
Text -- Isaiah 14:13 (NET)




Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics



collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)
I will advance myself above the state of a weak man.

Wesley: Isa 14:13 - -- Above all other kings and potentates; or, above the most eminent persons of God's church.
Above all other kings and potentates; or, above the most eminent persons of God's church.

Wesley: Isa 14:13 - -- This is added as a more exact description of the place of the temple; it stood upon mount Moriah, which was northward from the hill of Zion strictly s...
This is added as a more exact description of the place of the temple; it stood upon mount Moriah, which was northward from the hill of Zion strictly so called.
JFB: Isa 14:13 - -- In Dan 8:10, "stars" express earthly potentates. "The stars" are often also used to express heavenly principalities (Job 38:7).

JFB: Isa 14:13 - -- The place of solemn meeting between God and His people in the temple at Jerusalem. In Dan 11:37, and 2Th 2:4, this is attributed to Antichrist.

JFB: Isa 14:13 - -- Namely, the sides of Mount Moriah on which the temple was built; north of Mount Zion (Psa 48:2). However, the parallelism supports the notion that the...
Namely, the sides of Mount Moriah on which the temple was built; north of Mount Zion (Psa 48:2). However, the parallelism supports the notion that the Babylonian king expresses himself according to his own, and not Jewish opinions (so in Isa 10:10) thus "mount of the congregation" will mean the northern mountain (perhaps in Armenia) fabled by the Babylonians to be the common meeting-place of their gods. "Both sides" imply the angle in which the sides meet; and so the expression comes to mean "the extreme parts of the north." So the Hindus place the Meru, the dwelling-place of their gods, in the north, in the Himalayan mountains. So the Greeks, in the northern Olympus. The Persian followers of Zoroaster put the Ai-bordsch in the Caucasus north of them. The allusion to the stars harmonizes with this; namely, that those near the North Pole, the region of the aurora borealis (compare see on Job 23:9; Job 37:22) [MAURER, Septuagint, Syriac].
Clarke -> Isa 14:13
Clarke: Isa 14:13 - -- I will ascend into heaven - I will get the empire of the whole world. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God - above the Israelites, who are ...
I will ascend into heaven - I will get the empire of the whole world. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God - above the Israelites, who are here termed the stars of God. So the Targum of Jonathan, and R. D. Kimchi. This chapter speaks not of the ambition and fall of Satan, but of the pride, arrogance, and fall of Nebuchadnezzar
The mount of the congregation "The mount of the Divine Presence"- It appears plainly from Exo 25:22, and Exo 29:42, Exo 29:43, where God appoints the place of meeting with Moses, and promises to meet with him before the ark to commune with him, and to speak unto him; and to meet the children of Israel at the door of the tabernacle; that the tabernacle, and afterwards the door of the tabernacle, and Mount Zion, (or Moriah, which is reckoned a part of Mount Zion), whereon it stood, was called the tabernacle, and the mount of convention or of appointment; not from the people’ s assembling there to perform the services of their religion, (which is what our translation expresses by calling it the tabernacle of the congregation), but because God appointed that for the place where he himself would meet with Moses, and commune with him, and would meet with the people. Therefore
Calvin -> Isa 14:13
Calvin: Isa 14:13 - -- 13.Yet thou saidst in thy heart These words must be connected with what goes before. To say means here, according to the custom of the Hebrew langu...
13.Yet thou saidst in thy heart These words must be connected with what goes before. To say means here, according to the custom of the Hebrew language, to resolve in one’s own mind. The Prophet ridicules the pride of the Babylonian monarch, who, relying on his greatness, ventured to promise to himself uninterrupted success, as if he had the power of determining the events of his life. In him there is exhibited to us a mirror of the madness of pride with which ungodly men are swelled, and which sometimes they even vomit out. Nor ought we only to behold here the person of a single tyrant, but the blasphemous rage of all the ungodly, who form their resolutions as if they could dispose of everything according to their pleasure; as their plans are also beautifully described by James,
We shall go into that city, we shall transact business, we shall make gain, though at the same time they know not what to-morrow shall bring. (Jas 4:13.)
They do not consider that they are in the hands of God, but believe that they will do everything by their own ability.
I will ascend into heaven In these words, and those which immediately follow, the boasting is so absurd that it is impossible to believe that they proceeded from the lips of a mortal man; but as the Prophet did not intend to quote the very words which Nebuchadnezzar employed, let us be satisfied with examining the subject itself. Undoubtedly, all who claim for themselves more than human nature will allow, may be said to “attack heaven itself after the manner of the giants,” as the proverb runs. 222 Hence it follows that whatever they undertake will be destructive to them; more especially every one who goes beyond the limits of his calling provokes the wrath of God against himself by his rashness. Let every one therefore be satisfied with his lot, and learn not to aim at anything higher, but, on the contrary, to remain in his own rank in which God has placed him. If God stretch out his hand, and lift us up higher, we ought to go forward; but no one ought to take it on himself, or to strive for it from his own choice. And even those who are raised to a higher rank of honor ought to conduct themselves humbly and submissively, not with any pretended modesty, but with minds so thoroughly depressed that nothing can lift them up.
I will sit on the mountain of the testimony, 223 on the sides of the north. This plainly shows the reason why the Prophet especially accuses the Babylonian tyrant of so great madness, and what the Prophet means by such figures. He desired to sit on the mountain of the testimony. By this effrontery he attempted to make himself equal to God. Though he reasoned, after the manner of men, that he could obtain a victory over the Jews, yet, reckoning as nothing the assistance of God, by whom he had often heard that they were protected, it was as if he had endeavored to destroy the very heavens. For Mount Zion he uses the expression the sides of the north, according to the description,
Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, 224
the city of the great King. (Psa 48:2.)
He had formerly called it the mountain of the testimony. This word is derived from
Defender -> Isa 14:13
Defender: Isa 14:13 - -- The "stars" here are evidently angels (compare Job 38:7). Although Lucifer had a throne as God's "anointed cherub" (Eze 28:14), he aspired to reign ov...
TSK -> Isa 14:13
TSK: Isa 14:13 - -- thou : Isa 47:7-10; Eze 27:3, Eze 28:2, Eze 29:3; Dan 4:30,Dan 4:31; Zep 2:15; Rev 18:7, Rev 18:8
I will ascend : Eze 28:9, Eze 28:12-16; Dan 8:10-12
...
thou : Isa 47:7-10; Eze 27:3, Eze 28:2, Eze 29:3; Dan 4:30,Dan 4:31; Zep 2:15; Rev 18:7, Rev 18:8
I will ascend : Eze 28:9, Eze 28:12-16; Dan 8:10-12

collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)
Barnes -> Isa 14:13
Barnes: Isa 14:13 - -- For thou hast said in thine heart - It was thy purpose or design. I will ascend into heaven - Nothing could more strikingly show the arro...
For thou hast said in thine heart - It was thy purpose or design.
I will ascend into heaven - Nothing could more strikingly show the arrogance of the monarch of Babylon than this impious design. The meaning is, that he intended to set himself up as supreme; he designed that all should pay homage to him; be did not intend to acknowledge the authority of God. It is not to be understood literally; but it means that he intended "not"to acknowledge any superior either in heaven or earth, but designed that himself and his laws should be regarded as supreme.
Above the stars of God - The stars which God has made. This expression is equivalent to the former that he would ascend into heaven.
I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation - The word rendered ‘ congregation’
(1) The terms here employed ‘ the mount of the congregation,’ ‘ the sides of the north,’ are not elsewhere applied to mount Zion, and to mount Moriah.
(2) It does not correspond with the evident design of the king of Babylon. His object was not to make himself master of Zion and Moriah, but it was to exalt himself above the stars; to be elevated above all inferior beings; and to be above the gods.
(3) It is a most forced and unnatural interpretation to call the land of Judea ‘ heaven,’ to speak of it as being ‘ above the stars of God,’ or as ‘ above the heights of the clouds;’ and it is clear that the king of Babylon had a much higher ambition, and much more arrogant pretensions, than the conquest of what to him would be the comparatively limited province of Judea.
However important that land appeared to the Jews as their country and their home; or however important it was as the place of the solemnities of the true religion, yet we are to remember that it had no such consequence in the eyes of the king of Babylon. He had no belief in the truth of the Jewish religion, and all Judea compared with his other vast domains would appear to be a very unimportant province. It is evident, therefore, I think, that the king of Babylon did not refer here to Judea, or to Zion. The leading idea of his heart, which ought to guide our interpretation, was, that he designed "to ascend in authority over all inferior beings, and to be like the Most High."We are to remember that Babylon was a city of idolatry; and it is most probable that by ‘ the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north,’ there is reference to a belief prevalent in Babylon that the gods had their residence on some mountain of the north.
This was a common opinion among the ancients. The Hindus call that mountain "Meru;"the Persians, who are followers of Zoroaster, "Al Bordsch;"the Arabs, "Kafe;"and the Greeks, "Olympus."The common opinion was that this mountain was in the center of the world, but the Hindoos speak of it as to the north of themselves in the Himalaya regions; the followers of Zoroaster in the mountains of Caucasus, lying to the north of their country; and the Greeks speak of Olympus, the highest mountain north of them in Thessaly. The Hindoo belief is thus referred to by Ward: ‘ In the book of Karma-Vipaka, it is said that the heavenly Vishnu, Brahma, and Siva, are upon the three peaks of the mountain Su-Meru, and that at the foot of this mountain are the heavens of twenty-one other gods.’ ("View of the History, Literature, and Religion of the Hindoos,"vol. i. p. 13.) So Wilford, in a Treatise on the mountain Caucasus, in the "Asiatic Researches,"vol. vi. p. 488, says, ‘ The Hindoos regard the mountain Meru as the dwelling-place of the gods.
In the Puranas it is said, that upon the mountain Meru there is eternal day, for a space of fourteen degrees around the mountain Su-Meru, and consequently eternal night for the same space on the opposite side; so the Hindoos are constrained to admit that Su-Meru is directly upon the top of the shadow of the earth, and that from the earth to that peak there is a vast cone-formed hill, dense as other earthly bodies, but invisible, impalpable, and impassable by mortals. On the side of this hill are various abodes, which, the higher one ascends, become the more beautiful, and which are made the dwellings of the blessed, according to the degrees of their desert. God and the most exalted of the divine beings have their abodes on the sides of the north, and on the top of this mountain.’ According to the Zendavesta, the Al Bordsch is the oldest and the highest of the mountains; upon that is the throne of Ormuzd, and the assemblage of the heavenly spirits (Feruer; see Rosenmuller, "Alterthumskunde,"vol. i. pp. 154-157).
