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ISAIAH CHAPTER 13
OBSERVATION STAGE
The purpose of
the observation stage is to maintain focus on the text at hand within the
normative rules of language, context and logic 
.
.This
limits the observer to the content offered by the book of Isaiah. This
will serve to avoid going on unnecessary tangents elsewhere; and more
importantly, it will provide the framework for a proper and objective
comparison with passages located elsewhere in Scripture.
Remember that something elsewhere may be true, but in the text at hand it may not be in view.
(Isa 13:1 NASB) "The oracle [in the sense of a vision of God's judgment of doom] concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
(Isa 13:2 HOLMAN) Lift up a banner on a barren mountain. Call out to them. Wave your hand, and they will go through the gates of the nobles.
(Isa 13:3 NKJV) I [the LORD] I have commanded My sanctified [set apart] ones; I have also called [in the sense of commanded] My mighty ones [in the sense of commanding mighty warriors] for My anger [in the sense of executing His wrath] - those who rejoice in My [Majesty].
(Isa 13:4 NKJV) The noise of a tumult [roar] in the mountains, Like that of many people! A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations [gathering] together! The LORD [of hosts] [is gathering an] army for battle,
(Isa 13:5 NKJV) [coming from a land of distance], From the end of [the heavens] [in sense of from a great distance, i.e., beyond the horizon] the LORD and His weapons of indignation [wrath] To destroy the whole land.
(Isa 13:6 NKJV) Wail for the Day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
(Isa 13:7 NKJV) Therefore all hands will [become] limp and every man's heart will become weak [in the sense of being in despair]
(Isa 13:8 NKJV) And they will [have been terrified]. Pangs [of pain] and [suffering] will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a women in childbirth; They will be astonished at one another [in the sense of looking aghast at one another]; Their faces will be like flames.
(Isa 13:9 HOLMAN) Look, the day of the LORD [will have come] - cruel, with rage and burning anger- to make the earth a desolation and to destroy the sinners on it.
(Isa 13:10 NKJV) For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The Sun will [have darkened] in its going forth [i.e., at its rising], And the moon will not cause its light to shine.
(Isa 13:11 [And] I will [have punished] the world for its iniquity, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will [have brought to an end] the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible [lit., powerful].
(Isa 13:12 HOLMAN) I will make man scarcer than gold, and mankind more rare than the gold of Ophir.
(Isa 13:13 NASB) Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place [By] the fury of the LORD of hosts [and] In the day of His burning anger.
(Isa 13:14 HOLMAN) [And they will be like a wandering gazelle] and like sheep without a shepherd, each one will turn to his own people, each one will flee to his own land.
(Isa 13:15 HOLMAN) [Everyone] found will be stabbed, and [everyone swept away][in the sense of swept away in battle] will die by the sword.
(Isa 13:16 NKJV) Their children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished [raped].
(Isa 13:17 Behold! I [the LORD] [am stirring up] the Medes against them, Who will not regard silver; And as for gold, they will not delight in it [in the sense that they cannot be bought off with riches - they will want revenge].
(Isa 13:18 HOLMAN) [Their] bows will [dash] young men to pieces. [And] they will [show no mercy for children]; they will not look with pity on children;
(Isa 13:19 NKJV) And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, The [splendor] of the Chaldeans' pride, Will [have been] like the overthrow [in the sense of total destruction (TWOT 512d)] of Sodom and Gomorrah [by] God.
(Isa 13:20 NASB) It will never be inhabited, [Nor lived in] from generation to generation; Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there, Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.
(Isa 13:21 NKJV) But wild beasts ... will [have lied] down there, And their houses will [have been full of] owls [lit., howling creatures]; daughters of ostriches and wild he-goats will dance there.
(Isa 13:22 The hyenas [lit., wild animals] will howl in their citadels, And jackals in their luxurious palaces. Her fateful time also will soon come, And her days will not be prolonged."
