that thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased, -- the exactress of gold ceased!
Isaiah gives Israel a song to sing on a future day. It is a taunt against the king of Babylon, sung once the oppressor has ceased. Older versions call the song a "proverb" and read the second line as "the golden city." Two questions run through the verse: what those words mean, and who this king finally is.
Isaiah does not just announce Babylon's fall. He tells Israel when they will sing about it. The first three verses set the scene, and the song's day comes long after Babylon's first fall.
The first three verses of Isaiah 14 show that the judgment of Babylon clears the way for mercy to flow to Israel. This had a partial fulfilment in the days of Cyrus, as the opening verses of Ezra record. It will have a far greater and more complete one when the times of the Gentiles come to an end. Then Israel will not only be settled again in their own land. They will also be the supreme nation, ruling over the ones who once oppressed them, and fully at rest themselves. In that day they will take up the proverb against the king of Babylon, that fills verses 4-23 of the chapter.
Babylon's fall and Israel's freedom are one event. That is why this city matters far beyond its own history.
The fall of Babylon means the freeing of Israel. That gives it far more importance than the story of any ordinary power. The old Babylon is simply a picture of the fall of a greater power, its final heir, which enslaves the Jews right to the end — the would-be protector who is really the master of the holy city. Israel will yet have as their servants the very people who once enslaved them. Expect this glory for Israel and this mighty deliverance for the Jewish people, and you can understand their triumphant tone.
The Hebrew word behind "taunt" is the same word used for the book of Proverbs.
The word usually translated 'proverb,' and used for the book of Proverbs, is mashal. It means 'comparison, likeness.' Proverbs are short sentences designed to catch attention and stay in the memory.
The ESV reads "the insolent fury ceased" in the second half of the line. Older versions read "the golden city," and that wording hides a sharper sense: it points at how Babylon got her gold.
"The golden city ceased," Isa. 14:4 is better translated, as in the margin, "the one who exacted gold has ceased!" Babylon had piled up gold by conquering others, and in the end it was defeated.
The song names a king. Kelly ties him to the empire that began with Nebuchadnezzar, and to the last man who will hold that power.
This means the king of Babylon — the last man to hold the power first placed in the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. He is the last head of the beast (Rev. 17), because the context assumes that his destruction comes at the same time as the deliverance and blessing of Israel. In any full sense the scene is still future.
Commentators differ here. Another writer keeps the human king in view, but sees Satan as the power behind him. He also hears in the earth's rest a hint of something larger.
In the same way the king of Babylon is only Satan's instrument. Here, though, the human agent is not kept as separate from the source of his power as he is in the case of Tyre. … And when this king is brought low, the earth is at rest. Does this not look on to the millennial rest, when Satan will be bound for a thousand years?
- Rest first. Israel does not sing this song in the middle of the trouble. They sing it once they are settled again in their own land and at rest.
- Rest through judgment. The rest comes because Babylon falls. Judgment on the oppressor clears the way for mercy to reach Israel.
- Rest remembered. The taunt is a mashal — a short, memorable comparison, built to stick in the mind long after the event.
- Rest from the gold-taker. Babylon piled up gold by conquering others. When she falls, her taking ends with her.
- Rest still ahead. Cyrus gave only a first instalment. The full song waits for the end of the times of the Gentiles, and for the fall of the last man to hold that world power — the last head of the beast.
Jehovah hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers.
This verse belongs to a song Israel will sing over a fallen tyrant, and it names who ended the tyranny — not an army, not a rival empire, but the Lord Himself. Two questions follow: what the broken staff and sceptre stand for, and when this song is sung.
The song has a set time: God first gives Israel rest, and then they take up this taunt against the king of Babylon. One writer, quoting an older translation, says that time has never yet come.
"And it will happen in the day the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow … that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon and say, How has the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers." That is plainly what has never yet happened. No one who knows Scripture can suppose that Israel has ever been in a position to take up such a proverb, at any time since Babylon rose to power. The "times of the Gentiles" began when Babylon took control of the Jews. And to this day the Gentiles trample Jerusalem.
A sceptre is not decoration. It stands for the right to rule, and one Bible dictionary lists this verse among the places the word appears.
One of the marks that set royalty apart: a rod or staff of dignity. The king held it out to Esther (Esther 4:11)… Judah does not hold the sceptre now, while the people are Lo-ammi — "not My people" — but their supremacy will be restored when God's purpose is fulfilled. Many passages speak of Christ sitting on the throne of David, and reigning until He puts His enemies under His feet. A sceptre of righteousness will be the sceptre of His kingdom. Num. 24:17; Ps. 45:6; Isa. 14:5; Heb. 1:8.
So this breaking is not random destruction. God breaks one rule so another can stand.
Proud and lordly powers of godlessness and wickedness stand against the setting up of this throne, so "the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers" must be broken (Isa. 14:5)… The world powers must give way. The Lord Jesus must be enthroned in right and might. The oppressor, and Babylon the golden city, must cease. Babylon is the oppressor. As a political power, Babylon oppressed God's people Israel. In principle, religious Babylon oppresses today.
The staff was in a tyrant's hand, but that hand served a purpose it never intended. One writer sets out the limit God fixes for the nations He uses.
God will not let the nations treat His poor erring people outrageously. He will use them as His rod of discipline. But the moment they give way to their own bitter hatred and try to go beyond the limit He set, He will break the rod in pieces. He will make it clear to all that He Himself is dealing with His beloved though erring people, for their final blessing and His glory.
Another writer names the clearest case: Assyria.
God uses the pride and sin of the wicked to discipline His people, and afterwards He destroys the instrument. The Assyrian was God's rod to strike Israel. He exalted himself against God, and God breaks the rod.
The title "king of Babylon" reaches across a long stretch of history. One writer traces it from Nebuchadnezzar's golden city to the ruler who closes the times of the Gentiles.
When Isaiah gave this prophecy, the Assyrian power still ruled Babylon. A century or so later Babylon became "the golden city" under the great king Nebuchadnezzar, whom Daniel 2:38 calls the "head of gold." With him the times of the Gentiles began, and they will close under the ruler called "the beast" in Revelation 13.
Two verses later comes the result: a world silent from war.
The Millennium will be a further stage of this rest that God gives. Christ will reign for a thousand years and Satan will be bound. Then this prophecy will be fulfilled: "The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet; they break forth into singing." (Isa. 14:7) The noise of war is gone. The cry of the oppressed will cease.
- Rod — God used hostile nations to discipline His own people. The staff in the oppressor's hand was never his own power.
- Limit — when the rod gave way to its own hatred and tried to go past the limit God set, He broke it in pieces.
- Breaker — the verse credits the breaking to the Lord alone, not to Israel's strength or a rival empire.
- Room — the staff and sceptre are marks of a throne; God breaks them so Christ can be enthroned in right and might.
- Rest — with the oppressor gone, the whole earth is quiet and breaks into singing. Only then can Israel sing this song.
He that smote the peoples in wrath with a relentless stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted unsparingly.
The song of Isaiah 14 looks back at a fallen ruler. He beat down peoples and nations, and he never let up. Verse 6 describes the power God has just broken. So who is this oppressor in the end, and why did God let such a rod exist at all?
The words are put in the mouth of a freed people, and the freeing is what gives the verse its weight.
The overthrow of Babylon means the freeing of Israel. So it matters far more than the history of any ordinary power. The Babylon of the past is simply a picture of the fall of the greater power, its final heir. That power enslaves the Jews right to the end. It claims to protect the holy city, but it is really its master.
The oppressor did not make his own authority. God handed it to him, and one writer describes what such rulers do with it.
