Isaiah 14:15
in Isaiah 14But you will be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Yet thou shalt be brought down to Sheol, to the uttermost parts of the pit.
KJV
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
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This verse in Isaiah 14
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 15.) However, you are dragged down to the depths of hell. He who had said through pride, 'I will ascend to heaven, I will be like the Most High,' is dragged not only to the depths of hell, but to the deepest depths of hell. In the Gospel, we read about these outer darknesses, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Luke 13:28).
This site's exposition
How you have fallen from heaven
on Isaiah 14:12-15
"I will make myself like the Most High" reaches past any mortal throne. With Luke 10:18 and Ezekiel 28 beside it the text bears the fall of Satan behind the king. The name Lucifer is the Vulgate's Latin for the Hebrew helel, "day star," and the text allows both readings.
This site's exposition
But you will be brought down to Sheol
The depths of the Pit and the reaches of the north translate one word, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown set the two against each other. The king aimed at the heights and lands at the bottom. Jesus spoke the same sentence over Capernaum in Matthew 11:23.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
But yet: here, the frustration of his intention; into the depth of the pit, that is, into the harshest punishments: they spend their days in wealth, and in a moment they go down to hell (Job 21:31).
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 19 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
For as long as vain, transitory, passing good is loved, man is "passing over." And such passing over Wisdom reproves. This passing over is the cause of every evil. In this way Lucifer passed over, to whom it was said: "Down to the nether world …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
"Never was death so great a change to any man as it is to him. Is it possible that a man, who a few hours ago looked so great, so pleasant, and was so splendidly adorned and attended, should now look so ghastly, so despicable, and lie thus naked and neglected? Is this the man that made the earth to tremble and shook kingdoms?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
to hell--to Sheol (Isa 14:6), thou who hast said, "I will ascend into heaven" (Mt 11:23). sides of the pit--antithetical to the "sides of the north" (Isa 14:13). Thus the reference is to the sides of the sepulcher round which the dead were arranged in niches.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
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
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell - Hebrew, ‘To sheol’ (compare Isa 14:9). To the sides of the pit - The word ‘pit,’ here, is evidently synonymous with “hell” or “hades,” represented as a deep, dark region under ground. The dead were often buried in caves, and the descent was often dark and dreary, to the vaults where they reposed. Hence, it is always represented as going down; or, as the “inferior” regions.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds I am not fit to dwell with mortals. I will make myself a small cloud in the air and I will dwell there. Jonathan renders: I will ascend over all nations.
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. 4 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
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַ֧ךְ | ʾakh | nevertheless | H389 → | 161 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| שְׁא֛וֹל | sheol | Sheol | H7585 → | 66 times |
| תּוּרָ֖ד | turad | you have been brought down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יַרְכְּתֵי־ | yarketei- | [the] remotest parts of | H3411 → | 28 times |
| בֽוֹר׃ | vor | [the] pit | H953 → | 66 times |
אַ֧ךְnevertheless
ʾakhH389 →161 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
שְׁא֛וֹלSheol
sheolH7585 →66 times
תּוּרָ֖דyou have been brought down
turadH3381 →381 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יַרְכְּתֵי־[the] remotest parts of
yarketei-H3411 →28 times
בֽוֹר׃[the] pit
vorH953 →66 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
Luke 10:15And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades!
it leads to
- Isaiah 14:13–15
You said in your heart: “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of assembly, in the far reaches of…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 14:13–15
Through
Revelation 19:20But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and…
it leads to
- Revelation 20:10
And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, into which the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. There they will be tormented day…
- Revelation 21:8
But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This…
- 2 Thessalonians 2:8–11
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival.
- Revelation 20:14–15
Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire.
- Daniel 7:7–14
After this, as I watched in my vision in the night, suddenly a fourth beast appeared, and it was terrifying—dreadful and extremely strong—with large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed; then it trampled underfoot…
- Revelation 20:10
Through
Matthew 11:23And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would…
it leads to
- Matthew 4:13
Leaving Nazareth, He went and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 4:46–54
So once again He came to Cana in Galilee, where He had turned the water into wine. And there was a royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum.
- Matthew 4:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies6
On this verse
About Isaiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 19; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.