Глава 14

1–2. Redemption of Israel from captivity. 3–23. Victory song of the Jews on the occasion of the fall of the Babylonian king. 24–27. Fate of Assur and 28–32. Philistines. Isa.14:1. His time is near, and his days will not tarry, for the Lord will have mercy on Jacob and will love Israel again; and he will make them settle in their own land, and foreigners will join them and cleave to the house of Jacob. Along with the fall of Babylon, in the vision of the prophet Isaiah, the return of Israel from captivity to their country is connected. The Gentiles themselves will bring Israel home and Israel in turn will rule over them. “His time is near, and his days will not slow him down.” In the Hebrew Bible these words are assigned to the 22nd verse of the 13th chapter. “For he will have mercy.” As the basis for the destruction of Babylon, the Lord’s intention to liberate his people is indicated here, which, obviously, appears to the prophet as living in Babylonian captivity. This means, according to the prophet, Israel could only receive liberation from Babylonian captivity if the Babylonian monarchy was destroyed. In verse 17, the prophet, as if to confirm this thought, says that the king of Babylon never let his captives go home. “Foreigners will join them.” Foreigners or aliens, strangers have always lived among the Jews (Ex. 12:19, 38; 1 Kings 9:20; Eze. 14:7), and then, when the Jews are again in God's favor, their number will naturally increase. Isa.14:2. And the nations will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will make them their slaves and maidservants in the land of the Lord, and will take captive those who captivate them, and will rule over their oppressors. “And the nations will take them,” that is, they will help in every possible way the Jews migrating from captivity to their country (cf. 1 Ezra 1). "The House of Israel shall adopt them". This idea represents the general view of the Old Testament Jews, who were convinced that in the kingdom of the Messiah they would occupy a special privileged position, and all other nations would occupy a service position in relation to Israel (1 Kings 9:20, 22). However, in Isaiah this thought is softened by the fact that the submission of the Gentiles to Israel will be voluntary on their part. It is clear that the future conversion of all nations to the Church of Christ, which in the Old Testament was generally presented as the chosen remnant of Israel, was revealed to the prophet, but the prophet, due to the inherent imperfection of all Old Testament people in the presentation of future events (1 Pet. 1:11), understood this revelation as a foretelling of the subordination of other nations to the Jewish people. Isaiah 14:3–23. Israel, redeemed and exalted by God, will sing a victorious, joyful song about the death of the tyrant king of Babylon, and other nations will join this rejoicing. The cypresses and cedars of Lebanon will be glad of this fall of the Babylonian king, and all the inhabitants of the latter will laugh evilly at the tyrant who has descended into the underworld. The prophet himself adds his voice to this joyful chorus, indicating how much the tyrant's pride is humiliated. Other witnesses are also amazed at his sad fate. In the end, as Isaiah proclaims, the entire dynasty of the king of Babylon will be destroyed, and then all the inhabitants of Babylon, Isa.14:3. And it will happen on that day: when the Lord has rescued you from your sorrow and from fear and from the painful slavery to which you were enslaved, Isa.14:4. you will utter a victorious song against the king of Babylon and say: since the tormentor is gone, the robbery has stopped! "Victory Song". Heb. The word here - maschal means: comparison, parable and then mocking speech. The latter meaning fits the song perfectly (cf. Hab.2:6; Mic.2:4). “The King of Babylon” is not just one king, but all the kings of Babylon, who acted in the same spirit. "Robbery". The correct reading here is: oppression, torment (as if the word merehabah was here - from the verb rahab - to suppress). This is how the LXX, Targums and Peshito understand this place. Isa.14:5. The Lord has broken the rod of the wicked, the scepter of rulers, Isa.14:6. striking the nations in rage with inevitable blows, in anger ruling over the tribes with uncontrollable persecution. The “rod”, with which the king could strike anyone even from his subjects, and the scepter are signs of royal power (Numbers 24:17). “The wicked” are the kings of Babylon. Isa.14:7. The whole earth