Isaiah 47:8 - meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 47:8
Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
widow
אַלְמָנָ֔ה'al.ma.Nah
H490
a widow · noun, common feminine singular absolute
know
אֵדַ֖ע'e.Da'
H3045
to know (properly · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
children
שְׁכֽוֹלshe.Khol
H7908
bereavement · noun, common masculine singular absolute
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 32:9 Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.
Zephaniah 2:15 This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desolation,…
Isaiah 47:10 For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast…
Isaiah 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Jeremiah 50:11 Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as…
Revelation 18:3-8 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and…
Judges 18:7 Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidoni…
Judges 18:27 And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 47:7–end
Babylon, now doomed to ruin, is here justly upbraided with her pride, luxury, and security, in the day of her prosperity, and the confidence she had in her own wisdom and forecast, and particularly in the prognostications and counsels of the astrologers. These things are mentioned both to justify God in bringing these judgments upon her and to mortify her, and put her to so much the greater shame, under these judgments; for, when God comes forth to take vengeance, glory belongs to him, but confusion to the sinner.
I. The Babylonians are here upbraided with their pride and haughtiness, and the great conceit they had of themselves, because of their wealth and power, and the vast extent of thei…
given to pleasures--(See on Isa 47:1). In no city were there so many incentives to licentiousness.
I am . . . none . . . beside me-- (Isa 47:10). Language of arrogance in man's mouth; fitting for God alone (Isa 45:6). See Isa 5:8, latter part.
widow . . . loss of children--A state, represented as a female, when it has fallen is called a widow, because its king is no more; and childless, because it has no inhabitants; they having been carried off as captives (Isa 23:4; Isa 54:1, Isa 54:4-5; Rev 18:7-8).
John Gill on Isaiah 47:8
Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures,.... To carnal lusts and pleasures; gratifying her sensual appetite; indulging herself in everything that was agreeable to the senses; abounding in delicacies, and living deliciously; as is said of mystical Babylon, Revelation 18:4, particularly given to venereal pleasures. Curtius says (g),
"no city was more corrupt in its manners, or furnished to irritate or allure to immoderate pleasures. Parents and husbands suffered their children and wives to prostitute themselves to strangers, so that they had but a price.''
Yea, every woman was obliged by a law to do this once in life, and that in a public manner, in the temple of Venus; the…
Thinking that you would prove to be better than the Persians, you said, "I am and there is no other," and you were encouraged by the oracles of demons and astrologers. And you called on a hope that was fornication and that was far removed from God. For the association between God and all humanity by nature is very different from that between demons and humans, which provides communion through sorcery. So Paul likens idol worship to a spell when he writes of "idol worship, sorcery." But for the Babylonians and others, idolatry does not lead to pardon or deliverance but to destruction.
(Verse 8, onwards) And now listen to this, you delicate and confident one, who says in your heart: I am, and there is no one besides me; I will not sit as a widow, nor will I know the loss of children. But suddenly these two things will come upon you in one day: widowhood and loss of children. They have come upon you in their entirety because of the multitude of your sorceries and the great abundance of your enchantments. And you have trusted in your wickedness, and you have said: There is no one who sees me. Your wisdom and your knowledge have deceived you, and you have said in your heart: I am, and there is no one else besides me. Evil will come upon you, and you will not know its origin, and calamity will rush upon you, which you will not be able to atone for; suddenly, misery will come upon you, which you will not know. Babylon will come with two things together, sterility and widowhood, so that she will have no children, that is, peoples subject to her; nor a man, whom we can understand as king: while she did not hope for these things, she suddenly endured them. For she could not anticipate that the Persians, of no previous strength, would overcome her, with Cyrus reigning, and subject her to their power. He said, 'The sufferings that you endured were not only because of your pride and abundance of wealth and luxuries, but also because of the multitude of your evils and your enchantments, in which you placed your trust. And a calamity will come upon you that you did not know before, and whose origin you were ignorant of. As the Seventy translated: Destruction will come upon you, and you will not know: a pit, and you will fall into it: so that the evil of captivity that you prepared for all nations, you yourself will fall into the pit that you prepared.' We quickly skim over things that are clear in conversation.
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
Amusements And Pleasures, Worldly · Indulgence in: A characteristic of the wicked — Indulgence in: A characteristic of the wicked
Amusements And Worldly Pleasures · A characteristic of the wicked — A characteristic of the wicked
Babylon · As a power was: Secure and self-confident — As a power was: Secure and self-confident
Confidence · FALSE — FALSE
Pleasure · WORLDLY — WORLDLY
Pride · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
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 47:8
And now hear this, thou delicate woman. The Prophet again threatens the destruction of Babylon, and employs appropriate words for strengthening the hearts of believers, that the prosperity of the Babylonians may not stupify and lead them to despondency; and yet he does not address Babylon in order to produce an impression upon her, but to comfort believers. He adds, that she was intoxicated with pleasures; for prosperity, being the gift of God, ought not in itself to be condemned, but it is well known how prone the children of the world are, to pass from luxury to insolence.
Who saith in her heart. He now explains what is meant by the word to say, of which we spoke in the exposition of the…
A third strophe of this proclamation of punishment is opened here with ועתה, on the ground of the conduct censured. "And now hear this, thou voluptuous one, she who sitteth so securely, who sayeth in her heart, I am it, and none else: I shall not sit a widow, nor experience bereavement of children. And these two will come upon thee suddenly in one day: bereavement of children and widowhood; they come upon thee in fullest measure, in spite of the multitude of thy sorceries, in spite of the great abundance of thy witchcrafts. Thou trustedst in thy wickedness, saidst, No one seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, they led thee astray; so that thou saidst in thy heart, I am it, and none else. A…
I am the only one, and there is no other: This was a claim to divinity (cp. 45:5; 47:10). Only the Lord can make such a claim. For any created thing, including a nation, to utter this is the height of hubris. • To be a widow or to lose one’s children was a disgrace.
Rashi on Isaiah 47:8
delicate one Heb. עֲדִינָה. Jonathan renders: מְפַנֶּקְתָּא, delicate.
and there is none besides me Heb. וְאַפְסִי. And there is none outside of me. Like אֵין זוּלָתִי.
