Isaiah 47:8

Isa 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:

Ver. 8. Thou that art given to pleasure.] Delisatula; It is not good to take pleasure in pleasure; no, not to go as far here as we may. Verecunda sunt omnia initia peecati, Sin seemeth modest at first, &c.

Thou sayest in thine heart, I am,] sc., The lady of the world. Heathen Rome was called by the heathens, Terrarum dea gentiumque. Rome Papal saith as much. {Rev 17:4}

And none else besides me,] i.e., None worth speaking of. The Jesuits brag in like sort of their transcendent learning, and profess skill beyond the periphery of possible knowledge.

I shall not sit as a widow,] i.e., Be bereft of my monarchy, which is, as it were, my husband.

Neither shall I know the loss of children.] I shall not cease to subdue countries and kingdoms, which are added unto me as so many children.

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.

47:8 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.

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

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).

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

(8) I am, and none else beside me . . .—The boasts of Babylon are purposely embodied by the prophet in praises that recall Jehovah’s assertion of His own eternity. She practically deified herself. So a like boast is put into the mouth of Nineveh in Zep_2:15, and was repeated almost verbally by the poets of Rome: Terrarum dea gentiumque Roma, cui par est nihil, et nihil secundum (Martial).

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

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, Rev 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 impurities of which are at large described by Herodotus (h) and Strabo (i):

that dwelleth carelessly; in great confidence and security, being fearless of danger, and insensible of any:

that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else besides me: sole monarch of the world, empress of the whole universe; no competitor with me, none that can rival me. These words are sometimes used by the eternal and unchangeable Jehovah of himself, and indeed they suit with none but him; and it is the height of insolence and blasphemy in a creature to use them of itself; they fitly express that sovereignty, supremacy, infallibility, and even deity, which mystical Babylon assumes and ascribes to her head:

I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children; not be without a head, king, or monarch, which is as a husband to the state; nor without numerous subjects, which are as children. The like mystical Babylon says, "I sit a queen, and am no widow", Rev 18:7.

(g) Hist. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 1. (h) Clio, sive l. 1. c. 199. (i) Geograph. l. 16. p. 513.

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

Therefore hear now this - The prophet proceeds, in this verse and the following, to detail more particularly the sins of Babylon, and to state the certainty of the punishment which would come upon her. In the previous verses, the denunciation of punishment had been figurative. It had been represented under the image of a lady delicately trained and nurtured, doomed to the lowest condition of life, and compelled to stoop to the most menial offices. Here the prophet uses language without figure, and states directly her crimes, and her doom.

That art given to pleasures - Devoted to dissipation, and to the effeminate pleasures which luxury engenders (see the notes at Isa 47:1). Curtius, in his History of Babylon as it was in the times of Alexander (v. 5. 36), Herodotus (i. 198), and Strabo Georg. xvi.), have given a description of it, all representing it as corrupt, licentious, and dissipated in the extreme. Curtius, in the passage quoted on Isa 47:1, says, among other things, that no city was more corrupt in its morals; nowhere were there so many excitements to licentious and guilty pleasures.

That dwellest carelessly - In vain security; without any consciousness of danger, and without alarm (compare Zep 2:15).

I am, and none else besides me - The language of pride. She regarded herself as the principal city of the world, and all others as unworthy to be named in comparison with her (compare the note at Isa 45:6). Language remarkably similar to this occurs in Martial’s description of Rome (xii. 8):

Terrarum dea gentiumque, Roma,

Cui par est nihil, et nihil secundum -

Rome, goddess of the earth and of nations, to whom nothing is equal, nothing second.’

I shall not sit as a widow - On the word ‘sit,’ see the note at Isa 47:1. The sense is, that she would never be lonely, sad, and afflicted, like a wife deprived of her husband, and a mother of her children. The figure is changed from Isa 47:1, where she is represented as a virgin; but the same idea is presented under another form (compare the note at Isa 23:4).

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

I am; I am independent, and self-sufficient, and unchangeable, as that phrase implies, which therefore is appropriated to God, Isa 41:4; 43:10, and elsewhere. The prophet doth not here use the very phrase which the Babylonians used, but expresseth their sense in a Scripture phrase.

None else beside me; which is not either subject to me, or far inferior to me in power and glory; so that in comparison of me it may be said not to be, because it disappears like stars at the presence of the sun.

I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children; I shall never want either a king or people to defend me from all dangers.

