else beside me. Babylon and Rome claim the Divine attributes, as used in these chapters. Compare Isa 45:6, Isa 45:14; Isa 46:9.
none. See note on Isa 5:8.
children = sons.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
given: Isa 21:4, Isa 21:5, Isa 22:12, Isa 22:13, Isa 32:9, Jdg 18:7, Jdg 18:27, Jer 50:11, Dan 5:1-4, Dan 5:30, Zep 2:15, Rev 18:3-8
I am: Isa 47:10, Jer 50:31, Jer 50:32, Jer 51:53, Dan 4:22, Dan 4:30, Dan 5:23, Dan 11:36, Hab 2:5-8, 2Th 2:4
I shall not: Psa 10:5, Psa 10:6, Nah 1:10, Luk 12:18-20, Luk 17:27-29, Rev 18:7
Reciprocal: Deu 7:17 – thou shalt Isa 14:14 – I will be Jer 13:22 – if Jer 49:4 – gloriest Jer 49:31 – that Lam 1:1 – as a Eze 30:9 – careless Dan 4:4 – was Oba 1:3 – saith Heb 11:25 – the pleasures Jam 4:16 – General Jam 5:5 – have lived
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Babylon was sensual (a lover of luxury) in that she assumed that what she enjoyed were her rights by virtue of her superiority. Her present condition had led her to think that she would always enjoy provision, protection, status, and security. But she could not avert the doom that would come on her because she had exalted herself to God’s place. The pleasure-loving lady of leisure would become a childless widow.