Bibelkommentare

Infinite Wisdom could have ordered things so that Israel might have been released and yet Babylon unhurt; but if they will harden their hearts, and will not let the people go, they must thank themselves that their ruin is made to pave the way to Israel's release. That ruin is here, in this chapter, largely foretold, not to gratify a spirit of revenge in the people of God, who had been used barbarously by them, but to encourage their faith and hope concerning their own deliverance, and to be a type of the downfall of that great enemy of the New-Testament church which, in the Revelation, goes under the name of "Babylon." In this chapter we have, I. The greatness of the ruin threatened, that Babylon should be brought down to the dust, and made completely miserable, should fall from the height of prosperity into the depth of adversity, Isa 47:1-5. II. The sins that provoked God to bring this ruin upon them. 1. Their cruelty to the people of God, Isa 47:6. 2. Their pride and carnal security, Isa 47:7-9. 3. Their confidence in themselves and contempt of God, Isa 47:10. 4. Their use of magic arts and their dependence upon enchantments and sorceries, which should be so far from standing them in any stead that they should but hasten their ruin, Isa 47:11-15.

In the closing verse of the previous chapter, add had given the assurance that his people should certainly be delivered from their captivity in Babylon, and restored to their own land. In this chapter, he describes the vengeance which he would take on Babylon, and the entire chapter is occupied in portraying, under various images, the prostration and humiliation of that proud and oppressive seat of magnificence and of empire. Babylon is described under the image of a lady, carefully nourished and decorated; and all the images of her destruction are drawn from those circumstances which would tend to humble a happy and proud female that had been accustomed to luxury, and unused to scenes of humiliation, poverty, and bereavement. The scope of the chapter is, to state the crimes for which she would be humbled and punished, and the manner in which it would be done. These are intermingled, but they may be contemplated separately. The chapter may, therefore, be regarded as consisting of the following items:

I. Babylon is addressed, by an apostrophe to her, as the seat of empire, and her humiliation is directly predicted under the image of a happy and delicately reared female, suddenly reduced to circumstances of great humiliation and disgrace Isaiah 47:1-5. She is commanded to sit down in the dust; she should no longer be treated as tender and delicate Isaiah 47:1; she would be reduced to the most abject condition - like a delicate and tender female from elevated life compelled to perform the most menial offices, and stripped of all her fine attire Isaiah 47:2-3; she was to sit in darkness, or obscurity; her honor was to be taken away, and she was no more to be called the lady of kingdoms Isaiah 47:5; and all this was to be done by Yahweh, to take vengeance on the oppressors of his people Isaiah 47:3-4.

II. God states the reasons why he would thus humble and punish her Isaiah 47:6-7. It was because she had shown no mercy to his people, and had laid a heavy yoke on an ancient nation Isaiah 47:6; and because she had vainly calculated that her power and magnificence would continue forever, notwithstanding the manner in which she had oppressed the people whom God had given into her hand Isaiah 47:7.

III. The nature of the punishment which should come upon her for this is more distinctly and fully predicted, intermingled with further statements of the causes why she should be punished and humbled Isaiah 47:8-9. The causes were, that luxury and effeminacy abounded; that she was proud, and did not apprehend that it was possible that she should be reduced from her state of magnificence and grandeur; and that she had cherished sorcerers and enchantments. The punishment was, that she should be reduced in a moment to the condition of a widow, and to the state of one who had been suddenly bereft of all hcr children.

IV. The crime and the punishment of the city are further stated Isaiah 47:10-11. The crime was, that she had supposed no avenging God saw her; and that she had become proud and vain of her wisdom and knowledge. The punishment would be, that evil would come upon her from a quarter where she little expected it, and in a manner which she could not prevent.

V. Babylon is sarcastically called on to invoke to her aid those in whom she had trusted - the astrologers, the star-gazers, and those who practiced sorcery and enchantments Isaiah 47:12-13.

VI. The chapter concludes with a statement of the utter vanity of the sorcerers, and the absolute folly of trusting in them Isaiah 47:14-15. Even the flame would pass over them; and so far were they from having any power to deliver those who trusted in them, that they had no power to preserve themselves from ruin.

This chaptcr, therefore, contains many very particular statements about the manner in which Babylon was to be destroyed, statements which will be found to have been fulfilled with surprising accuracy. They are statements, moreover, which could not have been the result of conjecture, or mere political sagacity, for political conjecture and sagacity do not descend to minute particulars and details. It is to be borne in remembrance that this prophecy was uttered a hundred and fifty years before its fulfillment, and that there were no circumstances existing in the time of Isaiah which could have laid the foundation for conjecture in regard to the events predicted here. The temple was then standing; the city of Jerusalem was strongly fortified; the kingdom of Judah was powerful; Babylon was just rising into magnificence; the power which ultimately overthrew it had scarcely begun to start into being: and none of the causes which ultimately led Cyrus to attack and destroy it, had as yet an existence. And if these things were so then the conclusion is inevitable that Isaiah was under the influence of divine inspiration. It is the particularity of the description in the prophets long before the events occurred, which, more than anything else, distinguishes them from mere political conjecture; and if the particular descriptions here and elsewhere recorded of the overthrow of Babylon, and of other future events, were actually made before the events occurred, then the conclusion is irresistible that they were inspired by God.

