Discovery BoxIsaiah 14:19-22 
Context14:19 But you have been thrown out of your grave
like a shoot that is thrown away. 1
You lie among 2 the slain,
among those who have been slashed by the sword,
among those headed for 3 the stones of the pit, 4
as if you were a mangled corpse. 5
14:20 You will not be buried with them, 6
because you destroyed your land
and killed your people.
The offspring of the wicked
will never be mentioned again.
14:21 Prepare to execute 7 his sons
for the sins their ancestors have committed. 8
They must not rise up and take possession of the earth,
or fill the surface of the world with cities.” 9
14:22 “I will rise up against them,”
says the Lord who commands armies.
“I will blot out all remembrance of Babylon and destroy all her people, 10
including the offspring she produces,” 11
says the Lord.
1 tn Heb “like a shoot that is abhorred.” The simile seems a bit odd; apparently it refers to a small shoot that is trimmed from a plant and tossed away. Some prefer to emend נֵצֶר (netser, “shoot”); some propose נֵפֶל (nefel, “miscarriage”). In this case one might paraphrase: “like a horrible-looking fetus that is delivered when a woman miscarries.”
2 tn Heb “are clothed with.”
3 tn Heb “those going down to.”
4 tn בּוֹר (bor) literally means “cistern”; cisterns were constructed from stones. On the metaphorical use of “cistern” for the underworld, see the note at v. 15.
5 tn Heb “like a trampled corpse.” Some take this line with what follows.
6 tn Heb “you will not be united with them in burial” (so NASB).
7 tn Or “the place of slaughter for.”
8 tn Heb “for the sin of their fathers.”
9 sn J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:320, n. 10) suggests that the garrison cities of the mighty empire are in view here.
10 tn Heb “I will cut off from Babylon name and remnant” (ASV, NAB, and NRSV all similar).
11 tn Heb “descendant and child.”
