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ISAIAH 47
PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS
| NASB | NKJV | NRSV | TEV | NJB |
| Lament For Babylon | The Humiliation of Babylon | Lamentation Over Babylon | Judgment On Babylon | Lament For Babylon |
| 47:1-7 (1-7) |
47:1-3 (1-3) |
47:1-4 (1-4) |
47:1-3 (1-3) |
47:1-3 (1-3) |
| 47:4 (4) |
47:4 (4) |
47:4-7 (4-7) |
||
| 47:5-7 (5-7) |
47:5-7 (5-7) |
47:5-7 (5-7) |
||
| 47:8-11 (8-11) |
47:8-9 (8-9) |
47:8-9 (8-9) |
47:8-9 (8-9) |
47:8-15 (8-15) |
| 47:10-11 (10-11) |
47:10-13 (10-13) |
47:10-13 (10-13) |
||
| 47:12-15 (12-15) |
47:12-15 (12-15) |
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| 47:14-15 (14-15) |
47:14-15 (14-15) |
READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")
FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT PARAGRAPH LEVEL
This is a study guide commentary, which
means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the
light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not
relinquish this to a commentator.
Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects (reading cycle #3). Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.
CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS
WORD AND PHRASE STUDY
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: ISAIAH 47:1-7
1"Come down and sit in the dust,
O virgin daughter of Babylon;
Sit on the ground without a throne,
O daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you shall no longer be called tender and delicate.
2Take the millstones and grind meal.
Remove your veil, strip off the skirt,
Uncover the leg, cross the rivers.
3Your nakedness will be uncovered,
Your shame also will be exposed;
I will take vengeance and will not spare a man."
4Our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.
5"Sit silently, and go into darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans,
For you will no longer be called
The queen of kingdoms.
6I was angry with My people,
I profaned My heritage
And gave them into your hand.
You did not show mercy to them,
On the aged you made your yoke very heavy.
7Yet you said, 'I will be a queen forever.'
These things you did not consider
Nor remember the outcome of them.
47:1 "Come down" This funeral dirge is one of three literary models used by the Hebrew prophets to communicate their divine messages.
▣ "O virgin daughter of Babylon" This was a Semitic idiom of security and preciousness in family imagery. She (the Neo-Babylonian Empire) who was so secure and protected, has now become vulnerable.
▣ "sit in the dust. . .sit on the ground without a throne" This is literally "sit" (BDB 442, KB 444, Qal IMPERATIVE, cf. Isa. 47:1 [twice],5,8 [twice]). It was one of the physical signs of mourning.
▣ "Chaldeans" This is parallel to "Babylon," see full note at Isa. 43:14.
▣ "shall no longer be called tender and delicate" These two terms (BDB 940 and 772) are used in Deut. 28:56 for luxurious, extravagant living. This is contrasted with Isa. 47:2-3, where she is now
47:2-3 This is a series of phrases used to describe one who used to be the queen of the nations (Isa. 47:5,7) and is now a slave.
| 47:3 | |
| NASB | "and will not spare a man" |
| NKJV | "I will not arbitrate with a man" |
| NRSV | "I will spare no one" |
| TEV | "no one will stop me" |
| NJB | "no one stands in My way" |
| REB | "show clemency to none" |
| JPSOA | "let no man intercede" |
| LXX | "I will no longer deliver you over to men" |
| Peshitta | "I will not meet you as a man" |
This is somewhat ambiguous but the phrase "I will not spare" (BDB 803, KB 910, Qal IMPERFECT) had an etymological relationship to prayerful intercession (BDB 803, KB 910, cf. Isa. 53:12; 59:16; Jer. 36:25). It seems to mean that no one could intercede for Babylon or that no human was powerful enough in prayer to stop YHWH's predetermined plan for her judgment.
47:4 This is an exclamation from the author who interjects himself into the flow of poetry. Three of the beautiful titles for God are seen here as the prophet praises YHWH for Who He is. The titles are
47:5 "Sit silently, and go into darkness" This major world power has now become a peasant. This verse tells her to seek obscurity and be silent (two IMPERATIVES).
▣ "The queen of kingdoms" This is an idiom of Neo-Babylon's view of itself and its power (cf. Isa. 47:7). The queen has become a sex slave (cf. Isa. 47:2-3,8a). What she did to exiles will now happen to her (i.e., divinely caused role reversal).
It is just possible that this idiom relates to Nabonidus leading Neo-Babylon away from Marduk to the worship of the moon goddess called "the Queen of heaven." She was called Sin (Akkadian) or Nanna (Sumerian).
47:6 "I was angry with My people" This explains why the covenant people were taken into exile. In the ancient world the deity of the individual nations protected them. The fact that both Israel and Judah were taken captive was seen by the world as the gods of the Fertile Crescent being more powerful than the God of Israel, but this was not the case. God was using the powers of the Fertile Crescent to judge His people for their sin (cf. Isa. 42:24).
▣ "You did not show mercy on them" Although God gave His people to Assyria and Babylon in order to punish them, these pagan nations went too far and now they will be judged for their lack of mercy.
47:7 "These things you did not consider
Nor remember the outcome of them"
The two VERBS are Qal PERFECTS, which denote a settled attitude.
