New English Translation
Isaiah 13:17
17Look, I am stirring up the Medes to attack them; they are not concerned about silver, nor are they interested in gold.
Isaiah 13:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.
- New International Version (NIV)See, I will stir up against them the Medes, who do not care for silver and have no delight in gold.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against them, who have no regard for silver and do not delight in gold.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, Who will not regard silver; And as for gold, they will not delight in it.
Context of Isaiah 13:17
15Everyone who is caught will be stabbed; everyone who is seized will die by the sword. 16Their children will be smashed to pieces before their very eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives raped. Look, I am stirring up the Medes to attack them; they are not concerned about silver, nor are they interested in gold. 18Their arrows will cut young men to ribbons; they have no compassion on a person’s offspring, they will not look with pity on children. 19Babylon, the most admired of kingdoms, the Chaldeans’ source of honor and pride, will be destroyed by God just as Sodom and Gomorrah were.
Read all of Isaiah 13Isaiah 13:17 word by word
הִנְנִ֛י מֵעִ֥יר עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם אֶת־מָדָ֑י אֲשֶׁר־כֶּ֙סֶף֙ לֹ֣א יַחְשֹׁ֔בוּ וְזָהָ֖ב לֹ֥א יַחְפְּצוּ־בֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Isaiah 13:17
- Isaiah 13:3I have given orders to my chosen soldiers; I have summoned the warriors through whom I will vent my anger, my boasting, arrogant ones.
- Isaiah 21:2I have received a distressing message: “The deceiver deceives, the destroyer destroys. Attack, you Elamites! Lay siege, you Medes! I will put an end to all the groaning!”
- Isaiah 41:25I have stirred up one out of the north and he advances, one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name. He steps on rulers as if they were clay, like a potter treading the clay.
- Jeremiah 50:9For I will rouse into action and bring against Babylon a host of mighty nations from the land of the north. They will set up their battle lines against her. They will come from the north and capture her. Their arrows will be like a skilled soldier who does not return from the battle empty-handed.
- Jeremiah 51:11“Sharpen your arrows! Fill your quivers! The Lord will arouse a spirit of hostility in the kings of Media. For he intends to destroy Babylonia. For that is how the Lord will get his revenge – how he will get his revenge for the Babylonians’ destruction of his temple.
- Daniel 5:28As for peres – your kingdom is divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”
- Proverbs 6:34for jealousy kindles a husband’s rage, and he will not show mercy when he takes revenge.
Commentaries on Isaiah 13:17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17Which shall not regard silver "Who shall hold silver of no account" - That is, who shall not be induced, by large offers of gold and silver for ransom, to spare the lives of those whom they have subdued in battle; their rage and cruelty will get the better of all such motives. We have many examples in the Iliad and in the Aeneid of addresses of the vanquished to the pity and avarice of the vanquishers, to induce them to spare their lives. Est domus alta…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17Behold, I will stir up - I will cause them to engage in this enterprise. This is an instance of the control which God claims over the nations, and of his power to excite and direct them as he pleases. The Medes - This is one of the places in which the prophet specified, “by name,” the instrument of the wrath of God. Cyrus himself is subsequently mentioned Isaiah 44:28; Isaiah 45:1 as the agent by which God would accomplish his purposes. It is remarkable…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
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17The Lord is sovereign and controls history. He can influence kingdoms to carry out his will. The Medes from northwestern Iran joined Persian King Cyrus to fight against Babylon in 539 BC.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. Medes--(Is 21:2; Jr 51:11, 28). At that time they were subject to Assyria; subsequently Arbaces, satrap of Media, revolted against the effeminate Sardanapalus, king of Assyria, destroyed Nineveh, and became king of Media, in the ninth century B.C. not regard silver--In vain will one try to buy his life from them for a ransom. The heathen Xenophon (Cyropædia, 5,1,10) represents Cyrus as attributing this characteristic to the Medes, disregard of riches…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 13:17
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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