They hold power that was handed to them. But they use it as a wild beast uses its power. They make a selfish and greedy use of it, right to the end. Human nature that has not been renewed will always do so. By His own arrangements, God let this power over the world fall into the hands of these empires, one after another. They all pervert and abuse it. As Israel had done with its power, so do the Gentiles with theirs. God will provide for Himself a king who will rule in righteousness.
The same thought is put in one line elsewhere: God "gave the Gentile dominion, and they became tyrants, and scourges to the earth."
God used these invasions to discipline His own people. That does not excuse a single blow of them.
God put power into the hand of the Gentile. He gave his armies success, even against the nation of His choice, and even to the overthrow of Zion that He loved. Even so, He does not overlook the pride of heart, the lust of power, the self-will and violence of the rod He uses to correct His erring people. The nations invaded His land again and again, and destroyed life and property for no reason. They were His instruments for correcting His stubborn and stiff-necked people. But doing the will of God was far from the thought of any one of them.
The blows stop because God breaks the instrument. One writer links that breaking to the throne it makes room for, and sees Babylon's oppression still at work today in another form.
Proud and lordly powers of ungodliness and wickedness stand against the setting up of this throne. So "the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers" must be broken (Isa. 14:5)… The oppressor, and Babylon the golden city, must cease. Babylon is the oppressor. It was Babylon politically which oppressed God's people Israel. It is in principle religious Babylon which oppresses today.
Commentators read this figure as more than one dead king. Babylon opened a long era of Gentile rule, and the song reaches to the man who closes it.
When Isaiah uttered this prophecy Babylon was still dominated by the Assyrian power. A century or so later it became "the golden city" under the great king Nebuchadnezzar, spoken of as the "head of gold" in Daniel 2:38. With him the times of the Gentiles began. They will close under the ruler called "the beast" in Revelation 13. Satan, who is called "the dragon," will raise him up and inspire him.
Kelly reads the king the same way. He also warns against confusing him with another end-time leader:
The king of Babylon stands for the last head of the Beast, just as Nebuchadnezzar was the first of that line. We must distinguish the imperial chief of the last days from the religious head of the antichrist. We must do so all the more carefully, because ancients and moderns very generally confuse them: they share a similar policy and are partners in evil.
- Given. God handed world rule to the Gentile powers. No man in this verse made his own power.
- Abused. They used that trust as a wild beast uses its strength: selfish and greedy to the end. So the record is one of endless blows and angry rule.
- Used. God swung these nations as a rod to correct His people. He still saw the pride, self-will and violence of the rod.
- Broken. God snaps the staff and the scepter, because proud powers block the throne He means to set up.
- Replaced. The oppressor's line runs from Nebuchadnezzar to the last head of the Beast. When it ends, Israel is free, and God provides a King who rules in righteousness.
The whole earth is at rest, is quiet they break forth into singing.
Isaiah 14 holds a song that Israel will one day raise over a fallen tyrant, and verse 7 is its turning point. Commentators read the rest it announces as far wider than the fall of one ancient king.
Babylon's fall is more than one empire ending. It sets Israel free, and it points ahead to the fall of a later power.
The overthrow of Babylon involves the emancipation of Israel. It therefore matters far more than the history of any ordinary power. The Babylon of the past is simply a picture of the fall of a greater power, its final heir. That power enslaves the Jews to the very end — the would-be protector, but the real master of the holy city. Israel will yet have as their servants the very people who once enslaved them. When you expect this glory for Israel, and this mighty deliverance for the Jewish people, their exulting tone makes sense.
The singing is not a general cheer from the watching nations.
The prophet Isaiah did not put this song about the king of Babylon on the lips of the nations, but on the lips of Israel itself. Israel would exult when the pride of Babylon's king went down into hades and his scepter was broken.
Behind the human tyrant stands another power. That is why his fall changes the whole earth and not one region of it.
In the same way the king of Babylon is only Satan's instrument. Here, though, the human agent is not marked off from the source of his power as clearly as in the case of Tyre… And when he is laid low, the earth is at rest. Does this not look forward to millennial rest, when Satan will be bound for a thousand years?
Read as a description of Christ's coming reign, the quietness is not emptiness.
The Millennium will be a further stage of this rest that God gives, when Christ will reign for a thousand years and Satan will be bound. Then this prophecy will come true: "The whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into singing" (Isa. 14:7). The noise of war is gone. The cry of the oppressed will cease, and "the Sun of Righteousness" will bring peace and plenty to this weary earth. It will keep its Sabbath.
The rest reaches past politics into the natural world, which has lain under decay since the days of Adam.
Creation's long subjection to decay and death will then end… the whole creation will be set free from the bondage of corruption. The burial cloth of death, which has wrapped it since the days of Adam, will then be taken away. The trail of the serpent will disappear before the rising beams of the Sun of Righteousness. The wild beasts of the field will lose their fierceness. The earth will yield her increase, and the wilderness will rejoice and blossom like the rose. Men will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and they will not learn war any more.
The singing in this verse answers an older scene. God's people once could not sing at all, because they were captives in Babylon.
The courts in Zion are silent. The captives sitting by the rivers of Babylon can say, "We wept when we remembered Zion. We hung our harps on the willows there. For there those who carried us away captive demanded a song… How should we sing the LORD's song on foreign soil?" (Ps. 137). But the courts of Zion will resound again with the praises of His earthly people… Then the whole earth, "filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea," will take up the glad refrain.
The writer who applies the verse to Christ's reign also marks its limit.
But even this is not the final rest… During the Millennium sin will remain in this world. Satan, though bound, will be loosed again. Eternal rest — this unending Sabbath of God — we will enjoy with the Lord Himself in a coming day, though now we have the privilege of working for Him.
- Cause. The earth's rest begins with a fall. Babylon's collapse breaks the oppressor's power and frees God's people.
- Master. The tyrant was only an instrument; when the power behind him is bound, rest spreads to the whole earth, not one nation.
- Singers. The song belongs to Israel, not to the watching nations — freed captives raise it, and one day the whole earth joins in.
- Reach. The quiet takes in creation itself. War ends, decay loses its grip, and the ground yields again.
- Limit. This is a Sabbath, not the last one — sin remains, Satan is loosed once more, and the unending rest is still ahead.
Even the cypresses rejoice at thee, the cedars of Lebanon, [saying,] Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.
Isaiah 14 is a song sung over the fall of Babylon's king, and here the forest joins in. Who sings it, why trees carry the tune, and how far ahead the song looks are the questions this verse raises.
The song has a singer, and it is not the watching nations:
The prophet Isaiah did not put this song about the king of Babylon on the lips of the nations, but on those of Israel itself. Israel would celebrate when the pride of Babylon's king went down into the place of the dead and his sceptre was broken. The cedars of Lebanon rejoiced over him and said, "Since you were laid low, no woodcutter comes up against us" (Isa. 14:8).
That day has come only in part. The full one is still ahead:
The first three verses of Isaiah 14 show that the judgment of Babylon clears the way for mercy to flow to Israel. This had a partial fulfilment in the days of Cyrus, as the opening verses of Ezra record. It will have a far greater and more complete one when the times of the Gentiles come to an end. Then Israel will be established once more in their own land. More than that, they will be the supreme nation. They will rule over the others who once oppressed them, and be fully at rest themselves.
Lebanon's forest was real timber. These are the slopes "from where Solomon obtained cedar and fir trees for the temple" (Morrish Bible Dictionary). In Scripture the cedar also carries a meaning:
In Scripture its typical use is always to denote power or exaltation, if not pride. When the king of Israel wanted to pour contempt on the king of Judah, he compared himself to a cedar and Judah's king to a thistle (2 Kings 14:9). The Psalmist uses it to express the prosperity of the righteous, "He shall grow as the cedar in Lebanon" (Ps. 92:12). When judgment comes on the great of the earth, the prophet Isaiah says it is the day of Jehovah upon the cedars of Lebanon (2:13). These mark the cedar as the symbol of dignity and power.
