God’s Word Translation
Isaiah 13:18
18But their bows will smash the youth. They’ll have no compassion for babies, nor will they look with pity on children.
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
16Their little children will be smashed to death right before their eyes. Their houses will be looted and their wives raped. 17I’m going to stir up the Medes against them. They don’t care for silver and aren’t happy with gold. But their bows will smash the youth. They’ll have no compassion for babies, nor will they look with pity on children. 19Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the proud beauty of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God destroyed them. 20It will never be inhabited again, and no one will live in it for generations. Arabs won’t pitch their tents there. Shepherds won’t let their flocks rest there.
Read all of Isaiah 13Isaiah 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 13:16Their little children will be smashed to death right before their eyes. Their houses will be looted and their wives raped.
- 2 Kings 8:12“Sir, why are you crying?” Hazael asked. Elisha answered, “I know the evil you will do to the Israelites: You will set their fortresses on fire, kill their best young men, smash their little children, and rip open their pregnant women.”
- Hosea 13:16The people of Samaria are guilty as charged because they rebelled against their God. They will be killed in war, their children will be smashed to death, and their pregnant women will be ripped open.
- Nahum 2:1The one who will scatter you is coming to attack you. Guard your fortress! Keep a lookout on the road! Prepare for battle! Be very courageous!
- Nahum 3:10Even she went into captivity and was exiled. Even her little children were smashed to death at every street corner. Soldiers tossed dice for her important men, and all her best men were bound in chains.
- 2 Chronicles 36:17So he had the Babylonian king attack them and execute their best young men in their holy temple. He didn’t spare the best men or the unmarried women, the old people or the sick people. God handed all of them over to him.
- Ezekiel 9:5Then he said to the others as I was listening, “Follow him throughout the city and kill. Don’t have any compassion, and don’t feel sorry.
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
In the dictionaries
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
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