Jesaja 13:19

19 Alzo zal Babel, het sieraad der koninkrijken, de heerlijkheid, de hovaardigheid der Chaldeen, zijn gelijk als God Sodom en Gomorra omgekeerd heeft.

Jesaja 13:19 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 13:19

And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms
The first and most ancient kingdom, ( Genesis 10:10 ) and now, at the time of its fall, the largest and most extensive; wherefore of the image Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream, which was a representation of several kingdoms, this was the head, the head of gold, ( Daniel 2:31 Daniel 2:38 ) so Babylon is called the "lady of kingdoms", ( Isaiah 47:5 ) the word here used for "glory" is the same with that which is rendered a "roe", ( Isaiah 13:14 ) . Babylon was once as a pleasant roe, but now a chased one: the beauty of the Chaldees excellency;
the glory of that nation; what they gloried in, being so famous for pompous buildings, number of inhabitants, riches and wealth, see ( Daniel 4:30 ) . Pliny ^F14 calls it the head of the Chaldean nations, and says it obtained great fame in the whole world: shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah;
which, though not at once, and by fire from heaven, as that was, yet was of God, and, when completed, was, like that, irrecoverable; which was begun by Cyrus and Darius, and in after times finished; and besides there was a circumstance which made it similar to that; for as the men of Sodom were eating and drinking, when their destruction came upon them, so Belshazzar, and his nobles, were feasting and revelling when the city was taken. The Jews ^F15 say, that, after Belshazzar was slain, Darius reigned one year, and in his second year the city was overthrown, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah by fire from heaven; but without any foundation; for certain it is that Babylon was in being many years after this, and continued to the time of Alexander the great.

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 26.
F15 Jarchi & Kimchi ex Seder Olam Rabba, c. 28.

Jesaja 13:19 In-Context

17 Ziet, Ik zal de Meden tegen hen verwekken, die het zilver niet zullen achten, en aan het goud zullen zij geen lust hebben.

18 Maar hun bogen zullen de jongelingen verpletteren, en zij zullen zich niet ontfermen over de vrucht des buiks; hun oog zal de kinderen niet verschonen.

19 Alzo zal Babel, het sieraad der koninkrijken, de heerlijkheid, de hovaardigheid der Chaldeen, zijn gelijk als God Sodom en Gomorra omgekeerd heeft.

20 Daar zal geen woonplaats zijn in der eeuwigheid, en zij zal niet bewoond worden van geslacht tot geslacht; en de Arabier zal daar geen tent spannen, en de herders zullen er niet legeren.

21 Maar daar zullen nederliggen de wilde dieren der woestijnen, en hun huizen zullen vervuld worden met schrikkelijke gedierten, en daar zullen de jonge struisen wonen, en de duivelen zullen er huppelen.