The verse before this one says the whole earth is at rest, and the trees are the proof. That rest looks further ahead than any ancient date:
The king who said, "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds" is yet to be "brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit." He is also called Lucifer (daystar), or son of the morning. And when he is laid low, the earth is at rest. Does not this look onward to millennial rest when Satan will be bound for a thousand years? (Isa. 14:4-20.)
Creation's relief comes at that same moment:
With this breaking of Satan's chain comes the removal of the curse on the earth. "The creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God." Creation, fallen with her head, waits until God openly declares His grace toward man in the redemption of the body. Then it also "will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God." (Rom. 8:19-21.) Well may the earth rejoice, the floods clap their hands, and the hills be joyful together before the Lord… The judgment itself is the effect of love as well as righteousness, for "destroying the destroyers of the earth." (Rev. 11:18.)
The king in this song is a pattern of a world ruler still to come:
The king of Babylon stands for no other than the last head of the Beast, just as Nebuchadnezzar was the first of that line… The king of Babylon is a picture of the man who will finally hold the Jews as his subjects. But it would be a great mistake to think that this means a king of the Babylon in Shinar.
Another writer divides the passage in two. The trees' song belongs to the first half: "Isaiah's prophecy in these verses applies first to the visible king — verses 4-11… But in verses 12-15, we seem to pass from the visible king to Satan, whose nominee he is to be" (F. B. Hole).
- Singer. The song is not the world's applause. Israel sings it, and only on the day God gives them rest.
- Symbol. In Scripture the cedar stands for power and pride. Felled forests mean fallen greatness, not lost timber.
- Silence. The axe stopping is the sign that the oppressor has stopped; when he is laid low, the whole earth is quiet.
- Scope. The quiet reaches creation itself. It waits for the curse to lift and for God's sons to be revealed.
- Sequel. The Babylonian king is a pattern, not the end. Commentators read the song as reaching on to a last world ruler, and beyond him to Satan.
Sheol from beneath is moved for thee to meet [thee] at thy coming, stirring up the dead for thee, all the he-goats of the earth; making to rise from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
Isaiah 14 is a taunt song over the death of a world ruler. This verse opens the curtain on the place he arrives in, and raises two questions: what is this "Sheol" that stirs to meet him, and who is the king behind such enormous language?
This is not a graveside speech. A freed people sing it, looking back on the power that once crushed them.
The first three verses of Isaiah 14 show that the judgment of Babylon clears the way for mercy to flow to Israel. This came partly true in the days of Cyrus, as the opening verses of Ezra record. It will come far more fully true when the times of the Gentiles come to an end… In that day they will take up the proverb against the king of Babylon, that fills verses 4-23 of the chapter.
Older translations print "hell" here, where the ESV keeps the Hebrew word "Sheol". One writer explains what that word covers.
When the prophet takes up his proverb against the king of Babylon, the "hell" that is moved from beneath to meet him at his coming is Sheol — the Old Testament equivalent of Hades, that is, the unseen world of departed spirits (Isa. 14:9).
The prophet also names the place when he means the people in it. We do the same with cities.
See Isaiah 14:9 for a similar way of putting "hell" (sheol) for those who are in it. It is the usual thing when speaking of cities: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets," and so on.
Everyone in this scene is awake. They speak, and they measure the newcomer against themselves.
Isaiah says something similar about sheol as a place of departed nations who are still conscious. There we watch the king of Babylon go down into sheol… "They will all speak and say to you, 'Have you also become weak like us? Have you become like us?'"… These are solemn words. Behind them stands the undeniable truth that the human race goes on existing, conscious and for ever. But only the New Testament gives the full light on the future state.
Some teach that the soul sleeps between death and resurrection. One writer answers from this passage and from a story Jesus told.
after-note:
Those who insist that the soul sleeps attack the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)… Call the story a parable if you like (though the Saviour does not), and there you have men in the world of spirits who are anything but unconscious — fully alive to feelings of bliss and woe. And this is not the only passage of Scripture that shows men talking in the spirit world; Isaiah 14:9-11 and Ezekiel 32:21 are as clear, if not as vivid, as Luke 16:19-31.
The kings already there rise to meet the newcomer, and their welcome is a taunt. His body fares no better.
In Isaiah 14 the souls of the kings in hades are pictured meeting the king of Babylon and taunting him with the humbling fact that he had become one of them. As to his body, it was cast out of its grave like a worthless branch, not found in burial with the glory of kings. In a word — though in shame — the king of Babylon in Isaiah died like any other man.
Two Babylonian kings stand behind this song. One writer finds that neither of them is enough.
So the strong language in verses 9-14 can hardly be said to have been used up in Nebuchadnezzar or Belshazzar. One showed pride and self-exaltation, the other the most degrading and profane luxury. But what we have here will only come fully true in the last days, and not before. After taking this place of power, the lofty one will be brought low as no king of Babylon in history ever was.
Commentators differ on where the human figure ends and another begins. Some read a shift partway through the song.
Isaiah's prophecy in these verses applies first to the visible king — verses 4-11… But in verses 12-15, we seem to pass from the visible king to Satan, whose appointed man he is to be. Satan's first sin was to try to lift himself up to be equal with God, and he is to be "brought down to hell, to the depths of the pit," as we also see in Revelation 20.
- Rest first. Babylon's fall clears the way for mercy to reach Israel. A freed people sing this song.
- Sheol, not the grave. "Hell" here is the unseen world of departed spirits, and the place is named for the people in it.
- Awake, not asleep. Those in that world speak, know the newcomer and mock him. With Luke 16, this verse answers the idea that death is unconsciousness.
- Levelled. Kings rise from their thrones to tell him he is now weak like them. He died like any other man, and his body got no king's burial.
- Beyond Babylon. The words outrun Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. Writers differ on whether the later verses turn from the visible king to Satan behind him.
All of them shall answer and say unto thee, Art thou also become powerless as we; art thou become like unto us!
The dead greet the fallen tyrant, and their welcome is a taunt. Two questions press: who speaks, and which king do they mock?
This taunt belongs to a set day. Commentators tie that day to Israel's release from its oppressor, using the promise at the start of the chapter.
Isaiah 14 opens by showing that the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, will choose Israel again, and set them in their own land. … It goes on to say that on the day the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow, you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon. There you have what has never yet happened. No one who knows Scripture can suppose that Israel has ever been in a position to take up such a taunt, from the time Babylon rose to power until now.
So the mockery does not come from the watching nations.
The prophet Isaiah did not put this song about the king of Babel in the mouths of the nations. He put it in the mouth of Israel itself. Israel would celebrate when the pride of Babel's king went down into hades and his scepter was broken.
Verse 9 names the "all of them" who answer here. They are the kings of the nations, roused from their thrones in Sheol, the unseen world of the dead. They greet the new arrival as an equal.
There we see the king of Babylon going down into Sheol. "Sheol below stirs to meet you when you come. It rouses the dead for you, all the leaders of the earth. It raises up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All of them will answer and say to you: 'You too have become as weak as we! You have become like us!'" These are solemn words. Behind them stands the undeniable truth that human beings go on existing, conscious and for ever. But only the New Testament Scriptures give the full light on the future state.
Commentators differ over how much this scene proves. Some read it as evidence that the dead are awake and aware, alongside the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16.
Some claim that the dead are unconscious. They quote Ecclesiastes 9:5 as proof: "the dead know nothing." But the writer of that book is dealing with things "under the sun." In that passage he means that the dead can no longer follow what goes on down here. The story of the rich man and Lazarus — and passages such as Isaiah 14:9 and Ezekiel 32:21 — is enough to show that both the saved and the lost are fully alive to the reality of their condition in the unseen world.
