Isaiah 47 Study Notes

47:1 To sit in the dust, just like sitting on the ground, was a sign of subservience and humiliation. Babylon, the mighty nation that achieved special status among the other nations of the world (pampered and spoiled), will be put in a position of shame. Up to this point in the book, only God’s people have been called daughter by the Lord (1:8; 3:16; 37:22). In this passage not only is Babylon given this title of intimacy, but it is qualified by virgin, indicating purity as well as dependence on the father, or God. However, here virgin is sarcastic. Chaldea refers to the Aramaic-speaking tribe of the southern marsh region of Babylon that came to dominate the entire nation during the Neo-Babylonian period (626-586 BC).

47:2-3 Babylon, personified as a young woman, will do her lowly chores—in contrast to her former exalted status—and then will strip to cross a stream. As she does so, her disgrace (her promiscuity that contradicted her apparent virginity) will be exposed.

47:4 On Holy One of Israel, see notes at 1:4; 30:10-11.

47:5 On Daughter Chaldea, see note at v. 1. Under leaders like Nabopolassar (626-605 BC) and his better-known son Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 BC), Babylon had achieved dominance among the nations of the world, but its former glory will be turned to oblivion.

47:6-7 God has used Babylon as the tool of his anger against Judah. Babylon’s yoke is an image of their political domination over Judah (see note at 10:27). But Babylon overplayed its hand and sought its own glory, not realizing that its pride would lead to retribution.

47:8-9 Babylon is personified as a woman consistently in this chapter. Before she was the Virgin Daughter, but in these verses she is a woman who is blessed with marriage and children. The future judgment of Babylon is compared to a woman who will lose husband and children in one day. A woman without husband and children had no value and no protection in ancient times. This disaster will befall Babylon even though she was a sorceress (see Nah 3:4 for a similar description of Assyria).

47:10-11 Wisdom includes the ability to navigate life in a way that avoids pitfalls and also includes the skill to get out of jams if hardship should fall. However, in this case wisdom is useless and unable to ward off disaster. In other words, Babylonian wisdom is actually foolishness. This affirmation is not far from the NT idea that the wisdom of the world is folly (1Co 1-2). Babylon will fall because it was “wise in [its] own eyes” rather than trustful in the one true God (Pr 3:5-8).

47:12-13 Babylonian culture was known for its infatuation with sorceries and spells, which represented a way to manipulate the gods. In particular, Babylon was known for attempts to determine the future by consulting the stars. Indeed, even after Babylon disappeared as an empire, the term “Chaldean” was used to designate astrologers.

47:14-15 Those who practice sorcery and astrology are worthless like stubble.