ISAIAH 47 COMMENTARY

EDITED BY GLENN PEASE

The Fall of Babylon

1 Go down, sit in the dust,

Virgin Daughter Babylon;

sit on the ground without a throne,

queen city of the Babylonians.[a]

No more will you be called

tender or delicate.

1.BARNES, Come down - Descend from the throne; or from the seat of magnificence and power. The design of this verse has already been stated in the analysis. It is to foretell that Babylon would be humbled, and that she would be reduced from her magnificence and pride to a condition of abject wretchedness. She is therefore represented as a proud female accustomed to luxury and ease, suddenly brought to the lowest condition, and compelled to perform the most menial services.

And sit in the dust - To sit on the ground, and to cast dust on the head, is a condition often referred to in the Scriptures as expressive of humiliation and of mourning Jos_8:6; Job_2:12; Job_10:9; Psa_22:15; Lam_3:29. In this manner also, on the medals which were struck by Titus and Vespasian to commemorate the capture of Jerusalem, Jerusalem is represented under the image of a female sitting on the ground under a palm-tree, with the inscription Judaea capta (see the notes at Isa_3:26). The design here is, to represent Babylon as reduced to the lowest condition, and as having great occasion of grief.

O virgin daughter of Babylon - It is common in the Scriptures to speak of cities under the image of a virgin, a daughter, or a beautiful woman (see the notes at Isa_1:8; Isa_37:22; compare Lam_1:15; Jer_31:21; Jer_46:11). Kimchi supposes that the term virgin is here given to Babylon, because it had remained to that time uncaptured by any foreign power; but the main purpose is doubtless to refer to Babylon as a beautiful and splendid city, and as being

distinguished for delicacy, and the prevalence of what was regarded as ornamental. Gesenius supposes that the words virgin daughter of Babylon, denote not Babylon itself, but Chaldea, and that the whole land or nation is personified. But the common interpretation, and one evidently more in accordance with the Scripture usage, is to refer it to the city itself.

There is no throne - Thou shalt be reduced from the throne; or the throne shall be taken away. That is, Babylon shall be no longer the seat of empire, or the capital of kingdoms. How truly this was fulfilled, needs not to be told to those who are familiar with the history of Babylon. Its power was broken when Cyrus conquered it; its walls were reduced by Darius; Seleucia rose in its stead, and took away its trade and a large portion of its inhabitants, until it was completely destroyed, so that it became for a long time a question where it had formerly stood (see the notes at Isa. 13; Isa_16:1-14)

Thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate - A place to which luxuries flow, amid where they abound. The allusion is to a female that bad been delicately and tenderly brought up, and that would be reduced to the lowest condition of servitude, and even of disgrace. It is possible that there may be an allusion here to the effeminacy and the consequent corruption of morals which prevailed in Babylon, and which made it a place sought with greediness by those who wished to spend their time in licentious pleasures. The corruption of Babylon, consequent on its wealth and magnificence, was almost proverbial, and was unsurpassed by any city of ancient times. The following extract from Curtius (v. 1), which it would not be proper to translate, will give some idea of the prevailing state of morals:

Nihil urbis ejus corruptius moribus, nihil ad irritandas illiciendasque immodicas voluptates instructius. Liberos conjugesque cum hospitibus stupro coire, modo pretium flagitii detur, parentes maritique patituntur. Babylonii maxime in vinum, et quae ebrietatem sequuntur effusi sunt. Foeminarum conviva ineuntium, in principio modestus est habitus, dein summa quaeque amicula exuunt paulatimque pudorem profanant; ad ultimum (horror auribusest) ima corporum velamenta projiciunt. Nee meretricum hoc dedecus est, sed matronarum virginumque apud quas comitas habetur vulgati corporis vilitas.

See also the description of a loathsome, disgusting, and abominable custom which prevailed nowhere else, even in the corrupt nations of antiquity, except Babylon, in Herod. i. 199. I cannot transcribe this passage. The description is too loathsome, and would do little good. Its substance

is expressed in a single sentence, ... pasan gunaika

epicho'rie'n...michthe'nai andri cheino'. It adds to the abomination of this custom that it was connected with the rites of religion, and was a part of the worship of the gods! Strabo, speaking

of this custom (iii. 348), says, , Ethos kata ti logion cheno'

mignusthai. See also Baruch 6:43, where the same custom is alluded to. For an extended description of the wealth and commerce of Babylon, see an article in the Amer. Bib. Rep. vol. vii. pp. 364-390.

2. CLARKE, Come down, and set in the dust Descend, and sit on the dust - See note on Isa_3:26, and on Isa_52:2 (note).

3. GILL, Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon,.... The kingdom of Babylon is meant, as the Targum paraphrases it; or the Babylonish monarchy, called

a virgin, because it had never been subdued and conquered from the first setting of it up, until it was by Cyrus; so Herodotus (c) says, this was the first time that Babylon was taken; and also because of the beauty and glory of it: but now it is called to come down from its height and excellency, and its dominion over other kingdoms, and sit in a mournful posture, and as in subjection to other princes and states, Jerom observes, that some interpret this of the city of Rome, which is mystical Babylon, and whose ruin may be hinted at under the type of literal Babylon. And though the church of Rome boasts of her purity and chastity, of her being espoused to Christ as a chaste virgin, she is no other than the great whore, the mother of harlots; and though she has reigned over the kings of the earth, the time is coming when she must come down from her throne and dignity, and sit and be rolled in the dust: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: that is, for her; there was a throne, but it was for Cyrus and Darius, kings of Persia, who should now possess it, when the king of Babylon should be obliged to come down from it. So the seat and throne which the dragon gave to the beast shall be taken from it, and be no more, Rev_13:2, for thou shall no more be called tender and delicate; or be treated in a tender and delicate manner; or live deliciously, and upon dainties, as royal personages do, Rev_18:7.

4. PULPIT, A SONG OF TRIUMPH OVER THE FALL OF BABYLON. The song divides itself into four

strophes, or stanzasthe first one of four verses (Isa_47:1-4); the second of three (Isa_47:5-7); the third of four (Isa_47:8-11); and the fourth also of four (Isa_47:12-15). The speaker is either Jehovah (see Isa_47:3, ad fin.) or "a chorus of celestial beings" (Cheyne), bent on expressing their sympathy with Israel Isa_47:1

.Come down, and sit in the dust; i.e. "descend to the lowest depth of humiliation" (comp. Isa_3:26 and Job_2:8). O virgin daughter of Babylon. The "virgin daughter of Babylon" is the Babylonian people as distinct from the city (comp. Isa_23:12). "Virgin" does not mean "unconquered;'' for Babylon had been taken by the Assyrians some half-dozen times. Sit on the ground: there is no throne; rather, sit on the ground throneless, or without a throne. Hitherto the "virgin daughter" had sat, as it were, on a throne, ruling the nations. Now she must sit on the groundthere was no throne left for her. It is the fact that Babylon was never, after her capture by Cyrus, the capital. of a kingdom. Under the Achsemenian kings she was the residence of the court for a part of the year; but Susa was the capital. Under Alexander she was designated for his capital; but he died before his designs could be carried out. Under the Seleucidae she rapidly dwindled in consequence, until she became a ruin. Thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate; or, delicate and luxurious (Cheyne). Babylon had hitherto been one of the chief seats of Oriental luxury. She was "the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency" (Isa_13:19), "the golden city" (Isa_14:4). She was given to revelry and feasting, to mirth and drunkenness, to a shameless licensed debauchery. All this would now be changed. Her population would have to perform the hard duties laid upon them by foreign masters.

5. K&D 1-4, From the gods of Babylon the proclamation of judgment passes onto Babylon itself. Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter Babel; sit on the ground without a throne, O Chaldaeans-daughter! For men no longer call thee delicate and voluptuous. Take the mill, and grind meal: throw back they veil, lift up the train, uncover the thigh, wade through streams. Let thy nakedness be uncovered, even let thy shame be seen; I shall take vengeance, and not spare men. Our Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts is His name, Holy One of Israel. This is

the first strophe in the prophecy. As v. 36 clearly shows, what precedes is a penal sentence from

