Isaiah 13:14 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 13:14
And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.
a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats) · conjunction + preposition + noun, common both genders singular absolute
up
מְקַבֵּ֑ץme.ka.Betz
H6908
to grasp · verb, piel active participle, masculine singular absolute
man
אִ֤ישׁ'ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
turn
יִפְנ֔וּyif.Nu
H6437
to turn · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
people
עַמּוֹ֙a.Mo
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
flee
יָנֽוּסוּya.Nu.su
H5127
to flit · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
one
וְאִ֥ישׁve.'Ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
land
אַרְצ֖וֹ'ar.Tzo
H776
the earth (at large · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Kings 22:17 And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master: let them…
Jeremiah 50:16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn ev…
1 Kings 22:36 And there went a proclamation throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own c…
Jeremiah 51:9 We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth un…
Isaiah 17:13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the c…
Isaiah 47:15 Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; n…
Revelation 18:9-10 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they s…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 13:6-18
We have here a very elegant and lively description of the terrible confusion and desolation which should be made in Babylon by the descent which the Medes and Persians should make upon it. Those that were now secure and easy were bidden to howl and make sad lamentation; for,
I. God was about to appear in wrath against them, and it is a fearful thing to fall into his hands: The day of the Lord is at hand (Isa 13:6), a little day of judgment, when God will act as a just avenger of his own and his people's injured cause. And there are those who will have reason to tremble when that day is at hand. The day of the Lord cometh, Isa 13:9. Men have their day now, and they think to carry the day; but…
it--Babylon.
roe--gazelle; the most timid and easily startled.
no man taketh up--sheep defenseless, without a shepherd (Zac 13:7).
every man . . . to his own people--The "mingled peoples" of foreign lands shall flee out of her (Jer 50:16, Jer 50:28, Jer 50:37; Jer 51:9).
John Gill on Isaiah 13:14
And it shall be as the chased roe,.... That is, Babylon, and the inhabitants thereof, shall be like a roe when hunted by the dogs; which is a very fearful creature, and at the sight and noise of the dogs flies here and there for safety; just so should be the most courageous of the Babylonians, when their city should be taken. The Syriac version renders it, "they shall be"; and the Septuagint and Arabic versions, "they that are left shall be as the fleeing roe", such who fall not by the sword. Kimchi interprets it of people of other nations that should be in Babylon when taken, which agrees with the latter part of the verse:
and as a sheep that no man taketh up; the Septuagint and Arabic ver…
And it shall be as the chased roe. He shows that auxiliary troops will be of no avail to the Babylonians, and by these comparisons he describes the fear which shall seize the soldiers. Babylon employed not only her own soldiers, but likewise foreign and hired soldiers. He says that they will all be like roes, which are timorous creatures, and like scattered sheep, so that they will neither repair to their standards or their post, nor preserve any order.
Every one to his own land. Hence it is easily seen that the Prophet speaks, not only of the natives, or even of the strangers who had formerly dwelt there, but of foreigners who had been brought for the protection of the city. We have former…
The Church Fathers
In this way the word [Scripture] clearly shows the few who will be saved in the day of the ruin of those who are evil. Therefore, one cannot expect that all those who are uncircumcised and all of the Jewish nation, without exception, will receive the promises of God.
(Verse 14) And it will be like a frightened doe, and like a sheep, and there will be no one to gather. It signifies the people of Babylon and the Chaldeans, who flee in fear from the invasion of the Medes and Persians, like a doe and a sheep fleeing from the roar of a lion and the howl of a wolf: they have no defender or ruler whose authority they can follow. Each person will turn to their own people, and each will flee to their own land. After Babylon has been captured and the enemy army has entered through its gates, all the reinforcements and groups of different nations, by which the city was previously defended, will return to their own provinces.
(Verse 14-16.) And it shall be like a frightened doe and like a flock of sheep, and there will be no one to gather them. Each one will turn to their own people, and they will each flee to their own land. Everyone who is found will be killed, and everyone who comes upon them will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered, and their wives will be violated. With heaven and earth in turmoil, the devil will flee like a twisted serpent, or any doctrine contrary to the truth, which is divided among teachers and disciples, the former being called Dorcades, which means Fawns in the Greek language, and the latter are like brute animals, wandering here and there with no one to guide them. For they have lost the one about whom it is written: The steps of a man are established by the Lord (Prov. 20:24). Those who are freed from the worst teachers will turn to their own people, and they will each flee to their own land from which they came. But anyone who is found will be killed or slaughtered. However, this not only happened at the end of the world, but it still happens today in the Church: when the masters are overcome, the deceived flock returns to the people and to their own land; and in that which is found, it is killed so that it ceases to be a heretic, and whoever comes after will fall by the spiritual sword. Then their infants and little ones, who have not yet reached the age of perfected error, are blinded in the eyes of the masters, and their homes are plundered, and their wives are violated, with wicked wisdom and perverse teaching. Wherefore, for fathers of this kind, whose infants are to be killed, we ought to pray and say: Give them, O Lord. What shall you give them? A barren womb, and dry breasts (Hosea IX, 4). For they have brought forth iniquity, have conceived sorrow, and have brought forth injustice.
Dictionary and topics
Babylon — The Greek form of BABEL; Semitic form Babilu, meaning “The Gate of God.” In the Assyrian tablets it means “The city of the dispersion of the tribes.” The monumental list of its kings reaches back to…
Roe, Roebuck — The Hebrew words thus translated denote some species of antelope, probably the Gazella arabica of Syria and Arabia. The gazelle was allowed as food, (12:15,22) etc.; it is mentioned as very fleet of…
Babylon · Predictions respecting: Destruction of — Predictions respecting: Destruction of
Earthquakes · As — As
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
"And it comes to pass as with a gazelle which is scared, and as with a flock without gatherers: they turn every one to his people, and they flee every one to his land." The neuter v'hâyâh affirms that it will then be as described in the simile and the interpretation which follows. Babylon was the market for the world in central Asia, and therefore a rendezvous for the most diverse nations (Jer 50:16, cf., Isa 51:9, 44) - for a πάμμικτος ὄχλος, as Aeschylus says in his Persae, v. 52. This great and motley mass of foreigners would now be scattered in the wildest flight, on the fall of the imperial city. The second disaster is violent death.
Tyndale Open Study Notes on Isaiah 13:13
God will shake the heavens. The earth will move: Cosmic upheaval will accompany God’s coming in judgment (see study note on 5:25; see also Hag 2:7, 21; Heb 12:26-27; Rev 16:17-18; 18:21-22).
Rashi on Isaiah 13:14
And he shall be i.e., every inhabitant of Babylon.
like a roving deer i.e., like a deer roving from its place.