rests, rests, shouts for joy; Isa.14:8. and the cypress trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying: “Since you fell asleep, no one has come to cut us down.” "The whole earth". Here you can see an indication that the earth also seems to sympathize with the joy of the Jews: it suffered a lot from the invasions of this king, who destroyed fields and pastures. "The cypress trees rejoice". The Babylonian kings, during their campaigns against Palestine, cut down Lebanese forests along the way for the needs of their army (cf. Hab. 2:17). Cypress trees, very strong and non-rotting trees, were used not only for building houses and ships, but also for making spears and musical instruments (2 Samuel 6:5). Isa.14:9. Hell of the underworld began to move for you, to meet you at your entrance; awakened for you the Rephaim, all the leaders of the earth; raised up all the kings of the heathen from their thrones. The prophet depicts the kingdom of the dead as appearing and speaking as a separate entity. “Hell of Hell” – in Hebrew. scheol mittachat, i.e. Sheol below. Explanation (see Commentary Bible vol. 1, p. 102). The Jews, even during the time of the prophet Isaiah, obviously imagined Sheol - the location of the souls of the dead - to be underground. The origin of this idea is probably explained by the fact that the bodies of the dead were usually buried in the ground. “Rephaim” (from rapha) are weak creatures, shadows. But here, it seems, the prophet wanted to designate by this name the most prominent representatives of Sheol, as can be seen from the fact that he further mentions the mighty of the earth, the kings. Perhaps he had in mind those Rephaim who are spoken of in the books of Moses and Joshua as giants (Gen.14:5; Gen.15:20; Deut.3:11; Joshua 17:15). “Leaders” - in Hebrew. attudej - goats. In a herd, the goat usually leads the way, like a leader. Isa.14:10. They will all tell you: and you have become powerless, like us! and you have become like us! This verse quotes the exclamation of the inhabitants of the underworld. Isaiah 14:11. Your pride with all your noise has been cast into the pit; The worm lies beneath you, and the worms are your covering. Isaiah 14:12. How you fell from the sky, Lucifer, son of the dawn! crashed to the ground, trampling the nations. The prophet, for his part, confirms the surprising fact for everyone of the death of the king of Babylon. “Pride,” that is, all luxury, and noise, that is, the sounds of harps, with which the Babylonian king delighted (cf. Is. 5:12; Is. 24:8) descended into the underworld, that is, they completely disappeared. The king himself, dead, lies, eaten by worms, like some kind of carrion... And before he burned with a bright shine, like a morning star (in Hebrew heilel from the verb halal - to shine), that is, like the brilliant star Venus, which in the southern sky shines much brighter than ours, and which the Assyrians called mustilil (brilliant star). "Son of the Dawn". The morning dawn seems like a mother giving birth to this star. Among the ancients, the star served as a symbol of royal power (cf. Numbers 24:17); Therefore, Isaiah, wanting to point out the high political significance of the Babylonian king, a prototype of the Antichrist, called him a star. Isaiah 14:13. And he said in his heart: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mountain in the assembly of gods, on the edge of the north; Isa.14:14. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.” “And he spoke in his heart,” that is, he thought, dreamed. "I will ascend to heaven." The Babylonian king could dream of the same apotheosis that the Egyptian pharaohs and - subsequently - some of the Roman emperors arranged for themselves (cf. Dan. 4:22, 29). "Above the stars of God". The ancients imagined the sky as a ceiling, on the outer side of which the stars were installed, illuminating the earth, and above this ceiling, in the highest spheres, stood, in their understanding, the throne of God. It is there, in these spaces inaccessible to human gaze, that the Babylonian ruler would like to ascend. “I will sit on the mountain in the assembly of the gods” - from Hebrew. “I will sit on the mount of meeting” (behar moed). 