Jehovah. Both 8 in relation to 8 (Isa_23:12; Isa_37:22), and 8 and BD in relation to 8,

are appositional genitives; Babel and Chaldeans ( as in Isa_48:20) are regarded as a woman, and that as one not yet dishonoured. The unconquered oppressor is threatened with degradation from her proud eminence into shameful humiliation; sitting on the ground is used

in the same sense as in Isa_3:26. Hitherto men have called her, with envious admiration, rakkaGh

vaaGnuggaGh (from Deu_28:56), mollis et delicata, as having carefully kept everything

disagreeable at a distance, and revelled in nothing but luxury (compare o'neg, Isa_13:22). Debauchery with its attendant rioting (Isa_14:11; Isa_25:5), and the Mylitta worship with its

licensed prostitution (Herod. i. 199), were current there; but now all this was at an end. , according to the Masora, has only one pashta both here and in Isa_47:5, and so has the tone upon the last syllable, and accordingly metheg in the antepenult. Isaiah's artistic style may be readily perceived both in the three clauses of Isa_47:1 that are comparable to a long trumpet-blast (compare Isa_40:9 and Isa_16:1), and also in the short, rugged, involuntarily excited clauses that follow. The mistress becomes the maid, and has to perform the low, menial service

of those who, as Homer says in Od. vii. 104, N (grind at the mill the quince-coloured fruit; compare at Job_31:10). She has to leave her palace as a prisoner of war, and, laying aside all feminine modesty, to wade through the rivers upon which she

borders. Chesp has eQ instead of iQ, and, as in other cases where a sibilant precedes, the mute p

instead of f (compare 'isp, Jer_10:17). Both the prosopopeia and the parallel, thy shame shall be seen, require that the expression thy nakedness shall be uncovered should not be understood literally. The shame of Babel is her shameful conduct, which is not to be exhibited in its true colours, inasmuch as a stronger one is coming upon it to rob it of its might and honour. This stronger one, apart from the instrument employed, is Jehovah: vindictam sumam, non parcam homini. Stier gives a different rendering here, namely, I will run upon no man, i.e., so as to make him give way; Hahn, I will not meet with a man, so destitute of population will Babylon be; and Ruetschi, I will not step in as a man. Gesenius and Rosenmller are nearer to the mark when they suggest non pangam (paciscar) cum homine; but this would require at any

rate T, even if the verb Y really had the meaning to strike a treaty. It means rather to strike against a person, to assault any one, then to meet or come in an opposite direction, and that not only in a hostile sense, but, as in this instance, and also in Isa_64:4, in a friendly sense as well. Hence, I shall not receive any man, or pardon any man (Hitzig, Ewald, etc.). According to an old method of writing the passage, there is a pause here. But Isa_47:4 is still connected with what goes before. As Jehovah is speaking in Isa_47:5, but Israel in Isa_47:4, and as Isa_47:4 is unsuitable to form the basis of the words of Jehovah, it must be regarded as the antiphone to Isa_47:1-3 (cf., Isa_45:15). Our Redeemer, exclaims the church in joyfully exalted self-consciousness, He is Jehovah of Hosts, the Holy One of Israel! The one name affirms that He possesses the all-conquering might; the other that He possesses the will to carry on the work of redemption - a will influenced and constrained by both love and wrath.

6. JAMISON, Isa_47:1-15. The destruction of Babylon is represented under the image of a royal virgin brought down in a moment from her magnificent throne to the extreme of degradation.

in the dust (See on Isa_3:26; Job_2:13; Lam_2:10).

virgin that is, heretofore uncaptured [Herodotus, 1.191].

daughter of Babylon Babylon and its inhabitants (see on Isa_1:8; see on Isa_37:22).

no throne The seat of empire was transferred to Shushan. Alexander intended to have made Babylon his seat of empire, but Providence defeated his design. He soon died; and Seleucia, being built near, robbed it of its inhabitants, and even of its name, which was applied to Seleucia.

delicate alluding to the effeminate debauchery and prostitution of all classes at banquets and religious rites [Curtius, 5.1; Herodotus, 1.199; Baruch, 6.43].

7. NISBET, I. To Israel the Divine summons is to arise from the dust and sit on the throne; to

Babylon to come down from the throne and sit in the dust.He that humbleth himself shall be exalted, he that exalteth himself shall be made low. The sin charged on Babylon is her mercilessness. She was sent by God to execute judgment on the chosen people, but she performed her work very cruelly, and, therefore, she herself fell under the just judgment of the Almighty. The Jews were Gods chosen instruments in consummating the death of Jesus, but because they did it with wicked hands their city was left to them desolate. II. God even now is judging nations, and we may well lift our prayers on behalf of our beloved

country.She has been undoubtedly chosen of all the nations under heaven for great pioneering work. To colonise, to civilise heathen races, to make roadways across the ocean, to link the whole world by the nerves of telegraph wires, to carry the Gospel to every peoplesuch has been her mission. But how much sin has mingled with its performance!the evil example of the soldiers, sailors, and civilians; lust, drink, fire-water, rapacity, land-grabbing. Let Great Britain be warned by the fate of Babylon.

8. CALVIN, 1.Come down, and sit in the dust. Isaiah now explains more fully what he had briefly

noticed concerning the counsel of God, and the execution of it. He openly describes the destruction of Babylon; because no hope whatever of the return of the people could be entertained, so long as the Babylonian monarchy flourished. Accordingly, he has connected these two things, namely, the overthrow of that monarchy, and the deliverance of the people which followed it; for the elevated rank of that city was like a deep grave in which the Jews were buried, and, when it had been opened, the Lord brought back his people to their former life. The use of the imperative mood, down, is more forcible than if he had expressed the same thing in plain words and simple narrative; for he addresses her authoritatively, and as if he were speaking from the judgment-seat; because he proclaims the commands of God, and therefore, with the boldness which his authority entitles him to use, he publishes what shall happen, as we know that God granted this authority to the prophets. I have this day set thee over nations and kingdoms, to root out and pull down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant. (Jer_1:10.) There is no power that is not added to the authority of the word. In a word, he intended to place the event immediately before the eye of the Jews; for that change could scarcely be imagined, if God did not thunder from heaven. Virgin daughter of Babylon. It was a figure of speech frequently employed by Hebrew writers, to call any nation by the title of He calls her not because she was modest or chaste, but because she had been brought up softly and delicately like and had never been forced by enemies, as we formerly said when

speaking of Sidon. (222) And at the present day the same thing might be said of Venice and some other towns, which have a great abundance of wealth and luxuries, and, in the estimation of men, are accounted very happy; for they have as good reason as the Babylonians had to dread such a revolution of affairs, even when they appear to be far removed from danger. For it shall no longer be. That is, shalt no longer be caressed by men who thought that thou wast happy.

2 Take millstones and grind flour;

take off your veil.

Lift up your skirts, bare your legs,

and wade through the streams.

1.BARNES, Take the millstones, and grind meal - The design of this is plain. Babylon, that had been regarded as a delicately-trained female, was to be reduced to the lowest condition of poverty and wretchedness - represented here by being compelled to perform the most menial and laborious offices, and submitting to the deepest disgrace and ignominy. There is an allusion here to the custom of grinding in the East. The mills which were there commonly used, and which are also extensively used to this day, consisted of two stones, of which the lower one was convex on the upper side, and the upper one was concave on thee lower side, so that they fitted into each other. The hole for receiving the grain was in the center of the upper stone, and in the process of grinding the lower one was fixed, and the upper one was turned round, usually by two women (see Mat_24:41), with considerable velocity by means of a handle. Watermills were not invented until a little before the time of Augustus Caesar; and windmills long after. The custom of using handmills is the primitive custom everywhere, and they are still in use in some parts of Scotland, and generally in the East. (See Mr. Pennants Tour to the Hebrides, and the Oriental travelers generally. Grinding was usually performed by the women, though it was often regarded as the work of slaves. It was often inflicted on slaves as a punishment.

Molendum in pistrino; vapulandum; habendae compedes. Terent. Phormio ii. 1. 19.

In the East it was the usual work of female slaves see (Exo_11:5, in the Septuagint) Women alone are employed to grind their corn. (Shaw, Algiers and Tunis, p. 297) They are the female slaves that are generally employed in the East at those handmills. It is extremely laborious, and esteemed the lowest employment in the house. (Sir John Chardin, Harmers Obs. i. 153) Compare Lowth, and Gesen. Commentary uber Isaiah. This idea of its being a low employment

is expressed by Job_31:10 : Let my wife grind unto another. The idea of its being a most humble and laborious employment was long since exhibited by Homer:

A woman next, then laboring at the mill, Hard by, where all his numerous mills he kept. Gave him the sign propitious from within. twelve damsels toiled to turn them, day by day Meal grinding, some of barley, some of wheat, Marrow of man The rest (their portion ground) All slept, one only from her task as yet Ceased not, for she was feeblest of them all; She rested on her mill, and thus pronounced: Jove, Father, Governor, of heaven and earth!

O grant the prayer Of a poor bond-woman. Appoint their feast, This day the last, that in Ulysses house, The suitors shall enjoy, for whom I drudge, Grinding, to weariness of heart and limb, Meal for their use.

Cowper

The sense here is, that Babylon should be reduced to the lowest state, like that of reducing a female delicately and tenderly reared, to the hard and laborious condition of working the handmill - the usual work of slaves.

Uncover thy locks - Gesenius renders this, Raise thy veil. The word used here ( tsamaGh) is rendered locks, in Son_4:1, Son_4:3; Son_6:7, as well as here. It occurs nowhere else in the

Bible. Gesenius derives it from tsa'mam, to braid, to plaid, and then to bind fast, as a veil;

to veil. Jerome renders it, Denuda turpetudinem tuam. The Septuagint renders it, ^

To katakalumma sou - Thy veil. The Syriac also renders it, Thy veil. The Chaldee has paraphrased the whole verse thus: Go into servitude; reveal the glory of thy kingdom. Broken are thy princes; dispersed are the people of thy host; they have gone into captivity like the waters

of a river. Jarchi says, that the word used here ( tsamaGh) denotes whatever is bound up, or tied together Kimchi says that it means the hair, which a woman disposes around her temples over her face, and which she covers with a veil, deeming it an ornament; but that when a female goes into captivity this is removed, as a sign of an abject condition.

