Isaiah 13:11

Isa 13:11 And I will punish the world for [their] evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

Ver. 11. And I will punish the world.] That is, the Chaldean state; for they reckoned themselves κοσμοκρατορας, or lords of the world. See on Isa 13:5. Or to show that, if the whole world should conspire against the Lord, he can as easily punish them as he did that rabble of rebels the old world. See Dan 4:17.

And lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.] Or, Of the roysters or tyrants.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Isa 13:11-16. I will punish the world — The Babylonish empire, which is called the world, as the Roman empire afterward was, (Luk 2:1,) because it was extended to a great part of the world, and because it was very populous, and Babylon itself looked more like a world than one city. I will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible — Of them who formerly were very terrible for their great power and cruelty. I will make a man more precious, &c. — The city and nation shall be so depopulated, that few men shall be left in it. I will shake the heavens, &c. — A poetical and prophetical description of great confusions and terrors, as if heaven and earth were about to meet together. And it shall be as the chased roe — That Babylon, which used to be like a roaring lion and a raging bear to all about her, shall become like the timid, frighted roe, pursued by the hunter, and as a sheep which no man taketh up — In a most forlorn and neglected condition. And the army they shall bring into the field, consisting of troops from divers nations, as great armies usually do, shall be so dispirited by their own fears, and so dispersed by their enemies’ sword, that they shall turn every man to his own people — Shall each shift for his own safety. Or the prophet may refer to those inhabitants of Babylon who were originally of different nations, but had settled there: as many of these, he signifies, as can, shall flee out of it, and endeavour to escape to their own countries. Every one that is found — In Babylon, at the taking of it; shall fall by the sword — The fear of which shall make them flee away with all speed. Their children also shall be dashed, &c. — As a just recompense for the like cruelty acted by them upon the Jews, 2Ch 36:17, which was also foretold Psa 137:9.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13:11 punish the world: See Rev 20:11.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He compareth Babylon to the whole world, because they so esteemed themselves by reason of their great empire.

He noteth the principal vice, whereunto they are most given, as are all that abound in wealth.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

world--the impious of the world (compare Isa 11:4).

arrogancy--Babylon's besetting sin (Dan 4:22, Dan 4:30).

the terrible--rather, tyrants [HORSLEY].

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 11. I will punish the world - "I will visit the world"] That is, the Babylonish empire; as η οικουμενη, for the Roman empire, or for Judea, Lu 2:1; Ac 11:28. So the universus orbis Romanus, for the Roman empire; Salvian. lib. v. Minos calls Crete his world: "Creten, quae meus est orbis," Ovid. Metamorph. viii. 9.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11, 12. Jehovah is again the speaker, as in Isa_13:3. The prophet has already in Isa_13:9 intimated the purpose of the judgment; here the thought is added that in its execution the existing generation will be all but exterminated; so wide-spread is the wickedness and tyranny of the world.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And I will punish the world for their evil,.... Not the whole world, but the kingdom of Babylon, so called because of its large extent, and the number of its inhabitants, just as the Roman empire is called the whole world, Luk 2:1 "evil" may be meant, either of the evil of sin, which was the cause of punishment, or else of the evil of punishment itself; and the sense be this, I will visit, or, in a way of visitation, I will bring evil, or evils, upon the world; so the Targum,

and the wicked for their iniquity, or "on the wicked their iniquity"; that is, I will visit on them, or inflict upon them, the punishment of their iniquity; meaning the notorious and abandoned sinners among them, see Isa 13:9,

and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and I will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible: such as Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, famous for their pride, arrogance, and haughtiness, tyranny and oppression, whereby they became terrible to others.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And I will punish the world - By the ‘world’ here is evidently meant the Babylonian empire, in the same way as ‘all the world’ in Luk 2:1, means Judea; and in Act 11:28, means the Roman empire. Babylonia, or Chaldea, was the most mighty empire then on earth, and might be said to comprehend the whole world.

And I will cause the arrogancy - This was the prevailing sin of Babylon, and it was on account of this pride mainly that it was overthrown (see the notes at Isa. 14; notes at Isa 47:1-7; compare Dan 4:22, Dan 4:30).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

World. The vices of all nations were concentrated at Babylon. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The world; the Babylonish empire, which is called the world, as the Roman empire afterward was, Luk 2:1, because it was extended to a great part of the world, and because it was vastly populous, and Babylon itself looked more like a world than one city.

Of the terrible; of them who formerly were very terrible for their great power and cruelty.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11, 12. Punish the world — The Babylonian world, the symbol (Isa_13:5) of all resisting human wills and kingdoms of the earth hostile to God. Here the prophet, as afterward elsewhere, resolves his figures into literal expressions. Isa_1:22; Isa_11:9.

Arrogancy — Babylon’s prevailing sin.

The terrible — Tyrants and oppressors.

Make a man more precious — More scarce or rare than fine gold.