18. Almost all ancient peoples believed that their gods resided on the highest mountains. Thus, the Greeks and Romans looked at Olympus, Atlas and Ida as the seat of their gods. It is also known that the ancient Assyrians considered Mount Aral to be the birthplace and residence of the gods, and this mountain was meant by the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pilezer II, who in one of his inscriptions boasted that his priestly family was called to stay in the “home of the mountain of the countries of the world (Eharsagkurkurra).” In the prophet Ezekiel, God says to the king of Tire: “You were on the holy mountain of God, you walked among the fiery stones” (Ezek. 28:14);). In particular, among the ancient inhabitants of Babylonia, who moved here about 2500 years ago. BC, we encounter views of God as a single powerful personality. They are expressed, for example, like this: God gave, God rules, God is God. (Delich. Bible and Babylon, ed. Suvorin 1906, p. 65) There, in cuneiform monuments, 3000 years BC there is already a mention of the Almighty. Isa.14:15. But you are cast into hell, into the depths of the underworld. Instead of going to the mountain of the gods, the king of Babylon was cast into Sheol (see v. 9). “In the depths of the underworld” – own. "deep into the pit." Obviously, hell and pit (grave) are similar concepts for the prophet. Probably, the ancient Jews imagined the grave as a road to Sheol: where the grave ended, there the entrance to Sheol opened. Isa.14:16. Those who see you peer into you, ponder about you: “Is this the man who shook the earth, shook kingdoms, Isa.14:17. made the world a wilderness and destroyed its cities, and did not let his captives go home?” “Those who see you”, that is, people who survived the king of Babylon and have the opportunity to discuss the state of affairs that created after the death of this king. “Peering” - they go to look at your corpse. “The Universe” is a hyperbole indicating the high importance of the king of Babylon in Asia and partly in Africa (Europe remained outside his sphere of influence). “I didn’t let you go home.” The Persian kings, as you know, allowed captives to return to their homeland, but the Babylonian king did not want to give such permission. Isa.14:18. All the kings of the nations, all lie with honor, each in his own tomb; Isa.14:19. and you are cast down outside your tomb, like a despised branch, like the clothing of the slain, slain with the sword, who are lowered into stone ditches - you are like a trampled corpse, "In his tomb". To be buried in a prepared grave was, according to the ancients, highly honorable (2 Kings 21:18; cf. 2 Chronicles 33:20). The Egyptians and Persians made tombs for their dead that were more magnificent and durable than houses for the living. "Prostrate outside the tomb". Deprivation of burial was a dishonor (1 Kings 13:24), and it was especially shameful for a king to be deprived of a royal burial (2 Chronicles 21:20). The tomb, perhaps prepared for himself by the king of Babylon, remained empty and his corpse was thrown on the ground like a despised branch, that is, a worthless broken branch of a tree. “Like the clothes of the slain,” that is, as stained with blood and pierced by a sword or spear. The winners do not take such clothes with them, but leave them lying at the battle site. “Stone ditches” - that is, good tombs or graves lined with stone inside, such as were built, for example, in Palestine, where there was a lot of stone. Some of the newest critics of the word: which are omitted, are referred to the next verse and translated as follows: “with those who are (honestly) buried in stone graves, you, trampled (by the feet of passing) corpses, will not unite.” Isa.14:20. you will not be united with them in the grave; For you have destroyed your land, you have killed your people: the tribe of evildoers will never be remembered. “You have ravaged the earth with howling.” The Babylonian king himself exhausted his country with constant recruitment of soldiers, many of whom died during difficult military campaigns. “It won’t be remembered.” that is, the dynasty of the kings of Babylon will be completely forgotten by everyone. Isa.14:21. Prepare for the slaughter of his sons for the iniquity of their father, so that they do not rebel and take possession of the earth and fill the world with enemies. "Cook." The prophet addresses the enemies of Babylon, who must kill the entire family of the Babylonian king. 19 “So that they don’t rebel,” that is, so that they don’t gather their strength again. “Enemies”, in Hebrew. arim cities or fortresses, in which they could again set up their garrisons and thus keep distant countries under their control. Some recent critics suggest here instead of arim to read ajim - ruins, and this reading gives a more natural translation: the kings of Babylon