Thus in Babylon, some of the mountains north in Armenia may have been supposed to be the special dwelling-place of the gods. Such a mountain would "appear"to be under the north pole, and the constellations would seem to revolve around it. It is not improbable that the Aurora Borealis, playing often as it does in the north with special magnificence, might have contributed to the belief that this was the special abode of the gods. Unable to account - as indeed all moderns are - for these special and magnificent lights in the north, it accorded with the poetic and mythological fancy of the ancients to suppose that they were designed to play around, and to adorn the habitation of the gods. This disposition to make the mountains of the north the seat of the gods, may have arisen also in part from the fact that the country on the north of Babylon was a volcanic region, and that the light emitted from volcanoes was an appropriate manifestation of the glory of superior invisible beings. ‘ On the borders of the Caspian (Sea), in the country around the Bakir, there is a tract called The Field of Fire, which continually emits inflammable gas, while springs of naphtha and petroleum occur in the same vicinity, as also mud volcanoes.
In the chain of Elburs, to the south of this sea, is a lofty mountain, which, according to Morier, sometimes emits smoke, and at the base of which there are several craters where sulphur and saltpetre are procured in sufficient abundance to be used in commerce.’ (Lyell’ s Geology, vol. i. p. 297.) We find some trades of these ideas in the Scriptures. The north is often mentioned as the seat of the whirlwind, the storm, and especially as the residence of the cherubim. Thus in Ezekiel’ s vision of the cherubim, the whole magnificent scene is represented as coming from the north - as if the appropriate abode of the cherubim:
‘ I looked, and lo! a whirlwind from the north
Came sweeping onward, a vast cloud that rolled
In volumes, charged with gleaming fire, along,
And east its splendors all around.
Brow from within shone forth, what seemed the glow
Of gold and silver molten in the flame,
And in the midst thereof the form expressed,
As of a fourfold living thing - a shape
That yet contained the semblance of a man.’
Eze 1:4-5, trans. in Marsh’ s Herder.
Thus, in Eze 28:14, Tyre is said to be ‘ the anointed cherub that covereth,’ and to have been ‘ upon the holy mountain of God,’ or "the gods"- evidently meaning, not Zion, but some mountain in the vicinity of Eden (see Isa 14:13). Thus also, in Zec 6:1-8, four chariots are represented as coming out of the mountains, the first chariot with red horses, the second with black horses, the third with white horses, and the fourth with bay horses. The horses that have gone through the earth are Isa 14:8 represented as going to the "north"as their place of rest. These passages, particularly the one from Ezekiel, show that the northern regions were regarded as the seat of striking and special manifestations of the divine glory (compare Job 23:9, note; Job 37:22, note). And it is probable that, in the view of the Babylonians, the northern mountains of Armenia, that seemed to be near the north pole, around which the constellations revolved, and that appeared to be surmounted and encompassed by the splendid light of the Aurora Borealis, were regarded as the special place where the gods held their assemblies, and from where their power went forth through the nations. Over all their power it was the intention of the king of Babylon to ascend, and even to rise above the stars that performed their revolutions around the seats of the gods in the north; to be "supreme"in that assembly of the gods, and to be regarded there as the supreme and incontrollable director of even all the gods. It is probable, says Mitford ("Life of Milton,"vol. i. p. 73), that from this scarcely intelligible hint Milton threw up his palace for his fallen angels: thus:
At length into the limits of the north
They came, and Satan to his royal seat,
High on a hill, far blazing as a mount
Raised on a mount, with pyramids and towers,
From diamond quarries hewn, and rocks of gold.
