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Isaiah 13:11

in Isaiah 13

I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. I will end the haughtiness of the arrogant and lay low the pride of the ruthless.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity: and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

KJV

And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

This verse in Isaiah 13

Commentary

11 notes on this verse
And I will punish the world - By the ‘world’ here is evidently meant the Babylonian empire, in the same way as ‘all the world’ in Luk 2:1, means Judea; and in Act 11:28, means the Roman empire. Babylonia, or Chaldea, was the most mighty empire then on earth, and might be said to comprehend the whole world. And I will cause the arrogancy - This was the prevailing sin of Babylon, and it was on account of this pride mainly that it was overthrown (see the notes at Isa. 14; notes at Isa 47:1-7; compare Dan 4:22, Dan 4:30).

This site's exposition

Day of the LORD is coming

on Isaiah 13:9-13

The oracle is headed against Babylon, and a darkened sun is the prophets' figure for a ruling power's fall. The punishment of "the world for its evil" reaches wider, toward the final Day of the LORD the prophets name, and the text allows both.

This site's exposition

I will punish the world for its evil

Barnes, Clarke and Wesley took the world as the Babylonian empire, as all the world means the Roman world in Luke 2:1. The pride of the arrogant and the haughtiness of the ruthless recall 2:11 and 2:17, where the proud look is humbled. Clement of Rome prayed the line.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers3 voices

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verse 11.) And I will visit the evils upon the world, and against the wickedness of the ungodly I will execute justice: and I will cause the pride of the infidels to cease, and the arrogance of the mighty I will bring down. From this place and from the one above, where it is written, that the sun will be darkened in its rising, and the moon will be covered with darkness, and the stars will lose their brightness, and the iniquity of the whole world will be visited, some think that it is not about the fall of Babylon, but about the end of the world that is being prophesied; when surely according to the earlier and universal (which is called in Hebrew, Thebel, and in Greek, οἰκουμένη), Babylon must be understood. Indeed, the word 'oikoumenē' in our language signifies the inhabited world; and 'Babylon' is called so because of the huge multitude of people: for where previously there was an innumerable throng of peoples, there is now desolation and the dwelling place of beasts.

A commentator

Clement of Rome

1 CLEMENT 59:3 · Written before 99.

proposed

You have opened "the eyes of our hearts" so that we realize you alone are "highest among the highest, and ever remain holy among the holy." "You humble the pride of the arrogant, overrule the plans of the nations, raise up the humble and humble the haughty. You make rich and make poor; you slay and bring to life; you alone are the guardian of spirits and the God of all flesh." You see into the depths: you look upon humankind's deeds; you aid those in danger and "save those in despair." You are the Creator of every spirit and watch over them. You multiply the nations on the earth, and from out of them all you have chosen those who love you through Jesus Christ, your beloved Son. Through him you have trained us, made us saints and honored us.

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verse 11) And I will visit the evils of the world, and against the wickedness of their iniquities. When God visits and strikes; He strikes in order to correct. Indeed, when He is greatly angered against those who do not repent: 'I will not visit,' He says, 'upon your daughters when they have committed fornication, and upon your daughters-in-law when they have committed adultery' (Hosea 4:14).

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 1274.

proposed

Second, he sets out equity, ordaining the punishment for the fault which they committed against themselves: I will visit, I will avenge, the evils of the world, that is, of Babylon, for it was in that monarchy, or because of the multitude of those assembling …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

The world - The Babylonish empire, which is called the world, as the Roman empire afterwards was, because it was extended to a great part of the world.
3 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And I will punish the world for their evil,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

That sin must now have its punishment. Though Babylon be a little world, yet, being a wicked world, it shall not go unpunished. Sin brings desolation on the world of the ungodly; and when the kingdoms of the earth are quarrelling with one another it is the fruit of God's controversy with them all.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

I will punish the world “I will visit the world” - That is, the Babylonish empire; as η οικουμενη, for the Roman empire, or for Judea, Luk 2:1; Act 11:28. So the universus orbis Romanus, for the Roman empire; Salvian. lib. 5 Minos calls Crete his world: “Creten, quae meus est orbis,” Ovid. Metamorph. 8:9.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

I will make mortal man dearer than fine gold On that night I will honor Daniel more than fine gold. When they brought him to read the writing (Dan.:25): “Mene mene tekel ufarsin”; (ibid.: 25) “Then Belshazzar ordered, and they dressed Daniel in purple..”
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Isaiah 13:12:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

13 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וּפָקַדְתִּ֤יand I will visit

    ufakadtiH6485 →303 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • תֵּבֵל֙[the] world

    tevelH8398 →36 times

  • רָעָ֔הevil

    raahH7451 →662 times

  • וְעַל־and on

    veal-H5921 →5755 times

  • רְשָׁעִ֖יםwicked [people]

    reshaimH7563 →263 times

  • עֲוֹנָ֑םiniquity their

    ʾavonamH5771 →233 times

  • וְהִשְׁבַּתִּי֙and I will put an end to

    vehishbatiH7673 →71 times

  • גְּא֣וֹן[the] pride of

    geonH1347 →49 times

  • זֵדִ֔יםarrogant [people]

    zedimH2086 →

  • וְגַאֲוַ֥תand [the] haughtiness of

    vegaavatH1346 →19 times

  • עָרִיצִ֖יםruthless [people]

    ʾaritzimH6184 →20 times

  • אַשְׁפִּֽיל׃I will bring low

    ʾashpilH8213 →31 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 2:11

    The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 5:15–16

      So mankind will be brought low, and each man humbled; the arrogant will lower their eyes.

    • Psalms 18:27

      For You save an afflicted people, but You humble those with haughty eyes.

    • Isaiah 2:17

      So the pride of man will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,

    • Malachi 4:1

      “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of…

    • Isaiah 24:21

      In that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven above and the kings of the earth below.

  • Through

    Isaiah 2:17

    So the pride of man will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 2:11

      The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Jeremiah 48:29–30

      We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his proud arrogance and haughtiness of heart.

  • Through

    Isaiah 5:15

    So mankind will be brought low, and each man humbled; the arrogant will lower their eyes.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 2:9

      So mankind is brought low, and man is humbled—do not forgive them!

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About Isaiah

Isaiah's Vision of the Destruction of Babylon — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Isaiah's Vision of the Destruction of Babylon — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
This page draws on 10 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); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Clement of Rome, 1 CLEMENT 59:3; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.