really filled the universe with ruins. Isa.14:22. And I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts, and I will destroy the name of Babylon and all the remnant, both son and grandson, says the Lord. Isa.14:23. And I will make it a land of hedgehogs and a swamp, and I will sweep it away with a destroying broom, says the Lord of hosts. Babylon and all its inhabitants will be destroyed by God. His very name and together with his former glory will disappear forever. “I will make it the domain of hedgehogs and a swamp.” Hedgehogs, indeed, are found on the islands of the Euphrates and reach a considerable size (Echinus aquatica). Since the embankments and dams on the Euphrates, which were of great importance for the proper irrigation of the Babylonian country, were destroyed by the Greeks during the campaign of Alexander the Great across Mesopotamia, Babylonia or Chaldea, as a low-lying country, began to be flooded with water; As a result, vast swamps formed there, infecting the entire surrounding area with miasma. Isaiah 14:24–27. At the end of the victory song about the fall of the king of Babylon, the prophet prophesies about the fate of Assur, but says very little about him, because, after the revelation the prophet received about the destruction of Babylon, it was quite clear to him that it would not be Assur who would have a decisive role in relation to the fate of the chosen people. In terms of content, this short prophecy about Assyria is a repetition of the thoughts contained in chapter 10. The prophet considered it inconvenient not to mention Assyria here at all, probably due to the fact that almost all of the subsequent prophecies about the fate of different peoples have as their subject the relation of these peoples specifically to the Assyrian monarchy (Is. 14:20 - Is. 20:6; Is. 21 et seq. 22 and 23 ch.). Isa.14:24. The Lord of hosts says with an oath: As I have thought, so it will be; as I have determined, so it will happen, By presenting God as swearing, the prophet obviously does this in order to better convince his readers that the sad fate of Assur is unchangeable. Isa.14:25. to crush Assyrian in My land and trample him upon My mountains; and his yoke will fall from them, and his burden will be taken away from their shoulders. Although after the defeat of the Assyrian army by an Angel under the walls of Jerusalem, which is what the prophet has in mind, Assur came to life again for a while, nevertheless, the prophet had every reason to consider this terrible defeat as the end of Assyrian power. In fact, the blow dealt to Assur by the Lord God aroused energy in the enemies of Assur, who first began to fight him one by one, and then, when a coalition of three strong powers was formed - Egyptian, Median and Babylonian, they completely put an end to the existence of the Assyrian monarchy (608 years BC). Judea is called the “mountains” of God - the country is very mountainous. “From them,” that is, from all the peoples subordinate to Assur. Isa.14:26. This is the decree decreed upon the whole earth, and this is the hand stretched out over all nations, Isa.14:27. for the Lord of hosts has determined, and who can undo it? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it away? The overthrow of Asshur is only one of the moments of God's Judgment, which will undoubtedly extend to all the peoples of the world. Isaiah 14:28–32 Prophecy about the fate of the land of the Philistines. Under Ahaz, who was constrained by the allied kings of Syria and Israel, the Philistines threw off the yoke that the Judah king Uzziah had placed on them (2 Chron. 26:6) and even took possession of several Judah cities (2 Chron. 28 et seq.). But then they suffered a great defeat from the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pilezer II. Now, says Isaiah, the Philistines are glad that this terrible enemy of theirs has died (in 727, almost simultaneously with Ahaz), but their joy will be short-lived. After Tiglath-Pilezer, his successors (Shalmaneser, Sargon, Sennacherib) will appear in the Philistine land and the entire Philistine land will disintegrate. Isa.14:28. In the year of the death of King Ahaz there was this prophetic word: “Prophetic word” - in Hebrew. massa, i.e. a prophecy of sad content, see Is. 13:1. Isa.14:29. Do not rejoice, O land of the Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken, for from the root of the serpent will come an asp, and its fruit will be a flying dragon. The “rod” is not Ahaz, who could not himself resist the Philistines