Isaiah 14:17
in Isaiah 14who turned the world into a desert and destroyed its cities, who refused to let the captives return to their homes?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
that made the world as a wilderness, and overthrew the cities thereof; that let not loose his prisoners to their home?
KJV
That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
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This verse in Isaiah 14
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThat made the world a wilderness, exiling men, and destroyed the cities, overturning their governments, that opened not the prison to his prisoners, that they might see light: they spread their terror in the land of the living (Ezek 32:25).
This site's exposition
Those who see you will stare
on Isaiah 14:16-19
Other kings lie in state, but this king is cast out of his grave like a rejected branch, denied the burial his rank would guarantee. Ancient Near Eastern culture held a king's burial as dynastic honor, and this king alone is refused what the other kings receive.
This site's exposition
who turned the world into a desert
Henry notes that great kings boast of the cities they build, and this king of Babylon boasted of the cities he destroyed. Cyrus set his captives free and sent them home with the temple vessels. Ezra 1 records that release.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 16, 17.) Those who see you will bow down to you and look to you (saying in their hearts): Is this the man who troubled the earth, who shook kingdoms, who made the world a wilderness and destroyed its cities, who did not open the prison for his captives? This voice of those insulting and marveling expresses how the one who laid waste to everything himself has been laid waste.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Great princes usually glory in building cities, but he gloried in destroying them; see Ps. ix. Two particular instances, worse than all the rest, are here given of his tyranny:-- [1.] That he was severe to his captives (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
For this he was quickly and justly turned out by one whose first act was to open the house of God's prisoners and send home the temple vessels. [2.] That he was oppressive to his own subjects (
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That made the world as a wilderness,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
That made the world as a wilderness - That made cities and kingdoms desolate. That opened not the house of his prisoners - This is a description of his oppression and cruelty. Of course many prisoners would be taken in war. Instead of giving them liberty, he threw them into prison and kept them there. This may be rendered, ‘his prisoners he did not release that they might return home’ (see the Margin). The Chaldee renders it, ‘To his prisoners he did not open the door.’ The sense is substantially the same.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שָׂ֥ם | sam | [who] made | H7760 → | 584 times |
| תֵּבֵ֛ל | tevel | [the] world | H8398 → | 36 times |
| כַּמִּדְבָּ֖ר | kamidbar | like <the> wilderness | H4057 → | 270 times |
| וְעָרָ֣יו | vearav | and cities its | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| הָרָ֑ס | haras | he tore down | H2040 → | 43 times |
| אֲסִירָ֖יו | ʾasirav | prisoners his | H615 → | |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| פָ֥תַח | fatach | he opened | H6605 → | 144 times |
| בָּֽיְתָה׃ | bayetah | home towards | H1004 → | 2046 times |
שָׂ֥ם[who] made
samH7760 →584 times
תֵּבֵ֛ל[the] world
tevelH8398 →36 times
כַּמִּדְבָּ֖רlike <the> wilderness
kamidbarH4057 →270 times
וְעָרָ֣יוand cities its
vearavH5892 →1090 times
הָרָ֑סhe tore down
harasH2040 →43 times
אֲסִירָ֖יוprisoners his
ʾasiravH615 →
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
פָ֥תַחhe opened
fatachH6605 →144 times
בָּֽיְתָה׃home towards
bayetahH1004 →2046 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
Isaiah 58:6Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and tear off every yoke?
it leads to
- Nehemiah 5:10–12
I, as well as my brothers and my servants, have been lending the people money and grain. Please, let us stop this usury.
- Isaiah 58:9
Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry out, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and…
- 1 Timothy 6:1
All who are under the yoke of slavery should regard their masters as fully worthy of honor, so that God’s name and our teaching will not be discredited.
- Jeremiah 34:8–11
After King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty, the word came to Jeremiah from the LORD
- Nehemiah 5:10–12
Through
Ezekiel 6:14I will stretch out My hand against them, and wherever they live I will make the land a desolate waste, from the wilderness to Diblah. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’”
it leads to
- Isaiah 5:25
Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people; His hand is raised against them to strike them down. The mountains quake, and the corpses lay like refuse in the streets. Despite all…
- Isaiah 5:25
Through
Joel 2:3Before them a fire devours, and behind them a flame scorches. The land before them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland—surely nothing will escape them.
it leads to
- Isaiah 51:3
For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness…
- Genesis 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.
- Joel 1:19–20
To You, O LORD, I call, for fire has consumed the open pastures and flames have scorched all the trees of the field.
- Isaiah 51:3
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.