Others are more cautious. One writer treats the scene as poetry:
Sheol is too vague to say anything… In Isaiah 14 the poetic picture is of the grave: the kings rise from their thrones to meet him.
The chapter shifts as it goes. One writer reads this taunt as aimed at the visible king, and the verses that follow as reaching past him to the power behind him.
Isaiah's prophecy in these verses applies first to the visible king — verses 4-11. The Lord will break his sceptre and cast him into hell, as Revelation 19 explains more fully. But in verses 12-15, we seem to pass from the visible king to Satan, whose chosen man he is to be.
Yet the words also overshoot Babylon's own kings.
So the strong language in verses 9-14 was hardly used up in Nebuchadnezzar or Belshazzar. One was proud and full of self-exaltation; the other sank into degrading and profane luxury. But what we have here will be fulfilled in the last days, and not before. After he takes this place of power, the lofty one is to be brought as low as no king of Babylon ever was in history.
The sting of the greeting is that it is true. Death strips away whatever set this man above others.
The great and the small are alike at rest. Kings whose palaces have crumbled into ruins, and princes who left all their wealth behind, are here at last in deep and equal rest. The wicked cannot trouble them. No master can force work out of his slave. Prisoners and their captors are no different in the presence of death, that great leveller of mankind.
- Rest first. Israel sings this taunt only on the day God gives His people rest from their oppressor. Commentators say that day has not yet come.
- Rest sung. Isaiah gives these words to Israel, not to the watching nations. The people who suffered get the last word.
- Rest disturbed. Sheol stirs, kings rise from their thrones, and they ask the newcomer whether he too has come down to their weakness.
- Rest disputed. Some read this as proof that the dead are conscious. Others treat it as poetry about the grave and look to the New Testament for full light.
- Rest levelled. The king may be Babylon's ruler, or the greater power behind him. Either way, death makes no distinction between captor and captive.
-- Thy pomp is brought down to Sheol, the noise of thy lyres the maggot is spread under thee, and worms cover thee.
This verse sits inside a song Israel sings over the fallen king of Babylon. It strips him down to what death leaves: silence where his music was, and maggots where his splendour was. Two questions follow. Who is this king? And what does this picture of Sheol and worms say about the dead?
This taunt is not a general remark about death. Isaiah hands it to one people to sing at one moment.
Isaiah did not put this song about the king of Babel on the lips of the nations, but on those of Israel itself. Israel would celebrate when the pride of Babel's king went down into hades and his sceptre was broken.
Commentators do not treat this figure as one long-dead king only. One writer reads the old enemy as the pattern of a ruler still to come.
Here God makes the old enemy a pattern of the new one that threatens them. The man who holds Babylon's power last is naturally a pattern of the one who will wield imperial power against the glory of God in the last days… So the strong language of verses 9-14 was hardly used up in Nebuchadnezzar or Belshazzar. The first showed pride and self-exaltation. The second showed deeply degrading and profane luxury. But what we have here will come true in full in the last days, and not before.
Commentators differ on where the focus shifts. Hole sees the subject change just after this verse. Kelly reads verses 9-14 as still describing a human ruler.
Isaiah's prophecy in these verses applies first to the visible king — verses 4-11. The Lord will break his sceptre and cast him into hell, as is more fully explained in Revelation 19. But in verses 12-15, we seem to pass from the visible king to Satan, whose nominee he is to be.
The verse puts worms and Sheol in one line. One writer argues that this fits because the word means more than a world of spirits.
He has started with a mistaken idea of what the word sheol includes. It really takes in the grave, as well as the region where the unclothed spirits wait for their resurrection… For sheol meant what we might call the whole underworld. People thought of both body and soul as entering it. So the prophet can picture the dead in their graves (in sheol) in vivid language, with the worm above them and under them. To a Hebrew this language was not strange, for there are worms in the grave.
The worm is not a random choice for a king's covering. It carries a settled meaning across Scripture.
Scripture uses the worm as a symbol of man's extreme weakness… In the grave man's body becomes the companion of worms, even if they do not feed on it. Job 21:26; Job 24:20; Isa. 14:11… In Job 25:6 man is compared to a worm — literally 'a maggot' — a fitting figure of moral corruption.
A Bible dictionary identifies the instrument that goes down with him.
A stringed instrument. The word is nebel, and is often translated 'psaltery.' Its exact form is not known. Isa. 5:12; Isa. 14:11; Amos 5:23; Amos 6:5.
Verses 9-11 show the dead speaking to the king as he arrives. One writer sets this beside the story Jesus told in Luke 16.
Call the story a parable if you please — though the Saviour does not. Even so, there you have men in the world of spirits who are the opposite of unconscious. They are fully alive to the feelings of bliss and woe. And this is not the only passage of Scripture that shows men talking in the spirit world. Isaiah 14:9-11 and Ezekiel 32:21 are as clear, if not as vivid, as Luke 16:19-31.
Man tries to dress up the end this verse describes.
Man may seek to hide his humiliation in various ways… He may call the last humbling stage of his career by the most honourable titles he can devise. He may gild the bed of death with a false light. He may dress the funeral procession and the grave with the look of pomp, pageantry, and glory. He may raise over the crumbling ashes a splendid monument, engraved with the records of human shame. All these things he may do; but death is death after all.
- Pomp — display and music are what a great ruler owns. Both go down with him. Neither one outlives him.
- Sheol — the word covers the grave and the unseen region at once. That is why worms and departed spirits stand in one line.
- Worms — they replace his royal robes. Scripture uses the worm for human weakness and moral corruption.
- Voices — the dead who greet him talk, they do not sleep. Commentators read the scene as proof that people stay conscious after death.
- Pattern — his pride shows up again in a ruler still to come. The gilding changes; the ending does not.
How art thou fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning! Thou art cut down to the ground, that didst prostrate the nations!
The setting is God's judgment on Babylon, and at its centre comes this cry over a light that dropped out of the sky. Two questions hang over the verse: who is addressed, and how did something so bright end up on the ground?
The familiar name "Lucifer" is not Hebrew. Older English versions read "Lucifer, son of the morning" where the ESV has "Day Star, son of Dawn":
The name means "light-bringer" in Latin. It translates the Hebrew word helel, which is linked with "morning star." It is given in irony to the king of Babylon, because in his pride he said he would exalt his throne above the stars of God. He resembles the leader of this world in the last days (Revelation 13:1-10).
Commentators differ here. One reading keeps the address on a man: the ruler who holds the power Nebuchadnezzar once held, and who falls at the moment Israel is delivered:
The king of Babylon is meant here, the final holder of the power that was first placed in the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. It is the last head of the beast (Revelation 17). The context assumes that his destruction happens at the same time as the deliverance and blessing of Israel. In any full sense the scene is still future. Calling Satan "Lucifer" probably has no ground, except in the imagination of poets or the mistaken readings of early church writers.
Others hear a second voice in the passage, arguing that the words outrun any human king and describe the power standing behind him:
Even when the prophet announces God's judgment on ancient, pagan Babylon, the Holy Spirit looks forward to the symbolic Babylon that Nebuchadnezzar's city only pictured… The prophet's language goes beyond a simple description of that pagan king and his city… Lucifer, son of the morning, seems to be a reference to what Satan was before he fell. The words of his heart, "above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will make myself like the Most High," are the pride that caused his fall.
On the reading that sees Satan here, one thing lies at the root, and everything else grows out of it:
His sin began with pride. Out of that came the determination to be independent of God, and to be as God. He would rule a kingdom of his own, a kingdom of darkness, with the knowledge of God completely shut out. This kingdom carries the character of its founder. By its very nature it must oppose God and His kingdom in everything.