when they took several cities from him, but the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pilezer II, who had just died. "From the root of the serpent". The Prophet speaks figuratively here, but his images are very clear. “Snake Root” is the newly deceased Tiglath-Pilezer II. “Asp” is probably Sargon, who twice defeated the Philistines (721 and 720), regarding whom he was informed that they were conspiring against him with neighboring peoples (Schrader. Die Keilinschuften and das A. T. 2 Auf, 1883, p. 398). “Flying Dragon” - this name perfectly suits Sennacherib, who executed many Philistine aristocrats for disobedience and evicted many Philistines from their country. By the name “flying dragon” (saraph meophel) the prophet probably means a winged lizard found in East India and Africa. Isa.14:30. Then the poorest will be fed, and the poor will rest in safety; and I will starve your root, and it will kill your remnant. The “poorest and beggars” were probably the Jews, who suffered from frequent attacks by the Philistines during the reign of Ahaz. They will rest when the Assyrian kings crush their enemies, the Philistines. “Your root”, i.e. the remnant of the Philistine nation. "I'll starve to death." - Of course, during the siege of the Philistine cities, many Philistines died of hunger. “And he will kill,” that is, this flying dragon, the king of Assyria. Isa.14:31. Howl, gates! howl with your voice, city! You will be disintegrated, all the land of the Philistines, for smoke comes from the north, and there is no one left behind in their hordes. “Gate” is a metonymy here. 20. The Prophet, of course, had in mind the people who gathered at the city gates during the day to learn all the latest news. “Smoke” is the smoke from the cities burning along the route of the Assyrian army (from north to south), which the Assyrians, in the words of one ancient inscription, “burned with fire, devastated, turned into heaps and arable land” (Ragozina. History of Assyria p. 60). Isa.14:32. What will the messengers of the people say? - That the Lord has established Zion, and the poor of His people will find refuge in it. “What will they say,” i.e., what rumors will reach the land of the Philistines, who apparently sent ambassadors to neighboring peoples to find out about the political situation of their states and, perhaps, invite them to conclude an alliance against the Assyrians. "The Lord has established Zion". The Prophet, with a sense of national pride, says that the Lord will protect His city and from the king of Assyria, and in Zion the fugitives (poor) from other Jewish cities will find a true refuge for themselves. Meanwhile, the Philistine land will remain without any protection, and this, of course, will be very difficult for the Philistines to bear, who should be very annoyed by the fact that their closest neighbors will keep their capital intact from devastation by their enemies. The authenticity of Isaiah's prophecies about Babylon and the king of Babylon is strongly disputed by criticism, because the prophet here quite clearly and definitely predicted historical events that were too distant from his time and thereby clearly testified that God really revealed the future to His servants, the prophets (Zech. 1:6). But the objections raised by criticism here are not convincing. So they say that the position of Babylon, which is depicted in the 13th and 14th chapters. Isaiah, differs sharply from the position that Babylon occupied among other states in the era of Isaiah. Babylon under Isaiah was not yet at all the ruler of nations and the beauty of kingdoms (Is. 13: 2, 19). But Babylon, in any case, even in the days of Isaiah was already an independent state, which stubbornly fought for its independence with Assyria. And so it was revealed to the prophet that this still insignificant kingdom would become powerful and would destroy Judea and Jerusalem, and then itself would fall. This last circumstance had to be communicated in advance to the Jewish people, who in the days of Hezekiah sought the friendship of the Babylonian king (Is. 39:1). Critics then challenge the authenticity of chapters 13 and 14 because the prophet speaks here as a contemporary of the Babylonian captivity of the Jews (Isa. 14:1–3). But we must take into account that the prophet Isaiah already saw the fall of the kingdom of Israel and the Israelites being taken into captivity. Therefore, he and his Jewish contemporaries had to wonder whether a similar fate might threaten the kingdom of Judah, and based on