(Isa 13:1 NASB) "The oracle [in the sense of a vision of God's judgment of doom] concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. (Isa 13:2 HOLMAN) Lift up a banner on a barren mountain. Call out to them. Wave your hand, and they will go through the gates of the nobles. (Isa 13:3 NKJV) I [the LORD] I have commanded My sanctified [set apart, i.e., chosen] ones; I have also called [in the sense of commanded] My mighty ones [in the sense of commanding mighty warriors] for My anger [in the sense of executing His wrath] - those who rejoice in My [Majesty]." =
Chapter 13 begins with the statement, "The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw." The word rendered "oracle" in the NKJV refers to a word, declaration or pronouncement from the LORD. The oracle in this context is evidently a prophetic one that was envisioned by Isaiah from the LORD and written down long before the events occurred. For the prophet Isaiah is identified as the son of Amoz, evidently to authenticate his existence and corroborate his time in history as a genuine prophet of the LORD who has conveyed accurate details of future events as given to him by the LORD in a vision. So Isaiah was not recounting past events as some contend.
(Isa 8:16 NKJV) '''[Isaiah said to] Bind up the testimony, Seal up the law among my disciples."
Isaiah's
command to his disciples to "Bind up the testimony, Seal up the law
among [my] disciples," must be interpreted as the words conveyed the
message: literally - because only that kind of interpretation can be
maintained in the context of the passage. Any other kind would require an
artificial approach outside of the context. So a more detailed account of
what Isaiah had inscribed upon a tablet which he had appointed two men to
witness to, (Isa 8:1-2), were written on a parchment roll which his
disciples - serving as witnesses - bound up and sealed. This was a pattern
of the way Isaiah worked. (Isa 8:1-2; cf. Isa 29:11; 30:8). So Isaiah's
testimony was bound and sealed up, (1) to secure the integrity of Isaiah's
testimony so that it could not be claimed that it was altered; and (2) to
prove itself as God's word coming from the mouth of God's prophet Isaiah
as the prophecies were fulfilled over the coming years. Consequently,
Isaiah's testimony had the force of law, which fortified his position as
God's prophet, (Isa 8:15-16) .
Isaiah's prophetic visions were evidently conveyed primarily to his people Judah to convince and encourage them that their LORD was sovereign over all the world; and that He would be their Savior and Protector if they would trust in Him alone.
(Isa 1:18 NKJV) "Come now, and let us reason together,' Says the LORD, 'Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.
(Isa 1:19 NKJV) If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land:
(Isa 1:20 NKJV) But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword'; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
As the oracle is explained, it becomes evident that it has the character of doom - as do most biblical oracles - in this chapter for ancient Babylon, (vv. 1-5; 17-22) and for the world when the LORD comes to bring in His Eternal Kingdom, (cf. Isa 13:6-16). The city of Babylon throughout history has been the epitome of everything that is at enmity with the LORD. Although the ancient city of Babylon was at one time the crown jewel of the Assyrian empire, the people of the city constantly rebelled against Assyrian control and around 689 B.C.; unbeknownst to Assyria's ruler Sennacherib, it was at the command of the LORD that Sennacherib would choose to quash the rebellion and destroy the city. Thereafter, but over a relatively long period of time, the city would become desolate - by the close of the first century and throughout the ages and even today, (2011), (Isa 13:1).
The first details of Isaiah's vision are in the imperative mood - commands by the LORD for a banner to be raised as a signal to gather troops - to be lifted up on a barren mountain top where signals can easily be seen. The LORD also commanded individuals to call out, and to wave their hands to encourage those whom the LORD directed to conquer ancient Babylon, (cf. Isa 13:17 which indicates that the Medes were a key part of Sennacherib's Assyrian contingent). The army was to go through the gates of the nobles - the gates of the city of ancient Babylon. The phrase rendered "the gates of the nobles" evidently referred to the fact that the Babylonian leaders arrogantly considered themselves the nobles, i.e., the aristocrates of the world, (Isa 13:2).
