to crouch (on all four legs folded · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
safety
לָבֶ֣טַחla.Ve.tach
H983
properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
kill
וְהֵמַתִּ֤יve.he.ma.Ti
H4191
to die (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
root
שָׁרְשֵׁ֔ךְsha.re.Shekh
H8328
a root (literally or figuratively) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
famine
בָֽרָעָב֙va.ra.'Av
H7458
hunger (more or less extensive) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
slay
יַהֲרֹֽגya.ha.Rog
H2026
to smite with deadly intent · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
remnant
וּשְׁאֵרִיתֵ֖ךְu.she.'e.ri.Tekh
H7611
a remainder or residual (surviving · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine 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
Isaiah 7:21-22 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;
Zephaniah 2:4-7 For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.
Job 18:13 It shall devour the strength of his skin: even the firstborn of death shall devour his strength.
Isaiah 3:15 What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
Isaiah 5:17 Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.
Isaiah 8:21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themse…
Isaiah 9:20 And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat eve…
Isaiah 30:23-24 Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 14:24–end
The destruction of Babylon and the Chaldean empire was a thing at a great distance; the empire had not risen to any considerable height when its fall was here foretold: it was almost 200 years from this prediction of Babylon's fall to the accomplishment of it. Now the people to whom Isaiah prophesied might ask, "What is this to us, or what shall we be the better for it, and what assurance shall we have of it?" To both questions he answers in these verses, by a prediction of the ruin both of the Assyrians and of the Philistines, the present enemies that infested them, which they should shortly be eye-witnesses of and have benefit by. These would be a present comfort to them, and a pledge of f…
first-born of . . . poor--Hebraism, for the most abject poor; the first-born being the foremost of the family. Compare "first-born of death" (Job 18:13), for the most fatal death. The Jews, heretofore exposed to Philistine invasions and alarms, shall be in safety. Compare Psa 72:4, "Children of the needy," expressing those "needy in condition."
feed--image from a flock feeding in safety.
root--radical destruction.
He shall slay--Jehovah shall. The change of person, "He" after "I," is a common Hebraism.
John Gill on Isaiah 14:30
And the firstborn of the poor shall feed,.... That is, the Jews, who were brought very low in the times of Ahaz, reduced to the greatest straits and difficulties; for so the word "firstborn" may signify the chief, or those who were of all the poorest, and in the greatest distress; these, in the times of Hezekiah, shall enjoy abundance of good things, and under his gentle government shall feed like a flock of sheep in good pastures; this signifying, that though he should be like a serpent, harmful to his enemies, yet should be kind and tender unto, and take great care of his own subjects, and under whom they should have great plenty and prosperity:
and the needy shall lie down in safety; lik…
(Ver. 30.) And the firstborn of the poor will be fed, and the poor will rest confidently. When the ruler strikes you, and the flying dragon devastates your boundaries, you will not plot against Judah, and you will not frighten my humble people with your deceit; but crushed by your own troubles, you will weep for your calamity. But the humble and poor, who did not trust in wealth and power, but in my name, will rest in secure peace and will not fear the attack of any enemy. And I will make your root perish in famine, and I will destroy your remnants. He is speaking entirely in figures. The meaning is that, while the people of God are confidently resting, the root of the Philistines will dry up, and all the remnants will be consumed.
Moreover, those who have not broken the rod and yoke of their oppressor, but have submitted their neck to the Lord, and are poor in spirit, will be nourished, and will say: The Lord feeds me, and nothing will be lacking for me (Ps. 122:1). And they will hear from the Lord: I will feed them in fertile pastures (Ezek. 34; John 10); and they will enter and leave, and will find pastures. And the poor will be nourished by Him who strikes them in order to correct them: and they will rest in peace, whether the shepherd is watchful, they will act confidently, and they will rest with Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham (Luke 16). But those who broke the yoke and the staff of their oppressor shall endure everlasting hunger, so that they may not be nourished by the word of God, but all their remnants shall perish, so that nothing may grow from the evil seed.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
First-born — Sons enjoyed certain special privileges (Deut. 21:17; Gen. 25:23, 31, 34; 49:3; 1 Chr. 5:1; Heb. 12:16; Ps. 89:27). (See BIRTHRIGHT.) The “first-born of the poor” signifies the most miserable of the…
Famine · Sent as a — Sent as a
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).
John Calvin on Isaiah 14:30
And the first-born of the poor shall feed. The Prophet, as has been already said, has not so much in view the Philistines, to whom his threatenings were of no avail, as the Jews, whom he wished to comfort in their affliction; for they were so grievously afflicted that they were not far from despair. He therefore calls them the first-born of the poor, as being eminent for their wretchedness; for, being reduced to extremities, they held the first rank among the wretched. Now, he promises that the Lord will deliver them from such misery, and will again feed and nourish them. Hence we perceive that the Philistines were cut down and destroyed for the benefit of the people of God. In like manner,…
The coming Davidic king is peace for Israel, but for Philistia death. "And the poorest of the poor will feed, and needy ones lie down in peace; and I kill thy root through hunger, and he slays thy remnant." "The poorest of the poor:" becōrē dallim is an intensified expression for benē dallim, the latter signifying such as belong to the family of the poor, the former (cf., Job 18:13, mors dirissima) such as hold the foremost rank in such a family - a description of Israel, which, although at present deeply, very deeply, repressed and threatened on every side, would then enjoy its land in quietness and peace (Zep 3:12-13). In this sense ורעוּ is used absolutely; and there is no necessity fo…
The king who attacked Philistia was probably Ahaz (14:28). • a more poisonous snake: This probably refers to one of the later Assyrian kings, either Sennacherib (701 BC), Esarhaddon (680 BC), or Ashurbanipal (668 BC).
Rashi on Isaiah 14:30
And the first born of the poor shall graze In his days, the princes of Israel, who are now poor because of you, shall graze. “Firstborn,” is an expression of princes. Comp. (Ps. 89:28) “Also, I will appoint him My firstborn.”