It properly means that which is plaited, or gathered together; and it may refer either to the hair so plaited as an ornament, or a covering for the head and face (compare the note at 1Co_11:15); or it may denote a veil. To remove either would be regarded as disgraceful. It is known that oriental females pay great attention to their hair, and also that it is a universal custom to wear a close veil. To remove either, and to leave the head bare, or the face exposed, was deemed highly humiliating and dishonorable (see the notes at Isa_3:24). The head, says the Editor of the Pictorial Bible, is the seat of female modesty in the East; and no woman allows her head to be seen bare. In our traveling experience, we saw the faces of very many women, but never the bare head of any except one - a female servant, whose face we were in the constant habit of seeing, and whom we accidentally surprised while dressing her hair. The perfect consternation, and deep sense of humiliation which she expressed on that occasion, could not easily be forgotten, and furnish a most striking illustration of the present text.

Make bare the leg - In the interpretation of this, also, commentators vary. Jerome renders

it, Discoopteri humerum - Uncover the shoulder. The Septuagint, `b

Anakalupsai tas polias - Uncover thy gray locks. The Syriac, Cut off thy hoary hairs. Jarchi and Kimchi suppose it means, Remove the waters from the paths, so that they might pass over

them. The word used here ( shobel), is derived from shaGbal, to go; to go up, to rise; to grow; to flow copiously. Hence, the noun in its various forms means a path Psa_77:19;

Jer_18:15; ears of corn, shibboGleth Gen_41:5, Jdg_12:6; Rth_2:2; Job_24:24; Isa_17:5; floods Psa_69:15; branches Zec_4:12. In no place has it the certain signification of a leg; but it rather refers to that which flows: flows copiously; and probably here means the train of a robe (Gesenius, and Rosenmuller): and the expression means uncover, or make bare the train; that is, lift it up, as would be necessary in passing through a stream, so that the leg would be made bare. The Orientals, as is well known, wore a long, loose, flowing robe, and in passing through waters, it would be necessary to lift, or gather it up, so that the legs would be bare. The idea is, that she who had sat as a queen, and who had been clad in the rich, loose, and flowing robe which those usually wore who were in the most elevated ranks of life, would now be compelled to leave the seat of magnificence, and in such a manner as to be subject to the deepest shame and disgrace.

Uncover the thigh - By collecting, and gathering up the train of the robe, so as to pass through the streams.

Pass over the rivers - Hebrew, Pass the rivers; that is, by wading, or fording them. This image is taken from the fact that Babylon was surrounded by many artificial rivers or streams, and that one in passing from it would be compelled to ford many of them. It does not mean that the population of Babylon would be removed into captivity by the conquerors - for there is no evidence that this was done; but the image is that of Babylon, represented as a delicately-reared and magnificently attired female, compelled to ford the streams. The idea is, that the power and magnificence of the city would be transferred to other places. Rosenmuller remarks that it is common in the countries bordering on the Tigris and the Euphrates, for females of bumble rank to ford the streams, or even to swim across them.

2. CLARKE, Take the millstones, and grind meal Take the mill, and grind corn - It was the work of slaves to grind the corn. They used hand-mills: water-mills were not invented till a little before the time of Augustus, (see the Greek epigram of Antipater, which seems to celebrate it as a new invention, Anthol. Cephalae, 653); wind-mills, not until long after. It was not only the work of slaves, but the hardest work; and often inflicted upon them as a severe punishment: -

3. GILL, Take the millstones, and grind meal,.... Foretelling that the Chaldeans should be taken captives, and used as such, and sent to prison houses, where they should turn the mill, and grind corn into meal; a very servile work, and which used to be done by captives and slaves, even by female ones, Exo_11:5. The Targum is, "go into servitude;'' of which this was a sign:

uncover thy locks: the attire and dress of the head, by which the locks were bound up and kept together; but being taken off, would hang loose, and be dishevelled, as in captives and mourners. The Targum is, "uncover the glory of thy kingdom:'' make bare the leg; or the shoulder, as the Vulgate Latin version, to be scourged by the Persians: uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers: they are bid to tuck up their clothes so high, that they might pass over the rivers which lay between them and Persia, whither they were carried captives. The Targum is, "thy princes are broken, the people of their army are scattered, they pass away as the waters of the river.''

4. PULPIT, Take the millstones, and grind meal. Do the hard work commonly allotted to female

slaves. Turn the heavy upper millstone all day long upon the nether one (comp. Exo_11:5). Babylon having been personified as a female captive, the details have to be in unison. Uncover thy locks. Babylonian women are represented in the Assyrian sculptures as wearing closefitting caps upon their heads. Make bare the leg 2 pass over the rivers. On the way from their own city to the land of their captivity, they would have to wade through streams, and in so doing to expose parts of their persons which delicacy required to be concealed.

5. POOLE, Take the millstones; betake thyself to the millstones; as we commonly say, Take thy

bed, or, Betake thyself to thy bed. The meaning is, Thou shalt be brought down to the basest kind of

slavery, which grinding at the mill was esteemed; of which see

on Exo_11:5 Jud_16:21 Job_31:10 Lam_5:13. For this work was not performed by horses, as now it

is, but by the labour of slaves and captives.

Grind meal; grind bread corn into meal for thy masters use. Such metonymical expressions we

find Isa_28:28 Hos_8:7, and elsewhere. Uncover thy locks; or, thine hair. Take off the ornaments

wherewith such women as were free and of good quality used to cover and dress their heads. This

and the following passages, though delivered in the form of a command, are only predictions of

what they should be forced to do or suffer, as appears from the next verse.

Make bare the leg, uncover the thigh; gird up thy garments close and short about thee, that thou

mayst be fit for service, and for travelling on foot, and, as it follows, for passing over those rivers,

through which thou wilt be constrained to wade, in the way to the land of thy captivity.

6. JAMISON, millstones like the querns or hand-mills, found in this country, before the invention of water mills and windmills: a convex stone, made by the hand to turn in a concave

stone, fitted to receive it, the corn being ground between them: the office of a female slave in the East; most degrading (Job_31:10; Mat_24:41).

uncover thy locks rather, take off thy veil [Horsley]: perhaps the removal of the plaited hair worn round the womens temples is included; it, too, is a covering (1Co_11:15); to remove it and the veil is the badge of the lowest female degradation; in the East the head is the seat of female modesty; the face of a woman is seldom, the whole head almost never, seen bare (see on Isa_22:8).

make bare the leg rather lift up (literally, uncover; as in lifting up the train the leg is uncovered) thy flowing train. In Mesopotamia, women of low rank, as occasion requires, wade across the rivers with stript legs, or else entirely put off their garments and swim across. Exchange thy rich, loose, queenly robe, for the most abject condition, that of one going to and fro through rivers as a slave, to draw water, etc.

uncover ... thigh gather up the robe, so as to wade across.

7. CALVIN, 2.Take millstones. The whole of this description tends to shew that there shall be a great

change among the Babylonians, so that this city, which was formerly held in the highest honor, shall be sunk in the lowest disgrace, and subjected to outrages of every kind, and thus shall exhibit a striking display of the wrath of God. These are marks of the most degrading slavery, as the meanest slaves were formerly shut up in a mill. The condition of the captives who were reduced to it must therefore have been very miserable; for, in other cases, captives sometimes received from their conquerors mild and gentle treatment. But here he describes a very wretched condition, that believers may not doubt that they shall be permitted freely to depart, when the Babylonians, who had held them prisoners, shall themselves be imprisoned. Now, though we do not read that the nobles of the kingdom were subjected to such contemptuous treatment, it was enough for the fulfillment of this prophecy, that Cyrus, by assigning to them the operations of slaves, degraded them, and compelled them to abstain from honorable employments. Unbind thy curled locks. On account of their excessive indulgence in magnificence of dress, he again alludes to the attire of young women, by mentioning locks. We know that girls are more eager than they ought to be about cuffing their hair, and other parts of dress. Here, on the contrary, the Prophet describes a totally different condition and attire; that is, that ignominy, and blackness, and filth shall cover from head to foot those who formerly dazzled all eyes by gaudy finery. Uncover the limbs. hardly ever are accustomed to walk in public, and, at least, seldom travel on the public roads; but the Prophet says that the Babylonian virgins will be laid under the necessity of crossing the rivers, and with their limbs uncovered.

3 Your nakedness will be exposed

and your shame uncovered.

I will take vengeance;

I will spare no one.

1.BARNES, Thy nakedness - This denotes the abject condition to which the city would be reduced. All its pride would be taken away; and it would be brought to such a state as to fill its inhabitants with the deepest mortification and shame. Vitringa supposes that it means, that all the imbecility and weakness; the vileness; the real poverty; the cruelty and injustice of Babylon, would be exposed. But it more probably means, that it would be reduced to the deepest ignominy. No language could more forcibly express the depths of its shame and disgrace than that which the prophet here uses.

I will take vengeance - This expresses literally what had been before expressed in a figurative manner. The whole purpose of God was to inflict vengeance on her for her pride, her luxury, and oppression, and especially for her want of kindness toward his people (see Isa_47:6).

