Isaiah 47:5
in Isaiah 47“Sit in silence and go into darkness, O Daughter of Chaldea. For you will no longer be called the queen of kingdoms.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt no more be called The mistress of kingdoms.
KJV
Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.
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This verse in Isaiah 47
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThese words are spoken by the Lord, our redeemer and the one who has freed us from a life of hard labor.… Or as Symmachus puts it, "You will no longer be called queenly. For I was angry with my people and harmed my inheritance." And I, for reasons of the right discipline, handed my people into your hands, as part of my taming them, but you showed fellow sufferers no kindness by treating them excessively harshly.
This site's exposition
Sit in silence and go into darkness
on Isaiah 47:5-7
“Sit in silence and go into darkness” strips Babylon of her second title. The charge is specific: the LORD placed his people “under your control” in anger, and “You showed them no mercy”. She said, “I will be queen forever”, and did not “consider their outcome.”
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 4 onwards) Our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name. Holy One of Israel. Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for you shall no longer be called the mistress of kingdoms. I was angry with my people; I profaned my heritage, and gave them into your hand: you showed them no mercy. You have made your yoke very heavy on the aged, and you have said, 'I shall be a mistress forever': you did not lay these things to heart, you did not remember their outcome.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Third, as to the shame of confusion: sit you silent, as one who is ashamed does not dare to speak or appear before men: the wicked shall be silent in darkness (1 Sam 2:9).
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
These things are mentioned both to justify God in bringing these judgments upon her and to mortify her, and put her to so much the greater shame, under these judgments; for, when God comes forth to take vengeance, glory belongs to him, but confusion to the sinner.
Sit thou silent,.... Here the speech is directed again to Babylon, which used to be a place of noise and hurry, as well as famous and much talked of all the world over; but now there should be a deep silence in it, no voice to be heard, the inhabitants being gone, and no discourse concerning it; no more talked of and celebrated for its magnificence and authority, trade and riches, but buried in oblivion.
It is our wisdom not to use ourselves to be tender and delicate, because we know not how hardly others may use us before we die not what straits we may be reduced to. Her liberty is gone, and she is brought into a state of servitude and as sore a bondage as she in her prosperity had brought others to.
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)
Sit thou silent - The same general sentiment is expressed here as in the preceding verses, though the figure is changed. In Isa 47:1-3, Babylon is represented under the image of a frivolous and delicately-reared female, suddenly reduced from her exalted station, and compelled to engage in the most menial and laborious employment. Here she is represented as in a posture of mourning.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שְׁבִ֥י | shevi | sit | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| דוּמָ֛ם | dumam | silently | H1748 → | |
| וּבֹ֥אִי | uvoi | and go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| בַחֹ֖שֶׁךְ | vachoshekh | in <the> darkness | H2822 → | 80 times |
| בַּת־ | bat- | O daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| כַּשְׂדִּ֑ים | kasdim | [the] Chaldeans | H3778 → | 80 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹ֤א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תוֹסִ֙יפִי֙ | tosifi | you will repeat | H3254 → | 212 times |
| יִקְרְאוּ־ | yikreu- | people will call | H7121 → | 733 times |
| לָ֔ךְ | lakh | <to> you | ||
| גְּבֶ֖רֶת | geveret | queen of | H1404 → | 9 times |
| מַמְלָכֽוֹת׃ | mamlakhot | kingdoms | H4467 → | 117 times |
שְׁבִ֥יsit
sheviH3427 →1079 times
דוּמָ֛םsilently
dumamH1748 →
וּבֹ֥אִיand go
uvoiH935 →2568 times
בַחֹ֖שֶׁךְin <the> darkness
vachoshekhH2822 →80 times
בַּת־O daughter of
bat-H1323 →588 times
כַּשְׂדִּ֑ים[the] Chaldeans
kasdimH3778 →80 times
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹ֤אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תוֹסִ֙יפִי֙you will repeat
tosifiH3254 →212 times
יִקְרְאוּ־people will call
yikreu-H7121 →733 times
לָ֔ךְ<to> you
lakh
גְּבֶ֖רֶתqueen of
geveretH1404 →9 times
מַמְלָכֽוֹת׃kingdoms
mamlakhotH4467 →117 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
Habakkuk 2:20But the LORD is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him.
it leads to
- Zechariah 2:13
Be silent before the LORD, all people, for He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling.”
- Zephaniah 1:7
Be silent in the presence of the Lord GOD, for the Day of the LORD is near. Indeed, the LORD has prepared a sacrifice; He has consecrated His guests.
- Psalms 46:10
“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted over the earth.”
- Psalms 11:4
The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD is on His heavenly throne. His eyes are watching closely; they examine the sons of men.
- Isaiah 6:1
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the temple.
- Zechariah 2:13
Through
Isaiah 13:10For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.
it leads to
- Joel 2:31
The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
- Matthew 24:29
Immediately after the tribulation of those days: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will…
- Mark 13:24
But in those days, after that tribulation: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;
- Joel 2:31
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Eusebius of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:32; 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.