Isaiah 13:6

Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. THE DAY OF THE LORD IS AT HAND - the day of His vengeance on Babylon (Isaiah 2:12). Type of the future "great day of His wrath" (Revelation 6:17). IT SHALL COME AS A DESTRUCTION - literally, a devastating tempest; Hebrew, Shod. FROM THE ALMIGHTY - not from mere man; therefore irresistible: "Almighty." There is a play on similar sounds: Hebrew, Shod (H7701), Shaday (H7706)....

6._Howl ye. _He continues the same argument, and bids the inhabitants of Babylon _howl_. Not that he directs instruction to them, as if he hoped that it would be of any advantage, but, in foretelling what shall be their condition, he emphatically employs this form of direct address. _For the day of the Lord is at hand. _He calls it _the day of the Lord_, according to the usual custom of Scripture, because when the Lord delays his judgment, he appears to cease from the discharge of his office, like judges when they do not ascend the judgment-seat. This mode of expression deserves notice, for we would gladly subject God to our disposal, that he might immediately pass sentence against the wicked. But he has his own appointed time, and knows the seasons when it is proper both to punish the bad and to assist the good. _It shall come as destruction from the Strong One. _(200) He thre

6-18 We have here the terrible desolation of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. Those who in the day of their peace were proud, and haughty, and terrible, are quite dispirited when trouble comes. Their faces shall be scorched with the flame. All comfort and hope shall fail. The stars of heaven shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened. Such expressions are often employed by the prophets, to describe the convulsions of governments. God will visit them for their iniquity, particularly the sin of pride, which brings men low. There shall be a general scene of horror. Those who join themselves to Babylon, must expect to share her plagues, Revelation 18:4. All that men have, they would give for their lives, but no man's riches shall be the ransom of his life. Pause here and wonder that men should be thus cruel and inhuman, and see how corrupt the nature of man is become. And that...

HOWL YE - Ye inhabitants of Babylon, in view of the approaching destruction. THE DAY OF THE LORD - The time when Yahweh will inflict vengeance on you draws near (see the note at Isaiah 2:12; compare Isaiah 13:9). AS A DESTRUCTION FROM THE ALMIGHTY - Not as a desolation from man, but as destruction sent from him who has all power in heaven and on earth. Destruction meditated by man might be resisted; but destruction that should come from the Almighty must be final and irresistible. The word ‘Almighty’ שׁדי _shadday_, one of the names given to God in the Scriptures, denotes, properly, “one who is mighty,” or who has all power; and is correctly rendered Almighty, or

EXPOSITION THE BURDEN OF BABYLON. The series of prophecies which commences with this chapter and continues to the close of Isaiah 23:1; is connected together by the word _massa_, burden. It has been argued that the term "burden" is an incorrect translation of _massa_, as used by Isaiah and later prophets (Nahum 1:1; Habakkuk 1:1; Zechariah 9:1; Zechariah 12:1; Malachi 1:1); and that ...

HOWL YE, FOR THE DAY OF THE LORD IS AT HAND,.... These words are an address to the Babylonians, who instead of rejoicing and feasting, as Belshazzar and his nobles were the night that Babylon was taken, had reason to howl and lament; seeing the day that the Lord had fixed for their destruction was very near, and he was just about to come forth as a judge to take vengeance on them; for though it was about two hundred and fifty years from the time of this prophecy, to the taking of Babylon, yet it is represented as at hand, to show the certainty of it, both for the comfort of the Jewish captives, when they should be in it, and for the awakening of the sluggish inhabitants, who were secure, and thought themselves out of danger: IT SHALL COME AS A DESTRUCTION FROM THE ALMIGHTY: suddenly, swiftly, and irresistibly: there is a beautiful paronomasia in the Hebrew text, "ceshod mishaddai" c; as...

2. THE JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS AND THE FUTURE DAY OF JEHOVAH (13-27) CHAPTER 13 The Burden of Babylon 1. _Jehovah's call to the judgment of Babylon (Isaiah 13:1)_ 2. _The day of Jehovah: When Babylon falls (Isaiah 13:6)_ 3. _Babylon overthrown (Isaiah 13:17)_ The great judgments announced in this part of Isaiah were only partially fulfilled in the past. The great Babylon which came into existence as the mistress of the world after this prophecy had been given, fell by the Medes (verse 17 and Daniel 5:1. The judgment of this Babylon is meant here first. But the Babylon of the past is the type of a Babylon of

ISAIAH 13:1 TO ISAIAH 14:23. THE UTTER RUIN OF BABYLON AND TRIUMPHAL ODE OVER HER MONARCH'S DEATH. Historical conditions are here presupposed entirely different from those of Isaiah's time. The subject of Isaiah 13 is the overthrow of Babylon by the Medes a century and a half after his age. Since the downfall is said to lie in the near future, the prophecy must have been written very near the close of the Exile. The description of Babylon is also not true to the situation of Isaiah's day. The great oppressing empire, whose downfall he predicted, was Assyria. Babylon was subject to it, though it revolted from time to time, and it was united in friendly relations with Judah by hate for the common oppressor. In our prophecy Babylon is no longer a subject state, but the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldea

THE DAY. Put by Figure of speech _Metonymy_ (of Subject), for the events (or judgments) which shall take place in it. DAY OF THE LORD.. See note on Isaiah 2:12. Occurs in fifteen other places in O.T.: (Isaiah 13:9; Ezekiel 13:5.Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1; Joel 2:11; Joel 2:31; Amos 5:18;...

The verse is almost identical with Joel 1:15. On the "day of Jehovah" see on ch. Isaiah 2:12. _as a destruction from the Almighty_ The Heb. phrase contains an alliteration which cannot be easily reproduced in English. The Germans render "wie Gewalt vom Gewaltigen." The word for "Almighty" is the Divine name _Shaddai_(see Exodus 6:3), but its etymology is doubtful. According to one derivation it comes from the same root as the word for "destruction," so that we might almost venture to translate "like destruction from the Destroyer." This verse, however, can hardly be appealed to in support of that view, since it may imply nothing beyond the mere play upon words. (See further Robertson Smith, _Old Test. in Jewish Church_, pp. 4