Isaiah 14:19

cast out of thy grave Better as in R.V., cast forth away from thy sepulchre, i.e. flung out unburied. The idea that the body had been disinterredis inconsistent with Isaiah 14:20.

like an abominable branch A worthless scion of the family.

and as the raiment of those that are slain Render as R.V. clothed with (i.e. "surrounded by") the slain, on the field of battle.

that go down to the stones of the pit A difficult expression. In its present position it is most naturally understood of the hasty and ignominious burial of a dead enemy by casting stones on the body (cf. 2 Samuel 18:17). The rhythm, however, demands a short line at this point, and this phrase is much too long. Hence some propose to transfer the words to the beginning of Isaiah 14:20, where they would open a new strophe, thus:

"Those that are buried in graves of stone, with them shalt thou not be united in sepulture."

On this view they must be a synonym for honourable sepulture, and the "stones of the pit" would denote stone-built tombs. This seems a less natural sense. A reference to the pit of Sheol (Isaiah 14:15) is hardly to be expected in this place.