Isaiah 13:3
in Isaiah 13I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have even summoned My warriors to execute My wrath and exult in My triumph.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I have commanded my consecrated ones, yea, I have called my mighty men for mine anger, even my proudly exulting ones.
KJV
I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.
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This verse in Isaiah 13
Commentary
12 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
I have commanded - This is the language of God in reference to those who were about to destroy Babylon. “He” claimed the control and direction of all their movements; and though the command was not understood by “them” as coming from him, yet it was by his direction, and in accordance with his plan (compare the notes at Isa 10:7; Isa 45:5-6). The “command” was not given by the prophets, or by an audible voice; but it was his secret purpose and direction that led them to this enterprise.
This site's exposition
This is the burden against Babylon
on Isaiah 13:1-3
The burden against Babylon opens the first and longest of the oracles against the nations. Babylon is named while Assyria still ruled, and the "sanctified ones" and "warriors" of verse 3 are a pagan army the Lord calls His own. The banner and the waved hand are a muster call.
This site's exposition
I have commanded My sanctified ones
The sanctified ones are the Medes and Persians, set apart for this work, as Wesley and Clarke explained. Matthew Henry pointed to Cyrus, whom 45:1 calls the LORD's anointed. Their holiness lies in the task God gives them.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Vers. 3, 4.) And the leaders shall enter the gates: I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness. The princes, and the giants, according to the LXX Translators, Eusebius interprets as angelic powers, and the most wicked demons, who were sent for the overthrow of Babylon. But following the order of the story, we say they were the Medes.
(Verse 3) I have commanded my sanctified ones. Concerning this, in the Septuagint (LXX): I will command, and I will bring them. For he himself sanctifies his ministers, so that both the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified may all be one. He also speaks in another place to the believers: Be holy, for I am holy, he himself commands, and he will bring his princes to do what has been commanded (Leviticus 19:2). And I called my strong ones in my anger: rejoicing in my glory. LXX: Giants come to fulfill my fury, rejoicing together and causing insult. According to the Hebrew, they adhere to the previous statements, that He Himself called His strong ones, rejoicing in His glory, those whom He had commanded to be sanctified. However, according to the LXX, the coming giants to fulfill the wrath of the Lord, rejoicing in the injury of others and rejoicing, must be understood as the reception of left-handed and contrary virtues, of which we also read in the Psalms: He sent upon them the rage of His anger, wrath and trouble, by the sending of the worst Angels (Psalm LXXVII, 49). Among these is the destroyer in Egypt, who dares not enter the dwelling of the blood-stained doorposts (Exod. XII), and that spirit who went forth and stood in the presence of the Lord, and said: 'I will deceive Ahab.' And the Lord said to him: 'You will deceive and prevail, go forth and do so' (III Kings XXII, 21, 22). From the same book of Kings, Michaiah said: 'I saw the Lord of Israel sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven stood around Him on His right hand and on His left' (Ibid., 9). The virtues of the angels who are sent for good are on the right, but those who are entrusted with punishing are on the left. Hence, the Apostle says: 'Those whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they may learn not to blaspheme' (I Tim. I, 20). […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, he sets out the condition of those who are called as to their suitableness on account of charge of office: my sanctified ones, as if to say: those whom I have sanctified to carry out this office; and as to power: strong; and as …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Cyrus, the person principally concerned, was justly called a sanctified one, for he was God's anointed ( ch. xlv. 1 ) and a figure of him that was to come. It is a pity but all soldiers, especially those that fight the Lord's battles, should be in the strictest sense sanctified ones; and it is a wonder that those dare be profane ones who carry their lives in their hands.
) and power goes along with his calls and commands, which cannot be resisted. He that makes men able to serve him can, when he pleases, make them willing too. It is the Lord of hosts that musters the host of the battle,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Sanctified ones - The Medes and Persians, so called, because they were set apart by God, for this holy work of executing his just vengeance. Mighty ones - Those whom I have made mighty for this work. Highness - Or, as others render it, in my glory, in the doing of that work which tends to the advancement of my glory.
I have commanded my sanctified ones,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
sanctified ones--the Median and Persian soldiers solemnly set apart by Me for the destruction of Babylon, not inwardly "sanctified," but designated to fulfil God's holy purpose (Jer 51:27, 28; Joe 3:9, 11; where the Hebrew for prepare war is "sanctify" war). for mine anger--to execute it. rejoice in my highness--"Those who are made to triumph for My honor" [HORSLEY].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
I have commanded my sanctified ones - מקדשי mekuddashai, the persons consecrated to this very purpose. Nothing can be plainer than that the verb כדש kadash, “to make holy,” signifies also to consecrate or appoint to a particular purpose. Bishop Lowth translates, “my enrolled warriors.” This is the sense.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲנִ֥י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| צִוֵּ֖יתִי | tziveiti | I have commanded | H6680 → | 494 times |
| לִמְקֻדָּשָׁ֑י | limkudashai | to consecrated [ones] my | H6942 → | 171 times |
| גַּ֣ם | gam | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| קָרָ֤אתִי | karati | I have summoned | H7121 → | 733 times |
| גִבּוֹרַי֙ | giborai | warriors my | H1368 → | 158 times |
| לְאַפִּ֔י | leapi | to anger my | H639 → | 276 times |
| עַלִּיזֵ֖י | ʾalizei | [the] exultant [ones] of | H5947 → | 7 times |
| גַּאֲוָתִֽי׃ | gaavati | pride my | H1346 → | 19 times |
אֲנִ֥יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
צִוֵּ֖יתִיI have commanded
tziveitiH6680 →494 times
לִמְקֻדָּשָׁ֑יto consecrated [ones] my
limkudashaiH6942 →171 times
גַּ֣םalso
gamH1571 →769 times
קָרָ֤אתִיI have summoned
karatiH7121 →733 times
גִבּוֹרַי֙warriors my
giboraiH1368 →158 times
לְאַפִּ֔יto anger my
leapiH639 →276 times
עַלִּיזֵ֖י[the] exultant [ones] of
ʾalizeiH5947 →7 times
גַּאֲוָתִֽי׃pride my
gaavatiH1346 →19 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Joel 3:11Come quickly, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves. Bring down Your mighty ones, O LORD.
it leads to
- Zephaniah 3:8
Therefore wait for Me,” declares the LORD, “until the day I rise to testify. For My decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them My indignation—all My burning anger.…
- Ezekiel 38:9–18
You and all your troops, and many peoples with you will go up, advancing like a thunderstorm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.
- Micah 4:12
But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD or understand His plan, for He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
- Revelation 20:8–9
and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to assemble them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the seashore.
- Revelation 19:14
The armies of heaven, dressed in fine linen, white and pure, follow Him on white horses.
- Zephaniah 3:8
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, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah; 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.
