Discovery BoxIsaiah 13:5
Context13:5 They come from a distant land,
from the horizon. 1
It is the Lord with his instruments of judgment, 2
coming to destroy the whole earth. 3
Isaiah 13:17-18
Context13:17 Look, I am stirring up the Medes to attack them; 4
they are not concerned about silver,
nor are they interested in gold. 5
13:18 Their arrows will cut young men to ribbons; 6
they have no compassion on a person’s offspring, 7
they will not 8 look with pity on children.
Isaiah 13:20
Context13:20 No one will live there again;
no one will ever reside there again. 9
No bedouin 10 will camp 11 there,
no shepherds will rest their flocks 12 there.
[13:5] 1 tn Heb “from the end of the sky.”
[13:5] 2 tn Or “anger”; cf. KJV, ASV “the weapons of his indignation.”
[13:5] 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.
[13:17] 4 tn Heb “against them”; NLT “against Babylon.”
[13:17] 5 sn They cannot be bought off, for they have a lust for bloodshed.
[13:18] 6 tn Heb “and bows cut to bits young men.” “Bows” stands by metonymy for arrows.
[13:18] 7 tn Heb “the fruit of the womb.”
[13:18] 8 tn Heb “their eye does not.” Here “eye” is a metonymy for the whole person.
[13:20] 9 tn Heb “she will not be inhabited forever, and she will not be dwelt in to generation and generation (i.e., forever).” The Lord declares that Babylon, personified as a woman, will not be inhabited. In other words, her people will be destroyed and the Chaldean empire will come to a permanent end.
[13:20] 10 tn Or “Arab” (NAB, NASB, NIV); cf. CEV, NLT “nomads.”
[13:20] 11 tn יַהֵל (yahel) is probably a corrupted form of יֶאֱהַל (ye’ehal). See GKC 186 §68.k.
[13:20] 12 tn The words “their flocks” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text does not supply the object here, but see Jer 33:12.