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

8. Carelessly — In no anxiety about efforts of Cyrus to take the city. According to Xenophon, the princes and whole court at Babylon looked with contempt on Cyrus. She said,

I am, and none else besides me — Literally, I am, and the absence of me there is none. Profanely she parodies the divine saying, “I am Jehovah, and besides me there is none else.” This strain of defiance and of self-security continues to Isa_47:11.

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

Therefore; rather, and now. The third strophe begins here, but with a single, instead of a double, imperative. So also the fourth strophe in ver. 12. Thou that art given to pleasures (see the comment on ver. 1, sub fin.). That dwellest carelessly; or, that sittest securely; i.e. in an imagined security. Herodotus says that, when Cyrus invested the city, the inhabitants "made light of his siege" (1:190), and occupied themselves "in dancing and revelry" (1:191). The Nabonidus Tablet seems to show that very slight and insufficient preparations for defence were made.! am, and none else Beside me. This is not self-deification, but only a boast of superiority to all other earthly powers. Zephaniah expresses in exactly similar terms the pride and arrogance of Assyria. (Zep_2:15) I shall not sit as a widow; i.e. in solitude and desolation, (Lam_1:1) deserted by the crowds who had sought her marts and delighted in her luxury. This result, which now impended, had never been anticipated by the "careless" one, who had expected to be for ever "the lady of kingdoms." The loss of children; i.e. diminution of population.

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

I am - Independent, and self-sufficient. None - Which is not either subject to me, or far inferior to me in power and glory. Shall not sit - I shall never want either a king or people to defend me.

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

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. And misfortune cometh upon thee, which thou dost not understand how to charm away: and destruction will fall upon thee, which thou canst not atone for; there will come suddenly upon thee ruin which thou suspectest not." In the surnames given to Babylon here, a new reason is assigned for the judgment - namely, extravagance, security, and self-exaltation. עדין is an intensive from of עדן (lxx τρυφερά). The i of אפסי is regarded by Hahn as the same as we meet with in אתּי = אתּ; but this is impossible here with the first person. Rosenmller, Ewald, Gesenius, and others, take it as chirek compaginis, and equivalent to עוד אין, which would only occur in this particular formula. Hitzig supposes it to be the suffix of the word, which is meant as a preposition in the sense of et praeter me ultra (nemo); but this nemo would be omitted, which is improbable. The more probable explanation is, that אפס signifies absolute non-existence, and when used as an adverb, "exclusively, nothing but," e.g., קצהוּ אפס, nothing, the utmost extremity thereof, i.e., only the utmost extremity of it (Num 23:13; cf., Num 22:35). But it is mostly used with a verbal force, like אין (אין), (utique) non est (see Isa 45:14); hence אפסי, like איני, (utique) non sum. The form in which the presumption of Babylon expresses itself, viz., "I (am it), and I am absolutely nothing further," sounds like self-deification, by the side of similar self-assertion on the part of Jehovah (Isa 45:5-6; Isa 14:21, Isa 14:22 and Isa 46:9). Nineveh speaks in just the same way in Zep 2:15; compare Martial: "Terrarum Dea gentiumque Roma cui par est nihil et nihil secundum." Babylon also says still further (like the Babylon of the last days in Rev 18:7): "I shall not sit as a widow (viz., mourning thus in solitude, Lam 1:1; Lam 3:28; and secluded from the world, Gen 38:11), nor experience the loss of children" (orbitatem). She would become a widow, if she should lose the different nations, and "the kings of the earth who committed fornication with her" (Rev 18:9); for her relation to her own king cannot possibly be thought of, inasmuch as the relation in which a nation stands to its temporal king is never thought of as marriage, like that of Jehovah to Israel. She would also be a mother bereaved of her children, if war and captivity robbed her of her population. But both of these would happen to her suddenly in one day, so that she would succumb to the weight of the double sorrow. Both of them would come upon her kethummâm (secundum integritatem eorum), i.e., so that she would come to learn what the loss of men and the loss of children signified in all its extent and in all its depth, and that in spite of (בּ, with, equivalent to "notwithstanding," as in Isa 5:25; not "through = on account of," since this tone is adopted for the first time in Isa 47:10) the multitude of its incantations, and the very great mass (‛ŏtsmâh, an inf. noun, as in Isa 30:19; Isa 55:2, used here, not as in Isa 40:29, in an intensive sense, but, like ‛âtsūm, as a parallel word to rabh in a numerical sense) of its witchcrafts (chebher, binding by means of incantations, κατάδεσμος). Babylonia was the birth-place of astrology, from which sprang the twelve-fold division of the day, the horoscope and sun-dial (Herod. ii. 109); but it was also the home of magic, which pretended to bind the course of events, and even the power of the gods, and to direct them in whatever way it pleased (Diodorus, ii. 29). Thus had Babylon trusted in her wickedness (Isa 13:11), viz., in the tyranny and cunning by which she hoped to ensure perpetual duration, with the notion that she was exalted above the reach of any earthly calamity.

