Isaiah 13:5

Isa 13:5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, [even] the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.

Ver. 5. They come from a far country.] Heb., From a land of longinquity.

Even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation.] ’Oπολομαχους, "Vessels of wrath," the Septuagint render them; but in another sense, then, the apostle useth that expression concerning reprobates designed to destruction.

To destroy the whole land.] Or, The whole world, for so the Chaldees, in the pride of their empire, styled it. The Romans did the like. {Luk 2:1} The Turks do the same at this day, such is their ambition.

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.

13:5 Just as Assyria was the rod of his anger (9:4; 10:5, 15), other nations serve as the Lord’s weapons and carry out his will. The Medes and Persians conquered Babylon in 539 BC. • God’s wrath is an expression of his justice as well as his intent to restore order to the world by obliterating evildoers (10:25-26; see Lam 2:22; Ezek 7:19).

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

The army of the Medes and the Persians against Babylon.

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

They--namely, "Jehovah," and the armies which are "the weapons of His indignation."

far country--Media and Persia, stretching to the far north and east.

end of heaven--the far east (Psa 19:6).

destroy--rather, "to seize" [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 5. They come from a far country] The word מארץ meerets is wanting in one MS. and in the Syriac: "They come from afar."

From the end of heaven] Kimchi says, Media, "the end of heaven," in Scripture phrase, means, the EAST.

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

(5) They come from a far country . . .—The same phrase is used of Cyrus in Isa_46:11, and in Isa_39:3 of Babylon itself in relation to Jerusalem. The “end of heaven” represents the thoughts of Isaiah’s time, the earth as an extended plain, and the skies rising like a great vault above. The phrase represents (Deu_4:32; Psa_19:6), as it were, the ultima Thule of discovery. For the “whole land,” the Hebrew noun hovers, as often elsewhere, between the meanings of “earth,” or “country.” The LXX. favours the former meaning.

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

5. The host is now seen in motion, advancing under the guidance of Jehovah to its appointed goal.

the whole land] Rather, the whole earth. The judgment is directed against the Babylonian Empire, which from the writer’s point of view was practically co-extensive with the civilised 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.

They come from a far country, from the end of heaven,.... The east, as Kimchi observes; the Targum is, from the ends of the earth; the furthermost parts of it, as Persia and Media were: the former is bounded on the south side by the main ocean; and the latter, part of it by the Caspian sea; and between Babylon and these kingdoms lay the large kingdom of Assyria; so that this army might be truly said to come from a far country:

even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation; the Medes and Persians, who were the instruments of his wrath and vengeance against Babylon; just as Assyria is called the rod of his anger, Isa 10:5 with these he is said to come, because this army was of his gathering, mustering, ordering, and directing, in his providence; the end and design of which was,

to destroy the whole land; not the whole world, as the Septuagint render it; but the whole land of Chaldea, of which Babylon was the metropolis. The Targum is,

"to destroy all the wicked of the earth.''

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

They come - That is, ‘Yahweh and the weapons of his indignation’ - the collected armies come. The prophet sees these assembled armies with Yahweh, as their leader, at their head.

From a far country - The country of the Medes and Persians. These nations, indeed, bordered on Babylonia, but still they stretched far to the north and east, and, probably, occupied nearly all the regions to the east of Babylon which were then known.

From the end of heaven - The Septuagint renders this, Ἀπ ̓ ἄκρου θεμελίου τοῦ οὐρανοῦ Ap' akrou themeliou tou ouranou - ‘From the “extreme foundation” of the heaven.’ The expression in the Hebrew, ‘From the end, or extreme peri of heaven,’ means, the distant horizon by which the earth appears to be bounded, where the sky and the land seem to meet. In Psa 19:6, the phrase, ‘from the end of the heaven’ denotes the east, where the sun appears to rise; and ‘unto the ends of it’ denotes the west:

His going forth is from the end of the heaven;

And his circuit unto the ends of it.

It is here synonymous with the phrase, ‘the end of the earth,’ in Isa 5:26.

Even the Lord - The word ‘even,’ introduced here by the translators, weakens the three of this verse. The prophet means to say that Yahweh is coming at the head of those armies, which are the weapons of his indignation.