And I will not meet thee as a man - This phrase has been very variously interpreted. Jerome renders it, And man shall not resist me. The Septuagint renders it, I will take that which is just of thee, and will no more deliver thee up to men. The Syriac, I will not suffer man to meet thee. Grotius, I will not suffer any man to be an intercessor. So Lowth, Neither will I suffer man to intercede with me. Noyes, I will make peace with none. So Gesenius (Lex. by Robinson) renders it, I will take vengeance, and will not make peace with man; that is, will

make peace with none before all are destroyed. The word used here ( 'epega) is derived

from paGga, which means, to strike upon or to strike against; to impinge upon anyone, or anything; to fall upon in a hostile manner 1Sa_22:17; to kill, to slay Jdg_8:21; Jdg_15:12; to assail with petitions, to urge, entreat anyone Rth_1:16; Jer_7:16; to light upon, or meet with anyone Gen_28:11, and then, according to Gesenius, to strike a league with anyone, to make peace with him. Jarchi renders it, I will not solicit any man that he should take vengeance; that is, I will do it myself. Aben Ezra, I will not admit the intercession of any man. Vitringa renders it. I will take vengeance, and will not have a man to concur with me; that is, although I should not have a man to concur with me who should execute the vengeance which I meditate; on which account I have raised up Cyrus from Persia, of whom no one thought. In my view, the meaning which best accords with the usual sense of the word, is that proposed by Lowth, that no one should be allowed to interpose, or intercede for them. All the interpretations concur in the same general signification, that Babylon should be totally destroyed; and that no man, whether, as Jerome supposes, by resistance, or as Lowth, by intercession, should be allowed to oppose the execution of the divine purpose of vengeance.

2. CLARKE, I will not meet thee as a man Neither will I suffer man to intercede

with me - The verb should be pointed, or written, aphgia, in Hiphil.

3. GILL, Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen,.... Not only stripped of their garments, and have nothing to cover their naked bodies, being spoiled of all by the soldiers; but should have nothing to cover those parts which women are most ashamed should be exposed to view, and which is often the case of such who fall into the hands of the conquerors. It is said of the whore of Rome, of mystical Babylon, that the kings of the earth should hate her, and make her desolate and naked, Rev_17:16, I will take vengeance; for though the Medes and Persians were the instruments, the destruction was of the Lord, who took vengeance of the Chaldeans, for their ill usage of his people; as he will on mystical Babylon, Rev_18:20, and I will not meet thee as a man; in a humane way, with lenity, tenderness, and compassion, but with inflexible wrath and fury; not with human strength, which is but weakness, but with the strength of the mighty God; as is said of mystical Babylon, strong is the Lord God that judgeth her, Rev_18:8 or it may be rendered, "I will not meet a man" (d); or a man shall not meet me, to stop or hinder me, by strength or might, or by prayers and entreaties. So some give the sense, "I will not receive the "intercession of any man for thee"; which is observed by Kimchi. The Targum is, "I will change "thy judgment from the children of men"; which agrees with the first sense.

4. HENRY, In these verses God by the prophet sends a messenger even to Babylon, like that of Jonah to Nineveh: The time is at hand when Babylon shall be destroyed. Fair warning is thus given her, that she may by repentance prevent the ruin and there may be a lengthening of her tranquility. We may observe here,

I. God's controversy with Babylon. We will begin with that, for there all the calamity begins; she has made God her enemy, and then who can befriend her: Let her know that the righteous Judge, to whom vengeance belongs, has said (Isa_47:3), I will take vengeance. She has provoked God, and shall be reckoned with for it when the measure of her iniquities is full. Woe to those on whom God comes to take vengeance; for who knows the power of his anger and what a fearful thing it is to fall into his hands? Were it a man like ourselves who would be revenged on us, we might hope to be a match for him, either to make our escape from him or to make our part good with him. But he says, I will not meet thee as a man, not with the compassions of a man, but I will be to the as a lion, and a young lion (Hos_5:14); or, rather, not with the strength of a man, which is easily resisted, but with the power of a God, which cannot be resisted. Not with the justice of a man, which may be bribed, or biassed, or mollified by a foolish pity, but with the justice of a God, which is strict and severe, and can never be evaded. As in pardoning the penitent, so in punishing the impenitent, he is God and not man, Hos_11:9.

5. PULPIT, I will not meet thee as a man; literally, I shall not meet a man; i.e. "I shall not find any one

to oppose me."

6. JAMISON, not meet ... as a man rather, I will not meet a man, that is, suffer man to intercede with me - give man an audience [Horsley]. Or, I will not make peace with any man, before all are destroyed. Literally, strike a league with; a phrase arising from the custom of

striking hands together in making a compact [Maurer], (see on Pro_17:18; Pro_22:26; Pro_11:15, Margin). Or else from striking the victims sacrificed in making treaties.

7. BI, Mental and moral nakedness

Every person hath somewhat which may properly be called his nakedness or shame, in a figurative sensesuch as a weak judgment, imprudence, inconsideration, injustice, cruelty, avarice, poverty, or contempt of religion. Over that he studiously endeavours to throw a veil, that it may be preserved from public observation. Now, when the covering is taken away by which any of these things were concealed, then peoples nakedness or shame is laid open to the inspection of those who possess penetration and discernment. (R. Macculloch.)

A fearful meeting

I. THY NAKEDNESS SHALL BE UNCOVERED. Man practises deceit. He imposes upon himself, and, as far as possible, upon his fellows. He cloaks his sins, his motives, his evil ways. He is not sincere in his professions, not open in his conduct, not honest in his judgments. Sin itself is a monstrous deceit and lie. The author of sin is a liar. And so with the children of the devil. There is nothing in themin their hearts, lives, charactersthat will stand the light of the throne. The truth will flash the sunlight into the chamber of the soul, and into every transaction of life, and lay bare to the eye of God and the quest of the universe the true real state and status of the moral man. Then thy nakedness shall be uncovered. The awful sight of a rational and immortal soul, steeped in guilt, lost to virtue and to God, and deceived to its eternal undoing, will shock the very heavens.

II. YEA, THY SHAME SHALL BE SEEN. The shame of wanton rebellion against the great God, our Heavenly Father; the shame of sinning unto death against the Cross of the loving and dying Christ; the shame of consummating a character of incorrigible wickedness, and a doom more awful than that of sinning angels, under all the light and influences of the glorious Gospel of the blessed God. To look upon such shame in the judgment day will shock and confound the sinner himself, and fill all heaven with loathing and indignation.

III. I WILL TAKE VENGEANCE, AND I WILL NOT MEET THEE AS A MAN. The vengeance of God! Who can stand before it? The partial displays of it in this life, where wrath is restrained and clemency bears rule, are fearful tokens of what is in store for those who refuse offered mercy and exhaust Gods long-suffering goodness in the world of retribution. It is awful to face an angry man whom we have grievously wronged. It is more fearful still to confront a stern judge, who, as minister of the law we have broken, makes inquisition upon us. But oh, to stand face to face before the offended Majesty of heaven, now risen up to take vengeance upon the despisers of His grace, is a thought that may well fill us with the profoundest concern. (Homiletic Review.)

I will not meet thee as a man

I will not meet thee as a man

The sense is very obscure. (Skinner.)

I will run against no man, namely, that I should need to give way to him. (Stier.)

I will not intervene as a man. (Ruetschi.)

I shall not meet a man, so depopulated will Babylon be. (Hahn.)

I shall encounter no one who can resist Me. (Cheyne.)

It means to encounter, meet, hit upon one, not only in a hostile, but also, as here and Isa_64:5, in a friendly sense; so I will befriend no one, pardon no one. (Delitzsch.)

Vengeance I take, and strike treaty with none. (G. A. Smith.)

Possibly, I will take vengeance, and will not spare, saith our Redeemer. (A. B.Davidson, D. D.)

Independently of these minuter questions, it is clear that the whole clause is a laconic explanation of the figures which precede, and which are summed up in the simple, but terrific notion of resistless and inexorable vengeance. (J. A. Alexander.)

I will not meet thee as a man

I will not meet thee as a man, whose compassion may induce him to show ill-judged forbearance and clemency, but thou shalt have judgment without mercy, who hast showed no mercy: I will not meet thee with the justice of a man, that may be perverted, but with that impartial equity which can neither be corrupted nor evaded. I will not meet thee with the anger of a man, which for certain reasons may be concealed or deferred, but with my fierce wrath that shall inevitably consume thee. I will not meet thee with the strength of a man, that may be opposed or vanquished, but clothed with omnipotence that cannot be resisted, so that it shall appear that it is not the vengeance of man, but of God. (R. Macculloch.)

God meeting sinners as a man

His threat is a threat of departure from His usual course. Thus, the expression is resolvable into a statement, that there is a human character about Gods dealings with men, and that it is an evidence of His not having given them up to vengeance, that He continues to meet them as a man. Let us consider the evidences which we have, that as a God of love, God meet us as a man.

I. Let us begin with those OPERATIONS OF THE HOLY GHOST, through which God may emphatically be said to meet us, to come in contact with us. There is much of mystery around

these operations; we recognise them by their effects. Not only are these operations hidden from others, but the very party himself, within whose breast they are making themselves felt, can give little or no account whence they come, or how they work. He resolves whatever he experiences into the strugglings of his own mind, and the wrestlings of his own conscience. Would it be for our advantage, that, in meeting us, God should meet us as a God, and not as a man? We could not have borne that God should have spoken with us by unearthly voices, and warned us by unearthly spectacles, and approached us through unearthly avenues. Hence, the evidence that God has dealt lovingly with us, when we observe the appointed method in which the Spirit operates it is, that Divinity may be said to identify itself with humanity.

