Teks -- Isaiah 13:5 (NET)

13:5 They come from a distant land, from the horizon. It is the Lord with his instruments of judgment, coming to destroy the whole earth.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Wesley: Isa 13:5 - Thy come

From the ends of the earth under heaven, which is not to be understood strictly.

Wesley: Isa 13:5 - The weapons

The Medes and Persians, who were but a rod in God's hand, and the instruments of his anger.

Wesley: Isa 13:5 - Land

Of Babylon.

JFB: Isa 13:5 - They

Namely, "Jehovah," and the armies which are "the weapons of His indignation."

JFB: Isa 13:5 - far country

Media and Persia, stretching to the far north and east.

JFB: Isa 13:5 - end of heaven

The far east (Psa 19:6).

JFB: Isa 13:5 - destroy

Rather, "to seize" [HORSLEY].

Clarke: Isa 13:5 - They come from a far country

They come from a far country - The word מארץ meerets is wanting in one MS. and in the Syriac: "They come from afar.

Clarke: Isa 13:5 - From the end of heaven

From the end of heaven - Kimchi says, Media, "the end of heaven,"in Scripture phrase, means, the East.

Calvin: Isa 13:5 - Coming from a distant country // From the end of heaven // To destroy the whole land // Jehovah and the vessels of his anger

5.Coming from a distant country He repeats and confirms more fully what I stated a little before, that the operations of war do not spring up at random from the earth; for though everything disorderly is vomited out by the passions of men, yet God rules on high; and therefore Isaiah justly ascribes sovereignty to God. Next, he adds, that armed men are nothing else than the weapons of his indignation. He says that they will come from a distant country, to overturn the monarchy of Babylon, because we are not afraid of dangers unless when they are close at hand. Babylon was so strongly fortified, and was surrounded by so many kingdoms and provinces which were subject to it, that it seemed as if there were no way by which an enemy could approach. In short, as if she had been situated in the clouds, she dreaded no danger.

From the end of heaven There being no trouble all around that threatened them, he gives warning that the calamity will come from a distance. Though everything appears to be calm and peaceful, and though we are not at variance with our neighbors, God can bring enemies from the end of heaven. There is no reason, therefore, why we should promise to ourselves a lasting and prosperous condition, though we are not threatened with any immediate danger. If this prediction had reached the inhabitants of Babylon, they would undoubtedly have laughed at it as a fable. Even if we should suppose that they paid some respect to the Prophet, yet, having so strong a conviction of their safety, they would have despised those threatenings as idle and groundless. An example may be easily found. When we preach at the present day about the Turk, all think that it is a fable, because they think that he is still at a great distance from us. But we see how quickly he overtook those who were at a greater distance and more powerful. So great is the insensibility of men that they cannot be aroused, unless they are chastised and made to feel the blows. Let the inhabitants of Babylon, therefore, be a warning to us, to dread, before it is too late, the threatenings which the prophets utter, that the same thing may not happen to us as happens to those wicked men, who, relying on their prosperous condition, are so terrified when the hand of God attacks and strikes them, that they can no longer stand, but sink down bewildered.

To destroy the whole land When he puts the whole land for Babylon, he looks to the extent of the kingdom; that they may not think that the great number of provinces, by which they were surrounded on all sides, could ward off the attacks of enemies. But at the same time he intimates that it will be no slight calamity affecting a single spot, but will be like a deluge overwhelming a large portion of the world.

Jehovah and the vessels of his anger ¹⁹⁹ The Persians and Medes are called vessels of anger in a different sense from that in which Paul gives that appellation to all the reprobate; for, by contrasting the vessels of wrath with the vessels of mercy, (Rom 9:22,) he shows that the undeserved goodness of God shines in the elect, but that the reprobate are monuments of severe judgment. But Isaiah means that the Medes and Persians may be regarded as darts in the hand of God, that by means of them he may execute his vengeance.

TSK: Isa 13:5 - from a far // and the weapons

from a far : Isa 13:17; Jer 50:3, Jer 50:9, Jer 51:11, Jer 51:27, Jer 51:28; Mat 24:31

and the weapons : Jer. 51:20-46

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Isa 13:5 - From the end of heaven // the utmost parts of the earth // The weapons of his indignation // To destroy the whole land

From the end of heaven from the ends of the earth under heaven, as Mat 24:30 ; which is not to be understood strictly and properly, but popularly and hyperbolically, as such expressions are commonly used in sacred and profane authors. And yet in some respects this might be truly said of Persia, which on the south side was bounded by the main ocean; as for the same reason Sheba, a part of Arabia, is called

the utmost parts of the earth Mat 12:42 .

The weapons of his indignation the Medes and Persians, who were but a rod in God’ s hand, and the instruments of his anger, as was said of the Assyrian, Isa 10:5 .

To destroy the whole land to wit, of Babylon, of which he is now speaking.

Haydock: Isa 13:5 - Heaven

Heaven. Where it seems to touch the horizon. Thus the countries beyond the Euphrates are often designated.

Gill: Isa 13:5 - They come from a far country, from the end of heaven // even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation // to destroy the whole land

They come from a far country, from the end of heaven,.... The east, as Kimchi observes; the Targum is, from the ends of the earth; the furthermost parts of it, as Persia and Media were: the former is bounded on the south side by the main ocean; and the latter, part of it by the Caspian sea; and between Babylon and these kingdoms lay the large kingdom of Assyria; so that this army might be truly said to come from a far country:

even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation; the Medes and Persians, who were the instruments of his wrath and vengeance against Babylon; just as Assyria is called the rod of his anger, Isa 10:5 with these he is said to come, because this army was of his gathering, mustering, ordering, and directing, in his providence; the end and design of which was,

to destroy the whole land; not the whole world, as the Septuagint render it; but the whole land of Chaldea, of which Babylon was the metropolis. The Targum is,

"to destroy all the wicked of the earth.''