Verses 3-5 anticipate the LORD's judgment upon the ancient Babylon of Isaiah's time when it was part of the Assyrian Empire. It was the glory of kingdoms, the splendor of the Chaldeans' pride, (v. 19). Verse 3 begins this statement of anticipation with, "I [the LORD] I have commanded My sanctified ones [i.e., those who would be set apart in the sense of being chosen and prepared with the means, motivation and opportunity to carry out God's wrath upon Babylon]. I have also called [in the sense of commanded] My mighty ones [in the sense of commanding mighty warriors] for My anger [in the sense of executing His wrath] - those who [exult] in My [Majesty] [i.e., they would, in their exultation of their victory, unbeknownst to them, be rejoicing in the majesty of the sovereignty of the LORD, Whose purposes they unknowingly would serve]." Note that the Hebrew word rendered "I" which is repeated twice at the beginning of the verse, is an emphatic position: "I [the LORD] I have commanded My sanctified [set apart, i.e., chosen] ones." It therefore emphasizes that God is sovereign throughout the world. That He is sovereign is further emphasized in the rest of the verse which repeatedly uses the words rendered "I" and "My. (Isa 13:3).
(Isa 13:1 NASB) "The oracle [in the sense of a vision of God's judgment of doom] concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. (Isa 13:2 HOLMAN) Lift up a banner on a barren mountain. Call out to them. Wave your hand, and they will go through the gates of the nobles. (Isa 13:3 NKJV) I [the LORD] I have commanded My sanctified [set apart, i.e., chosen] ones; I have also called [in the sense of commanded] My mighty ones [in the sense of commanding mighty warriors] for My anger [in the sense of executing His wrath] - those who rejoice in My [Majesty]. (Isa 13:4 NKJV)The noise of a tumult [roar] in the mountains, Like that of many people! A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations [gathering] together! The LORD [of hosts] [is gathering an] army for battle, (Isa 13:5 NKJV) [coming from a land of distance], From the end of [the heavens] [in sense of from a great distance, i.e., beyond the horizon] the LORD and His weapons of indignation [wrath] To destroy the whole land." =
And in the process of the LORD amassing His army, there would be a tumultuous roar, a huge indistinguishable noise coming from the mountains - caused by many people amassing into an army from "the kingdoms of nations gathering together." The mountains were evidently those which separated Median and Assyria - near enough to Babylon for them to hear the roar. It was upon one of these mountains which the banner was to be lifted up to gather up and rally the huge army to do battle, (v. 2). Many people would be gathering "from a land of distance, From the end of the heavens," referring to the distant horizon to the far north and east - the great Iranian plateau - from which the Medes would come, (v. 17).
All of these people were the LORD's "weapons of indignation" - His wrath - which would destroy the "whole land" of ancient Babylon. The Hebrew phrase in v. 5 transliterated "kAl-hA'Ares" is to be rendered "all the land," which best fits the context of the destruction of whole land of Babylon, and not "all the earth," as some contend. Notice that the word "destroy," rules out the conquest by Cyrus in 539 B.C. The army would be rolling and rumbling toward Babylon like a snowball rolling downhill. Peoples from cities and nations that the Assyrian's had conquered would evidently be permitted to join the Assyrian campaign, if only to recoup their own losses by taking the spoils of the conquest of Babylon. Sennacherib and his Assyrian contingent appeared to be in charge, but the LORD was in control of it all. Notice the poetic wordplay with the Hebrew word transliterated "sebAot" and rendered "LORD of hosts" - heavenly army - is mustering a "sebA" - a host - an earthly army "for war," (Isa 13:4-5).
1) Ancient Babylonian History Relevant To Isaiah Chapter 13
(or skip
and go to Isaiah chapter 13 continued 
Babylon spent long periods under Assyrian, Kassite and Elamite domination. Babylon again became the seat of the Neo-Babylonian Empire from 612 to 539 BC which was founded by Chaldeans and whose last king was an Assyrian.
