13:1 The oracle of Babylon This heading begins a series of prophecies directed against the nations (Isa 13–27). The peoples of the earth will one day recognize Yahweh’s sovereignty and be held accountable to Him for their actions. Similar prophecies against the nations are common in other prophetic books.

Oracles against the Nations Table

13:2 Raise a signal on a bare hill See 11:12 and note. A banner is used as a signal to gather the army through which Yahweh will bring judgment on Babylon. See vv. 4, 17.

13:3 my consecrated ones The Hebrew word here comes from the verb qadash, which describes setting apart for a specific use. While there are overtones of ritual readiness, this term ascribes holiness or sacredness to objects. Its appearance here indicates that this non-Israelite army—as the instrument of Yahweh’s judgment—is set apart for a divine purpose. This shows that Yahweh is the supreme deity, and He is capable of using one nation to punish another—He uses Assyria and Babylon to punish Israel and Judah.

13:4 nations gathering The army assembling against Babylon will consist of multiple nations and kingdoms. The empire that overthrew Babylon in 539 bc was a combination of the Medes and the Persians.

Yahweh of hosts is mustering an army for Yahweh even commands foreign armies. The Assyrian commander acknowledges that they were directed by Yahweh to punish Israel and Judah in 36:10, though this acknowledgement may simply be rhetorical. See 10:5–19.

Yahweh of hosts A title referring to God as the leader of the heavenly armies. See note on 1:9.

13:5 destroy the whole earth Or “destroy all the earth.” See note on v. 6.

13:6 the day of Yahweh is near The day of God’s judgment takes several forms throughout the ot. It finds partial fulfillment in the divinely ordained destructions of 722 bc and 586 bc, which are likely most pertinent here. References to the day of Yahweh can also have an apocalyptic or eschatological orientation, referring to the end of time.

like destruction from Shaddai The judgment is now inevitable. The Hebrew for “destruction” and “Almighty” sound similar, indicating a wordplay.

13:10 will not flash forth their light God rules even over the stars, constellations, sun, and moon—all of which played an important role in ancient religious practices, especially as divine signs or omens. Babylon in particular had a reputation for a highly developed system of observing celestial events for the purpose of predicting the future.

13:11 I will punish the world The imagery of judgment alternates between a localized punishment of a particular nation (i.e., Babylon) and a global punishment of all evil. The prophecies in ch. 23 also mix this imagery of punishment against the nations and destruction against the entire world. Chapters 24–27 then contains images of global destruction, which are comparable to vv. 11–13.

the world The Hebrew term tebel, the less common word for “world,” is used instead of erets, the common word for “land” or “world.” It may have the sense of “inhabited world.”

13:12 I will make humanity more rare than gold The population of the earth will be severely diminished. Compare 24:6.

the gold of Ophir A rare, priceless import from an exotic but unknown location. See 1 Kgs 9:28.

13:13 I will make the heavens tremble The coming of Yahweh was often accompanied by cosmic upheaval: The earth shakes, and the heavens tremble. A manifestation of God’s presence (or theophany) was often accompanied by imagery like this (see 2 Sam 22:8; Job 26:11; Joel 2:10).

Theophany in the Old Testament

the wrath of Yahweh of hosts Yahweh’s wrath has been raised by Babylon’s arrogance. See Isa 13:11. Yahweh needed no other reason to punish the world aside from human pride. Compare the punishment predicted for Assyria in ch. 10.

13:14 they will each flee to his own land Either the global destruction will cause everyone to flee for their homelands, or the specific destruction of Babylon will dissolve the unity of the empire into unaligned small kingdoms, as in previous centuries.

13:15 will be pierced through The invaders will take no prisoners or leave any alive—not even the women and children, who are often claimed as spoils of war.

13:16 and their wives The violation or rape of women is a common occurrence in war. See similar imagery used of an assault against Jerusalem in Zech 14:2.

13:17 the Medes The Medo-Persian Empire conquered Babylon in 539 bc. See Dan 5:30–31.

do not value silver Babylon will not be able to bribe the invaders with silver or gold.

13:19 Babylon, the glory of kingdoms One of the great cities of the ancient world will be an uninhabited ruin.

Sodom and Gomorrah The ot exemplars for nations destroyed by divine judgment. See Isa 1:9 and note.

13:20 It will not be inhabited forever Babylon never regained its position of prominence in the ancient world after 539 bc. See Jer 50:39–40.

13:21 wild animals will lie down there Describes the return of the city to nature. The undoing of human civilization and return to a state of wilderness is a popular image in Isaiah for what will follow the coming day of Yahweh. Compare Isa 34:11–15.