Isaiah 13:9

Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. THE DAY OF THE LORD COMETH, CRUEL - not strictly, but unsparingly just; opposed to mercy. Also answering, by just retribution in kind, to the cruelty (in the strict sense) of Babylon toward others (), now about to be visited on itself. TO LAY THE LAND DESOLATE - `the earth' (Horsley). The language from to can only primarily and partially apply to Babylon; fully and exhaustively, the judgments to come hereafter on the whole earth. Compare with...

9._Behold the day of the Lord will come cruel. _He repeats what he had slightly noticed a little before, that though the inhabitants of Babylon are now at ease, and rely on their wealth, _the day of the Lord _is at hand, to terrify those who are at ease. But a question might here be raised, Why is _the day of the Lord _called _cruel_, since nothing is more desirable than to have God present with us; for his presence alone makes us truly happy? I answer, we ought always to consider who they are that are addressed by the Prophet; for it is customary with the prophets to give various descriptions of God corresponding to the diversity of the hearers. In like manner, David also declares that God is merciful to the merciful, and cruel and severe to the ungodly. (Psalms 18:25.) What could wicked men imagine to be in God but the utmost severity? And therefore

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...

THE DAY OF THE LORD COMETH - See Isaiah 13:6. CRUEL - (אכזרי _'ak__e__zārı̂y_). This does not mean that “God” is cruel, but that the ‘day of Yahweh’ that was coming should be unsparing and destructive to them. It would be the exhibition of “justice,” but not of “cruelty;” and the word stands opposed here to mercy, and means that God would not spare them. The effect would be that the inhabitants of Babylon would be destroyed. FIERCE ANGER - Hebrew, (חרון אף _'aph_ _chărôn_) ‘A glow, or burning of anger.’ The phrase denotes the most intense indignation (compare Numbers 25:4;

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 ...

BEHOLD, THE DAY OF THE LORD COMETH,.... Or "is come" e; said in Isaiah 13:6 to be at hand, but now it is represented in prophecy as already come: CRUEL BOTH WITH WRATH AND FIERCE ANGER; which, whether referred to "the Lord", or to "the day", the sense is the same; the day may be said to be cruel, and full of wrath and fury, because of the severity and fierceness of the Lord's anger, exercised upon the Babylonians in it; and he may be said to be so, not that he really is cruel, or exceeds the bounds of justice, but because he seemed to be so to the objects of his displeasure; as a judge may be thought to be cruel and severe by the malefactor, when he only pronounces and executes a righteous judgment on him; a heap of words are here made use of, to express the greatness and fierceness of divine wrath: TO LAY THE LAND DESOLATE; the land of the Chaldeans:...

DAY OF THE LORD (Day of Jehovah) vs. (Isaiah 2:10); (Isaiah 4:1); (Isaiah 11:10); (Isaiah 13:9); (Isaiah 24:21); (Isaiah 26:20); (Isaiah 26:21); (Isaiah 63:1); (Isaiah 66:15); ...

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

CRUEL. stern....