The order of events is what stings: he gets what he wanted, for a short time, and that is what ruins him.
The man called "the beast" will do homage to the devil and get the kingdom for a brief spell. For that same brief spell Satan will be openly acknowledged as "god," and so will seem to achieve what he has wanted from the beginning. We find a prophetic reference to it in Isaiah 14:12-14. "I will ascend… I will make myself like the Most High." Yet the result is, "How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!" Reaching his cherished desire is the prelude to his fall.
One writer holds the two readings together: the king who laid the nations low is Satan's instrument. When he falls, the whole earth feels it:
The king of Babylon is only Satan's instrument… And when he is laid low, the earth is at rest. Does this not look forward to millennial rest, when Satan will be bound for a thousand years? (Isaiah 14:4-20.)
Scripture has another day-star, and the two could not be more different:
The day-star of the prophetic word is far from being Christ. He is Christ's enemy — the king of Babylon, the enemy of the Lord of glory, destined for destruction by the power of God. In Christ we find the glory of One who is above the sun, moon, and stars. He has no need to say in His heart, "I will make myself like the Most High." For He was and is the Most High — the lowly Man who once came into this world, by suffering in atonement to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. He snatched at no glory that was not His. He stooped down and gave up His own glory for God's glory, obeying even to death on the cross.
- Name. "Day Star" translates helel, "light-bringer" — a title handed out in irony to a king who wanted his throne above the stars of God.
- Ambition. Pride is the root; from it grows the demand to be independent of God and to rule a rival kingdom of darkness.
- Reach. Commentators differ. Some hold that the king of Babylon is meant, the last holder of imperial power. Others hear behind him what Satan was before he fell.
- Reversal. Getting what he wanted is not the triumph but the trigger. The height he reaches measures the drop to the ground.
- Rest. When the one who laid the nations low is himself laid low, the earth is quiet. The true Morning Star, who snatched at no glory but stooped to the cross, is the One left shining.
And thou that didst say in thy heart, I will ascend into the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit upon the mount of assembly, in the recesses of the north;
This boast is not shouted from a throne. It is said in the heart, where no one else hears it. Commentators read it on two levels: a human king of Babylon, and behind him an older ambition that first ruined a creature in heaven.
This verse and the next repeat "I will" again and again. One writer counts them, then sets them beside Christ, who moved the opposite way.
Notice the five-fold repetition of "I will." The very essence of sin is the assertion of the will of the creature against the Creator. In Genesis 2, God said to Adam, "You shall not"; but in Genesis 3, tempted by Satan, Adam virtually said "I will." Philippians 2 gives the complete contrast. There is the One who was "the Most High." His throne was "above the stars of God." He could not "ascend," because no place was higher than the one He already held. He came down and took the form of a Servant. Satan sought to exalt himself, and he will be brought low. Christ humbled Himself, and He is exalted, and will be exalted still.
Commentators differ over how far the figure reaches. Some trace a shift within the chapter itself, from a man to the power working through him.
Isaiah's prophecy in these verses applies first to the visible king — verses 4-11. The Lord will break his sceptre and cast him into hell; Revelation 19 explains this more fully. But in verses 12-15, we seem to move from the visible king to Satan, the one who will appoint him. Satan's original sin was his attempt to lift himself up to equality with God. He too is to be "brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."
Others keep the human ruler in view, but as a pattern of a later one. They also warn against mixing up two figures who work together in the same evil.
The king of Babylon sets forth no other than the last head of the Beast, just as Nebuchadnezzar was the first of that line. We must keep the imperial chief of the last days separate from the religious head, the antichrist. We must be all the more careful here. Their policy is similar and they are partners in evil, so writers old and new keep confusing the two.
Read the boast line by line. Each claim — heaven, the stars, the mount in the north — matches something that already belongs to Christ.
This king claims for himself exactly all the privileges, all the rights, of Christ. "I will ascend to heaven" — what only Christ has done. "Above the stars of God I will set my throne on high" — the throne of Christ is above principalities and powers. "I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north" — "It is the palace of the great king," the king of Israel at Jerusalem. Christ is to come with clouds; this one says, "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds." His end is, "Yet you shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."
To claim Zion, the city of the great King, is bold. One writer sets this claim beside a bolder one still.
"The king of Babylon" pictures the last holder of the imperial power that began with that Gentile empire. He said in his heart, "I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north… I will be like the Most High." This may sound so high that nothing could reach higher. But to take mount Zion in the far reaches of the north, the city of the great King, is not so great an invasion of what belongs to God alone as to sit in the sanctuary, showing himself to be God.
The root was not a lack of dignity but discontent with a dignity already given.
His fall came from not being content with the very high place God had given him as a creature — "the anointed cherub who covers" (Ezekiel 28:14). He dared to say in his heart, "I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high…" What a fall was his! And his end will be most sad — "thrown into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:10).
The wish will be granted for a moment. That granting is what brings the ruin.
For a brief spell Satan will be openly acknowledged as "god," and so seem to reach what he has wanted from the beginning. We find a prophetic reference to it in Isaiah 14:12-14… Yet the result is, "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!" The achievement of his dearest desire is the prelude to his fall.
- Heart — the sin starts inside, where no one hears it: a will set against the Creator, five times over.
- Discontent — the climb begins with refusing the high place already given, not with lacking one.
- Theft — every rung of the ladder (heaven, the stars, the mount, the clouds) is a right that belongs to Christ alone.
- Reach — the claim on Zion is bold; sitting in God's sanctuary as God is bolder still.
- Reversal — the one who says "I will ascend" goes down to the pit; the One who descended is the One God exalts.
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High
This is the last of five boasts. They climb step by step from a throne on earth to the throne of God itself — and the climb ends in the pit. Two questions follow. Whose voice is this, the king of Babylon or the spirit behind him? And what does the claim "like the Most High" ask for?
The force of the verse lies in its repetition. One writer counts the pattern and finds sin itself in it. He then points to the one Person who moved the other way:
Verses 13 and 14 are most striking. Notice the fivefold repetition of "I will." The very essence of sin is the assertion of the creature's will against the Creator. In Genesis 2, God said to Adam, "You shall not"; but in Genesis 3, tempted by Satan, Adam in effect said "I will." Philippians 2 gives the complete contrast. There we see the One who was "the Most High," whose throne was "above the stars of God." He could not "ascend," since there was no place higher than the one He occupied. Yet He came down and took the form of a Servant. Satan sought to exalt himself and is to be brought low. Christ humbled Himself, and He is, and shall yet be, exalted.
Commentators differ over the speaker. Some see the chapter moving from the human ruler to the spiritual power behind him:
Isaiah's prophecy in these verses applies first to the visible king — verses 4-11… But in verses 12-15, we seem to pass from the visible king to Satan, whose chosen man this king is to be. Satan's own first sin was trying to lift himself up to equality with God. He too is to be "brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit," as we also see in Revelation 20.
Others hold that the whole passage stays with a man. This writer also questions the name "Lucifer," which older translations use in verse 12:
The king of Babylon is meant here. He is the last holder of the power that was first placed in the hands of Nebuchadnezzar… In any full sense the scene is still future. For calling Satan "Lucifer" there is probably no ground, except the fancy of poets or the mistaken readings of early church writers.
The boast reaches for equality with God under one particular name. One writer shows where that name belongs:
"The Most High" appears in Isaiah 14:14, often from Genesis 14:18 onward, again and again in the Psalms, and also in the Aramaic part of Daniel. It is the title He will display in the future kingdom, when all rivals vanish into nothing.
