Isaiah 14:19
in Isaiah 14But you are cast out of your grave like a rejected branch, covered by those slain with the sword, and dumped into a rocky pit like a carcass trampled underfoot.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But thou art cast forth away from thy sepulchre like an abominable branch, clothed with the slain, that are thrust through with the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a dead body trodden under foot.
KJV
But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.
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This verse in Isaiah 14
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 18, 19.) All the kings of the nations, all slept in glory, each man in his own house. But you have been cast out of your tomb like a useless branch, defiled and wrapped with those who were slain by the sword, and have gone down to the foundations of the abyss; you will not have the company of a decaying corpse, nor be buried with them. The Hebrews tell the following story: Evilmerodach, who during his father Nebuchadnezzar's lifetime spent seven years among the beasts, had reigned before he was restored to the kingdom.
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
But you are cast out of your grave
Clarke reads the rejected branch as a tree held in horror, like the tree on which a criminal was hanged. The king lies covered by the slain of the sword, clothed in them as in a garment. Barnes sets the scene beside Jeremiah 22:19.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, they reproach him with the grave he has lost, for he was exhumed by his son, who divided his corpse into two-hundred pieces and bound the pieces to just as many birds gathered from different lands, that he might not rise again: defiled, by …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
But thou art cast out of thy grave,....
Nay, the king of Babylon's dead body shall be as the carcases of those who are slain in a battle, which are trodden under feet by the horses and soldiers and crushed to pieces.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
But thou art cast out of thy grave - Thou art not buried like other kings in a magnificent sepulchre, but art cast out like the common dead. This was a mark of the highest infamy (see Isa 34:3; Eze 29:5; Jer 22:19). Nothing was considered more disgraceful than to be denied the privileges of an honorable burial (see the note at Isa 53:9). On the fulfillment of this prophecy, see the note at Isa 14:20. As an abominable branch - (נתעב כנצר kenêtser nı̂te'āb).
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Rather, "clothed (that is, covered) with the slain"; as in Job 7:5, "My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust" [MAURER]. thrust through--that is, "the slain who have been thrust through," &c. stones of . . . pit--whose bodies are buried in sepulchres excavated amidst stones, whereas the king of Babylon is an unburied "carcass trodden under foot."
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Like an abominable branch “Like the tree abominated” - That is, as an object of abomination and detestation; such as the tree is on which a malefactor has been hanged. “It is written,” saith St. Paul, Gal 3:13, “Cursed is every man that hangeth on a tree,” from Deu 21:23. The Jews therefore held also as accursed and polluted the tree itself on which a malefactor had been executed, or on which he had been hanged after having been put to death by stoning. “Non suspendunt super arbore, quae radicibus solo adhaereat; sed super ligno eradicato, ut ne sit excisio molesta: nam lignum, super quo fuit aliquis suspensus, cum suspendioso sepelitur; ne maneat illi malum nomen, et dicant homines, Istud est lignum, in quo suspensus est ille, ὁ δεινα . Sic lapis, quo aliquis fuit lapidatus; et gladius, quo fuit occisus is qui est occisus; et sudarium sive mantile, quo fuit aliquis strangulates; omnia haec cum iis, qui perierunt, sepeliuntur.” Maimonides, apud Casaub. in Baron. Exercitat. 16. An. 34, Numbers 134. “Cum itaque homo suspensu maximae esset abominationi - Judaei quoque prae caeteris abominabantur lignum quo fuerat suspensus, ita ut illud quoque terra tegerent, tanquam rem abominabilem. Unde interpres Chaldaeus haec verba transtulit כחט טמור kechat temir, sicut virgultum absconditum, sive sepultum.” Kalinski, Vaticinta Observationibus Illustrata, p. 342. “The Jews never hang any malefactor upon a tree that is growing in the earth, but upon a post fixed in the ground, that it might never be said, ‘That is the tree on which such a one was hanged;’ for custom required that the tree should be buried with the malefactor. […]
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאַתָּ֞ה | veatah | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| הָשְׁלַ֤כְתָּ | hashelakhta | you have been thrown out | H7993 → | 125 times |
| מִֽקִּבְרְךָ֙ | mikivrecha | from tomb your | H6913 → | 67 times |
| כְּנֵ֣צֶר | kenetzer | like a branch | H5342 → | 4 times |
| נִתְעָ֔ב | nitav | abhorred | H8581 → | |
| לְב֥וּשׁ | levush | [the] clothing of | H3830 → | 33 times |
| הֲרֻגִ֖ים | harugim | [those who] were slain | H2026 → | 167 times |
| מְטֹ֣עֲנֵי | metoanei | [who were] pierced of | H2944 → | |
| חָ֑רֶב | charev | [the] sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| יוֹרְדֵ֥י | yordei | [who] go down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אַבְנֵי־ | ʾavnei- | [the] stones of | H68 → | 273 times |
| ב֖וֹר | vor | [the] pit | H953 → | 66 times |
| כְּפֶ֥גֶר | kefeger | like a corpse | H6297 → | 22 times |
| מוּבָֽס׃ | muvas | trodden down | H947 → | 12 times |
וְאַתָּ֞הand you
veatahH859 →1094 times
הָשְׁלַ֤כְתָּyou have been thrown out
hashelakhtaH7993 →125 times
מִֽקִּבְרְךָ֙from tomb your
mikivrechaH6913 →67 times
כְּנֵ֣צֶרlike a branch
kenetzerH5342 →4 times
נִתְעָ֔בabhorred
nitavH8581 →
לְב֥וּשׁ[the] clothing of
levushH3830 →33 times
הֲרֻגִ֖ים[those who] were slain
harugimH2026 →167 times
מְטֹ֣עֲנֵי[who were] pierced of
metoaneiH2944 →
חָ֑רֶב[the] sword
charevH2719 →413 times
יוֹרְדֵ֥י[who] go down
yordeiH3381 →381 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אַבְנֵי־[the] stones of
ʾavnei-H68 →273 times
ב֖וֹר[the] pit
vorH953 →66 times
כְּפֶ֥גֶרlike a corpse
kefegerH6297 →22 times
מוּבָֽס׃trodden down
muvasH947 →12 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
1 Kings 21:19Tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘Have you not murdered a man and seized his land?’ Then tell him that this is also what the LORD says: ‘In the place where…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 22:38
And the chariot was washed at the pool of Samaria where the prostitutes bathed, and the dogs licked up Ahab’s blood, according to the word that the LORD had spoken.
- 2 Samuel 12:9
Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own, for you have…
- 1 Kings 22:38
Through
Jeremiah 41:7And when they came into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern.
it leads to
- Psalms 55:23
But You, O God, will bring them down to the Pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.
- Isaiah 59:7
Their feet run to evil; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and destruction lie in their wake.
- Ezekiel 22:27
Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain.
- Psalms 55:23
Through
Jeremiah 41:9Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men he had struck down along with Gedaliah was a large one that King Asa had made for fear of Baasha…
it leads to
- Judges 6:2
and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.
- 2 Chronicles 16:1–10
In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.
- 1 Kings 15:17–22
Baasha king of Israel went to war against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.
- Judges 6:2
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
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); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.