Isaiah 14:23
in Isaiah 14“I will make her a place for owls and for swamplands; I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of Hosts.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith Jehovah of hosts.
KJV
I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts.
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This verse in Isaiah 14
Commentary
11 notes on this verseAs to it being inhabited by beasts: I will make it a possession for the hedgehog, below: there has the hedgehog had its hole, and brought up its young ones, and has dug round about (Isa 34:15). As to the destruction of its walls: I …
This site's exposition
not join them in burial
on Isaiah 14:20-23
"The offspring of the wicked will never again be mentioned" closes the reason for the king's denied burial. The slaughter prepared for his sons carries "the iniquities of their forefathers" onto them. Babylon swept "with the broom of destruction" returns to the desolation of the chapter before.
This site's exposition
I will make her a place for owls
Barnes reports that the Hebrew for owls was taken by Bochart and Gesenius as the hedgehog. Clarke followed the Septuagint and made the broom of destruction a plunge into a miry gulf. The city of the king becomes swampland.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Verse 22, 23.) And I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts: and I will destroy the name of Babylon, and the remnants, and the seed, and the offspring, says the Lord. And I will make it a possession for the hedgehog, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, says the Lord of hosts.
(Verse 23.) And I will make her a possession of hedgehogs, and of swamps of water: I will sweep her away with a broom of destruction, says the Lord of hosts. LXX: And I will make Babylon a desert, says the Lord, so that hedgehogs will dwell in it, and it will be nothing. And I will make it a pit of mud, for destruction.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
I will also make it a possession for the bittern,.... Instead of being possessed by any of the family of the king of Babylon. The "bittern" is a kind of water fowl, which, by putting its bill into mire, or a broken reed, is said to make a most horrible noise.
These would be a present comfort to them, and a pledge of future deliverance, for the confirming of the faith of their posterity. God is to his people the same to day that he was yesterday and will be hereafter; and he will for ever be the same that he has been and is.
A confirmation of the prophecy of the destruction of Babylon, which was a thing at a distance, is here given in the prophecy of the destruction of the Assyrian army that invaded the land, which happened not long after,
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
I will also make it a possession for the bittern - The word ‘bittern,’ in English, means a bird with long legs and neck, that stalks among reeds and sedge, feeding upon fish. The Hebrew word (קפד qı̂ppod), occurs but five times Isa 34:11; Zep 2:14. According to Bochart and Gesenius, it means the hedgehog. It has been variously rendered. Some have supposed it to be a land animal; some an aquatic animal; and most have regarded it as a fowl. Bochart has proved that the hedgehog or porcupine is found on the shores of the Euphrates.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
A FRAGMENT AS TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ASSYRIANS UNDER SENNACHERIB. This would comfort the Jews when captives in Babylon, being a pledge that God, who had by that time fulfilled the promise concerning Sennacherib (though now still future), would also fulfil His promise as to destroying Babylon, Judah's enemy.
I will sweep it with the besom of destruction “I will plunge it in the miry gulf of destruction” - I have here very nearly followed the Version of the Septuagint; the reasons for which see in the last note on De Poesi Hebr. Praelect, xxviii. The besom of destruction, as our Version renders it. במטאטא bematate. This, says Kimchi, is a Chaldee word: and it is worthy of remark that the prophet, writing to the Chaldeans, uses several words peculiar to their own language to point out the nature of the Divine judgments, and the causes of them. See the note on Jer 10:11 (note). Sixteen of Kennicott’s MSS., and seventeen of De Rossi’s, and one ancient of my own, have the word במטאטי bematatey, in the plural. “I will sweep her with the besoms of destruction.”
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשַׂמְתִּ֛יהָ | vesamtiha | and I will make it | H7760 → | 584 times |
| לְמוֹרַ֥שׁ | lemorash | <into> a possession of | H4180 → | |
| קִפֹּ֖ד | kipod | hedgehog[s] | H7090 → | |
| וְאַגְמֵי־ | veagmei- | and reed-pools of | H98 → | 9 times |
| מָ֑יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| וְטֵֽאטֵאתִ֙יהָ֙ | vetetetiha | and I will sweep away it | H2894 → | |
| בְּמַטְאֲטֵ֣א | bematate' | with a broom of | H4292 → | |
| הַשְׁמֵ֔ד | hashmed | destruction | H8045 → | 90 times |
| נְאֻ֖ם | neum | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָאֽוֹת׃ פ | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
וְשַׂמְתִּ֛יהָand I will make it
vesamtihaH7760 →584 times
לְמוֹרַ֥שׁ<into> a possession of
lemorashH4180 →
קִפֹּ֖דhedgehog[s]
kipodH7090 →
וְאַגְמֵי־and reed-pools of
veagmei-H98 →9 times
מָ֑יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
וְטֵֽאטֵאתִ֙יהָ֙and I will sweep away it
vetetetihaH2894 →
בְּמַטְאֲטֵ֣אwith a broom of
bematate'H4292 →
הַשְׁמֵ֔דdestruction
hashmedH8045 →90 times
נְאֻ֖ם[the] utterance of
neumH5002 →376 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָאֽוֹת׃ פof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 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
Revelation 14:8Then a second angel followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 51:7–8
Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.
- Isaiah 21:9
Look, here come the riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one answered, saying: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”
- Revelation 18:2–3
And he cried out in a mighty voice: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons and a haunt for every unclean spirit, every unclean bird, and every detestable…
- Revelation 16:19
The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. And God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup of the wine of the fury of His…
- Revelation 11:8
Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city—figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where their Lord was also crucified.
- Jeremiah 51:7–8
Through
1 Kings 14:10Because of all this, behold, I am bringing disaster on the house of Jeroboam: I will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both slave and free, in Israel; I will burn up the house…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:36
For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one remains, slave or free.
- 1 Kings 21:21
This is what the LORD says: ‘I will bring calamity on you and consume your descendants; I will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both slave and free.
- 2 Kings 14:26
For the LORD saw that the affliction of the Israelites, both slave and free, was very bitter. There was no one to help Israel,
- Deuteronomy 32:36
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 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); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.