Isaiah 14:12-15

14:12 Look how you have fallen from the sky,

O shining one, son of the dawn! ¹ 

You have been cut down to the ground,

O conqueror ²  of the nations! ³ 

14:13 You said to yourself, ⁴ 

“I will climb up to the sky.

Above the stars of El ⁵ 

I will set up my throne.

I will rule on the mountain of assembly

on the remote slopes of Zaphon. ⁶ 

14:14 I will climb up to the tops ⁷  of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High!” ⁸ 

14:15 But you were brought down ⁹  to Sheol,

to the remote slopes of the pit. ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 51:53

51:53 Even if Babylon climbs high into the sky ¹¹ 

and fortifies her elevated stronghold, ¹² 

I will send destroyers against her,” ¹³ 

says the Lord. ¹⁴ 

Amos 9:2

9:2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, ¹⁵ 

my hand would pull them up from there.

Even if they could climb up to heaven,

I would drag them down from there.

[14:12]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text has הֵילֵל בֶּן־שָׁחַר (helel ben-shakhar, “Helel son of Shachar”), which is probably a name for the morning star (Venus) or the crescent moon. See HALOT 245 s.v. הֵילֵל.

[14:12]  ² tn Some understand the verb to from חָלַשׁ (khalash, “to weaken”), but HALOT 324 s.v. II חלשׁ proposes a homonym here, meaning “to defeat.”

[14:12]  ³ sn In this line the taunting kings hint at the literal identity of the king, after likening him to the god Helel and a tree. The verb גָדַע (gada’, “cut down”) is used of chopping down trees in 9:10 and 10:33.

[14:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “you, you said in your heart.”

[14:13]  ⁵ sn In Canaanite mythology the stars of El were astral deities under the authority of the high god El.

[14:13]  ⁶ sn Zaphon, the Canaanite version of Olympus, was the “mountain of assembly” where the gods met.

[14:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “the high places.” This word often refers to the high places where pagan worship was conducted, but here it probably refers to the “backs” or tops of the clouds. See HALOT 136 s.v. בָּמָה.

[14:14]  ⁸ sn Normally in the OT the title “Most High” belongs to the God of Israel, but in this context, where the mythological overtones are so strong, it probably refers to the Canaanite high god El.

[14:15]  ⁹ tn The prefixed verb form is taken as a preterite. Note the use of perfects in v. 12 to describe the king’s downfall.

[14:15]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew term בּוּר (bor, “cistern”) is sometimes used metaphorically to refer to the place of the dead or the entrance to the underworld.

[51:53]  ¹¹ tn Or “ascends [into] heaven.” Note the use of the phrase in Deut 30:12; 2 Kgs 2:11; and Amos 9:2.

[51:53]  ¹² tn Heb “and even if she fortifies her strong elevated place.”

[51:53]  ¹³ tn Heb “from me destroyers will go against her.”

[51:53]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[9:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “into Sheol” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), that is, the land of the dead localized in Hebrew thought in the earth’s core or the grave. Cf. KJV “hell”; NCV, NLT “the place of the dead”; NIV “the depths of the grave.”