Isaiah 14:8
in Isaiah 14Even the cypresses and cedars of Lebanon exult over you: “Since you have been laid low, no woodcutter comes against us.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Yea, the fir-trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid low, no hewer is come up against us.
KJV
Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.
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This verse in Isaiah 14
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 8.) The firs and the cedars of Lebanon also rejoiced over you: since you have fallen asleep, no one has come up to cut us down. By firs and cedars of Lebanon, understand the leaders of the nations, who were cut down by Nebuchadnezzar, and who themselves, bursting forth into a voice of joy, say: Since you have been brought down to the underworld, no one else could be found to cut down the great and powerful.
This site's exposition
sing this song of contempt
on Isaiah 14:4-8
The "song of contempt against the king of Babylon" names the taunt's target, the Hebrew mashal being a form of mocking poetry. The cedars of Lebanon rejoice that no woodcutter comes against them, since Babylon's building consumed Lebanon's timber. The opening line, "How the oppressor has ceased," sets the tone.
This site's exposition
Even the cypresses and cedars of Lebanon
Jerome read the cypresses and cedars as the rulers of the nations whom Nebuchadnezzar had cut down. Aquinas took the tall trees the same way, as men raised high in dignity. The woodcutter is the king himself.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 8) The firs and cedars of Lebanon rejoiced, of which it is written in the psalms: You have transplanted a vineyard from Egypt, you have driven out the nations, and you have planted it. His shade covered the mountains, and his cedars, the cedars of God (Ps. 79:9). These cedars of God, because they sinned at one time, the Lord handed over to be crushed by punishments. Hence it is said in another psalm: The Lord will crush the cedars of Lebanon (Ps. 28:5). However, the tall and lofty trees, which are exalted in the service of the Lord, should be understood as saying with a harmonious voice: Since you have slept. Note that even the death of death is called sleep. He who cuts us down will not ascend. For when the strong one is defeated and his vessels plundered, even the rest of his companions fall. Hence the Lord speaks in the Gospel (Matthew 25:41): 'Depart into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels.' How many of these woodcutters and tree fellers have cut down and made fall with their axes?
The Medieval Church1 voice
Third, it contains the eagerness of the princes: the fir trees also, which signify those elevated in dignity; similar to this is what is found in Ezekiel 31:8: the cedars in the paradise of God were not higher than he. You have slept, with the …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Now that he is gone the whole earth is at rest and is quiet, for he was the great disturber of the peace; now they all break forth into singing, for when the wicked perish there is shouting ( Prov. xi.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
This proves, in opposition to WARBURTON [The Divine Legation], that the belief existed among the Jews that there was a Sheol or Hades, in which the "Rephaim" or manes of the departed abode.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee - They join with the inhabitants of the nations in rejoicing at thy downfall - for they now, like those inhabitants, are suffered to remain undisturbed. (On the word rendered “fir trees,” see the notes at Isa 1:29.) It is evident that a species of evergreen is meant; and probably some species that grew in Syria or Palestine. The idea is plain. The very forest is represented as rejoicing. It would be safe from the king of Babylon.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| בְּרוֹשִׁ֛ים | beroshim | [the] fir trees | H1265 → | 20 times |
| שָׂמְח֥וּ | samechu | they have rejoiced | H8055 → | 155 times |
| לְךָ֖ | lekha | to you | ||
| אַרְזֵ֣י | ʾarzei | [the] cedars of | H730 → | 73 times |
| לְבָנ֑וֹן | levanon | Lebanon | H3844 → | 71 times |
| מֵאָ֣ז | meaz | from then | H227 → | 141 times |
| שָׁכַ֔בְתָּ | shakhavta | you lay down | H7901 → | 212 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַעֲלֶ֥ה | yaaleh | he comes up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| הַכֹּרֵ֖ת | hakoret | the [wood] cutter | H3772 → | 288 times |
| עָלֵֽינוּ׃ | ʾaleinu | on us | H5921 → | 5755 times |
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
בְּרוֹשִׁ֛ים[the] fir trees
beroshimH1265 →20 times
שָׂמְח֥וּthey have rejoiced
samechuH8055 →155 times
לְךָ֖to you
lekha
אַרְזֵ֣י[the] cedars of
ʾarzeiH730 →73 times
לְבָנ֑וֹןLebanon
levanonH3844 →71 times
מֵאָ֣זfrom then
meazH227 →141 times
שָׁכַ֔בְתָּyou lay down
shakhavtaH7901 →212 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יַעֲלֶ֥הhe comes up
yaalehH5927 →890 times
הַכֹּרֵ֖תthe [wood] cutter
hakoretH3772 →288 times
עָלֵֽינוּ׃on us
ʾaleinuH5921 →5755 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
Ezekiel 31:16I made the nations quake at the sound of its downfall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who descend to the Pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and…
it leads to
- Isaiah 14:15
But you will be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.
- Ezekiel 26:15
This is what the Lord GOD says to Tyre: ‘Will not the coastlands quake at the sound of your downfall, when the wounded groan at the slaughter in your midst?
- Haggai 2:7
I will shake all the nations, and they will come with all their treasures, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of Hosts.
- Habakkuk 2:17
For your violence against Lebanon will overwhelm you, and the destruction of animals will terrify you, because of your bloodshed against men and your violence against the land, the city, and all their dwellers.
- Ezekiel 31:9
I made it beautiful with its many branches, the envy of all the trees of Eden, which were in the garden of God.’
- Isaiah 14:15
Through
Zechariah 11:2Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen; the majestic trees are ruined! Wail, O oaks of Bashan, for the dense forest has been cut down!
it leads to
- Luke 23:31
For if men do these things while the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
- Nahum 3:8–19
Are you better than Thebes, stationed by the Nile with water around her, whose rampart was the sea, whose wall was the water?
- Ezekiel 31:17
They too descended with it to Sheol, to those slain by the sword. As its allies they had lived in its shade among the nations.
- Luke 23:31
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); 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 (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.