Jesaja 47:1

Afrikaans Bible

Kom af en sit in die stof, jonkvrou, dogter van Babel! Sit op die grond sonder troon, dogter van die Chaldeërs! Want jy sal nie langer genoem word die vertroetelde en verwénde nie.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

down: Isaiah 3:26, Isaiah 26:5, Isaiah 52:2, Job 2:8, Job 2:13, Psalms 18:27, Jeremiah 13:18, Jeremiah 48:18, Lamentations 2:10, Lamentations 2:21, Ezekiel 26:16, Ezekiel 28:17, Obadiah 1:3, Obadiah 1:4, Jonah 3:6

O virgin: Isaiah 37:22, Jeremiah 46:11

daughter: Psalms 137:8, Jeremiah 50:42, Jeremiah 51:33, Zechariah 2:7

there is: Isaiah 14:13, Isaiah 14:14, Psalms 89:44, Haggai 2:22

thou shalt: Isaiah 47:7-9, Isaiah 32:9-11, Deuteronomy 28:56, Deuteronomy 28:57, Lamentations 4:5, Revelation 18:7

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 19:21 - The virgin Isaiah 13:1 - of Babylon Isaiah 14:6 - is persecuted Isaiah 23:7 - her own Isaiah 23:12 - thou oppressed Isaiah 32:11 - strip Jeremiah 25:12 - perpetual Jeremiah 25:26 - drink Jeremiah 27:7 - until Jeremiah 50:1 - against Babylon Jeremiah 51:29 - every Lamentations 1:1 - sit Lamentations 1:21 - thou wilt Daniel 5:20 - deposed Daniel 5:26 - God Nahum 3:18 - nobles 1 Timothy 5:6 - in pleasure

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon,.... The kingdom of Babylon is meant, as the Targum paraphrases it; or the Babylonish monarchy, called a virgin, because it had never been subdued and conquered from the first setting of it up, until it was by Cyrus; so Herodotus c says, this was the first time that Babylon was taken; and also because of the beauty and glory of it: but now it is called to come down from its height and excellency, and its dominion over other kingdoms, and sit in a mournful posture, and as in subjection to other princes and states, Jerom observes, that some interpret this of the city of Rome, which is mystical Babylon, and whose ruin may be hinted at under the type of literal Babylon. And though the church of Rome boasts of her purity and chastity, of her being espoused to Christ as a chaste virgin, she is no other than the great whore, the mother of harlots; and though she has reigned over the kings of the earth, the time is coming when she must come down from her throne and dignity, and sit and be rolled in the dust:

there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: that is, for her; there was a throne, but it was for Cyrus and Darius, kings of Persia, who should now possess it, when the king of Babylon should be obliged to come down from it. So the seat and throne which the dragon gave to the beast shall be taken from it, and be no more, Revelation 13:2:

for thou shall no more be called tender and delicate; or be treated in a tender and delicate manner; or live deliciously, and upon dainties, as royal personages do, Revelation 18:7.

c Clio, sive l. 1. c. 191.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Come down - Descend from the throne; or from the seat of magnificence and power. The design of this verse has already been stated in the analysis. It is to foretell that Babylon would be humbled, and that she would be reduced from her magnificence and pride to a condition of abject wretchedness. She is therefore represented as a proud female accustomed to luxury and ease, suddenly brought to the lowest condition, and compelled to perform the most menial services.

And sit in the dust - To sit on the ground, and to cast dust on the head, is a condition often referred to in the Scriptures as expressive of humiliation and of mourning Joshua 8:6; Job 2:12; Job 10:9; Psalms 22:15; Lamentations 3:29. In this manner also, on the medals which were struck by Titus and Vespasian to commemorate the capture of Jerusalem, Jerusalem is represented under the image of a female sitting on the ground under a palm-tree, with the inscription Judaea capta (see the notes at Isaiah 3:26). The design here is, to represent Babylon as reduced to the lowest condition, and as having great occasion of grief.