She thought, "None seeth me" (non est videns me), thus suppressing the voice of conscience, and practically denying the omnipotence and omnipresence of God. ראני (with a verbal suffix, videns me, whereas ראי saere in Gen 16:3 signifies videns mei = meus), also written ראני, is a pausal form in half pause for ראני (Isa 29:15). Tzere passes in pause both into pathach (e.g., Isa 42:22), and also, apart from such hithpael forms as Isa 41:16, into kametz, as in קימנוּ (Job 22:20, which see). By the "wisdom and knowledge" of Babylon, which had turned her aside from the right way, we are to understand her policy, strategy, and more especially her magical arts, i.e., the mysteries of the Chaldeans, their ἐπιχώριοι φιλόσοφοι (Strabo, xxi. 1, 6). On hōvâh (used here and in Eze 7:26, written havvâh elsewhere), according to its primary meaning, "yawning," χαῖνον, then a yawning depth, χάσμα, utter destruction, see at Job 37:6. שׁאה signifies primarily a desert, or desolate place, here destruction; and hence the derivative meaning, waste noise, a dull groan. The perfect consec. of the first clause precedes its predicate רעה in the radical form בא (Ges., 147, a). With the parallelism of כּפּרהּ, it is not probable that שׁחרהּ, which rhymes with it, is a substantive, in the sense of "from which thou wilt experience no morning dawn" (i.e., after the night of calamity), as Umbreit supposes. The suffix also causes some difficulty (hence the Vulgate rendering, ortum ejus, sc. mali); and instead of תדעי, we should expect תראי. In any case, shachrâh is a verb, and Hitzig renders it, "which thou wilt not know how to unblacken;" but this privative use of shichēr as a word of colour would be without example. It would be better to translate it, "which thou wilt not know how to spy out" (as in Isa 26:9), but better still, "which thou wilt not know how to conjure away" (shichēr = Arab. sḥḥr, as it were incantitare, and here incantando averruncare). The last relative clause affirms what shachrâh would state, if understood according to Isa 26:9 : destruction which thou wilt not know, i.e., which will come suddenly and unexpectedly.

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.)

“And now,” a common form of logical resumption and conclusion, very nearly corresponding to our phrases, ‘this being so,’ or, ‘such being the case’. “Hear this,” (i.e., what I have just said, or am just about to say, or both). “Oh voluptuous one!” The common version, ‘thou that art given to pleasures,’ is substantially correct, but in form too paraphrastical. The translation ‘delicate’, which some give, is inadequate, at least upon the common supposition that this term is not intended, like the kindred ones in v. 1, to contrast the two conditions of prosperity and downfall, but to bring against the Babylonians the specific charge of gross licentiousness. This corruption of morals, as in other like cases, is supposed to have been aggravated by the wealth of Babylon, its teeming population, and the vast concourse of foreign visitors and residents. After all, however, as this charge is not repeated or insisted on, it may be doubted whether the epithet in question was intended to express more than the fact of her abundant prosperity about to be exchanged for desolation and disgrace. “The (one) sitting in security.” The common version, ‘dwellest’ is much too vague. Sitting seems rather to be mentioned as a posture of security and ease. “The (one) saying’ in her heart (or to herself), I (am) and none besides, (i.e., none like or equal to me). I shall not sit (as) a widow.” The figure of a virgin is now exchanged for that of a wife, a strong proof that the sign was, in the writer’s view, of less importance than the thing signified. The same comparison is used by Jeremiah of Jerusalem (Lam 1:1. Compare Isa 51:18-20; Isa 54:1; Isa 54:4-5). Many interpreters understand widowhood as a specific figure for the loss of a king; but others apply the whole clause to the loss of allies, or of all friendly intercourse with foreign nations. And I shall not know (by experience) the loss of children. This paraphrastical expression is the nearest approach that we can make in English to the pregnant Hebrew word. Bereavement and childlessness may seem at first sight more exact, but the first is not exclusively appropriate to the loss of children, and the last does not suggest the idea of loss at all.