Line by line, each boast copies something that belongs to Christ — the clouds included:
It is exactly all the privileges, all the rights of Christ, that this king claims for himself. "I will ascend into heaven" — what Christ only has done. "I will exalt myself above the stars of God" — the throne of Christ is above all rulers and powers. "I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north" — "It is the palace of the great king," the king of Israel at Jerusalem. Christ is to come with clouds. "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds," says this one. His end is, "Yet you shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."
He gets what he wants for a short time. That is where his fall begins:
For a brief spell Satan will be openly acknowledged as "god." He will seem to achieve what he has wanted from the beginning. We find a prophetic reference to it in Isaiah 14:12-14… Yet the result is, "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!" Reaching his dearest desire is the prelude to his fall.
This ambition is not confined to prophecy. One writer traces the spirit of Diotrephes, a man named in the New Testament, back to this verse:
We know from Scripture that his fall came from one thing. He was not content with the very high place God had given him as a creature… He dared to say in his heart that he would ascend to heaven and make himself like the Most High (Isaiah 14:13-14). What a fall was his… Here we trace the source of the evil spirit of Diotrephes, and of all who have gone the same way from his day to this.
- Will. Five times "I will." The creature's will set against the Creator's is the essence of sin.
- Wish. He wants more than power. He wants the rights of Christ, down to His coming with the clouds.
- Word. "Most High" is God's name for the coming kingdom, the day when every rival vanishes into nothing.
- Whose. Commentators differ. Some read verses 12-15 as passing to Satan. Others say the final king of Babylon is meant all through.
- Way down. Getting what he wanted comes right before the fall. The same spirit shows up wherever someone refuses the place God gave.
none the less art thou brought down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.
The taunt song over the king of Babylon has been climbing for three verses, through five boasts that each start with "I will." This verse is where the climb stops, and it raises two questions commentators have long weighed: who is boasting, and what is the "pit" he lands in?
(Older translations say "hell" for Sheol, and "the sides of the pit" for the far reaches of the pit. Several quotes below use that wording.)
Each of the five claims reaches for something that belongs to someone else. One writer traces them one by one, and shows where they end:
This king claims for himself all the privileges, all the rights of Christ. "I will ascend into heaven" — that is what Christ alone has done. "I will exalt myself above the stars of God" — the throne of Christ is above principalities and powers. "I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north" — "It is the palace of the great king," the king of Israel at Jerusalem. Christ is to come with clouds. This one says, "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds." His end is: "Yet you shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."
Commentators differ. Some read a shift partway through the song, from the visible king to Satan behind him:
Isaiah's prophecy in these verses applies first to the visible king — verses 4-11. The Lord will break his sceptre and cast him into hell, as Revelation 19 explains more fully. But in verses 12-15, we seem to pass from the visible king to Satan, whose appointed man he is to be. Satan, whose original sin was an attempt at self-exaltation to equality with God, is to be "brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."
Others hold that the fall here is a man's fall, not an angel's:
The proud and mighty king of Babylon is spoken of here in his awful fall — from a height no earthly ruler ever reached before, down to the lowest depths of shame… Some think the "day star" of the prophet (Isa. 14:12) and the fallen star of Revelation (Rev. 9:1) both point to the fall of Satan from Heaven. But we are satisfied that the first means the king of Babylon, and the second the Antichrist.
Either way, the language goes beyond anything history records of Babylon's own kings:
The strong language in verses 9-14 was hardly used up in Nebuchadnezzar or Belshazzar. There was pride and self-exaltation in the one, and deeply degrading, godless luxury in the other. But what we have here will come fully true in the last days, and not before. After taking this place of power, the proud one is to be brought as low as no king of Babylon ever was in history.
The word "Sheol" reaches further than the grave alone:
The term sheol really includes the grave, as well as the region where the spirits, without their bodies, wait for their resurrection… Sheol meant what we might call the whole underworld. Scripture pictures both body and soul as entering it. So the prophet can describe the dead in their graves (in sheol), with the worm above them and under them (Isa. 14:11). To a Hebrew this language was not strange, for there are worms in the grave.
One writer answers the popular idea of Satan reigning as king in Hell:
Satan will not be sent there as a king, but as the chief offender and greatest sufferer. It is a hymn, not Scripture, that has called him "Satan, you king in Hell." The fall of Satan, from heights we cannot imagine down to depths we cannot picture, is appalling to think about.
The same two directions — up and down — appear in the life of Christ, but in the opposite order, and with the opposite outcome:
At the beginning Satan tempted man to make himself like God… Satan cannot exalt himself in heaven, so he will try to do it through the offspring of man. But in the end he shall be brought low (Isaiah 14:12-15). In the last Adam we have Him who was God humbling Himself, going down, becoming obedient to death — even the most shameful death. Then we see that humbled One going back to the place of power at God's right hand, but as man as well as God.
- Claim. The five "I will" boasts reach for what belongs to Christ alone — heaven, a throne above the stars, the great king's city, the clouds.
- Answer. One word, "but," cancels all five. The climb upward ends at the far reaches of the pit.
- Depth. Sheol covers the whole underworld, grave and departed spirits alike. That is why the chapter can mix worms with fallen thrones.
- Not a throne. Satan arrives as the chief offender and greatest sufferer, never as a king. The picture of him crowned in Hell comes from hymns, not Scripture.
- Reverse. Christ walked the same two directions in the opposite order — down first in obedience, then up to God's right hand. Self-exaltation ends in the pit; humbling ends in glory.
They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee; they shall consider thee, [saying,] Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that shook kingdoms;
This chapter holds a taunt song. Israel will sing it over a fallen tyrant. Here the song reaches the moment when survivors crowd around the body and stare. Their question is not a question at all. It is shock that the man who once shook the world now lies small enough to study up close.
Israel does not sing this taunt while the oppression is still going on. They sing it after God has given them rest. The chapter's opening verses set that scene.
The first three verses of Isaiah 14 show that the judgment of Babylon clears the way for mercy to flow to Israel. This had a partial fulfilment in the days of Cyrus, as the opening verses of Ezra record. It will have a far greater and more complete one when the times of the Gentiles come to an end. Then God will settle Israel in their own land again. They will also be the leading nation. They will rule over the peoples who once oppressed them, and they themselves will be fully at rest. In that day they will take up the proverb against the king of Babylon, that fills verses 4-23 of the chapter.
No real king of ancient Babylon ever matched the language of this passage. That gap is why commentators read it as pointing forward.
So we can hardly say the strong language in verses 9-14 was fully met in Nebuchadnezzar or Belshazzar. The first showed pride and self-exaltation. The second showed the most degrading and godless luxury. But what we have here will come true in full only in the last days. After he takes this place of power, the proud one will be brought low as no king of Babylon in history ever was.
The stare cuts deep because of what this man had claimed. Every title he took for himself belonged to Christ.
Isaiah 14:12-17 shows us the king of Babylon taking all the titles and the characters of Christ. He would take his seat on the mountain where God's people gather (at Jerusalem), in the palace of the great king in the far north. He claims all that belongs to Jesus, and sets himself up to be made like Jesus. He will raise his throne above the stars, rise above the clouds, and be like the Most High. This is a repeat of the titles of Jesus, and the boldest form of the pride of the earth. In one sense it is a blessing that this happens, because then God must judge it and destroy it.
While he stands on the earth he passes himself off as God. His end takes no long campaign.
In verses 12-15 we see that, as long as "the beast" is on the earth, he passes himself off as God. Still, he is doomed to destruction (v. 19). God has only to give the signal, and the man who broke kings like reeds is himself a broken reed.
Commentators differ over who this man is. One writer places this verse in a list of prophecies about the Antichrist's power:
The extent of his power. Isaiah 14:16 … He will make the earth tremble and shake kingdoms. Isaiah 14:17 … He will make the world like a desert. … Rev. 13:7 … Power will be given him over all tribes and tongues and nations.