[Wickapedia, Albert Houtum-Schindler, "Babylon," Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed. et al]:
"Assyrian period
Throughout the duration of the Neo Assyrian Empire (911 BC to 608 BC) Babylonia was under Assyrian domination or direct control. During the reign of Sennacherib of Assyria, Babylonia was in a constant state of revolt, led by Mushezib-Marduk, and suppressed only by the complete destruction of the city of Babylon. In 689 BC, its walls, temples and palaces were razed, and the rubble was thrown into the Arakhtu, the sea bordering the earlier Babylon on the south. This act shocked the religious conscience of Mesopotamia; the subsequent murder of Sennacherib by two of his sons was held to be in expiation of it, and his son and successor Esarhaddon hastened to rebuild the old city, to receive there his crown, and make it his residence during part of the year. On his death, Babylonia was left to be governed by his elder son the Assyrian prince Shamash-shum-ukin, who eventually started a civil war in 652 BC against his own brother and master Ashurbanipal, who ruled in Nineveh.
Once again, Babylon was besieged by the Assyrians and starved into surrender. Ashurbanipal purified the city and celebrated a "service of reconciliation." After the death of Ashurbanipal, the Assyrian empire began to unravel due to a series of bitter civil wars. Eventually Babylon, like many other parts of the near east, took advantage of this to free itself from Assyrian rule. In the subsequent overthrow of the Assyrian Empire, the Babylonians saw another example of divine vengeance.
Neo-Babylonian Chaldean Empire
Under Nabopolassar, Babylon threw off Assyrian rule in 612 BC and became the capital of the Neo-Babylonian (sometimes and possibly erroneously called Chaldean) Empire.
With the recovery of Babylonian independence, a new era of architectural activity ensued, and his son Nebuchadnezzar II (604-561 BC) made Babylon into one of the wonders of the ancient world. Nebuchadnezzar ordered the complete reconstruction of the imperial grounds, including rebuilding the Etemenanki ziggurat and the construction of the Ishtar Gate - the most spectacular of eight gates that ringed the perimeter of Babylon. A reconstruction of The Ishtar Gate is located in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. All that was ever found of the Original Ishtar gate was the foundation and scattered bricks.
Nebuchadnezzar is also credited with the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world), said to have been built for his homesick wife Amyitis. Whether the gardens did exist is a matter of dispute. Although excavations by German archaeologist Robert Koldewey are thought to reveal its foundations, many historians disagree about the location, and some believe it may have been confused with gardens in the Assyrian capital, Nineveh.
Chaldean rule did not last long and it is not clear if Neriglissar and Labashi-Marduk were Chaldeans or native Babylonians, and the last ruler Nabonidus and his son and regent Belshazzar were Assyrians from Harran.
Persia captures Babylon
In 539 BC, the Neo-Babylonian Empire fell to Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, with an unprecedented military engagement known as the Battle of Opis. The famed walls of Babylon were indeed impenetrable, with the only way into the city through one of its many gates or through the Euphrates, which ebbed beneath its thick walls. Metal gates at the river's in-flow and out-flow prevented underwater intruders, if one could hold one's breath to reach them. Cyrus (or his generals) devised a plan to use the Euphrates as the mode of entry to the city, ordering large camps of troops at each point and instructed them to wait for the signal. Awaiting an evening of a national feast among Babylonians (generally thought to refer to the feast of Belshazzar mentioned in Daniel V), Cyrus' troops diverted the Euphrates river upstream, causing the Euphrates to drop to about 'mid thigh level on a man' or to dry up altogether. The soldiers marched under the walls through the lowered water. The Persian Army conquered the outlying areas of the city's interior while a majority of Babylonians at the city center were oblivious to the breach. The account was elaborated upon by Herodotus, and is also mentioned by passages in the Hebrew Bible.