The destruction of Babylon is denounced by a beautiful selection of circumstances, in which her prosperous is contrasted with her adverse condition. She is represented as a tender and delicate female reduced to the work and abject condition of a slave, and bereaved of every consolation, Isaiah 47:1-4. And that on account of her cruelty, particularly to God's people, her pride, voluptuousness, sorceries, and incantations, Isaiah 47:5-11. The folly of these last practices elegantly exposed by the prophet, Isaiah 47:12-15. It is worthy of observation that almost all the imagery of this chapter is applied in the book of the Revelation, (in nearly the same words), to the antitype of the illustrious capital of the Chaldean empire, viz., Babylon the Great.

INTRODUCTION TO Isaiah 47

This chapter is a prophecy of the destruction of Babylon, and of the Chaldeans, and declares the causes of it. The mean, low, ignominious, and miserable condition Babylon and the Chaldeans should be brought into by the Lord, the Redeemer of his people, is described, Isaiah 47:1, the causes of it are their cruelty to the Jews, Isaiah 47:6, their pride, voluptuousness, and carnal security, Isaiah 47:7 their sorceries and enchantments, and trust in their own wisdom, Isaiah 47:9, wherefore their destruction should come suddenly upon them, and they should not be able to put it off, Isaiah 47:11, their magic art, and judiciary astrology, which they boasted of, by them they could neither foresee nor withstand their ruin, which would be of no avail unto them, Isaiah 47:12, nor their merchants either, Isaiah 47:15.

Ch. 47. An Ode on the Fall of Babylon

The strain of prophetic exhortation is here interrupted by an ironical elegy or “taunt-song” with a strong resemblance to the ode on the king of Babylon in ch. Isaiah 14:4-21. The humiliation of the city is represented by the graphic image of a delicate and luxurious lady of the harem, suddenly reduced to the shameful condition of a slave or a captive. This female personification of Babylon forms an effective, and no doubt intentional, contrast to the figure of Zion, the desolate and bereaved widow, who is soon to be restored to the honour and joys of motherhood (ch. Isaiah 49:14 ff., Isaiah 51:17 ff., Isaiah 54).—Although words of Jehovah occur in Isaiah 47:3; Isaiah 47:6, it is hardly natural to suppose that He is the speaker throughout. The singer is more probably either the nation of Israel (as in Isaiah 14:4 ff.) or the prophet speaking in his own name.

The poem is usually divided into four unequal strophes, commencing with Isaiah 47:1; Isaiah 47:5; Isaiah 47:8 and Isaiah 47:12. Dillmann finds in it a combination of several distinct poetic measures, and recognises the characteristic rhythm of the elegy only in the opening verses of the first three strophes (1, 5, 8). There is however an approximation to the structure of the qînah in many verses; and the question is suggested whether the departures from the regular form are not to be accounted for by errors in the transmission of the text. Duhm, omitting three clauses as interpolations (see below), makes out a division into five equal strophes (1–4, 5–7, 8–10 a, 10b–12, 13–15) of seven lines each, and with a few minor alterations the elegiac cæsura (see on Isaiah 14:4) is fairly well marked in nearly every line. The textual alterations may not commend themselves in each instance, but there is at least a presumption in favour of a stricter prosody than earlier commentators allow.

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.

1. in the dust--(See on

Isa 3:26;

Job 2:13; La 2:10).

virgin--that is, heretofore uncaptured [HERODOTUS, 1.191].

daughter of Babylon--Babylon and its inhabitants (see on

Isa 1:8;

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].

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 Joshua 8:6; Job 2:12; Job 10:9; Psalm 22:15; Lamentations 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 Isaiah 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 Isaiah 1:8; Isaiah 37:22; compare Lamentations 1:15; Jeremiah 31:21; Jeremiah 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 Isaiah 13; Isaiah 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, πασᾶν γυναῖκα ἐπιχωρίην...μιχθὴναι ἀνδρὶ ξείνῳ pasan gunaika epichōriēn...michthēnai andri cheinō. 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, Ἔθος κατά τι λόγιον ξένῳ μίγνυσθαι Ethos kata ti logion chenō 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.

Come down, and set in the dust "Descend, and sit on the dust" - See note on Isaiah 3:26, and on Isaiah 52:2 (note).