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Isaiah 14 Bible study: How the oppressor has ceased

In Hebrew the king's "far north" (14:13) and the pit's "depths" (14:15) are one word, yarketei; and his "I will make myself like the Most High" (14:14) and the LORD's "as I have thought, so shall it happen" (14:24) are one verb, damah.

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“For the LORD of Armies has planned, and who can stop it? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?”
Isaiah 14:27 · World English Bible

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“Isaiah 14 opens with the words "For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob".”

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What's really going on

Rest from hard service

In the text

Chapter 13 was "The burden of Babylon" (13:1). Chapter 14 opens with For, and with mercy: "For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land" (14:1) (tap compassion). "The foreigner will join himself with them" (14:1): in Hebrew join himself is lavah, the verb of "the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD" (56:6). Then comes the day "that the LORD will give you rest from your sorrow, from your trouble, and from the hard service in which you were made to serve" (14:3). Hard service is what Egypt laid on Israel: "they made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and in brick" (Exodus 1:14). On that day they will take up a parable "against the king of Babylon" (14:4), and it begins, "How the oppressor has ceased! The golden city has ceased!" (14:4) (tap ceased, oppressor). Here is what almost everyone misses: the words turn around. The one "who ruled the nations in anger" (14:6) falls, and Israel "shall rule over their oppressors" (14:2): in Hebrew ruled and rule are one verb, radah, and oppressors in 14:2 is the word of "the oppressor" in 14:4. Then "The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet. They break out in song" (14:7), where at rest is the verb of 14:3's rest. The chapter says all this of Jacob and of Babylon as it names them, and these notes apply none of it to any nation, people or ruler today.

Honest questions

Questions people ask about Isaiah 14

That was a taste

The rest of Isaiah 14 is waiting in Favor

  • I will ascend, you shall be brought down
  • The LORD's oath
  • "Don’t rejoice, O Philistia"
  • "To whom then will you liken me?"
  • The same heights in chapter 37
  • 14 questions as you read
  • 13 more Hebrew words
  • A short check at the end
  • Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it

יְרֵכָהyerekahsay ye-re-KAH

Brown-Driver-Briggs: "flank, side", and in the dual, the form used here, "extreme parts, recesses". Strong's: "properly, the flank; but used only figuratively, the rear or recess". The king said, "I will sit on the mountain of assembly, in the far north!" (14:13), and the answer is "Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the pit" (14:15). In the far north is beyarketei tsafon, and the depths of the pit is yarketei vor: the same word in both. Isaiah has it only once more, in the Assyrian king's boast, "to the innermost parts of Lebanon" (37:24). The two words of 14:13, yarketei tsafon, also stand in "Mount Zion, on the north sides" (Psalm 48:2).

For your group

Isaiah 14 Bible study questions

  1. 1"the LORD will give you rest from your sorrow, from your trouble, and from the hard service" (14:3). What would rest from the LORD look like for you this week?
  2. 2"You said in your heart, “I will ascend into heaven!" (14:13). Pride often speaks in the heart before it shows. What helps you notice it early?
  3. 3"in her the afflicted of his people will take refuge" (14:32). When you are struggling, where do you go first, and what helps you take refuge in God?

Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Isaiah 14 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.

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Questions

What is Favor?

Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home