Than the… wedge of Ophir — “Wedge,” כתם, (kethem,) properly means “gold” — Ophir’s gold. For the probable location of “Ophir,” see notes on 1Ki_9:28; 1Ki_10:11. But the main point of the text is the scarcity of man, weak and frail, אנושׁ, (Enosh,) and man אדם, (Adam,) men of the common origin. Both words would seem to include man exhaustively. Babylon’s defenders shall be so cut off that a single man will be more scarce than the finest gold. This is the common explanation. But Kay (Bible Commentary) hints another meaning. It is in substance this: “I will make a man,” the lowly man, in comparison with the “haughty,” “arrogant,” “the terrible ones,” of more consequence to me in caring, providing, etc., for him (Psalm viii) than the choicest gold. The lowly man, the man formed out of the dust, is the holy man of my “remnant” preserved in Babylon to be returned to Jerusalem. He shall be kept safe amid the terrible judgments upon Babylon by the army of Cyrus. This seems far-fetched, yet it has some plausibility.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I will punish the world for their evil. Here the prophecy certainly goes beyond the destruction of Babylon, and becomes a general warning to the wicked of all court-tries. Each country is to feel that its turn will come. Punishment will fall especially on the unjust, the proud, and the haughty. (comp. Isa_1:28 Isa_2:11-17, etc.)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The world - The Babylonish empire, which is called the world, as the Roman empire afterwards was, because it was extended to a great part of the world.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The prophet now hears again the voice of Jehovah revealing to him what His purpose is - namely, a visitation punishing the wicked, humbling the proud, and depopulating the countries. "And I visit the evil upon the world, and upon sinners their guilt, and sink into silence the pomp of the proud; and the boasting of tyrants I throw to the ground. I make men more precious than fine gold, and people than a jewel of Ophir." The verb pâkad is construed, as in Jer 23:2, with the accusative of the thing punished, and with על of the person punished. Instead of 'eretz we have here tēbel, which is always used like a proper name (never with the article), to denote the earth in its entire circumference. We have also ‛ârı̄tzı̄m instead of nedı̄bı̄m: the latter signifies merely princes, and it is only occasionally that it has the subordinate sense of despots; the former signifies men naturally cruel, or tyrants (it occurs very frequently in Isaiah). Everything here breathes the spirit of Isaiah both in thought and form. "The lofty is thrown down:" this is one of the leading themes of Isaiah's proclamation; and the fact that the judgment will only leave a remnant is a fundamental thought of his, which also runs through the oracles concerning the heathen (Isa 16:14; Isa 21:17; Isa 24:6), and is depicted by the prophet in various ways (Isa 10:16-19; Isa 17:4-6; Isa 24:13; Isa 30:17). There it is expressed under the figure that men become as scarce as the finest kinds of gold. Word-painting is Isaiah's delight and strength. 'Ophir, which resembles 'okir in sound, was the gold country of India, that lay nearest to the Phoenicians, the coast-land of Abhira on the northern shore of the Runn (Irina), i.e., the salt lake to the east of the mouths of the Indus (see at Gen 10:29 and Job 22:24; and for the Egypticized Souphir of the lxx, Job 28:16).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

The Prophet according to his custom (see above, on Isa 1:22; Isa 5:7; Isa 11:9), now resolves his figures into literal expressions, showing that the natural convulsions just predicted are to be understood as metaphorical descriptions of the divine judgments. “And I will visit upon the world (its) wickedness (i.e., manifest my presence for the purpose of punishing it), and upon the wicked their iniquity, and I will cause to cease the arrogance of presumptuous sinners, and the pride of tyrants (or oppressors) I will humble.” World is here applied to the Babylonian empire, as embracing most of the known world.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Connecting Statement:

Yahweh continues to talk about what he will do on the day of Yahweh.

the world

This refers to people. AT: "the people of the world" (See: Metonymy)

the wicked ... the proud ... the ruthless

These phrases refer to people who have these qualities. AT: "wicked people ... proud people ... ruthless people" (See: Nominal Adjectives)

the ruthless

"cruel people"

will bring down the arrogance of the ruthless

Being low often represents being humble. Bringing down people's arrogance represents making them humble. AT: "will humble the ruthless" (See: Metaphor)

I will make men more rare than fine gold

Why there will be so few people can be stated clearly. AT: "I will cause so many people to die that living people will be more rare than fine gold" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

men more rare than fine gold ... mankind harder to find than the pure gold of Ophir

These two phrases mean basically the same thing. (See: Parallelism)

pure gold of Ophir

Ophir was the name of a place where there was pure gold. (See: How to Translate Names)

translationWords

punish

world

evil

iniquity

arrogant

proud

gold

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

upon the earth On their land.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

The world. Cyrus conquered many countries, as he says; All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord, the God of heavens, hath given me (Ezr. 1:2)

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.