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

Babylon’s Vain Attempt to Avert the Threatened Destruction

v. 8. Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, living in wantonness, luxury, and licentiousness, that dwellest carelessly, the feeling of false security being characteristic of the people of Babylon in that day, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me, an expression of unbounded haughtiness; I shall not sit as a widow, believing that the Babylonian men, the soldiers of its army, could never be overcome, neither shall I know the loss of children, by being bereaved of her inhabitants in the war;

v. 9. but these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, with frightful suddenness, the loss of children and widowhood, a total bereavement; they, these two great trials, shall come upon thee in their perfection, in full measure, for the multitude of thy sorceries and for the great abundance of thine enchantments, witchcraft in its various forms being one of the outstanding features in many of the ancient nations, as recent excavations also show, for magicians and astrologers are frequently mentioned, and formulas of magic were in general use.

v. 10. For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness, deeming herself secure in spite of her cruelty and tyranny; thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom, particularly that of various magical arts, and thy knowledge, especially the science of mathematics, which was pretty well developed in Babylon, it hath perverted thee, turned the heads of the Chaldeans; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me, imagining herself the mistress of the earth, indulging in self-deification.

v. 11. Therefore shall evil come upon thee, in the Lord’s punishment, thou shalt not know from whence it riseth, not being able to banish it; and mischief, misfortune, destruction, shall fall upon thee, thou shalt not be able to put it off, to lay down ransom-money to be delivered from it; and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, as when a destructive storm comes rushing headlong, which thou shalt not know, against which all Babylon’s might and wisdom would be powerless.

v. 12. Stand now with thine enchantments, the various magical formulas employed, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast labored from thy youth, this having ever been a characteristic of Babylon, as far as its history goes back; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail! It is a bitterly sarcastic challenge: Apply all your magical arts; maybe they will help, they may even instill fear and terror in the heart of Jehovah!

v. 13. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels, driven to despair by the fruitless quest for means and methods to meet the threatened punishment and to avert it. Let now the astrologers, those versed in astronomy, but connecting with their activity that of fortune-telling, the star-gazers, the professional observers of the movements of the sidereal bodies, the monthly prognosticators, men who determined the time of the new moon and gave advice concerning lucky days, stand up and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee, rather, those who at new moons make known, by means of them, the things that shall come upon thee. The challenge is held in an even more sarcastic vein than in the foregoing verse.

v. 14. Behold, they, all the wizards and necromancers and astrologers, shall be as stubble, the fire shall burn them, so that they will be totally destroyed; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame, as the wrath of God comes upon them to their destruction; there shall not be a coal to warm at, the stubble burning down to dead ashes, nor fire to sit before it, total destruction having come upon Babylon.

v. 15. Thus shall they, these men upon whom the Babylonians depended, be unto thee with whom thou hast labored, even thy merchants, from thy youth, for the astrologers and wizards and magicians did a flourishing business at the expense of the citizens of Babylonia; they shall wander every one to his quarter, reeling to and fro in the effort to save his life, if possible; none shall save thee. Such would be the fate of proud Babylon, as it usually is the fate of all those who place their trust in witchcraft and necromancy in its various forms. The warning may be fitly appended also here: "Be not deceived, God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. "

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Connecting Statement:

Yahweh continues to speak to Babylon about her downfall as if she were a queen who is humiliated. (See: Metaphor and Personification)

you who love pleasure

"you luxurious one." This refers to the many luxuries that Babylon enjoyed.

sit securely

This refers to Babylon's false sense of security in thinking that she will never lose her position of wealth and honor. AT: "who think you are safe" (See: Idiom)

I will never sit as a widow ... loss of children

Babylon believing that other nations will never be able to conquer her is spoken of as if she will never become a widow or never have children die. (See: Metaphor)

I will never sit as a widow

"I will never become a widow"

in a moment in one day

"suddenly at the same time"

translationWords

heart

children

sorcerer

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

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.

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.

עדינה Given to pleasures. It is an adjective; עדנה pleasure (Gen. 18:12) is of the same root.

אפס═אפסי None, The י is paragogic; comp. מן═מני from (Judg. 5:14).

A widow. The king of the country is metaphorically called the husband.

שכל The loss of children. It is a noun similar in form to כפר hoar-frost (Ex. 16:14); שפט judgment (2 Chr. 20:9)

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.