by Larry Ferrell | March 2, 2018
The word taunt is perhaps too precise and strong for the Hebrew word used here, but it does capture accurately the tone of the song which follows. It has the form of a funeral lament, but instead of expressing sorrow it communicates profound satisfaction, even delight. It celebrates, in this ironic fashion, the downfall of arrogance and oppression, represented here by the king of Babylon. It moves from the earth (vv. 4b-8) to Sheol beneath (vv. 9-11), to heaven above (vv. 12-14, momentarily down to Sheol again (v. 15), and finally back to the earth (vv. 16-21. Verses 22-23 confirm, in the form of a straight-forward judgment oracle, that what is anticipated in the song will indeed take place.

The cosmic sweep of the poem led some early interpreters, and many since them, to see here a symbolic description of the fall of Satan. But this reads too much into the text (and I think it does), it is equally misguided to reduce it to a description of the fall of a particular earthly monarch. The king of Babylon here, like Babylon itself in chapter 13, is a representative figure, the embodiment of that worldly arrogance that defies God and tramples on others in its lust for power. It is this which lies at the heart of every evil for which particular nations will be indicted in the following chapters. It also lies at the heart of all the horrendous acts of inhumanity which human beings and nations still commit against one another today. That is why the tone of this song should not cause us any embarrassment. This is no cheap gloating over the downfall of an enemy, but the satisfaction and delight which God’s people rightly feel at his final victory over evil. The same note of celebration is heard at the very end of the Bible (Rev. 18) where, again, Babylon is a cipher for all that opposes God and his purposes.

The pine trees and the cedars of Lebanon (v. 8) represents the peoples of northern Israel and Syria who were particularly exposed to aggressors from beyond the Euphrates and had suffered much at their hands. In verse 9 the shadowy remains of former rulers are pictured as greeting the fallen oppressor with astonishment in Sheol. For all his might he has proved to be no more enduring than themselves! The morning star, son of the dawn (v. 12) is probably the planet Venus, which seems to rival the sun in its early brightness but is soon eclipsed. The mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain (v. 13) is Mount Zaphon, where the Canaanite gods were reputed t meet, like the Greek gods on Mount Olympus. Isaiah boldly uses imagery from this pagan background to point to the essence of human pride: self-deification. The ultimate disgrace of the oppressor, in verses 16-21, is to be deprived of honorable burial, and to have no descendants to perpetuate his name.

Isaiah 14:1-23 Reflection Questions:
Have you ever expressed satisfaction or delight about something bad that happened to an enemy? What does Jesus say we should do?
Have we changed much since Isaiah’s day? What are some examples you see?
Could Isaiah use the same imagery in today’s world concerning the essence of human pride? What does Jesus say about our pride?

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