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

16Their little children will be dashed to death before their eyes. Their homes will be sacked, and their wives will be raped. 17“Look, I will stir up the Medes against Babylon. They cannot be tempted by silver or bribed with gold. The attacking armies will shoot down the young men with arrows. They will have no mercy on helpless babies and will show no compassion for children.” 19Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms, the flower of Chaldean pride, will be devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah when God destroyed them. 20Babylon will never be inhabited again. It will remain empty for generation after generation. Nomads will refuse to camp there, and shepherds will not bed down their sheep.

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 13:16Their little children will be dashed to death before their eyes. Their homes will be sacked, and their wives will be raped.
• 2 Kings 8:12“What’s the matter, my lord?” Hazael asked him. Elisha replied, “I know the terrible things you will do to the people of Israel. You will burn their fortified cities, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little children to the ground, and rip open their pregnant women!”
• Hosea 13:16The people of Samaria must bear the consequences of their guilt because they rebelled against their God. They will be killed by an invading army, their little ones dashed to death against the ground, their pregnant women ripped open by swords.”
• Nahum 2:1Your enemy is coming to crush you, Nineveh. Man the ramparts! Watch the roads! Prepare your defenses! Call out your forces!
• Nahum 3:10Yet Thebes fell, and her people were led away as captives. Her babies were dashed to death against the stones of the streets. Soldiers threw dice to get Egyptian officers as servants. All their leaders were bound in chains.
• 2 Chronicles 36:17So the Lord brought the king of Babylon against them. The Babylonians killed Judah’s young men, even chasing after them into the Temple. They had no pity on the people, killing both young men and young women, the old and the infirm. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar.
• Ezekiel 9:5Then I heard the Lord say to the other men, “Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity!

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