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Hitherto the prophecies of this book related only to Judah and Israel, and Jerusalem especially; but now the prophet begins to look abroad, and to read the doom of divers of the neighbouring states and kingdoms: for he that is King of saints is also King of nations, and rules in the affairs of the children of men as well as in those of his own children. But the nations to whom these prophecies do relate were all such as the people of God were in some way or other conversant and concerned with, such as had been kind or unkind to Israel, and accordingly God would deal with them, either in favour or in wrath; for the Lord's portion is his people, and to them he has an eye in all the dispensations of his providence concerning those about them, Deu 32:8, Deu 32:9. The threatenings we find here against Babylon, Moab, Damascus, Egypt, Tyre, etc., were intended for comfort to those in Israel that feared God, but were terrified and oppressed by those potent neighbours, and for alarm to those among them that were wicked. If God would thus severely reckon with those for their sins that knew him not, and made no profession of his name, how severe would he be with those that were called by his name and yet lived in rebellion against him! And perhaps the directing of particular prophecies to the neighbouring nations might invite some of those nations to the reading of the Jews' Bible, and so they might be brought to their religion. This chapter, and that which follows, contain what God had to say to Babylon and Babylon's king, who were at present little known to Israel, but would in process of time become a greater enemy to them than any other had been, for which God would at last reckon with them. In this chapter we have, I. A general rendezvous of the forces that were to be employed against Babylon (Isa 13:1-5). II. The dreadfully bloody work that those forces should make in Babylon (Isa 13:6-18). III. The utter ruin and desolation of Babylon, which this should end in (Isa 13:19-22).

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 13 This chapter contains a prophecy of the destruction of Babylon, literally understood as a type and exemplar of the destruction of the mystical Babylon, so often spoken of in the book of the Revelation: an account is given of the persons that should be the instruments of it, and of the desolation they should make; which would issue in the utter ruin of that once famous city. The title of the prophecy, and the person that had it, and brought it, are expressed, Isa 13:1 orders are given to the Medes and Persians to prepare for war, Isa 13:2 and are described as the Lord's sanctified ones, his mighty ones, and who rejoiced in his highness, Isa 13:3 by the multitude of them, by the length of the way they came, and the end of their coming, by divine direction, and as the instruments of God's wrath, to destroy the land of the Chaldeans, Isa 13:4 wherefore the inhabitants of it are called to howling, because that destruction from the Lord was at hand, Isa 13:6 the effects of which were fainting, fear, consternation, pain, and sorrow, without the least relief and comfort, Isa 13:7 the causes of which were their sin and iniquity, particularly their arrogance, pride, and haughtiness, Isa 13:11 which destruction is further described by the fewness of men that should be left in the land, Isa 13:12 by the strange revolution made in it, and the confusion it should be in, Isa 13:13 by the fear and flight of men, both of their own and other nations, that should be among them, Isa 13:14 by the slaughter of men and children, the plunder of their houses, and the ravishing of their wives, Isa 13:15 the persons that should be employed as instruments are mentioned by name, and represented as not to be bribed with gold and silver; and as merciless and uncompassionate, that should spare neither young men nor children, Isa 13:17 and the chapter is concluded with a particular account of the destruction of Babylon; which is aggravated, by observing its former glory; by comparing its ruin to the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah; by its being no more to be inhabited by men within, nor to have Arabian shepherds pitching their tents without it; and by being the habitation of wild beasts, satyrs, dragons, and doleful creatures, Isa 13:19.

And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses,.... The Targum and Syriac version, "in their palaces", and so the Vulgate Latin; or "with their widows", such as have lost their mates: what creatures are here meant is very uncertain; we in general call them the wild beasts of the islands, because the word is sometimes used for islands; the Targum renders it "cats", wild ones; the Syriac version, "sirens"; and the Arabic, the "hyaenae"; the Septuagint version, "onocentaurs"; and the Vulgate Latin version, "owls", which live in desolate houses, and cry or answer to one another, which is the sense of the phrase here: and dragons in their pleasant palaces; where they delight to be, though otherwise very dismal. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "hedgehogs": the Syriac version, "wild dogs"; and the Vulgate Latin version, "sirens"; the word is commonly used for "whales", and sometimes for serpents, which seems to be the sense here; and to this agrees the account that R. Benjamin Tudelensis (r) gives of Babylon, who, when he was there, about five or six hundred years ago, saw the palace of Nebuchadnezzar in ruins, but men were afraid to enter into it, because of serpents and scorpions, which were within it. Rauwolff, a German traveller, about the year 1574, reports of the tower of Babylon, that it was so ruinous, so low, and so full of venomous creatures, which lodge in holes made by them in the rubbish, that no one durst approach nearer to it than within half a league, excepting during two months in the winter, when these animals never stir out of their holes (s): and her time is near to come; that is, the time of the destruction of Babylon, as the Targum expresses it; which, though two hundred years or more from the time of this prophecy, yet but a short time with God; and when this was made known to the Jews in captivity, for whose comfort it is written, it was not afar off: and her days shall not be prolonged; the days of her prosperity and happiness, but should be shortened. (r) Itinerarium, p. 76. (s) Vid. Prideaux's Connection, par. 1. p. 569. Next: Isaiah Chapter 14

