Yesaya 14:4-6

14:4 you will taunt the king of Babylon with these words: ¹ 

“Look how the oppressor has met his end!

Hostility ²  has ceased!

14:5 The Lord has broken the club of the wicked,

the scepter of rulers.

14:6 It ³  furiously struck down nations

with unceasing blows. ⁴ 

It angrily ruled over nations,

oppressing them without restraint. ⁵ 

Yesaya 14:12-15

14:12 Look how you have fallen from the sky,

O shining one, son of the dawn! ⁶ 

You have been cut down to the ground,

O conqueror ⁷  of the nations! ⁸ 

14:13 You said to yourself, ⁹ 

“I will climb up to the sky.

Above the stars of El ¹⁰ 

I will set up my throne.

I will rule on the mountain of assembly

on the remote slopes of Zaphon. ¹¹ 

14:14 I will climb up to the tops ¹²  of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High!” ¹³ 

14:15 But you were brought down ¹⁴  to Sheol,

to the remote slopes of the pit. ¹⁵ 

Yeremia 51:41

51:41 “See how Babylon ¹⁶  has been captured!

See how the pride of the whole earth has been taken!

See what an object of horror

Babylon has become among the nations! ¹⁷ 

Daniel 2:37-38

Daniel Interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

2:37 “You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has granted you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor. 2:38 Wherever human beings, ¹⁸  wild animals, ¹⁹  and birds of the sky live – he has given them into your power. ²⁰  He has given you authority over them all. You are the head of gold.

Daniel 4:30

4:30 The king uttered these words: “Is this not the great Babylon that I have built for a royal residence ²¹  by my own mighty strength ²²  and for my majestic honor?”

[14:4]  ¹ tn Heb “you will lift up this taunt over the king of Babylon, saying.”

[14:4]  ² tc The word in the Hebrew text (מַדְהֵבָה, madhevah) is unattested elsewhere and of uncertain meaning. Many (following the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a) assume a dalet-resh (ד-ר) confusion and emend the form to מַרְהֵבָה (marhevah, “onslaught”). See HALOT 548 s.v. II *מִדָּה and HALOT 633 s.v. *מַרְהֵבָה.

[14:6]  ³ tn Or perhaps, “he” (cf. KJV; NCV “the king of Babylon”). The present translation understands the referent of the pronoun (“it”) to be the “club/scepter” of the preceding line.

[14:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “it was striking down nations in fury [with] a blow without ceasing.” The participle (“striking down”) suggests repeated or continuous action in past time.

[14:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “it was ruling in anger nations [with] oppression without restraint.” The participle (“ruling”) suggests repeated or continuous action in past time.

[14:12]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text has הֵילֵל בֶּן־שָׁחַר (helel ben-shakhar, “Helel son of Shachar”), which is probably a name for the morning star (Venus) or the crescent moon. See HALOT 245 s.v. הֵילֵל.

[14:12]  sn What is the background for the imagery in vv. 12-15? This whole section (vv. 4b-21) is directed to the king of Babylon, who is clearly depicted as a human ruler. Other kings of the earth address him in vv. 9ff., he is called “the man” in v. 16, and, according to vv. 19-20, he possesses a physical body. Nevertheless the language of vv. 12-15 has led some to see a dual referent in the taunt song. These verses, which appear to be spoken by other pagan kings to a pagan king (cf. vv. 9-11), contain several titles and motifs that resemble those of Canaanite mythology, including references to Helel son of Shachar, the stars of El, the mountain of assembly, the recesses of Zaphon, and the divine title Most High. Apparently these verses allude to a mythological story about a minor god (Helel son of Shachar) who tried to take over Zaphon, the mountain of the gods. His attempted coup failed and he was hurled down to the underworld. The king of Babylon is taunted for having similar unrealized delusions of grandeur. Some Christians have seen an allusion to the fall of Satan here, but this seems contextually unwarranted (see J. Martin, “Isaiah,” BKCOT, 1061).

[14:12]  ⁷ tn Some understand the verb to from חָלַשׁ (khalash, “to weaken”), but HALOT 324 s.v. II חלשׁ proposes a homonym here, meaning “to defeat.”

[14:12]  ⁸ sn In this line the taunting kings hint at the literal identity of the king, after likening him to the god Helel and a tree. The verb גָדַע (gada’, “cut down”) is used of chopping down trees in 9:10 and 10:33.

[14:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “you, you said in your heart.”

[14:13]  ¹⁰ sn In Canaanite mythology the stars of El were astral deities under the authority of the high god El.

[14:13]  ¹¹ sn Zaphon, the Canaanite version of Olympus, was the “mountain of assembly” where the gods met.

[14:14]  ¹² tn Heb “the high places.” This word often refers to the high places where pagan worship was conducted, but here it probably refers to the “backs” or tops of the clouds. See HALOT 136 s.v. בָּמָה.

[14:14]  ¹³ sn Normally in the OT the title “Most High” belongs to the God of Israel, but in this context, where the mythological overtones are so strong, it probably refers to the Canaanite high god El.

[14:15]  ¹⁴ tn The prefixed verb form is taken as a preterite. Note the use of perfects in v. 12 to describe the king’s downfall.

[14:15]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew term בּוּר (bor, “cistern”) is sometimes used metaphorically to refer to the place of the dead or the entrance to the underworld.

[51:41]  ¹⁶ sn Heb “Sheshach.” For an explanation of the usage of this name for Babylon see the study note on Jer 25:26 and that on 51:1 for a similar phenomenon. Babylon is here called “the pride of the whole earth” because it was renowned for its size, its fortifications, and its beautiful buildings.

[51:41]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “How Sheshach has been captured, the pride of the whole earth has been seized! How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!” For the usage of “How” here see the translator’s note on 50:23.

[51:41]  sn This is part of a taunt song (see Isa 14:4) and assumes prophetically that the city has already been captured. The verbs in vv. 41-43a are all in the Hebrew tense that the prophets often use to look at the future as “a done deal” (the so-called prophetic perfect). In v. 44 which is still a part of this picture the verbs are in the future. The Hebrew tense has been retained here and in vv. 42-43 but it should be remembered that the standpoint is prophetic and future.

[2:38]  ¹⁸ tn Aram “the sons of man.”

[2:38]  ¹⁹ tn Aram “the beasts of the field.”

[2:38]  ²⁰ tn Aram “hand.”

[4:30]  ²¹ tn Aram “house.”

[4:30]  ²² tn Aram “by the might of my strength.”