II. The mind turns naturally to THE GREAT SCHEME OF REDEMPTION, and finds at once in that scheme full material of demonstration. Does it not commend itself to us as an arrangement beautifully indicative of the tenderness of God that the great High Priest of our profession, who was essentially Divine,-was, at the same time, a man? I the Divine nature had entered union with the angelic so that God had met us, not as a man, but as a cherub or seraph, we should have had no power, comparatively, of estimating what had been done on our behalf. We have little or no knowledge of higher orders of being, and there could consequently have been nothing which came home to the heart in the tidings of a Mediator, who, though essentially God, had assumed, for our sake, the likeness of one of those ranks. But when, in order to the meeting us in love in place of vengeance, God has become man, we can judge, we can feel the stupendousness of this humiliation.

III. WHEN CHRISTIANS COME TO DIE, how are they accompanied through the dark valley and across the dark waters? God still meets them as a man. Thy rod and Thy staff a sheperds implements, a mans implementsthey comfort me.

IV. What shall we say to THE JUDGMENT SEAT, occupied by One so terrible in His splendour that the very earth and heavens flee away at His presence? This is the last great display of the mercy of that appointment through which a man has been given as a Mediator. How could an angel, with all his purity and his equity, make due allowance for human infirmity, or place himself in our circumstances, so as to decide with reference to our powers and opportunities, and thus throw into his verdict that consideration for our trials and temptations, without which, if there may be the strictness of justice, there can scarcely be the admixture of mercy? But the Man who hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows this is the Being who is to gather all nations before Him, and determine the eternal condition of each individual.

V. We may draw one more striking illustration of the text from THE APPOINTED MEANS THROUGH WHICH THE GOSPEL IS PROPAGATED. In the great work of gathering in the nations, and shrining the religion of Christ in the households and hearts of the human population, the Almighty makes not use of lofty angels, who have kept their first estate, but of persons who are themselves in peril, themselves but wrestlers for immortality. God, in the person of His ambassadors, might have met us as an angel, and not as a man. You could not, as you listened to the angel, or reflected on his preaching, put from you the feeling that he knew nothing experimentally of your trials, nothing of your difficultiesthat he had no evil heart to struggle with, no mighty foes to withstand him in a course of obedience; and very easy you would think it, for one pure as this exalted creature to urge upon men the practice of righteousness, and to declaim with lofty vehemence on the vanity and worthlessness of the best earthly pleasures; very easy to recommend that to which he is prompted by his nature, and to denounce that for which he has neither inclination nor capacity. And this feeling would tell quickly and fatally on the moral hold which he might gain on an audience; making them suspicious that he spake on a matter of which he was no fair judge, and giving to the whole discourse the aspect of an airy speculation. Therefore is it in love to you that God meets you as a man. (H. Melvill, B. D.)

8. CALVIN, 3.Thy baseness shall be discovered. This is the conclusion of the former statement. So

long as Babylon was in a flourishing condition, she preserved her reputation, and was highly honored; for wealth and power, like veils, often conceal a great number of sores, which, when the veils have been removed, become visible, and are beheld with the greatest disgrace. And, as Demosthenes says, when, speaking of Philip condition, as, in our bodies, so long as any person is in full vigor, no malady is perceived in any of the members, but if he fall into debility, produced either by a wound or by a strain, or by any other of the diseases to which the body is subject, the whole is affected; so is it with cities and governments. (Dem., Olynth. 2.) When commotions arise, and when their wealth and troops are taken from them, disgraceful transactions which lay concealed are exposed to view; for cruelty, and fraud, and extortions, and perjury, and unjust oppressions, and other crimes, which were honored during prosperity, being to fall into disgrace. I will take vengeance, and will not meet (thee) a man. Some think that (caph) ought here to be supplied, As a man; as if he had said, not think that ye have to deal with man, whose attack ye may be able to resist. And, indeed, in other passages, when he speaks of the hand of man, it denotes some abatement; but here he means that no remedy is left, because God will reduce them to nothing. Others translate it, will not meet a man; that is, will not allow a man to meet me; whoever shall meet me, or intercede in their behalf, I will not spare them, or remit or abate their punishment. This meaning is highly appropriate, but the construction is somewhat forced; for (ephgang) must thus be understood to have a passive sense, which could scarcely be admitted. Besides, the Prophet does not absolutely say that no petition shall be presented to God, but that he cannot be appeased. The former exposition, therefore, flows more smoothly, so far as relates to the context; but let every one choose that which he prefers; for, whatever exposition you adopt, the words amount to this, the Lord will destroy the Babylonians, and that there will be no room for mercy. Only, I say, that I prefer the former, because it is more agreeable to the original text.

4 Our Redeemerthe Lord Almighty is his name

is the Holy One of Israel.

1.BARNES, As for our Redeemer - This verse stands absolutely, and is not connected with the preceding or the following. It seems to be an expression of admiration, or of grateful surprise, by which the prophet saw Yahweh as the Redeemer of his people. He saw, in vision, Babylon humbled, and, full of the subject, he breaks out into an expression of grateful surprise and rejoicing. O! our Redeemer! it is the work of our Saviour, the Holy One of Israel! How great is his power! How faithful is he! How manifestly is he revealed! Babylon is destroyed. Her idols could not save her. Her destruction has been accomplished by him who is the Redeemer of his people, and the Holy One of Israel. Lowth regards this verse as the language of a chorus that breaks in upon the midst of the subject, celebrating the praises of God. The subject is resumed in the next verse.

2. CLARKE, Our Redeemer Our Avenger - Here a chorus breaks in upon the midst of the subject, with a change of construction, as well as sentiment, from the longer to the shorter kind of verse, for one distich only; after which the former subject and style are resumed. See note on Isa_45:16 (note).

3. GILL, As for our Redeemer,.... Or, "saith our Redeemer", as it may be supplied (e): or, "our Redeemer" will do this; inflict this punishment on Babylon, even he who has undertook our cause, and will deliver us from the Babylonish yoke, and return us to our land: these are the words of the Lord's people, expressing their faith in the things foretold of Babylon, and in their own deliverance: the Lord of hosts is his name; and therefore able to redeem his people, and destroy his enemies, being the Lord of armies above and below, and having all at his command: the Holy One of Israel; the sanctifier of them, their covenant God, and therefore will save them, and destroy their enemies, being hateful to him, because unholy and impure.

4. PULPIT, As for our Redeemer, etc. Mr. Cheyne suspects, with some reason, that this is "the

marginal note of a sympathetic scribe, which has made its way by accident into the text." It is certainly quite unlike anything else in the song, which would artistically be improved by its removal. If, however, it be retained, we must regard it as a parenthetic ejaculation of the Jewish Church on hearing the first strophe of the songthe Church contrasting itself with Babylon, which has no one to stand up for it, whereas it has as "Redeemer the Lord of hosts, the Holy One of Israel."

5. K&D, But Isa_47:4 is still connected with what goes before. As Jehovah is speaking in Isa_47:5, but Israel in Isa_47:4, and as Isa_47:4 is unsuitable to form the basis of the words of Jehovah, it must be regarded as the antiphone to Isa_47:1-3 (cf., Isa_45:15). Our Redeemer, exclaims the church in joyfully exalted self-consciousness, He is Jehovah of Hosts, the Holy One of Israel! The one name affirms that He possesses the all-conquering might; the other that He possesses the will to carry on the work of redemption - a will influenced and constrained by both love and wrath.

6. JAMISON, As for rather supply, Thus saith our Redeemer [Maurer]. Lowth supposes this verse to be the exclamation of a chorus breaking in with praises, Our Redeemer! Jehovah of hosts, etc. (Jer_50:34).

7. CALVIN, 4.Our Redeemer. The Prophet shews for what purpose the Lord will inflict punishment on

the Babylonians; that is, for the salvation of his people, as he had formerly declared. (Isa_45:4.) But this statement is much more forcible, because he speaks in what may be called an abrupt manner, and like a person awakened out of sleep, when he sees Babylon ruined, which formerly was wont to subdue other nations and trample them under her feet; and he shews that this happens for no other reason than that the Lord shews himself to be the and defender of his people. The Holy One of Israel. As if he had said, that not in vain hath he chosen this people, and separated it from other nations. In this transaction he intended to give a display of his power, and. on that account added to the title descriptive of his power, Jehovah of Hosts, the designation

5 Sit in silence, go into darkness,

queen city of the Babylonians;

no more will you be called

queen of kingdoms.

1.BARNES, Sit thou silent - The same general sentiment is expressed here as in the preceding verses, though the figure is changed. In Isa_47:1-3, Babylon is represented under the image of a frivolous and delicately-reared female, suddenly reduced from her exalted station, and compelled to engage in the most menial and laborious employment. Here she is represented as in a posture of mourning. To sit in silence is emblematic of deep sorrow, or affliction (see Lam_2:10): The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground and keep silence, they have cast up dust upon their heads; - see the note at Isa_3:26 : And she (Jerusalem) being desolate shall sit upon the ground; Job_2:13 : So they (the three friends of Job) sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him, for they saw that his grief was very great. Compare Ezr_9:4.

