Isaiah 13:16

16. That the capture of Babylon should be marked by the atrocities here spoken of was no doubt to be expected from the character of the Medes (Isa_13:17 f.), but no such crimes appear to have stained the actual victory of Cyrus. According to Babylonian records he took possession of the city peacefully. (Records of the Past, New SeR.V. 144 ff.) Cf. Psa_137:9; Nah_3:10; Hos_13:16; 2Ki_8:12. The last half of the verse is repeated in Zec_14:2.

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.

Isa 13:16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.

Ver. 16. Their children shall be dashed in pieces, &c.] As had been prayed and prophesied long before {Psa 137:9} and this was but lex talionis. See 2Ch 36:17 Lam 5:11.

Their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.] As those three commandments, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, are ranked together in the law, so they are commonly violated together in the lawless violence of war.

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.

Their children also shall be dashed to pieces. In the barbarous warfare of the time, even children were not spared. (see Psa_137:9 Nah_3:10 Hos_13:16) When a town was taken by assault, they were ruthlessly slaughtered. When spared, it was only to be dragged off as captives, and to become the slaves of their captors in a foreign land. Assyrian sculptures often illustrate this latter practice. Their wives ravished. (comp. Lam_5:11 Zec_14:2)

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

THE DOOM OF THE CHILDREN OF BABYLON

Isa_13:16. Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes.

Consider this terrible declaration—

I. As it regards man.

1. As a revelation of the degradation of which he is capable. History may be said to be a manifold revelation to this effect; the Bible alone gives hope for man, by disclosing his capabilities of development and exaltation.

2. As a remindal that no earthly empire is in and of itself secure against utter over throw.

3. As a remindal that what are called national disasters, are made up of sufferings endured by a vast number of individuals.

II. As it regards God. So considered, it should be remembered—

1. That His permission of such things is, when viewed comprehensively, only part of the great mystery of the permission of evil.

2. That this is an instance of the working of one of the great natural laws by which God governs the universe—the law of retribution.

3. That in the heart of this terrible prediction there is a bright ray of hope. When you see a surgeon performing a terrible operation on a patient, you are sure that he is confident that the patient will be restored to health. So when we look at the world as it is, we are certified that there is a better world to be. God would never have permitted the world to be, if He did not see how out of this present misery He could educe eternal and triumphant blessedness. Towards that better future God is leading on the world (H. E. I., 3421–3423). The revulsion of feeling with which we read this prediction is one proof of it; there was a time when such incidents in the prosecution of a war would have been regarded as a matter of course. That it should not be so now marks an advance, and is a prophecy of further advances.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

13:16 These terrible acts of war would be perpetrated against Babylon, itself a cruel conquering power (see also Ps 137:8-9; Jer 6:11-12; Nah 3:10).

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

This was not accomplished when Cyrus took Babylon, but after the death of Alexander the great.

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

(Psa 137:8-9).

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

(16) Their children also shall be dashed.—Better, their sucklings. The words of the prediction seem to have been in the minds of the exiles in Babylon when they uttered their dread beatitude on those who were to be the ministers of a righteous vengeance (Psa_137:9). Outrages such as these were then, as they have been ever since, the inevitable accompaniments of the capture of a besieged city.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes,.... Upon the ground, or against the wall, as was foretold should be, Psa 137:8 and in way of retaliation for what they did to the Jews, Ch2 36:17 and this was to be done "before their eyes", in the sight of the inhabitants, which must make it the more distressing and afflicting; and, as Kimchi observes, this phrase is to be applied to the following clauses:

their houses shall be spoiled; plundered of the substance, wealth, and riches in them, by the Persian soldiers:

and their wives ravished; by the same, and both before their eyes, and after that slain, in like manner as they had ravished the women in Zion, Lam 5:11.

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

Their children also shall be dashed to pieces - This is a description of the horrors of the capture of Babylon; and there can be none more frightful and appalling than that which is here presented. That this is done in barbarous nations in the time of war, there can be no doubt. Nothing was more common among American savages, than to dash out the brains of infants against a rock or a tree, and it was often done before the eyes of the afflicted and heartbroken parents. That these horrors were not unknown in Oriental nations of antiquity, is evident. Thus, the Psalmist implies that it would be done in Babylon, in exact accordance with this prediction of Isaiah; Psa 137:8-9 :

O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed:

Happy shall he be who rewardeth these as thou hast served us;

Happy shall he be who taketh and dasheth thy little ones

Against the stones.

Thus, also, it is said of Hazael, that when he came to be king of Syria, he would be guilty of this barbarity in regard to the Jews (2Ki 8:13; compare Nah 3:10). It was an evidence of the barbarous feelings of the times; and a proof that they were far, very far, from the humanity which is now deemed indispensable even in war.

Their houses shall be spoiled - Plundered. It is implied here, says Kimchi, that this was to be done also ‘before their eyes,’ and thus the horrors of the capture would be greatly increased.

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

Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes, as a just recompence for the like cruelty acted by them upon the Jews, 2Ch 36:17, which also was foretold, Psa 137:9.

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

16. Their children — Whose children? Either those of foreigners, or of foreigners and natives, according as slaughter was seen to be restricted or general. It was likely to be general, in which case all children are to be slain, every house despoiled, and every woman ravished.

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

The horrors of the conquest shall extend not only to the men, but to their wives and children. “And their children shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses shall be plundered and their wives ravished.” The same thing is threatened against Babylon in Psa 137:9, in retaliation for the barbarities practiced in Jerusalem (2Ch 36:17; Lam 5:11). The horror of the threatening is enhanced by the addition of before their eyes. (Compare Isa 1:7 and Deu 28:31-32).

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

shall be dashed Heb. יְרֻטָּשׁוּ. Comp. (verse 18) “Shall dash (תְּרַטַּשְׁנָה) youths.”

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.

תשגלנה They will be ravished. It is read תשכבנה by euphemism.

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.