Isaiah 13:19

13:19 Babylon, the most admired 1  of kingdoms,

the Chaldeans’ source of honor and pride, 2 

will be destroyed by God

just as Sodom and Gomorrah were. 3 

1 tn Or “most beautiful” (NCV, TEV).

2 tn Heb “the beauty of the pride of the Chaldeans.”

sn The Chaldeans were a group of tribes who lived in southern Mesopotamia. The established the so-called neo-Babylonian empire in the late seventh century b.c. Their most famous king, Nebuchadnezzar, conquered Judah in 605 b.c. and destroyed Jerusalem in 586 b.c.

3 tn Heb “and Babylon…will be like the overthrow by God of Sodom and Gomorrah.” On מַהְפֵּכַת (mahpekhat, “overthrow”) see the note on the word “destruction” in 1:7.