Isaiah 14:10

Isa 14:10 All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?

Ver. 10. Art thou also become weak as we?] Interrogatio sarcastica et insultabunda. Hast thou also a Hic situs est, here he lies, or Mortuus est, here he died, set upon thy tombstone? This if thou hadst forethought, thou wouldst have better behaved thyself while alive: the meditation of death would have been a death to thy passions, and an allay to thine insolencies. Virgil saith, if swarms of bees meet in the air, they will sometimes fight as it were in a set battle with great violence; but if you cast but a little dust upon them, they will be all presently quiet.

“ Hi motus animorum atque haec certamina tanta,

Pulveris exigui iactu compressa quieseunt. ”

- Georg., lib. iv.

Had Nebuchadnezzar or his successors bethought themselves of their mortality and of death’s impartiality, they would have been more moderate.

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.

14:10 weak as we are: The Babylonian king had no power over anyone after death and was unable to leave Sheol. The Israelites will mock this great king who on earth appeared to have no weaknesses.

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

They taunt him and derive from his calamity consolation under their own (Eze 31:16).

weak--as a shade bereft of blood and life. Rephaim, "the dead," may come from a Hebrew root, meaning similarly "feeble," "powerless." The speech of the departed closes with Isa 14:11.

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

(10) Art thou also become weak as we?—The question implies, of course, an affirmative answer. The king of Babylon, the report of whose coming had roused awe and wonder, is found to be as weak as any of the other Rephaim, the eidôla, or shadowy forms, of Homer (Il, xxiii., 72). With these words the vision of the spectral world ends, and the next verse takes up the taunting song of the liberated Israelites, the language of which is, however, influenced by the imagery of the vision.

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

All they shall speak, and say unto thee,.... So they would say, could they speak, and are here represented as if they did:

art thou become also weak as we? who had been more powerful than they, had been too many for them, and had subdued them, and ruled over them, and was not only looked upon as invincible but as immortal, yea, as a deity; and yet now was become "sick", as the word (b) signifies, or by sickness brought to death, and by death enfeebled and rendered weak and without strength, stripped of all natural strength, as well as of all civil power and authority:

art thou become like unto us? who thought himself, and was flattered by others, that there were none like unto him; but now as the rest of the dead, and upon a level with them. So will it be with the Romish antichrist, who now exalts himself above all that is called God, and reigns over the kings of the earth, and shows himself as if he was God, and of whom his parasites say, "who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?" when he shall be consumed by Christ, and cast into the lake of fire with the devil and false prophet, he will be like the kings of the earth deceived by him, and the rest of the worshippers of him, and be as weak as they, Th2 2:4, Rev 20:10.

(b) a "aegrotuss fuit".

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

All they shall speak ... - Language of astonishment that one so proud, and who apparently never expected to die, should be brought down to that humiliating condition. It is a severe taunt at the great change which had taken place in a haughty monarch.

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

Thou, who wast king of kings, and far superior to us in power and authority, that didst neither fear God nor reverence man, that didst slay whom thou wouldst, and keep alive whom thou wouldst, Dan 5:19.

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

10. Shall speak — The scene is as if, before his coming, they stood in dread; but his approach revealing his weakness, they become bolder, and venture the expression, on his advance toward them, “Thou art weak as we.” Delitzsch is of opinion that this is all the shades say; that what follows does not belong to them. And on the ground that surprise naturally, after an expressive burst, says but little, this is probably true.

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

Art thou also become weak as we? rather, So thou also art made weak as we! (On the supposed weakness of the dead, see the comment on ver. 9.)

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

And how do they greet this lofty new-comer? "They all rise up and say to thee, Art thou also made weak like us? art thou become like us?" This is all that the shades say; what follows does not belong to them. The pual chullâh (only used here), "to be made sickly, or powerless," signifies to be transposed into the condition of the latter, viz., the Repahim (a word which also occurs in the Phoenician inscriptions, from רפא = רפה, to be relaxed or weary), since the life of the shades is only a shadow of life (cf., εἴδωλα ἄκικυς, and possibly also καμόντες in Homer, when used in the sense of those who are dying, exhausted and prostrate with weakness). And in Hades we could not expect anything more than this expression of extreme amazement. For why should they receive their new comrade with contempt or scorn? From Isa 14:11 onwards, the singers of the mashal take up the song again.

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.)

“All of them shall answer and say to thee: thou also art made weak as we, to us art likened!” This is a natural expression of surprise that one so far superior to themselves should now be a partaker of their weakness and disgrace. The interrogative form given to the last clause by all the English versions is entirely arbitrary, and much less expressive than the simple assertion or exclamation preferred by the oldest and latest writers.

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:

This is part of the taunt song that the Israelites will sing to the king of Babylon. Here they sing about what the dead kings in Sheol will say to him.

They all will speak and say to you

The word "they" refers to the dead kings in Sheol, and the word "you" refers to the king of Babylon.

Your pomp has been brought down to Sheol

The dead kings will speak of the king of Babylon having no more splendor as if his splendor had gone down to Sheol. AT: "Your splendor ended when God sent you here to Sheol" (See: Metaphor)

with the sound of your string instruments

People would make music on string instruments to honor the king. The dead kings will speak of people no longer honoring the king of Babylon with music as if the music went to Sheol. AT: "along with the sound of people playing music to honor you" (See: Metaphor)

Maggots are spread under you

The maggots under his dead body are spoken of as if they were a mat or bed. AT: "You lie on a bed of maggots" or "You lie on many maggots" (See: Metaphor)

worms cover you

The worms all over his body are spoken of as if they were covering him like a blanket. AT: "Worms cover you like a blanket" or "There are worms all over your body" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

Hades

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

Have you too become weak like us We are amazed how the misfortune has fallen upon you, that you too have become weak, to be like us, to die.

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.

All they, etc. They would, if they could, speak thus.

חלית Art thou become weak. Root חלה to be ill; comp. מחלה illness. (Exod. 15:26)

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.