The palace of great Lucifer, so call
That structure in the dialect of men
Interpreted; which not long after he
Affecting an equality with God,
In imitation of that mount, whereon
Messiah was declared in sight of heaven,
The mountain of the congregation called, etc.
Poole -> Isa 14:13
Poole: Isa 14:13 - -- I will ascend into heaven I will advance myself above the state of a weak and mortal man. Great monarchs are easily induced, by their own vain imagin...
I will ascend into heaven I will advance myself above the state of a weak and mortal man. Great monarchs are easily induced, by their own vain imaginations, and the flattery of their courtiers, to entertain an opinion of their own divinity; so far that many of them have received and required Divine worship to be paid to them. Above the stars of God; either,
1. Above all other kings and potentates whom he hath set up; or,
2. Above the most eminent persons of God’ s church and people, who are frequently called stars, as Dan 8:10 Rev 1:16,20 12:1 , which sense the next words favour.
I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation I will establish my royal throne upon Mount Zion, where the Jews meet together to worship God.
In the sides of the north: this is added as a more exact description of the place of the temple, which stood upon Mount Moriah, which was northward from the hill of Zion strictly so called, and was a part of the hill of Zion largely so called. See on Psa 48:2 .
Haydock -> Isa 14:13
Haydock: Isa 14:13 - -- North. And be adored as God in the temple of Jerusalem, Psalm xlvii. 3. The Assyrian and Persian monarchs claimed divine honours, 4 Kings xviii. 33...
North. And be adored as God in the temple of Jerusalem, Psalm xlvii. 3. The Assyrian and Persian monarchs claimed divine honours, 4 Kings xviii. 33., and Judith iii. 13.
Gill -> Isa 14:13
Gill: Isa 14:13 - -- For thou hast said in thine heart,.... Which shows the pride and haughtiness that were in his heart; and were the cause and reason of his fall, for pr...
For thou hast said in thine heart,.... Which shows the pride and haughtiness that were in his heart; and were the cause and reason of his fall, for pride goes before a fall; it was the cause of the fall of angels, and of Adam, and of many kings and kingdoms; see Pro 16:18 with this compare Rev 18:7,
I will ascend into heaven; be above all men, rule over the whole world; and so the Targum.
"I will ascend on high;''
unless by it is meant the temple at Jerusalem, where Jehovah dwelt, an emblem of heaven, to which sense the following clauses incline; and so the Romish antichrist sits in the temple of God, and on his throne as if he was God, 2Th 2:4.
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; which he has made and set in the heavens, and preserves; meaning either the angels, Job 38:7 or rather the kings and princes of the earth, over whom he placed himself, having subdued them under him. It may be applied to ecclesiastical persons, pastors, and bishops of churches, compared to stars, Rev 1:20 the third part of which the dragon drew with his tail, Rev 12:4 and over whom the bishop of Rome has usurped an universal dominion. The Targum is,
"over the people of God I will put the throne of my kingdom;''
notoriously true of the man of sin:
I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: that is, as some think, in the temple where the tribes of Israel gathered together for worship, which was built upon Mount Zion; which, as Kimchi says, lay north of Jerusalem; see Psa 48:2 so the tabernacle is often called the tabernacle of the congregation; but, as Cocceius and Vitringa observe, Mount Zion was not to the north, but to the south of Jerusalem; wherefore not that mount, but Mount Moriah, which was to the north of Mount Zion, is designed; however, not Babylon is here meant, as R. Joseph Kimchi thought; called, as he supposes, "the mount of the congregation", because all the world were gathered thither to the king of Babylon; and a "mount", because a strong city; and said to be "in the sides of the north", because it lay north east to the continent; but, as one observes, he had no need to boast of sitting there, where he was already. Jarchi thinks the last clause refers to the north side of the altar, in the court, where the sacrifice was killed, Lev 1:11 and may point at the seat of the Romish antichrist, and the sacerdotal power usurped by him, to offer sacrifice for the sins of men, particularly the bloodless sacrifice of the Mass.

expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes: Isa 14:13 Zaphon, the Canaanite version of Olympus, was the “mountain of assembly” where the gods met.
Geneva Bible -> Isa 14:13
Geneva Bible: Isa 14:13 For thou hast said in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congr...

expand allCommentary -- Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis -> Isa 14:1-32
TSK Synopsis: Isa 14:1-32 - --1 God's merciful restoration of Israel.3 Their triumphant exultation over Babel.24 God's purpose against Assyria.29 Palestina is threatened.
MHCC -> Isa 14:1-23
MHCC: Isa 14:1-23 - --The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is of God's mercy. L...
Matthew Henry -> Isa 14:4-23
Matthew Henry: Isa 14:4-23 - -- The kings of Babylon, successively, were the great enemies and oppressors of God's people, and therefore the destruction of Babylon, the fall of the...
Keil-Delitzsch -> Isa 14:13-15
Keil-Delitzsch: Isa 14:13-15 - --
"And thou, thou hast said in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and sit down on the mount of the ...
Constable: Isa 7:1--39:8 - --III. Israel's crisis of faith chs. 7--39
This long section of the book deals with Israel's major decision in Isa...

Constable: Isa 13:1--35:10 - --B. God's sovereignty over the nations chs. 13-35
This major section of the book emphasizes the folly of ...

Constable: Isa 13:1--23:18 - --1. Divine judgments on the nations chs. 13-23
The recurrence of the Hebrew word massa', translat...

Constable: Isa 13:1--20:6 - --The first series of five oracles chs. 13-20
The first series shows that God has placed I...
