Isa 14:9-11 | JFB | STEP | 9. moved-- put into agitation. for thee-- that is, "at thee"; towards thee; explained by "to meet thee at thy coming" [Maurer]. chief ones-- literally, "goats"; so rams, leaders of the flock; princes ( ). The idea of wickedness on a gigantic scale is included ( ; , ). Magee derives "Rephaim" (English Version, "the dead") from a Hebrew root, "to resolve into first elements"; so "the deceased" ( ) "ghosts" ( ). These being magnified by the imagination of the living into gigantic stature, gave their name to giants in general ( ; ; , ). "Rephaim," translated in the Septuagint, "giants" (compare see on , ). Thence, as the giant Rephaim of Canaan were notorious even in that guilty land, enormous wickedness became connected with the term. So the Rephaim came to be the wicked spirits in Gehenna, the lower of the two portions into which Sheol is divided.

‏ Isaiah 14:9-11

9. moved--put into agitation.

for thee--that is, "at thee"; towards thee; explained by "to meet thee at thy coming" [Maurer].

chief ones--literally, "goats"; so rams, leaders of the flock; princes (Zec 10:3). The idea of wickedness on a gigantic scale is included (Eze 34:17; Mt 25:32, 33). Magee derives "Rephaim" (English Version, "the dead") from a Hebrew root, "to resolve into first elements"; so "the deceased" (Is 26:14) "ghosts" (Pr 21:16). These being magnified by the imagination of the living into gigantic stature, gave their name to giants in general (Ge 6:4; 14:5; Eze 32:18, 21). "Rephaim," translated in the Septuagint, "giants" (compare see on Job 26:5, 6). Thence, as the giant Rephaim of Canaan were notorious even in that guilty land, enormous wickedness became connected with the term. So the Rephaim came to be the wicked spirits in Gehenna, the lower of the two portions into which Sheol is divided.

10. They taunt him and derive from his calamity consolation under their own (Eze 31:16).

weak--as a shade bereft of blood and life. Rephaim, "the dead," may come from a Hebrew root, meaning similarly "feeble," "powerless." The speech of the departed closes with Is 14:11.

11. "Pomp" and music, the accompaniment of Babylon's former feastings (Is 5:12; 24:8), give place to the corruption and the stillness of the grave (Eze 32:27).

worm--that is bred in putridity.

worms--properly those from which the crimson dye is obtained. Appropriate here; instead of the crimson coverlet, over thee shall be "worms." Instead of the gorgeous couch, "under thee" shall be the maggot.

Is 14:12-15. The Jews Address Him Again as a Fallen Once-bright Star.

The language is so framed as to apply to the Babylonian king primarily, and at the same time to shadow forth through him, the great final enemy, the man of sin, Antichrist, of Daniel, St. Paul, and St. John; he alone shall fulfil exhaustively all the lineaments here given.