(Verses 20-22.) Neither the Arabs will pitch their tents there, nor will shepherds rest there; instead, there will be beasts, their houses will be filled with dragons, and ostriches will dwell there, and hairy creatures will leap about. And owls will answer in her buildings, and sirens in the temples of pleasure. Babylon will be so devastated and deserted that it won't even be useful for pastures of cattle and flocks. For the Arabs and Saracens will not pitch their tents there, nor will shepherds rest after the footsteps of their weary flocks; but among the walls and narrow spaces of the old ruins, the Siim will dwell, which only the seventy translators have rendered as such; others, by the same word, which is written in Hebrew, want to be understood as types of demons or phantoms. And the houses will be filled, as we have said, with dragons: as the Eagle has transferred, with typhons, as Symmachus Ohim (), expressing the Hebrew word itself: but the LXX and Theodotion have interpreted them as shouts or sounds. And that which follows: The shaggy ones will dance there, or incubi, or satyrs, or certain wild men, whom some call Foolish Fruiterers, or understand them as types of demons. And for owls, all the LXX have transferred the Hebrew word itself Iim (), only Theodotion have rendered it as centaurs. The Thennim are called Sirens, which we interpret as either demons, or certain monsters, or certainly great dragons, which have crests and can fly. Through all these things, signs of desolation and wilderness are shown: that the destruction of a once powerful city is so great, that due to the multitude of demons and beasts, no shepherd, that is, a seeker of the deserted, dares to enter it. We learned from a certain Elamite brother, who, leaving those territories, now lives the life of a monk in Jerusalem, that the royal hunts in Babylon are, and all types of beasts are restrained only by the circumference of its walls.

(Verse 21, 22.) The seed of the wicked, prepare your sons for the slaughter of the sins of their fathers: they will not rise nor inherit the land, nor fill the face of the cities of the world. And I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts: and I will destroy the name and remnants of Babylon, and its seed, and its offspring, says the Lord of hosts. LXX: The wicked seed, prepare your sons for the slaughter of the sin of your father: so that they will not rise and possess the land, and fill the land of cities. And I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts: and I will destroy their name and remnants and seed. For the evil seed, which the Septuagint translated, is written in Hebrew as Zera Mrim (), which others have interpreted as the seed of wicked men. Not that the seed itself is inherently evil: for God made all things good (Gen. I); but from those who are wicked by their own will, the seed has become evil, which is done by will, not by nature: Hence we read in Daniel: The seed of Canaan and not of Judah (Dan. XIII, 56). And of good sons it is said by the Apostle: In Christ Jesus through the Gospel I have begotten you (1 Cor. 4:15). And in the Gospel: To as many as received him, he gave them power to become the sons of God (John 1:12). For whoever commits sin is of the devil. Therefore, it is commanded to this seed, that is to say, his sons, to prepare for destruction all wicked thoughts and evil deeds, which are born from impious fathers, undoubtedly signifying contrary strengths. The worst sons are therefore slain in the wickedness of their fathers, so that they may not rise up anymore and possess the land which is to be possessed and filled by the saints, that the cities of the Lord may be built in it. And because there is no perfect victory for men: For unless the Lord keeps the city, those who guard it will watch in vain (Psalm 126:2): therefore the Lord himself will rise up against the sons of the worst, and he will destroy their name and remnants from their confusion, and every offspring and progeny, so that they may no longer sprout forth in the cities of the Lord. We read in the Gospel of John (VIII) that the devil is a liar from the beginning and that his father, that is, of lies, which many do not understand, they want the father of the devil to be the dragon who reigns in the sea, which the Hebrews call Leviathan. And they think that this agrees with the present passage according to the Septuagint interpreters, who have said: for the sins of your father: when clearly in Hebrew, it means not 'your father' but 'their fathers'.

