Isaiah 13:18
in Isaiah 13Their bows will dash young men to pieces; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; they will not look with pity on the children.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And their bows shall dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.
KJV
Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.
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This verse in Isaiah 13
Commentary
13 notes on this verse(Vers. 17, 18.) Behold, I will raise up against them the Medes, who do not seek silver, nor desire gold; but they will kill the small children with arrows, and have no mercy on the infants in the womb, and their eyes will not spare the children. We find in Genesis (Gen. X) that Madai was the founder of the nation of the Medes, which means measure, or from a mighty or strong one.
This site's exposition
I will stir up against them
on Isaiah 13:17-18
"I will stir up against them the Medes" names the coming empire two centuries before Cyrus the Persian led the Medo-Persian coalition that took Babylon. The note that the Medes "have no regard for silver and no desire for gold" fits what ancient historians record of early Median culture.
This site's exposition
Their bows will dash young men to pieces
The Persians were known for large bows, and Clarke and Barnes cited Herodotus and Xenophon on them. Wesley noted the Chaldee reading, that the bows pierce the young men through. The fruit of the womb recalls the infants of verse 16.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
(Verse 18, 19.) All the kings of the nations slept in glory, each one in his own house. But you have been cast out of your tomb like a fetid liquid: defiled, wrapped up with the slain and those pierced by the sword, who descend to the depths of the pit. LXX: All the kings of the nations slept in honor, each one in his own house. But you will be cast down on the mountains like an untimely birth, abominable and wrapped up with the slain who descend to the foundations of the earth.
[Daniel 5:30-31] "On that same night Belshazzar, King of the Chaldeans, was slain, and Darius the Mede succeeded to his kingdom at the age of sixty-two." Josephus writes in his tenth book of the Jewish Antiquities that when Babylon had been laid under siege by the Medes and Persians, that is, by Darius and Cyrus, Belshazzar, King of Babylon, fell into such forgetfulness of his own situation as to put on his celebrated banquet and drink from the vessels of the Temple, and even while he was besieged he found leisure for banqueting. From this circumstance the historical account could arise, that he was captured and slaughtered on the same night, while everyone was either terrified by fear of the vision and its interpretation, or else taken up with festivity and drunken banqueting. As for the fact that while Cyrus, King of the Persians, was the victor, and Darius was only King of the Medes, it was Darius who was recorded to have succeeded to the throne of Babylon, this was an arrangement occasioned by factors of age, family relationship, and the territory ruled over. By this I mean that Darius was sixty-two years old, and that, according to what we read, the kingdom of the Medes was more sizable than that of the Persians, and being Cyrus's uncle, he naturally had a prior claim, and ought to have been accounted as successor to the rule of Babylon. Therefore also in a vision of Isaiah which was recited against Babylon, after many other matters too lengthy to mention, an account is given of these things which are to take place: "Behold I Myself will rouse up against them the Medes, a people who do not seek after silver nor desire gold, but who slay the very children with their arrows and have no compassion upon women who suckle their young" (Isaiah 13:17-18). […]
(Verse 18 and following) And Babylon will be glorious among the kingdoms, renowned in the pride of the Chaldeans, just as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will not be inhabited forever, nor will it be founded to generation and generation: nor will the Arabs pitch their tents there, nor will shepherds rest there: but beasts will rest there, and their houses will be filled with dragons: and ostriches will dwell there, and shaggy creatures will dance there; and owls will respond there in its houses: and sirens in the temples of pleasure. (Chapter XIV, Verse 1) The time is near for it to come, and its days will not be prolonged. LXX: And Babylon, which is called the glorious and famous city of the Chaldeans, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall not be inhabited forever, nor shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation; neither shall the Arabian pass by it, nor the shepherds rest there, but wild beasts of the desert shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of howling creatures, and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there, and the wild asses shall dwell there, and hedgehogs shall make their lodgings in their houses. He will come quickly and will not delay. The following should be noted with asterisks, because they are additions from Theodotion. Stirring up the city of confusion against the Medes, who do not consider gold as valuable, nor silver; who kill young children with arrows, and show no mercy to infants, and do not spare the eyes of their children. Once a renowned city that was proud of the Chaldeans, who are interpreted as demons, it will be overturned just as Sodom and Gomorrah were overturned; so that no trace of its former glory remains: but after the new heaven and the new earth, and the passing away of the figure of this world (I Cor. […]
(Verse 18.) But they will kill the small ones with their arrows, and they will have no pity on the infants of the womb, and their eyes will not spare the children. The small ones will be killed, and their wounds will be no smaller than their bodies, and the bellies of the pregnant women will be cut open, and the infants will be cast aside, and the cruel victor will kill the children pressed to their mothers' breasts.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Nor softened by mercy: but with their arrows they shall kill the children, neither on powerless men: the sucklings, nor on little children: their sons: behold, I will bring upon her, and she shall be utterly destroyed (Jer 51:64).