these fears, the prophet created, under the influence of the Spirit of God, a picture of the future liberation of the Jews from Babylonian captivity, which was to take place after the fall of Babylon. In this case, the Prophet Isaiah should have found attentive listeners for his speeches also because his contemporary Micah, in his prophecies, also pursued the idea of ​​the future Babylonian captivity of the Jews (Micah 4:10). Consequently, the idea of ​​the possibility of the Babylonian captivity was already disseminated in the era of Isaiah, and therefore it is very natural that the prophet painted for his fellow tribesmen a picture of the fall of this Babylonian state, which was beginning to frighten them. They also say that Isaiah could not name the Medes by name, because in his era this people was not known to the Jews. But historians have now proven that the Median kingdom was even more ancient than the Chaldean kingdom. Under Isaiah, the Assyrian kings constantly waged wars with Media and this, of course, made the name of the Medes famous in Judea, especially since the Israelites taken captive by the Assyrian king were settled in the regions of Media occupied by the Assyrians (2 Kings 18 and Tob. 1:14). As for the positive evidence of the authenticity of chapters 13 and 14, they are as follows: 1) the inscription of the 13th chapter, where the prophecy about Babylon is attributed to the prophet Isaiah. This inscription undoubtedly belongs to the writer of the prophecy. Without it, the first 16 verses of the 13th chapter are incomprehensible, since they do not mention the subject of the prophecy - Babylon; 2) In the chapters under consideration there are many a) thoughts and b) expressions that are completely identical with the thoughts and expressions found in the indisputably authentic speeches of Isaiah (cf. a) Isaiah 13:3–4 and Isaiah 17:12–13; Isaiah 13:2–5 and Isaiah 5:26 ; Isaiah 13:7–8 and Isaiah 19:16 ; Isaiah 14 and Isaiah 2:13; b) Wed. Isaiah 13 and Isaiah 10:6 ; Isaiah 13 and Isaiah 5:30; Isaiah 14:1 and Isaiah 9:16, 30, 18; Isaiah 14 and Isaiah 19:1 ; Isaiah 13 and Isaiah 9:2 ; Isaiah 14 and Isaiah 11:1 ; Is.14 and Is.3:6). 3) Prophecy 13 and 14 chapters. parallel to the prophecy of Is. 21:1–10, which is undoubtedly genuine. 4) Remarkable originality and richness of creative imagination in the pictures of the death of Babylon and the king of Babylon. 5) The fate of Babylon and the Babylonian king in Isaiah is depicted somewhat differently than it actually was, and this clearly indicates that the prophecy about Babylon appeared before Babylon fell (see Yungerova. The authenticity of Isaiah's prophecy about the fall of Babylon. - Right. Social security 1886, 2). Chapter 14 can be divided into the following stanzas: 1 (free-standing) tbsp. 1–4a – (2, 2, 2) 1 (free-standing) tbsp. 4, 6–8 – (2, 2, 3) 2 (free-standing) tbsp. 9–11 – (3, 2, 2) 3 (free-standing) art. 12–16a – (2, 2, 2, 2) 1 (free-standing) tbsp. 16(b)-20a – (2, 2, 3) 2 (free-standing) tbsp. 20(b)-23 – (3, 2, 2) 1 (free-standing) tbsp. 24–27 -(2, 2, 3) 1 (free-standing) tbsp. 29–30 – (2, 2) 2 (free-standing) tbsp. 31–32 – (2, 2) Verses 1–20 of this chapter are read as a paremia for the holiday in honor of the holy Archangel Michael and other disembodied forces, because the Church sees in the fall of the morning star a mysterious indication of the overthrow of the sinned Angels from heaven, in which overthrow took part those who remained faithful to God, the Archangel Michael and others. 24–27 art., together art. 13–16 verses of the 13th chapter, read like a paremia at a thanksgiving service on the day of the Nativity of Christ, when the expulsion of the French from Moscow is remembered. It is obvious that the Church in this case likens Napoleon to Nebuchadnezzar, or in general to the Babylonian king, known for his pride. The Slavic translation from Greek LXX says: “I will ascend into the sky, I will set my throne above the stars of heaven, I will sit on a high mountain, on the high mountains even to the north.” Editor's note LXX translators here see an appeal to the king of Babylon so that he prepares his children for slaughter (irony). Metonymy (Metonymia - renaming) is a rhetorical figure in which the name of one object is put in place of another, but not on the basis of similarity, as in metaphor, but on the basis of association of contiguity, i.e. on the basis of close and easily understandable relationships in which these objects are located among themselves. Note ed. You might be interested in: