Text -- Isaiah 13:5 (NET)

13:5 They come from a distant land, from the horizon. It is the Lord with his instruments of judgment, coming to destroy the whole earth.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Isa 13:5

¹ tn Heb “from the end of the sky.”

² tn Or “anger”; cf. KJV, ASV “the weapons of his indignation.”

³ tn Or perhaps, “land” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NLT). Even though the heading and subsequent context (see v. 17) indicate Babylon’s judgment is in view, the chapter has a cosmic flavor that suggests that the coming judgment is universal in scope. Perhaps Babylon’s downfall occurs in conjunction with a wider judgment, or the cosmic style is poetic hyperbole used to emphasize the magnitude and importance of the coming event.