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Bows - Under which are comprehended, other weapons of war. Dash - Or, shalt pierce the young men through, as the Chaldee, renders it.
Their bows also shall dash their young men to pieces,.... That is, the bows of the Medes should dash in pieces the young men of the Babylonians.
(3.) That little infants, who have never been guilty of any actual sin, should be thus abused, which shows that there is an original guilt by which life is forfeited as soon as it is had. 19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Their bows also shall dash “Their bows shall dash” - Both Herodotus, 1:61, and Xenophon, Anab. iii., mention, that the Persians used large bows τοξα μεγαλα: and the latter says particularly that their bows were three cubits long, Anab. 4. They were celebrated for their archers, see Isa 22:6; Jer 49:35. Probably their neighbours and allies, the Medes, dealt much in the same sort of arms.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Their bows also - Bows and arrows were the usual weapons of the ancients in war; and the Persians were particularly skilled in their use. According to Xenophon, Cyrus came to Babylon with a great number of archers and slingers (Cyrop. ii. 1). Shall dash the young men ... - That is, they shall dash the young men to pieces, or kill them by their bows and arrows. Vulgate, ‘And with their arrows shall they slay the young.’ The meaning of the word here rendered ‘dash to pieces,’ is to smite suddenly to the ground.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּקְשָׁת֖וֹת | ukeshatot | and bows | H7198 → | 76 times |
| נְעָרִ֣ים | nearim | youths | H5288 → | 239 times |
| תְּרַטַּ֑שְׁנָה | teratashnah | they will dash in pieces | H7376 → | |
| וּפְרִי־ | uferi- | and [the] fruit of | H6529 → | 119 times |
| בֶ֙טֶן֙ | veten | [the] womb | H990 → | 72 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יְרַחֵ֔מוּ | yerachemu | they will have compassion on | H7355 → | 47 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בָּנִ֖ים | banim | children | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תָח֥וּס | tachus | it will look with pity | H2347 → | |
| עֵינָֽם׃ | ʾeinam | eye their | H5869 → | 887 times |
וּקְשָׁת֖וֹתand bows
ukeshatotH7198 →76 times
נְעָרִ֣יםyouths
nearimH5288 →239 times
תְּרַטַּ֑שְׁנָהthey will dash in pieces
teratashnahH7376 →
וּפְרִי־and [the] fruit of
uferi-H6529 →119 times
בֶ֙טֶן֙[the] womb
vetenH990 →72 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יְרַחֵ֔מוּthey will have compassion on
yerachemuH7355 →47 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
בָּנִ֖יםchildren
banimH1121 →4930 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תָח֥וּסit will look with pity
tachusH2347 →
עֵינָֽם׃eye their
ʾeinamH5869 →887 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
Hosea 13:16Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 15:16
At that time Menahem, starting from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah and everyone in its vicinity, because they would not open their gates. So he attacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Kings 8:12
“Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael. “Because I know the evil you will do to the Israelites,” Elisha replied. “You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword,…
- Isaiah 13:16
Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be ravished.
- 2 Kings 15:16
Through
2 Kings 8:12“Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael. “Because I know the evil you will do to the Israelites,” Elisha replied. “You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword,…
it leads to
- Hosea 13:16
Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.
- Nahum 3:10
Yet she became an exile; she went into captivity. Her infants were dashed to pieces at the head of every street. They cast lots for her dignitaries, and all her nobles were bound in…
- 2 Kings 12:17
At that time Hazael king of Aram marched up and fought against Gath and captured it. Then he decided to attack Jerusalem.
- 2 Kings 13:3
So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them continually into the hands of Hazael king of Aram and his son Ben-hadad.
- Hosea 13:16
Through
Ezekiel 9:10But as for Me, I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. I will bring their deeds down upon their own heads.”
it leads to
- Ezekiel 7:4
I will not look on you with pity, nor will I spare you, but I will punish you for your ways and for the abominations among you. Then you will know that I am…
- Ezekiel 7:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah

This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); George Adam Smith, The Book of Isaiah, Expositor's Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER FIVE; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.