Get thee into darkness - That is, into a place of mourning. Persons greatly afflicted, almost as a matter of course, shut out the light from their dwellings, as emblematic of their feelings.

This is common even in this country - and particularly in the city in which I write where the universal custom prevails of making a house dark during the time of mourning. Nature prompts to this, for there is an obvious similarity between darkness and sorrow. That this custom also prevailed in the East is apparent (see Lam_3:2): He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, and not into light; Mic. 8:8: When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. The idea is, that Babylon would be brought to desolation, and have occasion of sorrow, like a delicately-trained female suddenly deprived of children Isa_47:9, and that she would seek a place of darkness and silence where she might fully indulge her grief.

O daughter of the Chaldeans - (See the notes at Isa_47:1).

For thou shalt no more be called The lady of kingdoms - The magnificence, splendor, beauty, and power, which have given occasion to this appellation, and which have led the nations by common consent to give it to thee, shall be entirely and forever removed. The appellation, lady of kingdoms. is equivalent to that so often used of Rome, as the mistress of the world; and the idea is, that Babylon sustained by its power and splendor the relation of mistress, and that all other cities were regarded as servants, or as subordinate.

2. PULPIT, Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness. The second strophe begins, like the first, with a

double imperative. The fallen people is recommended to hide its shame in silence and darkness, as disgraced persons do who shrink from being seen by their fellows. Thou shalt no more be called The lady of kingdoms. Babylon can scarcely have borne this title in Isaiah's time, or at any earlier period, unless it were a very remote one. She had been secondary to Assyria for at least six hundred years when Isaiah wrote, and under Sennacherib was ruled by viceroys of his appointment. But Isaiah's prophetic foresight enables him to realize the later period of Babylon's prosperity and glory under Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar, when she became the inheritress of the greatness of Assyria, and exercised rule over a large portion of Western Asia. Nebuchadnezzar was, no doubt, as he is called by both Ezekiel (Eze_26:7) and Daniel (Dan_2:37), a "king of kings;" and Babylon was then an empress-state, exercising authority over many minor kingdoms. It is clear that, both in the earlier and the later chapters, the prophet realizes this condition of things (see Isa_13:19; Isa_14:4-6, Isa_14:12-17; as well as the present passage).

3. GILL, Sit thou silent,.... Here the speech is directed again to Babylon, which used to be a place of noise and hurry, as well as famous and much talked of all the world over; but now there should be a deep silence in it, no voice to be heard, the inhabitants being gone, and no discourse concerning it; no more talked of and celebrated for its magnificence and authority, trade and riches, but buried in oblivion. It is represented as sitting in silence, either as a mourner, or as one that is free among the dead, remembered no more: and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; meaning either captivity or imprisonment, prison houses being dark; or into the state of the dead, which is a state of darkness: for thou shall no more be called the lady of kingdoms; the mistress or governess of them, as she had been, having subdued many kingdoms and nations, and added them to her monarchy, which now would be at an end. Thus mystical Babylon, or Rome, has reigned over the kings of the earth, and has been mistress over many nations; but the time is coming when she will sit in silence, and no voice will be heard in her; and when the kingdom of the beast will be full of darkness, Rev_17:15.

4. HENRY, The consequences of it to Babylon. She is called a virgin, because so she thought herself, though she was the mother of harlots. She was beautiful as a virgin, and courted by all about her; she had been called tender and delicate (Isa_47:1), and the lady of kingdoms (Isa_47:5); but now the case is altered. 1. Her honour is gone, and she must bid farewell to all her dignity. She that had sat at the upper end of the world, sat in state and sat at ease, must now come down and sit in the dust, as very mean and a deep mourner, must sit on the ground, for she shall be so emptied and impoverished that she shall not have a seat left her to sit upon. 2. Her power is gone, and she must bid farewell to all her dominion. She shall rule no more as she has done, nor give law as she has done to her neighbours: There is no throne, none for thee, O daughter of the Chaldeans! Note, Those that abuse their honour or power provoke God to deprive them of it, and to make them come down and sit in the dust. 3. Her ease and pleasure are gone: She shall no more be called tender and delicate as she has been, for she shall not only be deprived of all those things with which she pampered herself, but shall be put to hard service and made to feel both want and pain, which will be more than doubly grievous to her who formerly would not venture to set so much as the sole of her foot to the ground for tenderness and for delicacy, Deu_28:56. It is our wisdom not to use ourselves to be tender and delicate, because we know not how hardly others may use us before we die not what straits we may be reduced to. 4. Her liberty is gone, and she is brought into a state of servitude and as sore a bondage as she in her prosperity had brought others to. Even the great men of Babylon must now receive the same law from the conquerors that they used to give to the conquered: Take the mill-stones and grind meal (Isa_47:2), set to work, to hard labour (like beating hemp in Bridewell), which will make thee sweat so that thou must throw off all thy head-dresses, and uncover thy locks. When they were driven from one place to another, at the capricious humours of their masters, they must be forced to wade up to the middle through the waters, to make bare the leg and uncover the thigh, that they might pass over the rivers, which would be a great mortification to those that used to ride in state. But let them not complain, for just thus they had formerly used their captives; and with what measure they then meted it is now measured to them again. Let those that have power use it with temper and moderation, considering that the spoke which is uppermost will be under. 5. All her glory, and all her glorying, are gone. Instead of glory, she has ignominy (Isa_47:3): Thy nakedness shall be uncovered and thy shame shall be seen, according to the base and barbarous usage they commonly gave their captives, to whom, for covetousness of their clothes, they did not leave rags sufficient to cover their nakedness, so void were they of the modesty as well as of the pity due to the human nature. Instead of glorying she sits silently, and gets into darkness (Isa_47:5), ashamed to show her face, for she has quite lost her credit and shall no more be called the lady of kingdoms. Note, God can make those sit silently that used to make the greatest noise in the world, and send those into darkness that used to make the greatest figure. Let him that glories, therefore, glory in a God that changes not, and not in any worldly wealth, pleasure, or honour, which are subject to change.

5. K&D, In the second strophe the penal sentence of Jehovah is continued. Sit silent, and creep into the darkness, O Chaldeans-daughter! for men no longer call thee lady of kingdoms. I was wroth with my people; I polluted mine inheritance, and gave them into thy hand: thou hast shown them no mercy; upon old men thou laidst thy yoke very heavily. And thou saidst, I shall be lady for ever; so that thou didst not take these things to heart: thou didst not consider the latter end thereof. Babylon shall sit down in silent, brooding sorrow, and take herself away into darkness, just as those who have fallen into disgrace shrink from the eyes of men. She is looked upon as an empress (Isa_13:9; the king of Babylon called himself the king of kings, Eze_26:7), who has been reduced to the condition of a slave, and durst not show herself for

shame. This would happen to her, because at the time when Jehovah made use of her as His instrument for punishing His people, she went beyond the bounds of her authority, showing ho pity, and ill-treating even defenceless old men. According to Loppe, Gesenius, and Hitzig, Israel

is here called zaGqe'n, as a decayed nation awakening sympathy; but according to the Scripture,

the people of God is always young, and never decays; on the contrary, its ziqnaGh, i.e., the latest period of its history (Isa_46:4), is to be like its youth. The words are to be understood literally, like Lam_4:16; Lam_5:12 : even upon old men, Babylon had placed the heavy yoke of prisoners and slaves. But in spite of this inhumanity, it flattered itself that it would last for ever. Hitzig

adopts the reading i, and renders it, To all future times shall I continue, mistress to all eternity. This may possibly be correct, but it is by no means necessary, inasmuch as it can be

shown from 1Sa_20:41, and Job_14:6, that ( is used as equivalent to , in the sense of till

the time that; and gebhereth, as the feminine of gaGbhe'r = gebher, may be the absolute quite as well as the construct. The meaning therefore is, that the confidence of Babylon in the eternal continuance of its power was such, that these things, i.e., such punishments as those which were now about to fall upon it according to the prophecy, had never come into its mind; such, indeed, that it had not called to remembrance as even possible the latter end of it, i.e., the inevitably evil termination of its tyranny and presumption.

6. JAMISON, Sit the posture of mourning (Ezr_9:4; Job_2:13; Lam_2:10).

darkness mourning and misery (Lam_3:2; Mic_7:8).

lady of kingdoms mistress of the world (Isa_13:19).

7. CALVIN, 5.Sit silent. He continues the same subject, and shews that the end of the Babylonian

monarchy is at hand. As this appeared to be incredible, he therefore repeats the same thing by a variety of expressions, and repeats what might have been said in a few words; and thus he brings forward those lively descriptions, in order to place the event, as it were, before their eyes. When he bids her and be it is an indication of shame or disgrace. Yet this silence may be contrasted with her former condition, while she reigned; for at that time not only did she speak loudly and authoritatively, but she cried with a loud voice, and by her commands terrified the whole of the East. But now, in consequence of the change of her condition, he bids her silent; because not only will she not venture to utter terrific words, but she will not even venture to make a gentle sound. (223) But, since he adds, enter into darkness, I willingly adopt the former view, that it denotes shame; for they whose condition has been changed for the worse shut their mouth through shame, and scarcely venture to whisper. For it shall no longer be. We know that the Babylonian monarchy was very widely extended, and exercised dominion over large and numerous countries; for it was the chief of many kingdoms. On this account the captive people needed to be fortified by these promises, and to be forewarned of her fall, that they might entertain assured hope of deliverance (223) Tant s faut qu ose tonner si haut que de coustume, que mesmes elle n desserrer les dents. far

as she is from venturing to sound as loudly as she was wont to do, that she will not even venture to open her teeth.

