English Standard Version
Isaiah 23:13
13Behold the land of the Chaldeans! This is the people that was not; Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected their siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin.
Isaiah 23:13 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin.
- New International Version (NIV)Look at the land of the Babylonians, this people that is now of no account! The Assyrians have made it a place for desert creatures; they raised up their siege towers, they stripped its fortresses bare and turned it into a ruin.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Behold, the land of the Chaldeans, This people which was not; Assyria founded it for wild beasts of the desert. They set up its towers, They raised up its palaces, And brought it to ruin.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Look at the land of Babylonia— the people of that land are gone! The Assyrians have handed Babylon over to the wild animals of the desert. They have built siege ramps against its walls, torn down its palaces, and turned it to a heap of rubble.
Context of Isaiah 23:13
11He has stretched out his hand over the sea; he has shaken the kingdoms; the Lord has given command concerning Canaan to destroy its strongholds. 12And he said: "You will no more exult, O oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon; arise, cross over to Cyprus, even there you will have no rest." Behold the land of the Chaldeans! This is the people that was not; Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected their siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin. 14Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your stronghold is laid waste. 15In that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:
Read all of Isaiah 23Isaiah 23:13 word by word
הֵ֣ן׀ אֶ֣רֶץ כַּשְׂדִּ֗ים זֶ֤ה הָעָם֙ לֹ֣א הָיָ֔ה אַשּׁ֖וּר יְסָדָ֣הּ לְצִיִּ֑ים הֵקִ֣ימוּ בַחוּנָ֗יו עֹרְרוּ֙ אַרְמְנוֹתֶ֔יהָ שָׂמָ֖הּ לְמַפֵּלָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Behold the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- of the Chaldeansכַּשְׂדִּיםkaώdîy kaώdîymâh · ChaldeaH3778
- this peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
- the Assyrianאַשּׁוּר'ashshûr 'ashshûr · AssyriaH804
- foundedיָסַדyâsad · to foundH3245
- it for them that dwell in the wildernessצִיtsîyîy · wild beastH6728
- they set upקוּםqûm · to arise: raiseH6965
- the towersבַחוּןbachîyn · towerH971
- thereof, they raised upעָרַר‛ârar · to stripH6209
- the palacesאַרְמוֹן'armôn · citadel: palaceH759
- he broughtשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: makeH7760
- it to ruinמַפֵּלָהmappâlâh mappêlâh · ruinH4654
Cross-references for Isaiah 23:13
- Isaiah 13:19And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.
- Genesis 11:28Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans.
- Job 1:17While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."
- Habakkuk 1:6For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own.
- Acts 7:4Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living.
- Genesis 2:14And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
- Genesis 10:10The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
- Genesis 11:9Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
- 2 Kings 17:24And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities.
- 2 Kings 20:12At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
- 2 Chronicles 33:11Therefore the Lord brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon.
- Ezra 4:9Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites,
- Deuteronomy 4:30When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice.
- Psalms 72:9May desert tribes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust!
- Ezekiel 26:7"For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, and with horsemen and a host of many soldiers.
- Ezekiel 29:18"Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was rubbed bare, yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against her.
Commentaries on Isaiah 23:13
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13Behold the land of the Chaldeans - This verse is extremely obscure; the obscurity arises from the ambiguity of the agents, which belong to the verbs, and of the objects expressed by the pronouns; from the change of number of the verbs, and of gender in the pronouns. The MSS. give us no assistance, and the ancient Versions very little. The Chaldee and Vulgate read שמוה samoah, in the plural number. I have followed the interpretation which, among many…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13Behold the land of the Chaldeans - This is a very important verse, as it expresses the source from where these calamities were coming upon Tyre; and as it states some historical facts of great interest respecting the rise of Babylon. In the previous verses the prophet had foretold the certain destruction of Tyre, and had said that whoever was the agent, it was to be traced to the overruling providence of God. He here states distinctly that the agent in…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13The Assyrians, led by Sennacherib, stripped and looted Babylonia in 689 BC. Eventually, Babylonia rose to become a mighty empire again.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. Behold--Calling attention to the fact, so humiliating to Tyre, that a people of yesterday, like the Chaldees, should destroy the most ancient of cities, Tyre. was not--had no existence as a recognized nation; the Chaldees were previously but a rude, predatory people (Job 1:17). Assyrian founded it--The Chaldees ("them that dwell in the wilderness") lived a nomadic life in the mountains of Armenia originally (Arphaxad, in Ge 10:22, refers to such a…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 23:13
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 23
- 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
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