Isaiah 47:1
in Isaiah 47“Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of Chaldea! For you will no longer be called tender or delicate.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.
KJV
Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.
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This verse in Isaiah 47
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Chapter 47, verses 1 and following) Descend, sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon: sit on the ground, there is no throne for the daughter of the Chaldeans, for you shall no longer be called tender and delicate. Take a millstone and grind flour: uncover your nakedness, uncover your shoulder, reveal your legs, cross the rivers. Your shame will be exposed, and your disgrace will be seen; I will take vengeance, and no one will be able to resist me. 70: Descend, sit on the ground, virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground.
This site's exposition
Go down and sit in the dust
on Isaiah 47:1-4
“Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon” takes away both throne and title. She is set to a slave’s labor, “Take millstones and grind flour”. Into the taunt verse 4 sets “the Holy One of Israel”, the book’s title through both its halves.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Come down, sit. Here he foretells the degradation of the kingdom of Babylon. And concerning this, he does three things: first, he threatens the punishment of degradation; second, he shows their fault: I was angry (Isa 47:6); third, he removes their confidence of escape: let …
The Reformation1 voice
Virgin daughter of Babylon. It was a figure of speech frequently employed by Hebrew writers, to call any nation by the title of "Daughter." He calls her "Virgin," not because she was modest or chaste, but because she had been brought up softly and delicately like "virgins," and had never been forced by enemies, as we formerly said when speaking of Sidon.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Come down - Descend from the throne; or from the seat of magnificence and power. The design of this verse has already been stated in the analysis. It is to foretell that Babylon would be humbled, and that she would be reduced from her magnificence and pride to a condition of abject wretchedness. She is therefore represented as a proud female accustomed to luxury and ease, suddenly brought to the lowest condition, and compelled to perform the most menial services.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
in the dust--(See on Isa 3:26; La 2:10). virgin--that is, heretofore uncaptured [HERODOTUS, 1.191]. daughter of Babylon--Babylon and its inhabitants (see on Isa 1:8; Isa 37:22). no throne--The seat of empire was transferred to Shushan.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Come down, and set in the dust “Descend, and sit on the dust” - See note on Isa 3:26, and on Isa 52:2 (note).
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רְדִ֣י׀ | redi | go down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| וּשְׁבִ֣י | ushevi | and sit | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| עָפָ֗ר | ʾafar | [the] dust | H6083 → | 110 times |
| בְּתוּלַת֙ | betulat | O virgin of | H1330 → | 50 times |
| בַּת־ | bat- | [the] daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| בָּבֶ֔ל | bavel | Babylon | H894 → | 262 times |
| שְׁבִי־ | shevi- | sit | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| לָאָ֥רֶץ | laaretz | to the ground | H776 → | 2504 times |
| אֵין־ | ʾein- | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| כִּסֵּ֖א | kise' | [is] a throne | H3678 → | 135 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 | ||
| רַכָּ֖ה | rakah | tender | H7390 → | |
| וַעֲנֻגָּֽה׃ | vaanugah | and delicate | H6028 → |
רְדִ֣י׀go down
rediH3381 →381 times
וּשְׁבִ֣יand sit
usheviH3427 →1079 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
עָפָ֗ר[the] dust
ʾafarH6083 →110 times
בְּתוּלַת֙O virgin of
betulatH1330 →50 times
בַּת־[the] daughter of
bat-H1323 →588 times
בָּבֶ֔לBabylon
bavelH894 →262 times
שְׁבִי־sit
shevi-H3427 →1079 times
לָאָ֥רֶץto the ground
laaretzH776 →2504 times
אֵין־there not
ʾein-H369 →789 times
כִּסֵּ֖א[is] a throne
kise'H3678 →135 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
רַכָּ֖הtender
rakahH7390 →
וַעֲנֻגָּֽה׃and delicate
vaanugahH6028 →
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
Psalms 137:8O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.
it leads to
- Revelation 18:6
Give back to her as she has done to others; pay her back double for what she has done; mix her a double portion in her own cup.
- Jeremiah 25:12–14
But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it an everlasting…
- Isaiah 14:4–24
you will sing this song of contempt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased, and how his fury has ended!
- Revelation 14:8–11
Then 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.”
- Revelation 18:6
Through
Jeremiah 46:11Go up to Gilead for balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt! In vain you try many remedies, but for you there is no healing.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 8:22
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?
- Jeremiah 8:22
Through
Zechariah 2:7“Get up, O Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the Daughter of Babylon!”
it leads to
- Isaiah 48:20
Leave Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare it with a shout of joy, proclaim it, let it go out to the ends of the earth, saying, “The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!”
- Isaiah 48:20
Through
Jeremiah 51:33For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled. In just a little while her…
it leads to
- Isaiah 21:10
O my people, crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel.
- Hosea 6:11
Also for you, O Judah, a harvest is appointed, when I restore My people from captivity.
- Isaiah 21:10
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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 Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.