Yesaya 14:19-22

14:19 But you have been thrown out of your grave

like a shoot that is thrown away. ¹ 

You lie among ²  the slain,

among those who have been slashed by the sword,

among those headed for ³  the stones of the pit, ⁴ 

as if you were a mangled corpse. ⁵ 

14:20 You will not be buried with them, ⁶ 

because you destroyed your land

and killed your people.

The offspring of the wicked

will never be mentioned again.

14:21 Prepare to execute ⁷  his sons

for the sins their ancestors have committed. ⁸ 

They must not rise up and take possession of the earth,

or fill the surface of the world with cities.” ⁹ 

14:22 “I will rise up against them,”

says the Lord who commands armies.

“I will blot out all remembrance of Babylon and destroy all her people, ¹⁰ 

including the offspring she produces,” ¹¹ 

says the Lord.

[14:19]  ¹ tn Heb “like a shoot that is abhorred.” The simile seems a bit odd; apparently it refers to a small shoot that is trimmed from a plant and tossed away. Some prefer to emend נֵצֶר (netser, “shoot”); some propose נֵפֶל (nefel, “miscarriage”). In this case one might paraphrase: “like a horrible-looking fetus that is delivered when a woman miscarries.”

[14:19]  ² tn Heb “are clothed with.”

[14:19]  ³ tn Heb “those going down to.”

[14:19]  ⁴ tn בּוֹר (bor) literally means “cistern”; cisterns were constructed from stones. On the metaphorical use of “cistern” for the underworld, see the note at v. 15.

[14:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “like a trampled corpse.” Some take this line with what follows.

[14:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “you will not be united with them in burial” (so NASB).

[14:21]  ⁷ tn Or “the place of slaughter for.”

[14:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “for the sin of their fathers.”

[14:21]  ⁹ sn J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:320, n. 10) suggests that the garrison cities of the mighty empire are in view here.

[14:22]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I will cut off from Babylon name and remnant” (ASV, NAB, and NRSV all similar).

[14:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “descendant and child.”