Isaiah 14:4 - Printer Friendly

ESV: you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: "How the oppressor has ceased, the insolent fury ceased!

NIV: you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has come to an end! How his fury has ended!

NASB: that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say, 'How the oppressor has ceased, And how the onslaught has ceased!

CSB: you will sing this song of contempt about the king of Babylon and say: How the oppressor has quieted down, and how the raging has become quiet!

NLT: you will taunt the king of Babylon. You will say, 'The mighty man has been destroyed. Yes, your insolence is ended.

KJV: That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!

NKJV: that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say: “How the oppressor has ceased, The golden city ceased!

Speaking on behalf of the Lord, Isaiah now commands the people of Israel to celebrate the death of the king of Babylon. He is instructing them to mock the king using something known as a "taunt-song." The Lord will have completely obliterated the city of Babylon at this point and freed His people. He now calls upon Israel to openly mock the king who oppressed them for so many years.

Scripture is completely unclear as to which king of Babylon is in mind. Scholars and commentators throughout the years have suggested many of the known kings of Babylon. They have even suggested some of those kings who ruled over both Assyria and Babylon for a time. Others suggest that this song is meant to taunt Satan. This interpretation would be through using the kingship of Babylon as a metaphor for Satan's reign of evil in the world. In truth, there is no conclusive answer.

The song itself is highly structured and is said to be one of the best examples of Hebrew poetry in the Bible. It takes the form of a funeral dirge, but mocks Babylon's king by turning that dirge from a eulogy into ridicule.

It begins by stating that the oppressor has died. With his passing, this man's disobedient rage has also ended. No matter how powerful a person might become in this life, human lives always end. There will be an end to the anger that propelled a powerful person to do evil against so many people. Human tyrants, no matter how evil, are short-lived tools in the hand of an eternal and endlessly powerful God.

Chapter 14:3–23 contains a mocking, sarcastic dirge for the fallen king of Babylon. The song imitates the respects otherwise paid to honor a fallen king. Instead, this song describes celebration of both people and trees at his death. The fallen kings in Sheol rise to mock the man for his weakness. The king is sarcastically referred to as the "Day Star"—leading to speculation that this is also a description of Satan's fall from heaven. The fallen one had ambition to become like the Most High among the gods, but instead was cut down to nothing in his death.

After the oracle against Babylon in the previous chapter, Isaiah briefly describes what will follow for Judah. In compassion, the Lord will choose His people once more. He will return them to their homeland. They will sing a mocking taunt-song against the fallen king of Babylon. Isaiah pronounces oracles from the Lord against Assyria and Philistia. The Lord will break the Assyrians in His land. With heavy symbolism, Isaiah seems to prophecy that the Assyrians will defeat the Philistines with a siege four years before it happens. God's people will find refuge in Zion.

Chapter 14 follows the oracle about the destruction of Babylon with a brief encouragement to the people of Judah. The Lord will restore them to the land. They will taunt the fallen Babylonian king, using phrases many also associate with the fall of Satan. Isaiah pronounces oracles from the Lord against Assyria and Philistia. He declares that He will break the Assyrians in His land, freeing His people from their oppression. Philistia will fall at the Lord's hand to a famine inflicted on them by a power from the north. Next, Isaiah's prophecy will turn to Moab.

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).