Others insist on splitting the two figures apart, and warn that mixing them is a common error:
The king of Babylon stands for none other than the last head of the Beast, just as Nebuchadnezzar was the first of that line. We must keep the imperial chief of the last days separate from the religious head, the antichrist. We must do this with care. The two follow a similar policy and are partners in evil, so both old and modern writers very often mix them up.
One writer stood before the preserved body of an Egyptian ruler. That king had planned to lie in glory for ever. Instead he lies in a museum case, and the verse fits him.
Strange changes come over the plans men hold dear. Every effort was made to keep these graves intact, and to let these kings all "lie in glory, each in his own tomb." But of the oppressor of Israel, whose body lies in the museum in Gizeh, it may be said: "Those who see you will stare at you and ponder over you: 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms?'"
- Claim — the king of Babylon takes the titles of Christ for himself. It is the boldest form of earthly pride.
- Reach — his power shakes the earth and its kingdoms. Some writers tie that reach to the coming Antichrist; others tie it to the last imperial head, the Beast.
- Break — God only has to give the signal; the man who broke kings like reeds becomes a broken reed himself.
- Stare — no king of Babylon in history was ever brought this low. The full force of this stare is still ahead.
- Rest — the song belongs to the day God gives His people rest. Judgment on the oppressor clears the way for mercy to reach Israel.
[that] made the world as a wilderness, and overthrew the cities thereof; [that] dismissed not his prisoners homewards?
Isaiah's song against the king of Babylon ends with a charge sheet: a ruined world, ruined cities, prisoners never sent home. Two questions follow — who is this king, and what power stands behind him?
Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon supplies the picture. But the description runs past him to a ruler still to come:
The king of Babylon represents none other than the last head of the Beast, just as Nebuchadnezzar was the first of that line. We must distinguish the imperial ruler of the last days from the religious head, the antichrist. We must do it with care. The two have a similar policy and are partners in evil, so ancient and modern writers alike often confuse them.
The prophecy does not stop at the man on the throne. One writer, quoting an older translation, marks where it turns:
Isaiah's prophecy in these verses applies first to the visible king — verses 4-11. The Lord will break his sceptre and cast him into hell, as is more fully explained in Revelation 19. But in verses 12-15, we seem to pass from the visible king to Satan, who will be the one to appoint him. Satan's original sin was trying to lift himself up to equality with God. He too is to be "brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit," as we also see in Revelation 20.
Commentators differ on how far to press this. Another keeps the passage on the human ruler, and doubts the name "Lucifer" belongs to Satan at all:
Isaiah 14:12. The king of Babylon is meant here, the final holder of the power that was first put into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. The context assumes that his destruction happens at the same time as the deliverance and blessing of Israel. For calling Satan "Lucifer" there is probably no ground except the fancy of poets or the misreadings of early writers.
Making the world a desert has a spiritual side too. One writer applies it to the faithful who live under the beast's rule:
The reign of the beast will, for this godly remnant, turn the world into a wilderness. They will find refuge and blessing by taking a place outside the political and religious world of their day, apart from its awful violence and corruption. Standing apart from the world system may well bring suffering. But it will secure spiritual blessing, because God has prepared an outside place where He will feed this remnant.
Babylon's captives did go home in the end — but not because Babylon relented:
The king of Babylon never did give release to any of the captives of Judah, but when the Medes and Persians defeated Babylon, this soon worked for the blessing of Judah. Darius the Mede ruled at first. When the Persians took over the authority, Cyrus was ruler. As Isaiah had prophesied some years before, Cyrus would carry out all God's pleasure in having Jerusalem rebuilt.
What this king claims turns out to be a list of things that already belong to Another:
Isaiah 14:12-17 shows us the king of Babylon taking all the titles and the characters of Christ. He would seat himself on the mount of the congregation (at Jerusalem) in the palace of the great king on the sides of the north. He claims all that belongs to Jesus, and puts himself forward as being made like Jesus. He will raise his throne above the stars, ascend above the clouds, be like the Most High. This is a summary of the titles of Jesus, and the boldest form of the pride of the earth.
This king carries a proud name, and his fall changes the state of the whole earth:
This king is also called Lucifer (daystar) or son of the morning. And when he is laid low, the earth is at rest. Does not this look onward to millennial rest when Satan will be bound for a thousand years?
- Pride. The "I will" of verses 13–14 reaches for what belongs to Christ alone — the boldest form of earthly pride.
- Power. The description outgrows Nebuchadnezzar. It points to the last holder of that imperial line, with Satan behind him.
- Desolation. That power turns the world into a wilderness. Those who refuse it find refuge outside the whole system.
- Prisoners. He never opened the door; freedom came only when God raised up Cyrus and Babylon fell.
- Rest. When the oppressor is laid low, the earth is quiet at last — a foretaste of the rest that comes when Satan is bound.
-- All the kings of the nations, all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house;
Isaiah 14 is a song of triumph put in the mouth of God's people, sung over the fall of the king of Babylon. Verse 18 gives a plain picture: dead kings resting in honoured tombs. It is there to set up the shock of the verse that follows.
The taunt is not the world's verdict on a fallen tyrant. It belongs to the people he crushed, and they sing it when his power is broken.
The prophet Isaiah did not put this song about the king of Babylon on the lips of the nations. He put it on the lips of Israel itself. Israel would rejoice when the pride of Babylon's king went down into hades and his sceptre was broken.
The "house" of verse 18 is a tomb. Kings took great trouble to keep their graves untouched. One writer looks at the body of Israel's oppressor, now lying in a museum in Egypt.
We cannot look at this without feeling how strangely the plans men treasure can change. Every effort was made to keep these graves intact, so that these kings could "all of them lie in their glory, every one in his own house." But the body of Israel's oppressor lies in the museum at Gizeh, and of him we may say: "Those who see you will look closely at you and think about you, saying, Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms?"
Every other king gets his tomb. This one is thrown out of his. Darby builds an argument on that detail: this king is shamed in death, and that is not what happens to the beast and the false prophet.
Antichrist, or the beast, is cast alive with the false prophet into the lake of fire which burns with fire and brimstone, and Satan is cast there afterwards. In Isaiah 14, by contrast, the souls of the kings in hades are pictured meeting the king of Babylon and taunting him with the humbling fact that he had become as one of them. As to his body, it was cast out of its grave like a loathsome branch, not found in burial with the glory of kings. In short, the king of Babylon in Isaiah died like another man, even if his death was shameful.
Commentators differ. Darby takes the shameful burial as proof that this king dies as an ordinary man. Others say the language of the chapter is too large for any king who has yet lived.
You can hardly say that the strong language in verses 9-14 was fully met in Nebuchadnezzar or Belshazzar. One showed pride and self-exaltation, the other the most degrading and profane luxury. But what we have here will come true in full in the last days, and not before. After taking this place of power, the proud one will be brought down as no Babylonian king ever was in history.
On that reading, this king points forward to a last king, and to a power behind him.
The king of Babylon here in this chapter is not Nebuchadnezzar, nor his grandson Belshazzar, but the final great king of Babylon. It is the little horn of Daniel 7, the great political head of the restored Roman empire. Behind this final king of the times of the Gentiles stands Satan, who gave power to that wicked and false king.
The kings of verse 18 lie in glory. A grand burial covers death. It cannot change it.
reason: 84-word sentence split All these things he may do; but death is death after all.
- Glory. Every king of the nations lies honoured in a tomb of his own. Rulers spared no effort to keep those graves intact.
- Exception. The king of Babylon is thrown out of his grave, "like a loathsome branch, not found in burial with the glory of kings." He alone is denied what all the others receive.