O virgin daughter of Babylon - It is common in the Scriptures to speak of cities under the image of a virgin, a daughter, or a beautiful woman (see the notes at Isaiah 1:8; Isaiah 37:22; compare Lamentations 1:15; Jeremiah 31:21; Jeremiah 46:11). Kimchi supposes that the term ‘virgin’ is here given to Babylon, because it had remained to that time uncaptured by any foreign power; but the main purpose is doubtless to refer to Babylon as a beautiful and splendid city, and as being distinguished for delicacy, and the prevalence of what was regarded as ornamental. Gesenius supposes that the words ‘virgin daughter of Babylon,’ denote not Babylon itself, but Chaldea, and that the whole land or nation is personified. But the common interpretation, and one evidently more in accordance with the Scripture usage, is to refer it to the city itself.

There is no throne - Thou shalt be reduced from the throne; or the throne shall be taken away. That is, Babylon shall be no longer the seat of empire, or the capital of kingdoms. How truly this was fulfilled, needs not to be told to those who are familiar with the history of Babylon. Its power was broken when Cyrus conquered it; its walls were reduced by Darius; Seleucia rose in its stead, and took away its trade and a large portion of its inhabitants, until it was completely destroyed, so that it became for a long time a question where it had formerly stood (see the notes at Isaiah 13:0; Isaiah 16:1-14)

Thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate - A place to which luxuries flow, amid where they abound. The allusion is to a female that bad been delicately and tenderly brought up, and that would be reduced to the lowest condition of servitude, and even of disgrace. It is possible that there may be an allusion here to the effeminacy and the consequent corruption of morals which prevailed in Babylon, and which made it a place sought with greediness by those who wished to spend their time in licentious pleasures. The corruption of Babylon, consequent on its wealth and magnificence, was almost proverbial, and was unsurpassed by any city of ancient times. The following extract from Curtius (v. 1), which it would not be proper to translate, will give some idea of the prevailing state of morals:

‘Nihil urbis ejus corruptius moribus, nihil ad irritandas illiciendasque immodicas voluptates instructius. Liberos conjugesque cum hospitibus stupro coire, modo pretium flagitii detur, parentes maritique patituntur. Babylonii maxime in vinum, et quae ebrietatem sequuntur effusi sunt. Foeminarum conviva ineuntium, in principio modestus est habitus, dein summa quaeque amicula exuunt paulatimque pudorem profanant; ad ultimum (horror auribusest) ima corporum velamenta projiciunt. Nee meretricum hoc dedecus est, sed matronarum virginumque apud quas comitas habetur vulgati corporis vilitas.’

See also the description of a loathsome, disgusting, and abominable custom which prevailed nowhere else, even in the corrupt nations of antiquity, except Babylon, in Herod. i. 199. I cannot transcribe this passage. The description is too loathsome, and would do little good. Its substance is expressed in a single sentence, πασᾶν γυναῖκα ἐπιχωρίην...μιχθὴναι ἀνδρὶ ξείνῳ pasan gunaika epichōriēn...michthēnai andri cheinō. It adds to the abomination of this custom that it was connected with the rites of religion, and was a part of the worship of the gods! Strabo, speaking of this custom (iii. 348), says, Ἔθος κατά τι λόγιον ξένῳ μίγνυσθαι Ethos kata ti logion chenō mignusthai. See also Baruch 6:43, where the same custom is alluded to. For an extended description of the wealth and commerce of Babylon, see an article in the Amer. Bib. Rep. vol. vii. pp. 364-390.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER XLVII

The destruction of Babylon is denounced by a beautiful

selection of circumstances, in which her prosperous is

contrasted with her adverse condition. She is represented as a

tender and delicate female reduced to the work and abject

condition of a slave, and bereaved of every consolation, 1-4.

And that on account of her cruelty, particularly to God's

people, her pride, voluptuousness, sorceries, and incantations,

5-11.

The folly of these last practices elegantly exposed by the

prophet, 12-15.

It is worthy of observation that almost all the imagery of this

chapter is applied in the book of the Revelation, (in nearly

the same words,) to the antitype of the illustrious capital of

the Chaldean empire, viz., Babylon the GREAT.

NOTES ON CHAP. XLVII

Verse Isaiah 47:1. Come down, and set in the dust - "Descend, and sit on the dust"] Isaiah 3:26, and on "Isaiah 52:2".