Cyrus later issued a decree permitting captive people, including the Jews, to return to their own land (as explained in 2 Chronicles 36), to allow their temple to be rebuilt back in Jerusalem.
Under Cyrus and the subsequent Persian king Darius the Great, Babylon became the capital city of the 9th Satrapy (Babylonia in the south and Athura in the north), as well as a centre of learning and scientific advancement. In Achaemenid Persia, the ancient Babylonian arts of astronomy and mathematics were revitalised and flourished, and Babylonian scholars completed maps of constellations. The city was the administrative capital of the Persian Empire, the preeminent power of the then known world, and it played a vital part in the history of that region for over two centuries. Many important archaeological discoveries have been made that can provide a better understanding of that era.
The early Persian kings had attempted to maintain the religious ceremonies of Marduk, but by the reign of Darius III, over-taxation and the strains of numerous wars led to a deterioration of Babylon's main shrines and canals, and the disintegration of the surrounding region. There were numerous attempts at rebellion and in 522 BC (Nebuchadnezzar III), 521 BC (Nebuchadnezzar IV) and 482 (Bel-shimani and Shamash-eriba) BC native Babylonian kings briefly regained independence. However these revolts were relatively swiftly repressed and the land and city of Babylon remained solidly under Persian rule for two centuries, until Alexander the Great's entry in 331 B.C."
[Although Babylon was quickly rebuilt by Assyrian ruler Esarhaddon, Sennacherib’s son and successor; and no comparable destruction took place in 539 B.C. when the Neo-Babylonian Empire fell to Cyrus the Great, king of Persia - at which time the people of Babylon welcomed his army in by throwing open the city gates, (They even gave Cyrus a triumphal entry complete with palm branches); Isaiah's prophecy of ancient Babylon's desolation eventually found fulfillment; but over a considerable period of time. Darius the Great and Xerxes both issued important decrees of demolition. Alexander the Great apparently had great plans to rebuild it, but they did not survive his death. But by the close of the first century B.C., Babylon was desolate and unihabited so far through the 21st Century, (cf Isa 13:20-22).]
(Isa 13:6 NKJV) "Wail for the Day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. (Isa 13:7 NKJV) Therefore all hands will [become] limp and every man's heart will become weak [in the sense of being in despair] (Isa 13:8 NKJV) And they will [have been terrified]. Pangs [of pain] and [suffering] will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a women in childbirth; They will be astonished at one another [in the sense of looking aghast at one another]; Their faces will be like flames. (Isa 13:9 HOLMAN) Look, the day of the LORD [will have come] - cruel, with rage and burning anger- to make the earth a desolation and to destroy the sinners on it. (Isa 13:10 NKJV) For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The Sun will [have darkened] in its going forth [i.e., at its rising], And the moon will not cause its light to shine. (Isa 13:11 [And] I will [have punished] the world for its iniquity, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will [have brought to an end] the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible [lit., powerful]. (Isa 13:12 HOLMAN) I will make man scarcer than gold, and mankind more rare than the gold of Ophir. (Isa 13:13 NASB) Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place [By] the fury of the LORD of hosts [and] In the day of His burning anger." =
In verse 6, Isaiah leaps forward to when the Day of the LORD will be at hand. And at that time, Isaiah writes that there will be wailing by those throughout the earth in anticipation of the promised worldwide "destruction from the Almighty," (Isa 13:6 NKJV)
The Day of the LORD will be the time "[when] all hands will [become] limp and every man's heart will become weak [in the sense of being in despair. The people of the world will not be able to withstand the violent destruction of the coming Day of the LORD. Instead of holding on to weapons to defend themselves, they will be so demoralized that their hands will go limp and their courage will vanish as their hearts melt. They will be unable to do anything or think of any way to save themselves, (Isa 13:7 NKJV).
