Text -- Isaiah 47:1-3 (NET)

Babylon Will Fall

47:1 “Fall down! Sit in the dirt, O virgin daughter Babylon! Sit on the ground, not on a throne, O daughter of the Babylonians! Indeed, you will no longer be called delicate and pampered. 47:2 Pick up millstones and grind flour! Remove your veil, strip off your skirt, expose your legs, cross the streams! 47:3 Let your private parts be exposed! Your genitals will be on display! I will get revenge; I will not have pity on anyone,”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Isa 47:1

¹ tn בְּתוּלַה (bÿtulah) often refers to a virgin, but the phrase “virgin daughter” is apparently stylized (see also 23:12; 37:22). In the extended metaphor of this chapter, where Babylon is personified as a queen (vv. 5, 7), she is depicted as being both a wife and mother (vv. 8-9).

² tn Or “For” (NASB, NRSV).

NET Notes: Isa 47:3

¹ tn Heb “Your shame will be seen.” In this context “shame” is a euphemism referring to the genitals.

² tn Heb “I will not meet a man.” The verb פָּגַע (pagah) apparently carries the nuance “meet with kindness” here (cf. 64:5, and see BDB 803 s.v. Qal.2).