6 I was angry with my people

and desecrated my inheritance;

I gave them into your hand,

and you showed them no mercy.

Even on the aged

you laid a very heavy yoke.

1.BARNES, I was worth with my people - In this verse and the following, a reason is assigned why God would deal so severely with her. One of the reasons was, that in executing the punishment which he had designed on the Jewish people, she had done it with pride, ambition, and severity; so that though God intended they should be punished, yet the feelings of Babylon in doing it, were such also as to deserve his decided rebuke and wrath.

I have polluted mine inheritance - Jerusalem and the land of Judea see the notes at Isa_43:28). He had stripped it of its glory; caused the temple and city to be destroyed; and spread desolation over the land. Though it had been done by the Chaldeans, yet it had been in accordance with his purpose, and under his direction Deu_4:20; Psa_28:9.

Thou didst show them no mercy - Though God had given up his people to be punished for their sins, yet this did not justify the spirit with which the Chaldeans had done it, or make proper the cruelty which they had evinced toward them. It is true that some of the Jewish captives, as, e. g., Daniel, were honored and favored in Babylon. It is not improbable that the circumstances of many of them were comparatively easy while there, and that they acquired possessions and formed attachments there which made them unwilling to leave that land when Cyrus permitted them to return to their own country. But it is also true, that Nebuchadnezzar showed them no compassion when he destroyed the temple and city, that the mass of them were treated with great indignity and cruelty in Babylon. See Psa_137:1-3, where they pathetically and beautifully record their sufferings:

By the rivers of Babylon there we sat down, Yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.

For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; And they that wasted us rcquired of us mirth. Saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

Thus also Jeremiah Jer_1:17 describes the cruelty of their conquerors: Israel is a scattered sheep - the lions have driven him away; this Nebuchadnezzar hath broken his bones (see also 2Ki_25:5, 2Ki_25:6, 2Ki_25:27; Jer_51:34; Lam_4:16; Lam_5:11-14).

Upon the ancient - That is, upon the old man. The idea is, that they had oppressed, and reduced to hard servitude, those who were venerable by years, and by experience. To treat the aged with veneration is everywhere in the Scriptures regarded as an important and sacred duty Lev_19:32; Job_32:4-6; and to disregard age, and pour contempt on hoary hairs, is everywhere spoken of as a crime of an aggravated nature (compare 2Ki_2:23-25; Pro_30:17). That the Chaldeans had thus disregarded age and rank, is a frequent subject of complaint among the sacred writers:

They respected not the persons of the priests, They favored not the elders.

Lam_4:16

Princes are hanged up by their hand. The faces of eiders were not honored.

Lam_5:12

Laid the yoke - The yoke in the Bible is an emblem of slavery or bondage Lev_26:13; Deu_28:48; of afflictions and crosses Lam_3:27; of punishment for sin Lam_1:14; of Gods commandments Mat_11:29-30. Here it refers to the bondage and affliction which they experienced in Babylon.

2. CLARKE, I was wroth with my people - God, in the course of his providence, makes use of great conquerors and tyrants as his instruments to execute his judgments in the earth; he employs one wicked nation to scourge another. The inflicter of the punishment may perhaps be as culpable as the sufferer; and may add to his guilt by indulging his cruelty in executing Gods justice. When he has fulfilled the work to which the Divine vengeance has ordained him, he will become himself the object of it; see Isa_10:5-12. God charges the Babylonians, though employed by himself to chastise his people, with cruelty in regard to them. They exceeded the bounds of justice and humanity in oppressing and destroying them; and though they were really executing the righteous decree of God, yet, as far as it regarded themselves, they were only indulging their own ambition and violence. The Prophet Zechariah sets this matter in the same light: I was but a little angry and they helped forward the affliction; Isa_1:15. - L.

3. GILL, I was wroth with my people,.... The people of Israel, for their sins and transgressions, particularly their idolatries. Here begin the reasons and causes of the destruction of Babylon, and the first mentioned is their cruelty to the people of God; for though he was angry with them himself, yet he resented their being ill used by them:

I have polluted mine inheritance; the Jews, who, as they were his people, were his portion and inheritance, as he was theirs: these he is said to pollute, by suffering the Heathen to enter into the land, and defile their city and sanctuary, and carry them captive into an unclean and idolatrous country: and given them into thine hand; to correct and chastise, but in measure, not to kill and destroy: whereas thou didst show them no mercy; used them very cruelly, and exceeded the commission given: upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke; whose age should have commanded reverence and respect, and whose weakness and infirmities called for compassion; but nothing of this kind was shown; they were not spared because of age, but had insupportable burdens laid upon them; and if not they, then much less young men; see Lam_5:12.

4. PULPIT, I was wroth with my people. I have polluted 2 and given; rather, I polluted and

gave. The reference is to the conquest of Judaea by Nebuchadnezzar. Thou didst show them no mercy. We have very little historical knowledge of the general treatment of the Jewish exiles during the Captivity. A certain small numberDaniel and the Three Childrenwere advanced to positions of importance (Dan_1:19; Dan_2:48, Dan_2:49; Dan_3:30), and, on the whole, well treated. On the other hand, Jehoiachin underwent an imprisonment of thirty-seven years' duration (2Ki_25:27). Mr. Cheyne says that "the writings of Jeremiah and Ezekiel do not suggest that the [bulk of the] exiles were great sufferers." This is, no doubt, true; and we may, perhaps, regard Isaiah's words in this place as sufficiently made good by the "cruelties which disfigured the first days of the Babylonian triumph" (Lam_4:16; Lam_5:12; 2Ch_36:17). Still, there may well have been a large amount of suffering among the rank-and-file of the captives, of which no historic record has come down to us. Psa_138:1-8. reveals some of the bitter feelings of the exiles. Upon the ancient; rather, upon the aged. The author of Chronicles notes that Nebuchadnezzar, on taking Jerusalem, "had no compassion on young man or maiden, old man or him that stooped for age" (l.s.c.). There is no reason for giving the words of the present passage an allegorical meaning.

5. PULPIT, What we owe to the aged.

"Upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke." This wrong-doing is selected, out of all others, to point the reproaches of the prophet. If Babylon would do that, it was merciless enough to do anything. Hard, indeed, is the heart that will show no pity for old age, but will lay a heavy yoke on its shoulders. We may let this sentence suggest to us the light in which a Christian man will look at age. What is its due? How shall we exhibit the temper our Master would approve in our bearing towards it? I. THE CONSIDERATENESS WHICH IS DUE TO THE WEAK. Many passages from both Testaments invite our attention to the considerateness of the Divine Father, of the gracious Lord, to the weak, to the burdened, to the defenceless (see Isa_40:11). To be patient and considerate in our relations with those whose power is reduced, and who are going back to the feebleness out of which they once came, is to be "the children of our Father who is in heaven," is to be "disciples indeed" of the great Exemplar. II. THE RESPECT WHICH IS DUE TO THE EXPERIENCED. There are truths which nothing but experience seems able to teach. What evils might not be shunned, what sorrows escaped, what

happiness and what usefulness secured, if we would but let the wisdom of the experienced direct our thoughts and guide our steps! They only who have sounded the waters of life can tell their depth; they only who have drunk of its many cups can tell us where the killing poison or where the curing medicine is to be found. Age, instructed by experience, has a wisdom Which youth and maturity do well to reverence and to master. III. THE GRATITUDE WHICH IS DUE TO THOSE WHO HAVE SERVED US. There are many aged men who have lived selfish lives, and to whom we owe no gratitude at all; but there are others who have toiled and suffered, not perfunctorily or of constraint, but freely and magnanimously,to these far more is due than the pecuniary payment they may have received, and they win go to the grave unrecompensed if those who reap the fruits of their labours and trials do not render them the honour they have earned. IV. THE SERVICE WE SHOULD RENDER TO THOSE WHO WILL SOON BE BEYOND OUR REACH It is an affecting and constraining thought that there remain but a very few times more when we can do anything for one of our neighboursthat he will soon be where our band cannot reach to rescue or to enrich him. The aged will soon be gone from amongst us. A few weeks or months will take them where no kindness of ours can make their path smoother, their heart happier, their character more noble. To them, most of all, applies the gracious sentiment '' Be kind to each other; The night's coming on, When friend and when brother, Perchance, will be gone." 1. Unkindness to the aged is peculiarly displeasing to God. 2. Considerateness and succour shown to the aged will draw down the special favour of Christ. They, too, are among the "little ones" whom it is at our peril that we "offend," to render whom the simplest act of love is to win a Saviour's blessing.C.