And they will [have been terrified]. Pangs [of pain] and [suffering] will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a women in childbirth; They will be astonished at one another [in the sense of looking aghast at one another]; Their faces will be like flames [in the sense of hot with terror and excitement], (Isa 13:8 NKJV).
Look, the day of the LORD [will have come] - cruel, with rage and burning anger- to make the earth a desolation and to destroy [in the sense of exterminating] the sinners on it, (Isa 13:9 HOLMAN).
For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The Sun will [have darkened] in its going forth [i.e., at its rising], And the moon will not cause its light to shine, (Isa 13:10 NKJV).
[And] I will [have punished] the world for its iniquity, And the wicked for their iniquity; I [the LORD] will [have brought to an end] the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible [lit., powerful], (Isa 13:11).
I will make man scarcer than gold, and mankind more rare than the gold of Ophir [Much of Solomon’s gold was brought in a 3-year voyage (1 Ki. 10:22) which came from Ophir], (Isa 13:12 HOLMAN).
Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place [By] the fury of the LORD of hosts [and] In the day of His burning anger, [evidently referring to tremendous earthquakes, volcanoes and storms]," (Isa 13:13 NASB).
Notice that verses 6 through 13 are worldwide in scope, including the stars, constellations, sun and moon and all mankind. Isaiah implies with this leap forward in time to the Day of the LORD: so it will be this kind of devastating judgment in Isaish's near future, when Babylon will soon be destroyed, (cf Isa 13:22); albeit limited in scale to the land of Babylon. No one in Babylon will escape judgment, her sins will be completely punished, and there will be total destruction - fair warning to Judah and every nation as well, (Isa 13:6-13).
(Isa 13:1 NASB) "The oracle [in the sense of a vision of God's judgment of doom] concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. (Isa 13:2 HOLMAN) Lift up a banner on a barren mountain. Call out to them. Wave your hand, and they will go through the gates of the nobles. (Isa 13:3 NKJV) I [the LORD] I have commanded My sanctified [set apart, i.e., chosen] ones; I have also called [in the sense of commanded] My mighty ones [in the sense of commanding mighty warriors] for My anger [in the sense of executing His wrath] - those who rejoice in My [Majesty]. (Isa 13:4 NKJV) The noise of a tumult [roar] in the mountains, Like that of many people! A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations [gathering] together! The LORD [of hosts] [is gathering an] army for battle, (Isa 13:5 NKJV) [coming from a land of distance], From the end of [the heavens] [in sense of from a great distance, i.e., beyond the horizon] the LORD and His weapons of indignation [wrath] To destroy the whole land. (Isa 13:6 NKJV) Wail for the Day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. (Isa 13:7 NKJV) Therefore all hands will [become] limp and every man's heart will become weak [in the sense of being in despair] (Isa 13:8 NKJV) And they will [have been terrified]. Pangs [of pain] and [suffering] will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a women in childbirth; They will be astonished at one another [in the sense of looking aghast at one another]; Their faces will be like flames. (Isa 13:9 HOLMAN) Look, the day of the LORD [will have come] - cruel, with rage and burning anger- to make the earth a desolation and to destroy the sinners on it. (Isa 13:10 NKJV) For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The Sun will [have darkened] in its going forth [i.e., at its rising], And the moon will not cause its light to shine. (Isa 13:11 [And] I will [have punished] the world for its iniquity, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will [have brought to an end] the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible [lit., powerful]. (Isa 13:12 HOLMAN) I will make man scarcer than gold, and mankind more rare than the gold of Ophir. (Isa 13:13 NASB) Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place [By] the fury of the LORD of hosts [and] In the day of His burning anger. (Isa 13:14 HOLMAN) [And they will be like a wandering gazelle] and like sheep without a shepherd, each one will turn to his own people, each one will flee to his own land. (Isa 13:15 HOLMAN) [Everyone] found will be stabbed, and [everyone swept away][in the sense of swept away in battle] will die by the sword. (Isa 13:16 NKJV) Their