- Dispute. That shameful burial leads one writer to conclude he "died like another man," and so is not the beast, who is cast alive into the lake of fire. Others hold that the chapter's language was never fully met in Nebuchadnezzar or Belshazzar, and that it awaits a final king with Satan behind him.
- Singers. Israel sings this song, not the nations. The crushed people watch their oppressor's sceptre break.
- Lesson. Gilded funerals and splendid monuments change nothing: "death is death after all."
but thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, covered with the slain -- those thrust through with the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit like a carcase trodden under foot.
Other kings lie in state in their own tombs. This one is thrown out of his, and left among the bodies of the slain. Why should the loss of a grave be the climax of God's sentence?
The death here is shameful, yet ordinary. One writer argues from this that the king of Babylon cannot be the Antichrist, whose end is quite different:
The king of Babylon, whom Isaiah 14 disposes of, is treated in a completely opposite way to Antichrist. Antichrist is cast alive, with the false prophet, into the lake of fire. In Isaiah 14 the souls of the kings in the world of the dead meet the king of Babylon, and taunt him with the humbling fact that he had become one of them. As to his body, it was cast out of its grave like a worthless branch, not found buried with the glory of kings. In a word, though shamefully, the king of Babylon in Isaiah died like any other man.
To modern ears the detail may sound minor. In Israel it was not. The prophet could threaten a whole city with it:
Among the judgments on the people of Jerusalem was this: they would not be buried. The birds and the wild animals would eat their bodies. Jer. 16:4.
The verse sends him down to "the stones of the pit." One writer asks where the huge stones for the temple came from. He thinks Isaiah had those quarries in mind:
There are huge caves under Jerusalem. They are full of broken stones, and of some great stones that were half cut but never finished. This makes it clear that these great stones were got out of pits... But just think of the labour it took to raise these great stones of the pit out into daylight, move them, and put them in their place. Isaiah may have been referring to these caverns when he speaks of the stones of the pit. (Isaiah 14:19.)
Commentators differ. Darby, quoted above, says this shameful but ordinary death rules out the Antichrist. Others read the chapter as looking far past Nebuchadnezzar's city:
Even when the prophet declares God's judgment on the ancient, heathen Babylon, the Holy Spirit looks on to the mystic Babylon. The city of Nebuchadnezzar was only its type... The Spirit of God gives the time: "you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon." It will be in the day when the Lord Jehovah gives rest to Israel. That day has not yet come, and it is clear the prophecy looks on to Babylon the Great.
Another writer sees a coming imperial ruler here. He also warns against a common mix-up, and against one popular idea about Babylon itself:
The king of Babylon sets forth none other than the last head of the Beast, just as Nebuchadnezzar was the first of that line. We must distinguish the imperial chief of the last days from the religious head, the antichrist. We must do this all the more carefully, because the two have a similar policy and are partners in evil. Ancient and modern writers very generally confuse them... Some think that the Babylon of the east will be set up again in the last days. They suppose there will be a literal city in the plain of Shinar. This appears to be fundamentally false.
One writer uses the same picture — thrown out like a worthless branch — of Christ. The end of it was the opposite:
Now it is as one despised and hated by the nation and its rulers, rejected and killed. He was thrown out as a worthless branch by the authorities of this world, but received up into glory... It is like this that He now stands revealed to faith as the Branch of the Lord, beautiful and glorious.
- Cast out. The tyrant loses the one honour every dead king kept: his own tomb. He is not found buried with the glory of kings, but dies, shamefully, like any other man.
- Cast out as judgment. To be left unburied, with birds and wild animals eating the body, was named among the judgments on Jerusalem.
- Cast down to the pit. "The stones of the pit" may point to the quarry caves under Jerusalem. Great stones were raised out of them into daylight; this king goes down among them.
- Cast forward. Commentators differ on how far the picture reaches. Some read only the historical king. Others see a type of a coming imperial ruler and of Babylon the Great — but not a rebuilt city in Shinar.
- Cast out, and raised. Christ too was thrown out as a worthless branch by the rulers of this world — and was received up into glory as the Branch of the Lord. The same words end in shame for the king and in glory for Christ.
Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial; for thou hast destroyed thy land, hast slain thy people. Of the seed of evildoers no mention shall be made for ever.
These words close a song of scorn that Israel will one day sing over the king of Babylon. They strip him of the one honour every ruler expected — a grave among kings. Two questions press. Who is this king? And why does the sentence reach past him to his children and his name?
The song belongs to a day of rest that Israel has not yet seen.
The first three verses of Isaiah 14 show that the judgment of Babylon clears the way for mercy to flow to Israel. This had a partial fulfilment in the days of Cyrus, as the opening verses of Ezra record. It will have a far greater and more complete one when the times of the Gentiles come to an end. Then God will settle Israel in their own land again. They will be the leading nation, ruling over those who once oppressed them, and fully at rest themselves. In that day they will take up the taunt against the king of Babylon that fills verses 4-23 of the chapter.
One writer reads this king as far more than an ancient ruler. He also draws a line that many blur.
The king of Babylon stands for none other than the last head of the Beast, just as Nebuchadnezzar was the first of that line. We must keep the imperial ruler of the last days separate from the religious head, the antichrist. We must do it with care. They follow a similar policy and are partners in evil, so writers old and new very often mix the two up.
The refusal of burial is the sharp edge of the verse. Other kings lie in glory. This one does not.
As for his body, it was thrown out of its grave like a hated branch, and it was not laid to rest with the glory of kings. In short, the king of Babylon in Isaiah died like any other man, though in shame.
Darby draws a limit from that detail. This is a death like any man's, so the passage cannot be stretched over every figure of the last days. Commentators differ on how far the picture reaches. They agree on one thing: nothing here is half-done.
It will be no partial or temporary dealing of God. It will be a final judgment that sweeps away his power and his kingdom. It will be harsher than the judgment that has fallen on others.
God gives His reason: the man destroyed his own land and killed his own people. Power used to crush others ends by crushing its owner. And it costs God almost nothing to do it.
Still, he is doomed to destruction (v. 19). God has only to give the signal, and the man who broke kings like reeds is himself a broken reed.
The last clause turns from the man to his children. His whole line drops out of memory. A proverb states the same rule.
"The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot" (Proverbs 10:7). So Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David, Daniel, Paul, Peter, John and many others are still honoured in the hearts of crowds of people, age after age. Meanwhile the names of many godless enemies of God's truth are forgotten like rotted rubbish. And if some names are remembered, such as Ahab, Jezebel and Athaliah, they only stir disgust and horror.
Trace the fall back and you reach the boasts earlier in the chapter — and their exact opposite in Christ.
Notice how "I will" is repeated five times. The very essence of sin is the creature setting his own will against the Creator. In Genesis 2, God said to Adam, "You shall not." In Genesis 3, tempted by Satan, Adam in effect said, "I will." Philippians 2 gives the complete contrast. There is the One who was "the Most High," whose throne was "above the stars of God," and who could not "ascend," since no place was higher than the one He already held. He came down and took the form of a Servant. Satan sought to lift himself up, and he will be brought low. Christ humbled Himself, and He is exalted, and will be exalted still.
- Timing — the song belongs to the day when Israel is at rest in their own land, so its full force is still ahead.
- Target — the king of Babylon pictures the last imperial ruler. Do not confuse him with the religious figure allied to him.
- Grave — no burial with kings. He dies like any other man, and God's judgment sweeps his kingdom away for good.
- Reason — he ruined his own land and people; the man who broke kings like reeds becomes a broken reed at a signal from God.
- Name — the wicked man's name rots and his line drops out of memory, while the righteous are remembered. The whole ruin began with "I will." Christ took the opposite path: He humbled Himself, and He is exalted.