The weapons of his indignation - The assembled armies of the Medes and Persians, called ‘the weapons of his indignation,’ because by them he will accomplish the purposes of his anger against the city of Babylon (see the note at Isa 10:5).

To destroy the whole land - The whole territory of Babylonia, or Chaldea. Not only the city, but the nation and kingdom.

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

Heaven. Where it seems to touch the horizon. Thus the countries beyond the Euphrates are often designated.

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).

From the end of heaven; from the ends of the earth under heaven, as Mat 24:30; which is not to be understood strictly and properly, but popularly and hyperbolically, as such expressions are commonly used in sacred and profane authors. And yet in some respects this might be truly said of Persia, which on the south side was bounded by the main ocean; as for the same reason Sheba, a part of Arabia, is called

the utmost parts of the earth, Mat 12:42.

The weapons of his indignation; the Medes and Persians, who were but a rod in God’s hand, and the instruments of his anger, as was said of the Assyrian, Isa 10:5.

To destroy the whole land, to wit, of Babylon, of which he is now speaking.

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

5. From a far country… end of heaven — A region but dimly definite to the mind, so very distant is it, extending out to the lowest horizon. The prophet sees the mustering hosts actually coming from the remotest point of sight.

The Lord… weapons… indignation — The armies are under his guidance, and unconsciously become instruments of punishing (literally, seizing) the whole land, — Septuagint, the whole world — which means Babylonia as a symbol or type of all human opposition to divine authority. Isa_14:7; Isa_14:9; Isa_14:16.

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

They come from a far country. (comp. Isa_46:11) Both Media and Persia were "far countries" to the Hebrews, Persia especially. There is no indication that they knew of any countries more remote towards the East. Hence the expression which follows, "from the end of heaven the heaven being supposed to end where the earth ended. Isaiah, like the other sacred writers, conforms his language on cosmical subjects to the opinions of his day. Even the Lord. With a most effective anthropomorphism, Jehovah is made to march with the army that he has mustered (ver. 4) against the land that has provoked his wrathi.e. Babylonia. The weapons. (comp. Isa_10:15 Jer_1:2-5 Jer_51:20) To destroy the whole land. Many critics would render ha-arets by "the earth" here. It may be granted that the language of the prophecy goes beyond the occasion in places (especially vers. 11 and 13), and passes from Babylon to that wicked world of which Babylon is a type; but, where the context permits, it seems better to restrict than to expand the meaning of the words employed.

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

Thy come - From the ends of the earth under heaven, which is not to be understood strictly. The weapons - The Medes and Persians, who were but a rod in God's hand, and the instruments of his anger. Land - Of Babylon.

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

“Coming from a distant land (literally, a land of distance), from the (visible or apparent) end of the heavens, Jehovah and the instruments (or weapons) of His wrath, to lay waste (or destroy) the whole land (of Babylonia).” ‘The end of heaven’ is a strong but natural hyperbole. The best explanation is that the Prophet refers to the horizon or bounding line of vision. He is not deliberately stating from what region they set out, but from what point he sees them actually coming, viz. from the remotest point in sight. This view of the expression, not as a geographical description, but as a vivid representation of appearances, removes the necessity of explaining how Media or Persia could be called a distant land or the extremity of heaven. The host which Jehovah was before said to be mustering is now represented as consisting of Himself and the weapons of His wrath. This intimation of His presence, His co-operation, and even His incorporation, with the invading host, adds greatly to the force of the threatening. The Hebrew word translated implements includes instruments and vessels. It has here the active sense of weapons, while in Rom 9:22, Paul employs a corresponding Greek phrase in the passive sense of vessels, weapons of wrath are the weapons which execute it, vessels of wrath the vessels which contain it.

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

and the weapons of His fury They are the mighty men of Media and Persia.

to destroy all the land of Babylonia.

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.

They come from a far country. They come from the country of Elam. From the end of heaven. As if they came from the extremity of heaven; that is, they come from a great distance.

The Lord cometh. The decrees of the Lord are coming, they will soon be fulfilled. And the weapons of His indignation. Persia and Media.

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.