Isaiah

CHAPTER 14

Restoration of Israel.

Downfall of the King of Babylon.

How the oppressor has come to an end!

how the turmoil has ended!

the staff of the tyrants^e

with relentless blows;

That ruled the nations in anger,

with boundless persecution.^f

song breaks forth;

the cedars of Lebanon:

“Now that you are laid to rest,

no one comes to cut us down.”^g

preparing for your coming;

Awakening the shades to greet you,

all the leaders of the earth;

Making all the kings of the nations

rise from their thrones.

and say to you,

“You too have become weak like us,

you are just like us!

the sound of your harps.

Maggots are the couch beneath you,

worms your blanket.”^h

O Morning Star,^* son of the dawn!

How you have been cut down to the earth,

you who conquered nations!ⁱ

“I will scale the heavens;

Above the stars of God^*

I will set up my throne;

I will take my seat on the Mount of Assembly,

on the heights of Zaphon.^j

I will be like the Most High!”^k

to the depths of the pit!^l

pondering over you:

“Is this the man who made the earth tremble,

who shook kingdoms?

razed its cities,

and gave captives no release?”

each in his own tomb;^m

like loathsome carrion,

Covered with the slain, with those struck by the sword,

a trampled corpse,

Going down to the very stones of the pit.ⁿ

For you have ruined your land,

you have slain your people!

Let him never be named,

that offshoot of evil!

for the guilt of their fathers;^o

Lest they rise and possess the earth,

and fill the breadth of the world with cities.^*

God’s Plan for Assyria^*

As I have resolved,

so shall it be;

As I have planned,

so shall it stand:

and trample him on my mountains;

Then his yoke shall be removed from them,

and his burden from their shoulder.^q

and this the hand outstretched over all the nations.^*

who can thwart him?

His hand is stretched out;

who can turn it back?^r

Philistia.^*

that the rod which struck you is broken;

For out of the serpent’s root shall come an adder,

its offspring shall be a flying saraph.

and the needy lie down in safety;

But I will kill your root with famine

that shall slay even your remnant.

Philistia, all of you melts away!

For there comes a smoke from the north,^*

without a straggler in its ranks.

“The LORD has established Zion,

and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.”

* [14:2] Possess them: Israel will make slaves of the nations who escort it back to its land.

* [14:4–21] This taunt-song, a satirical funeral lament, is a beautiful example of classical Hebrew poetry. According to the prose introduction and the prosaic conclusion (vv. 22–23), it is directed against the king of Babylon, though Babylon is mentioned nowhere in the song itself. If the reference to Babylon is accurate, the piece was composed long after the time of Isaiah, for Babylon was not a threat to Judah in the eighth century. Some have argued that Isaiah wrote it at the death of an Assyrian king and the references to Babylon were made by a later editor, but this is far from certain.

* [14:12] Morning Star: term addressed to the king of Babylon. The Vulgate translates as “Lucifer,” a name applied by the church Fathers to Satan. Son of the dawn: Heb., ben shahar, may reflect the name of a pagan deity.

* [14:13–15] God: not Elohim, the common word for God, but El, the name of the head of the pantheon in Canaanite mythology, a god who was early identified with the Lord in Israelite thought. Mount of Assembly: mountain where the council of the gods met, according to Canaanite mythology. Zaphon: the sacred mountain of Baal, originally the Jebel el-Aqra north of Ugarit, but other mountains have been identified with it, including Mount Zion in Jerusalem (Ps 48:3). The attempt to usurp the place of God (v. 14), coupled with the dramatic reversal (“above the stars of God” to “the depths of the pit”) occasioned the interpretation that saw here the rebellion and fall of Satan.

* [14:21] Cities: if the text is correct, it presumably refers to cities as expressions of human pride, authority, and oppression (cf. Gn 11:1–9; Na 3:1–4).

* [14:24–27] The motif of God’s plan or work is a recurring thread running through Isaiah’s oracles. The plans of Judah’s enemies will not come to pass (7:5–7; 8:9–10; 10:7), but God’s plan for his work of disciplining his own people (5:12, 19; 28:21), and then for punishing the foreign agents God used to administer that discipline (10:12) will come to pass.

* [14:26] Hand outstretched over all the nations: as it was once outstretched over Israel (9:11, 16, 20; 5:25).

* [14:28–31] This oracle seems to reflect the political situation soon after the death of Ahaz in 715 B.C., when Ashdod and the other Philistine cities were trying to create a united front to rebel against Assyria. Ahaz had refused to join the rebels in 735 B.C. and remained loyal to Assyria during the rest of his reign, but the Philistines may have had higher hopes for his son Hezekiah. Judah, however, did not join in Ashdod’s disastrous revolt in 713–711 B.C. (cf. 20:1).

* [14:28] The year that King Ahaz died: 715 B.C.

* [14:29] The occasion for this oracle is usually taken to be the death of an Assyrian king; the Philistines were vassals of Assyria, whereas no victories of Ahaz over the Philistines are recorded. The chronological notice (in the year that King Ahaz died) may be incorrect, for no Assyrian king died around 715, the date usually assigned for the death of Ahaz. Flying saraph: a winged cobra, often portrayed in Egyptian art and on Israelite seals. The Hebrew saraph means “to burn” and perhaps is applied to the cobra because of the burning sensation of its bite.

* [14:31] Smoke from the north: the dust raised from the approach of the Assyrian army.

* [14:32] Messengers of the nations: envoys from Philistia, and from Egypt and Ethiopia, the real powers behind the Philistine revolt (20:1–6; cf. 18:1–2).

a. [14:1] Is 56:3; 60:4; Ps 102:14; Jer 24:6; Zec 1:17.

b. [14:2] Is 49:22–23; 60:14; 66:20.

c. [14:3] Ex 33:14; Jos 1:13; Jer 30:10.

d. [14:4] Hb 2:6.

e. [14:5] Is 10:24–27.

f. [14:6] Is 10:5–7.

g. [14:8] Is 37:24; 44:23; 55:12; Ez 31:16.

h. [14:11] Sir 10:11.

i. [14:12] Jb 14:10.

j. [14:13] Jer 51:53; Am 9:2.

k. [14:14] Ez 28:2; Zep 2:15; 2 Thes 2:4.

l. [14:15] Ez 28:8–9; 32:23; Mt 11:23; Acts 12:23.

m. [14:18] Jb 3:14–15.

n. [14:19] Is 66:24.

o. [14:21] Ex 20:5; Mt 23:35.

p. [14:22] Jer 51:62; Jb 18:19.

q. [14:25] Is 9:3; 10:27a.

r. [14:27] Is 23:8–9; Jb 40:8; Jer 4:28.