Notice how Isa. 47:8 continues the thought.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: ISAIAH 47:8-11
8"Now, then, hear this, you sensual one,
Who dwells securely,
Who says in your heart,
'I am, and there is no one besides me.
I will not sit as a widow,
Nor know loss of children.'
9But these two things will come on you suddenly in one day:
Loss of children and widowhood.
They will come on you in full measure
In spite of your many sorceries,
In spite of the great power of your spells.
10You felt secure in your wickedness and said,
'No one sees me,'
Your wisdom and your knowledge, they have deluded you;
For you have said in your heart,
'I am, and there is no one besides me.'
11But evil will come on you
Which you will not know how to charm away;
And disaster will fall on you
For which you cannot atone;
And destruction about which you do not know
Will come on you suddenly."
47:8-9 "Who dwells securely. . .but these two things shall come upon you suddenly" It seems from Daniel 5 and from Herodotus that the people of Babylon laughed at the approaching Persian army. However, the Persian army rechanneled the waters of the Euphrates River, went under the walls of this magnificent city, and in one day the city fell (cf. Daniel 5). The common people of the city of Babylon saw the Persians as liberators because Belshazzar and his father, Nabonidus, had begun to worship a strange moon goddess called Sin (Nanna, see SPECIAL TOPIC: MOON WORSHIP) and Cyrus allowed them to return to their traditional deities—Bel, Marduk, and Nebo.
47:8 "I am, and there is no one beside me" This is an obvious challenge to YHWH (cf. Isa. 47:10). Which One delivered His people? Which One is the true, unique God?
47:9 "Loss of children" Note Isa. 13:16,18. What she did to others will happen to her!
▣ "many sorceries. . .the great power of your spells" The emphasis on Babylon's occultic practices, made so specific here, is continued in Isa. 47:11-13. These practices are condemned in Deuteronomy 18. For all her magical arts Babylon could not protect herself, which shows the corruptness and ineffectiveness of occult practices (i.e., the weakness of her gods).
47:10 "secure in your wickedness" The Dead Sea Scrolls change "wickedness" (BDB 949) by changing a "d" to an "r," which makes it mean "knowledge" (BDB 395, which occurs in line c of v. 10). Either of these words fits the context.
▣ "No one sees me" This implies that they knew what they were doing was wicked and were trying to hide themselves (cf. Isa. 29:15).
| 47:11 | |
| NASB, NRSV, NJB, JPSOA, NET | "charm away" |
| NKJV, Peshitta | "from where it arises" |
| TEV | "your magic can not stop it" |
| JPSOA footnote | "bribe" |
The MT, "you cannot know her dawn," thus the Peshitta and NKJV translations. There have been several suggested emendations.
▣ "atone" This is the Hebrew word "to cover" and is used of the OT concept of atonement as being a blood covering on the mercy seat (cf. Leviticus 16).
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: ISAIAH 47:12-15
12"Stand fast now in your spells
And in your many sorceries
With which you have labored from your youth;
Perhaps you will be able to profit,
Perhaps you may cause trembling.
13You are wearied with your many counsels;
Let now the astrologers,
Those who prophesy by the stars,
Those who predict by the new moons,
Stand up and save you from what will come upon you.
14Behold, they have become like stubble,
Fire burns them;
They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame;
There will be no coal to warm by
Nor a fire to sit before!
15So have those become to you with whom you have labored,
Who have trafficked with you from your youth;
Each has wandered in his own way;
There is none to save you."
47:12 "Perhaps you may cause trembling" H. C. Leupold adds the word "me" to show the possibility that God is telling them to see if their spells threaten Him or cause Him to tremble. This seems to be the meaning of the passage. It may, however, refer to the Persian army (NJB).
47:13 Not only are Babylon's deities helpless and humiliated (cf. Isa. 47:1-3,5), but also her prophets and counselors/sorcerers (cf. Isa. 47:14).
| ▣ | |
| NASB, NKJV, LXX | "counsels" |
| NRSV, NJB | "consultations" |
| TEV | "advise" |
| JPSOA | "art" |
This is the same Hebrew word, "counsel" (BDB 420 calls it "political consultation") that is translated "purpose" (REB) in Isa. 46:10,11. This may be a contrast between YHWH's plans/purposes that will come to pass and the faulty, weak, ineffective plans/purposes of the Babylonian religious elite!
No one "counseled" YHWH (cf. Isa. 40:13). He always fulfills His plans (cf. Isa. 44:26; 46:10,11).
| ▣ | |
| NASB, NKJV, TEV, NJB, LXX | "astrologers" |
| NRSV | "those who study the heavens" |
| JPSOA | "scanners of heavens" |
| Peshitta | "Chaldeans" |
| Emphasized Bible | "the dividers of the heavens" |
The MT has the Qal PERFECT of BDB 211, KB 237 (ketiv), which seems to mean "to divide" from an Arabic root. The Masoretic scholars suggested that the Qal PARTICIPLE of the same root be read (qere). If this is accurate then it is parallel with "those who prophesy by the stars" (i.e., astrologers).
47:14 Verse 14 has one unified theme (i.e., judgment by fire) or the first three lines are judgment but the last two may relate to astrologers, the false prophets or enchanters finding a place of comfort from the cold weather (i.e., Isa. 44:66).
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.
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