Isaiah 13:15
in Isaiah 13Whoever is caught will be stabbed, and whoever is captured will die by the sword.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is taken shall fall by the sword.
KJV
Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.
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This verse in Isaiah 13
Commentary
10 notes on this verseEvery one that is found shall be thrust through,.... With a sword, spear, or lance, and be slain; that is, everyone that is found in the city of Babylon; and so the Targum adds, "and everyone that is found in it shall be slain;'' so Kimchi, in the midst of it, or without; in the street, as Jarchi.
This site's exposition
Like a hunted gazelle
on Isaiah 13:14-16
The hunted gazelle pictures the foreign residents and hired soldiers within Babylon scattering for their homelands. What follows is siege warfare at its worst: infants are dashed to pieces. Scripture records this cruelty without approving it, and the prophets use the same words of Israel's suffering under Assyria and Babylon.
This site's exposition
Whoever is caught will be stabbed
Barnes read whoever is caught and whoever is captured as the slaughter at the fall of Babylon, in the city and in flight. Clarke saw the scattered and the grouped caught alike. Verse 14 shows the foreigners of Babylon fleeing to their own people and native land.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
(Verse 15.) Everyone who is found will be killed, and everyone who comes will fall by the sword. Those who do not flee will be struck with a sword, and anyone who tries to resist or return will not be of any help to the captured city, to the extent that they will shed their own blood as well.
(Verse 15.) However, you will be dragged down to the depths of the lake. LXX: But now you will descend to the underworld, and to the foundations of the earth. You will not descend to the underworld willingly (or, by your own choice), for this is the work of the Lord and Savior, to free the bound from the depths. But you will be dragged down to the underworld against your will, for while you were able to ascend to the heights through virtues, you will be dragged down to punishment through vices. The saints have the wings of an eagle, and the wings of a dove, and they can say: I will fly and find rest (Psalm 54). But the wicked, like the Egyptians, were submerged as lead in the violent waters, and they were submerged into the depths like a stone (Exod. XV). Therefore, iniquity, or as is better understood in Hebrew, impiety, is seen sitting upon a talent of lead (Zach. V). Therefore, what we read elsewhere, 'Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled' (Luke XVIII, 14), even the king of confusion suffered, so that he would be cast down to the foundations of the earth, or as is more true in Hebrew, into the depths of the abyss. In Deuteronomy, it is written about the foundations of the earth: A fire is kindled in My anger, and it shall burn to the lowest hell. It shall consume the earth and its foundations, namely those who are earthly. Concerning the pit, which signifies the depths of hell, there are these testimonies: I am made like those who go down into the pit. And: You have laid me in the lowest pit. Just as a lake receives descending waters, so does hell receive souls: to this lake did Benaiah descend in the time of snow and cold, and he killed a lion there. And so the heretics forsake the fountain of the living water, the Lord, and dig for themselves broken cisterns that cannot hold water. […]
(Verse 14-16.) And it shall be like a frightened doe and like a flock of sheep, and there will be no one to gather them. Each one will turn to their own people, and they will each flee to their own land. Everyone who is found will be killed, and everyone who comes upon them will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered, and their wives will be violated.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Fourth, as to the oppression of those who remain, which occurred in three things: in the killing of men: every one that shall be found, as to citizens, every one that shall come to their aid, as to foreigners, infants, as to children: with you …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
): Every one that is found alive shall be run through, as soon as ever it appears that he is a Babylonian. Nay, because the sword devours one as well as another, every one that is joined to them shall fall by the sword; those of other nations that come in to their assistance shall be cut off with them.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Every one that is found “Every one that is overtaken” - That is, none shall escape from the slaughter; neither they who flee singly, dispersed and in confusion; nor they who endeavor to make their retreat in a more regular manner, by forming compact bodies: they shall all be equally cut off by the sword of the enemy. The Septuagint have understood it in this sense, which they have well expressed: - Ὁς γαρ αν ἁλῳ ἡττηθησεται, Και οἱτινες συνηγμενοι εισι πεσουνται μαχαιρα. “Whosoever is caught shall be overthrown, And all that are collected together shall fall by the sword.” Where, for ἡττηθησεται, MS. Pachom has εκκενθησεται, et οἱ Γ Cod. Marchal. in margine, et MS. 1. D. 2: εκκεντηθησεται, which seems to be right, being properly expressive of the Hebrew.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Every one that is found - In Babylon, or that is overtaken in fleeing from it. This is a description of the capture of the city, and of the slaughter that would ensue, when the invaders would spare neither age nor sex. Every one that is joined unto them - Their allies and friends. There shall be a vast, indiscriminate slaughter of all that are found in the city, and of those that attempt to flee from it. Lowth renders this, ‘And all that are collected in a body;’ but the true sense is given in our translation.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַנִּמְצָ֖א | hanimtza' | <the> [one who] is found | H4672 → | 455 times |
| יִדָּקֵ֑ר | yidaker | he will be pierced through | H1856 → | |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַנִּסְפֶּ֖ה | hanispeh | <the> [one who] is captured | H5595 → | 19 times |
| יִפּ֥וֹל | yipol | he will fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
| בֶּחָֽרֶב׃ | becharev | by the sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הַנִּמְצָ֖א<the> [one who] is found
hanimtza'H4672 →455 times
יִדָּקֵ֑רhe will be pierced through
yidakerH1856 →
וְכָל־and every
vekholH3605 →5413 times
הַנִּסְפֶּ֖ה<the> [one who] is captured
hanispehH5595 →19 times
יִפּ֥וֹלhe will fall
yipolH5307 →435 times
בֶּחָֽרֶב׃by the sword
becharevH2719 →413 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 50:25The LORD has opened His armory and brought out His weapons of wrath, for this is the work of the Lord GOD of Hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 51:25
“Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, you who devastate the whole earth, declares the LORD. I will stretch out My hand against you; I will roll you over the cliffs and turn…
- Jeremiah 51:55
For the LORD will destroy Babylon; He will silence her mighty voice. The waves will roar like great waters; the tumult of their voices will resound.
- Jeremiah 51:20
“You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin.
- Amos 3:6
If a ram’s horn sounds in a city, do the people not tremble? If calamity comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
- Jeremiah 50:15
Raise a war cry against her on every side! She has thrown up her hands in surrender; her towers have fallen; her walls are torn down. Since this is the vengeance of the LORD,…
- Jeremiah 51:25
Through
Jeremiah 50:27Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come—the time of their punishment.
it leads to
- Isaiah 34:7
And the wild oxen will fall with them, the young bulls with the strong ones. Their land will be drenched with blood, and their soil will be soaked with fat.
- Jeremiah 46:21
Even the mercenaries among her are like fattened calves. They too will turn back; together they will flee, they will not stand their ground, for the day of calamity is coming upon them—the time…
- Psalms 37:13
but the Lord laughs, seeing that their day is coming.
- Isaiah 34:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.