6. JAMISON, reason for Gods vengeance on Babylon: in executing Gods will against His people, she had done so with wanton cruelty (Isa_10:5, etc.; Jer_50:17; Jer_51:33; Zec_1:15).

polluted my inheritance (Isa_43:28).

the ancient Even old age was disregarded by the Chaldeans, who treated all alike with cruelty (Lam_4:16; Lam_5:12) [Rosenmuller]. Or, the ancient means Israel, worn out with calamities in the latter period of its history (Isa_46:4), as its earlier stage of history is called its youth (Isa_54:6; Eze_16:60).

7. CALVIN, 6.I was angry with my people. This is an anticipation, by which he forewarns the Jews, as

he has often done formerly, that the distressing condition of captivity was a scourge which God had inflicted; because, if it had proceeded from any other, there was no remedy in the hand of God. In order, therefore, that they might be convinced that he who had struck them would heal their wounds, he bids them attribute it to their sins that they were so terribly oppressed. Yet he exhorts them to cherish favorable expectation, because God intends to set a limit to the chastisement; and he even mentions this as the reason why the Babylonians shall be destroyed, that God, who is the just avenger of savageness and cruelty, will much more avenge the injuries done to his people. Thou didst not shew compassion to them. In the former clause he calls the Jews to repentance, because by their own crimes they drew down upon themselves so many calamities. Next, he accuses the Babylonians of having seized this occasion for exercising cruelty, just as if one were to become the

executioner of a child whom a father had put into his hands to be chastised. Hence it follows that the Babylonians have no right to be proud, as if by their own power they had subdued the Jews and carried them into captivity; but, on the contrary, because they have wickedly abused the victory and cruelly treated the captives, he will justly punish them. I profaned my heritage. When he says that he angry, and that this was the reason why he his heritage, let us not imagine that he had changed his purpose, and was offended so far as to cast away the care of his people and the remembrance of his covenant. This is evident both from the event itself and from his deigning still to call them people, though the greater part of them were estranged from him, and though he had the best reasons for them. But he has respect to his covenant when he speaks in this manner; for he looks at their source and foundation, that they who were the descendants of Abraham may be accounted the people of God, though very few of them actually belonged to him, and almost all boasted of an empty title. Thus the word amger, in Scripture, must not be supposed to refer to any emotion in God, who desires the salvation of his people, but to ourselves, who provoke him by our transgressions; for he has just cause to be angry, though he does not cease to love us. Accordingly, while he his Church, that is, abandons her, and gives her up as a prey to her enemies, still the elect do not perish, and his eternal covenant is not broken. And yet, in the midst of anger, the Lord remembers his mercy, and mitigates the strokes by which he punishes his people, and at length even inflicts punishment on those by whom his people have been cruelly treated. Consequently, if for a time the Lord his Church, if she is cruelly oppressed by tyrants, let us not lose courage, but betake ourselves to this promise, who avenged this barbarous cruelty of the Babylonians will not less avenge the savageness of those tyrants. It ought also to be carefully observed that no one should abuse victory so as to be cruel to captives, which we know is often done; for men, when they see that they are stronger, lay aside all humanity, and are changed into wild beasts, and spare neither age nor sex, and altogether forget their condition. After having abused their power, they shall not at length pass unpunished; for without mercy shall be experienced by those who shewed no mercy.

(Jas_2:13.) But it is asked, could the Babylonians go beyond the limit which God had assigned to them, as if their lawless passions were laid under no restraint? And what will become of that promise, a hair shall fall from your head without the appointment of your Father? (Luk_21:18.) The answer is easy. Though it was not in their power actually to go beyond the limit, yet he looked at their cruelty, because they endearvored utterly to ruin unhappy persons who had surrendered at discretion. Thus Zechariah complains of the unbridled rage of the Gentiles, because, when was angry with his people for a little, they rushed forward with violent fury to destroy them. (Zec_1:15.) On the old man. He states an aggravation of their guilt, that they did not spare even old men, for whom age naturally procures reverence; and hence he draws an inference, how savage was their cruelty towards armed foes.

7 You said, I am forever

the eternal queen!

But you did not consider these things

or reflect on what might happen.

1.BARNES, And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever - This passage describes the pride and self-confidence of Babylon. She was confident in her wealth; the strength of her gates and walls; and in her abundant resources to resist an enemy, or to sustain a siege. Babylon was ten miles square; and it was supposed to contain provisions enough to maintain a siege for many years. There were, moreover, no symptoms of internal decay; there were no apparent external reasons why her prosperity should not continue; there were no causes at work, which human sagacity could detect, which would prevent her continuing to any indefinite period of time.

Thou didst not lay these things to thy heart - Thou didst not consider what, under the government of a holy and just God, must be the effect of treating a captured and oppressed people in this manner. Babylon supposed, that notwithstanding her pride, and haughtiness, and oppressions, she would be able to stand forever.

Neither didst remember the latter end of it - The end of pride, arrogance, and cruelty. The sense is, that Babylon might have learned from the fate of other kingdoms that had been, like her, arrogant and cruel, what must inevitably be her own destiny. But she refused to learn a lesson from their doom. So common is it for nations to disregard the lessons which history teaches; so common for individuals to neglect the warnings furnished by the destruction of the wicked.

2. CLARKE, So that thou didst not Because thou didst not - For ad, read al;

so two MSS., and one edition. And for, acharithah, the latter end of it, read

acharithecha, thy latter end; so thirteen MSS., and two editions, and the Vulgate. Both the sixth and seventh verses are wanting in one of my oldest MSS.

3. GILL, And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever,.... That her monarchy would continue in a succession of kings, that should rule over all nations to the end of the world. So mystical Babylon, when near her ruin, will say, "I sit a queen----and shall see no sorrow", Rev_18:7, so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart; neither the sins she had been guilty of, particularly in acting the cruel part towards the people of God; nor the evils foretold should come upon her; these she did not consider of and think upon, so as to repent of the one, and prevent the other: neither didst remember the latter end of it; or, "thy latter end" (f); either her own latter end, the end of her wickedness which she had committed, as Jarchi; the end of her pride, that she should be humbled, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi; or her ruin and destruction, the end she should come to at last; this she never thought of, but put this evil day far from her: or she remembered not the latter end of Jerusalem, who, though a lady too, fell by her own hand; which sense Kimchi takes notice of: or she did not consider what would befall the Jews in the latter day; that God would put an end to their calamities, and deliver them out of Babylon, as he had foretold.

4. HENRY, Babylon, now doomed to ruin, is here justly upbraided with her pride, luxury, and security, in the day of her prosperity, and the confidence she had in her own wisdom and forecast, and particularly in the prognostications and counsels of the astrologers. These things are mentioned both to justify God in bringing these judgments upon her and to mortify her, and put her to so much the greater shame, under these judgments; for, when God comes forth to take vengeance, glory belongs to him, but confusion to the sinner.

I. The Babylonians are here upbraided with their pride and haughtiness, and the great conceit

they had of themselves, because of their wealth and power, and the vast extent of their

dominion; it was the language both of the government and of the body of the people: Thou

sayest in thy heart (and God, who searches all hearts, can tell men what they say there, though

they never speak it out) I am, and none else besides me, Isa_47:8, Isa_47:10. The repetition of

this part of the charge intimates that they said it often, and that it was very offensive to God. It is

the very word that God has often said concerning himself, I am, and none else besides me,

denoting his self-existence, his infinite and incomparable perfections, and his sole supremacy.

All this Babylon pretends to; and no wonder if she that assumed a power to make what gods and

goddesses she pleased for the people to worship made herself one among the rest. It is

presumption to say of any creature, It is, and there is not its like, there is none besides it (for

creatures stand very nearly upon a level with one another); but it is insufferable arrogance for

any to say so of themselves, and an evidence of their self-ignorance.

5. PULPIT, And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever. The idea of "continuance" is one of the primary

instincts of human nature. Hence we regard it as certain that the sun will rise on the morrow. We expect things to "continue in one stay," and "to-morrow to be as to-day," if not even "more abundant." Babylon was not much more arrogant than other nations when she assumed that silo would be "a lady for ever." And she had more excuse than almost any other nation. Her capital was one of the most ancient cities, if not the most ancient city in the world (Gen_10:10; Gen_11:1-9). Though not unconquered (see the comment on Isa_47:1), she had yet for two millennia or more maintained a prominent position among the chief peoples of the earth, and had finally risen to a prouder eminence than any that she had previously

occupied. Still, she ought to have remembered that "all things come to an end," and to have so comported herself in the time of her prosperity as not to have provoked God to anger. So that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart. "These things" must refer to the calamities about to fall upon Babylon, of which she may have heard before the end camesince they had been prophesied so long previouslybut which she did not take to heart. The latter end of it; i.e. "the probable issue of her pride and cruelty" (Kay).

6. JAMISON, so that Through thy vain expectation of being a queen for ever, thou didst advance to such a pitch of insolence as not to believe these things (namely, as to thy overthrow, Isa_47:1-5) possible.

end of it namely, of thy insolence, implied in her words, I shall be a lady for ever.

7. BI, False security

I. THE CAUSE OF THEIR SECURITY. They did not lay this to heart (Isa_47:7), did not apply it to themselves, and give it due considerat