Isaiah 13:18

Isaiah 13:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.
• New International Version (NIV)Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants, nor will they look with compassion on children.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Their bows will slaughter the young men; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; their eyes will not pity children.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Also their bows will dash the young men to pieces, And they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb; Their eye will not spare children.

Context of Isaiah 13:18

16They will knock their children down in pieces while the parents watch. They will rob the people's homes. They will have sex with their wives. 17Look! I will cause the Medes to come and attack Babylon. Their army has no interest in silver or gold, so nobody can pay them to stop. Their arrows will kill Babylon's young men. They will not let babies or children go free. 19Yes, God will destroy Babylon, as he did to Sodom and Gomorrah. Babylon has been a great and beautiful city. The people of the whole nation have been very proud of it. But God will still destroy it. 20The people and their descendants will never live there again. No Arab will put his tent there. No shepherds will take their sheep there to rest.

Isaiah 13:18 word by word

וּקְשָׁת֖וֹת נְעָרִ֣ים תְּרַטַּ֑שְׁנָה וּפְרִי־בֶ֙טֶן֙ לֹ֣א יְרַחֵ֔מוּ עַל־בָּנִ֖ים לֹֽא־תָח֥וּס עֵינָֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• bowsקֶ֫שֶׁתqesheth · bowH7198
• also shall dashרָטַשׁrâţash · to dash in piecesH7376
• the young menנַ֫עַרna‛ar · youthH5288
• and they shall have no pityרָחַםrâcham · to have compassionH7355
• on the fruitפְּרִיperîy · fruitH6529
• of the wombבֶּ֫טֶןbeţen · belly: wombH990
• their eyeעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
• shall not spareחוּסchûs · to pityH2347
• childrenבֵּןbên · son: childH1121

Cross-references for Isaiah 13:18

• Isaiah 13:16They will knock their children down in pieces while the parents watch. They will rob the people's homes. They will have sex with their wives.
• 2 Kings 8:12So Hazael asked him, ‘Why are you weeping, my master?’ Elisha replied, ‘Because I know that you will cause great trouble for Israel's people. You will destroy their strong cities with fire. You will fight their young men and you will kill them. You will knock down their children to kill them. You will cut open their pregnant women.’
• Hosea 13:16Samaria's people are guilty and they will receive their punishment. They have turned against their God. They will die in war. Cruel enemies will kill their young children. Soldiers will cut open their pregnant women.
• Nahum 2:1An enemy is coming to attack you, people of Nineveh. Watch carefully from the city's walls! Prepare your army to protect the city. Watch the road. Get ready to fight with all your strength!
• Nahum 3:10But the enemies of Thebes took its people away and they made them slaves. They cut their babies to pieces in every street. They played games with the great men from Thebes and they put them in iron chains.
• 2 Chronicles 36:17Then the Lord sent the king of Babylon to attack them. His soldiers killed Jerusalem's young men in the temple, where they thought that they would be safe. They were not kind to anybody, the young men or women, or even the very old people. God put all the people of Jerusalem under the king of Babylon's power.
• Ezekiel 9:5While I listened, the Lord said to the other men, ‘Follow that man through the city. Kill people who do not have his mark on their heads. Do not be sorry for them. Do not be kind to them.

Commentaries on Isaiah 13:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18Their bows also shall dash "Their bows shall dash" - Both Herodotus, 1:61, and Xenophon, Anab. iii., mention, that the Persians used large bows : and the latter says particularly that their bows were three cubits long, Anab. 4. They were celebrated for their archers, see Isaiah 22:6; Jeremiah 49:35. Probably their neighbours and allies, the Medes, dealt much in the same sort of arms. In Psalm 18:34, and Job 20:24, mention is made of a bow of steel; if the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18Their bows also - Bows and arrows were the usual weapons of the ancients in war; and the Persians were particularly skilled in their use. According to Xenophon, Cyrus came to Babylon with a great number of archers and slingers (Cyrop. ii. 1). Shall dash the young men … - That is, they shall dash the young men to pieces, or kill them by their bows and arrows. Vulgate, And with their arrows shall they slay the young.‘ The meaning of the word here rendered…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 6-18Verses 6-18 We have here the terrible desolation of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. Those who in the day of their peace were proud, and haughty, and terrible, are quite dispirited when trouble comes. Their faces shall be scorched with the flame. All comfort and hope shall fail. The stars of heaven shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened. Such expressions are often employed by the prophets, to describe the convulsions of governments. God…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. bows--in the use of which the Persians were particularly skilled.Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 13:18

• Archery
• Bow
• Cruelty
• Cyrus

In the dictionaries

• Archer
• Babylon
• Captive
• Glory
• Haughtiness
• Howl
• Astronomy
• Canon of the Old Testament
• Esther, the Rest of
• Evil

Commentaries on Isaiah 13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings