Isaiah 47

General context

The whole chapter addresses one figure, the virgin daughter of Babylon, also called the daughter of the Chaldeans. She is told to come down, sit in the dust without a throne, and no longer be called tender and delicate. She must take millstones and grind meal, uncover her locks and legs, and cross rivers; her nakedness and shame will be seen, and the speaker says he will take vengeance and not meet her as a man. A line names the Lord of hosts, the Holy One of Israel, as our redeemer. She is told to sit silent in darkness and no longer be called the lady of kingdoms. The Lord says he was angry with his people and gave them into her hand, and she showed no mercy, laying a heavy yoke on the aged. She said she would be a lady for ever and did not consider the end. Because she says in her heart that she is and none else beside her, and that she will never be a widow or lose children, both losses will come in a moment in one day, for the multitude of her sorceries. She trusted in her wickedness and said none seeth me. Evil, mischief and desolation will come suddenly and she will not know from where. She is told to stand with her enchantments, to let the astrologers, stargazers and monthly prognosticators stand up and save her; they will be stubble burned by fire that gives no warmth. Her merchants will wander each to his own quarter, and none shall save her.

Cited passages: Isaiah 47:1, Isaiah 47:2, Isaiah 47:3, Isaiah 47:4, Isaiah 47:5, Isaiah 47:6, Isaiah 47:7, Isaiah 47:8, Isaiah 47:9, Isaiah 47:10, Isaiah 47:11, Isaiah 47:12, Isaiah 47:13, Isaiah 47:14, Isaiah 47:15

Isaiah 47 (KJV)

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Historical context

Babylon and the Chaldeans are named, and the city is addressed as a woman throughout; no king, ruler or individual is named. The Lord identifies himself only through his action: he was angry with his people, gave them into her hand, and now takes vengeance. The chapter states that Babylon held the Lord's people and laid a heavy yoke on the aged, but it does not narrate how they came into her hand, when, or what happened to them there, and it gives no date for the fall it announces. Verse 4 is spoken in the first person plural, our redeemer, and the text does not mark who says it. Babylon's claim in her heart, I am, and none else beside me, uses the same words the Lord uses of himself in the two previous chapters; the text sets that boast beside his claim without comment. Astrologers, stargazers and monthly prognosticators are named as her advisers, and her sorceries and enchantments are said to date from her youth, but no particular practice is described. The book of Revelation later applies similar language to a city that says in her heart she is a queen and no widow and shall see no sorrow, without naming Isaiah.

Cited passages: Isaiah 47:1, Isaiah 47:6, Isaiah 47:3, Isaiah 47:4, Isaiah 47:8, Isaiah 45:5, Isaiah 46:9, Isaiah 47:13, Isaiah 47:12, Revelation 18:7

Literary context

The chapter is a string of commands to a fallen queen, and the reversal is carried by titles. She was called tender and delicate and the lady of kingdoms; she is told she will no more be called either, and her new work is grinding meal at the millstones. She sat on a throne; she is told to sit in the dust, then to sit silent in darkness. Her own speech is quoted back to her: I shall be a lady for ever, I am, and none else beside me (said at verses 8 and 10), I shall not sit as a widow, and None seeth me. Each boast is answered by its opposite: widowhood and the loss of children come together in one day, and evil comes from a direction she will not know. The closing verses turn her defenders into images of failure. Her counsels have wearied her, her astrologers become stubble, and the fire that burns them is not even a fire to sit before. The refrain none shall save thee ends the chapter, matching the previous chapter's idol that cannot save, and the dust she must sit in is the dust Zion will be told to shake off.

Cited passages: Isaiah 47:1, Isaiah 47:5, Isaiah 47:2, Isaiah 47:7, Isaiah 47:8, Isaiah 47:10, Isaiah 47:9, Isaiah 47:11, Isaiah 47:13, Isaiah 47:14, Isaiah 47:15, Isaiah 46:7, Isaiah 52:2

Key moments

1. Come down and sit in the dust (Isaiah 47:1). The daughter of Babylon is told there is no throne and she will no more be called tender and delicate.
2. No mercy shown to the aged (Isaiah 47:6). The Lord says he gave his people into her hand and she laid a heavy yoke on the ancient.
3. I am, and none else beside me (Isaiah 47:8). Babylon's boast in her heart is quoted, including that she will never be a widow.
4. Two losses in one day (Isaiah 47:9). Widowhood and the loss of children are said to come together in a moment.
5. Astrologers told to save her (Isaiah 47:13). The stargazers and monthly prognosticators are challenged to stand up and save her.
6. Stubble and a fire with no warmth (Isaiah 47:14). Her advisers become stubble in a fire that leaves no coal to warm at.

For reflection

Babylon's fault, as the Lord states it, is not only that she held his people but that she showed no mercy and never remembered the latter end. When power is handed to someone for a season, what does it look like to hold it as if it will end?

People in this chapter

• Jacob