As to the inhabitation of beasts and the dead: but wild beasts shall rest there, who love solitude. Dragons, who, according to some, are large winged serpents, according to others, are large fish with wet scales, and according to others, are cubit long serpents that eat other serpents and, because of this, poison with the breath of their mouths. Ostriches, animals which have wings but do not fly, indeed, they walk on their feet: the wing of the ostrich is like the wings of the heron (Job 39:13). The hairy ones, that is, hairy animals, like foxes, wolves, and suchlike; or wild men, hairy and shaggy, who are said by some to not be true men, but to have the shape of a man, or of a demon assuming a body in such a shape: frequenting such deserted dwellings, they go about through the night and disturb men in various ways. Owls, birds the size of a raven, spattered with spots, so called because they have a voice like the howling of wolves. Sirens, according to some, crested and winged serpents, or fish of the sea that have the likeness of a woman, or birds that sing sweetly; in the temples of pleasure, that is, places where they would luxuriate, below: and it shall be the habitation of dragons, and the pasture of ostriches, and demons and monsters and the hairy ones shall meet (Isa 34:13–14).

This chapter contains an entire prophecy. The symbol of the linen girdle, left to rot for a considerable time, was a type of the manner in which the glory of the Jews should be marred during the course of their long captivity, Jer 13:1-11. The scene of hiding the girdle being laid near the Euphrates, intimated that the scene of the nation's distress should be Chaldea, which that river waters. The next three verses, by another emblem frequently used to represent the judgments of God, are designed to show that the calamities threatened should be extended to every rank and denomination, Jer 13:12-14. This leads the prophet to a most affectionate exhortation to repentance, Jer 13:15-17. But God, knowing that this happy consequence would not ensue, sends him with an awful message to the royal family particularly, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem in general, declaring the approaching judgments in plain terms, Jer 13:18-27. The ardent desire for the reformation of Jerusalem, with which the chapter concludes, beautifully displays the compassion and tender mercy of God.

In their pleasant palaces "In their palaces" - באלמנותיו bealmenothaiv; a plain mistake, I presume, for בארמנתיו bearmenothaiv. It is so corrected in two MSS., the Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate. Πουλυποδες δ' εν εμοι θαλαμας φωκαι τε μελαιναι Οικα ποιησονται ακηδεα, χητεΐ λαων. Hom. Hymn. in Apol. 77. Of which the following passage of Milton may be taken for a translation, though not so designed: - "And in their palaces, Where luxury late reigned, sea monsters whelped, And stabled." Par. Lost, 11:750. This image of desolation is handled with great propriety and force by some of the Persian poets: - "The spider holds the veil in the palace of Caesar; The owl stands centinel on the watch-tower of Afrasiab." On this quotation Sir W. Jones observes, noubet is an Arabic word, signifying a turn, a change, a watch; hence noubet zudun in Persian signifies to relieve the guards by the sounds of drums and trumpets. Their office is given by the poet to the owl; as that of purdeh dar, or chamberlain, is elegantly assigned to the spider.

THE THIRTEENTH THROUGH TWENTY-THIRD CHAPTERS CONTAIN PROPHECIES AS TO FOREIGN NATIONS.--THE THIRTEENTH, FOURTEENTH, AND TWENTY-SEVENTH CHAPTERS AS TO BABYLON AND ASSYRIA. (Isa. 13:1-22) burden--weighty or mournful prophecy [GROTIUS]. Otherwise, simply, the prophetical declaration, from a Hebrew root to put forth with the voice anything, as in Num 23:7 [MAURER]. of Babylon--concerning Babylon.

wild beasts of the islands--rather, "jackals"; called by the Arabs "sons of howling"; an animal midway between a fox and a wolf [BOCHART and MAURER]. cry--rather, "answer," "respond" to each other, as wolves do at night, producing a most dismal effect. dragons--serpents of various species, which hiss and utter dolorous sounds. Fable gave them wings, because they stand with much of the body elevated and then dart swiftly. MAURER understands here another species of jackal. her time . . . near--though one hundred seventy-four years distant, yet "near" to Isaiah, who is supposed to be speaking to the Jews as if now captives in Babylon (Isa 14:1-2). "It moves in lengthened elegiac measure like a song of lamentation for the dead, and is full of lofty scorn" [HERDER]. a pledge to assure the captives in Babylon that He who, with such ease, overthrew the Assyrian, could likewise effect His purpose as to Babylon. The Babylonian king, the subject of this prediction, is Belshazzar, as representative of the kingdom (Dan. 5:1-31). Next: Isaiah Chapter 14