children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished [raped]. (Isa 13:17 'Behold! I [the LORD] [am stirring up] the Medes against them, Who will not regard silver; And as for gold, they will not delight in it [in the sense that they cannot be bought off with riches - they will want revenge]. (Isa 13:18 HOLMAN) [Their] bows will [dash] young men to pieces. [And] they will [show no mercy for children]; they will not look with pity on children; (Isa 13:19 NKJV) And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, The [splendor] of the Chaldeans' pride, Will [have been] like the overthrow [in the sense of total destruction (TWOT 512d)] of Sodom and Gomorrah [by] God. (Isa 13:20 NASB) It will never be inhabited, [Nor lived in] from generation to generation; Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there, Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there. (Isa 13:21 NKJV) But wild beasts ... will [have lied] down there, And their houses will [have been full of] owls [lit., howling creatures]; daughters of ostriches and wild he-goats will dance there. (Isa 13:22) The hyenas [lit., wild animals] will howl in their citadels, And jackals in their luxurious palaces. Her fateful time also will soon come, And her days will not be prolonged." =
At this point in Isaiah's vision concerning the near future time of the destruction of Babylon, (Isa 13:1-5), and after providing graphic imagery of the Day of the LORD's judgment upon all mankind and the world, (cf. Isa 13:6-13), which provided a parallel comparison with the LORD's judgment of the Babylon of Isaiah's time; Isaiah then returns to that nearer future time of ancient Babylon, (cf. Isa 13:1-5): As the army will approach the gates of Babylon, the captive people of Babylon will flee to their own lands - to their own people. There was evidently no one there to restrain them from escaping. Assyrian ruler Sennacherib claimed to have earlier moved out 208,000 Babylonians when he put down a rebellion earlier, and replaced them with captives from other lands, (Isa 13:14).
The fate of those that will remain in Babylon will be disastrous: "[Everyone] found will be stabbed, and [everyone swept away][in the sense of swept away in battle] will die by the sword. Their children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished [in the sense of raping them]." According to the annals of Sennacherib, and relative to the destruction of Babylon in 689 B.C., the city's public squares were piled high with corpses - few if any of those who remained survived. Since the Assyrians were merciless and cruel, and since it was common for them to kill babies, strip everything valuable from the houses and rape the women; and since there was no fighting by Cyrus' armies when he entered Babylon with his armies, (539 B.C.); then the only event in history which fulfills Isaiah's prophecy is Sennacherib's destruction of Babylon in 689 B.C. after which Babylon was rebuilt and destroyed again several times then finally left desolate with no inhabitants from generation to generation - for thousands of years into the 21st century, (Isa 13:15-16).
The Medes would be stirred up by the LORD against Babylon, and evidently would be a key part of Sennacrib's campaign to punish Babylon. The Medes, known for their fierce fighting, had a history with the Babylonians which motivated them to destroy Babylon. They did not have to be bought off by the promises of receiving the spoils of silver and gold. So "[Their] bows will [dash] young men to pieces. [And] they will [show no mercy for children]; they will not look with pity on children." Note that this scenario does not fit the time when Cyrus led the Medes and Persians to liberate the Babylonians from the misrule of Nabonidus and Belshazzar. There were no fighting and no atrocities at that time, (Isa 13:17-18).
Isaiah goes on to indicate that Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor of the Chaldeans' pride under Merodach-Baladan, will be overthrown [in the sense of being totally destroyed (TWOT 512d)]. And in 689 B.C. the city was leveled to the ground, comparable to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Isaiah declared that, "It will never be inhabited nor lived in from generation to generation; nor will the Arab pitch his tent there, nor shepherds make their flocks lie down there. But wild beasts ... will [have lied] down there, And their houses will [have been full of] owls [lit., howling creatures]; daughters of ostriches and wild he-goats will dance there. The hyenas [lit., wild animals] will howl in their citadels, And jackals in their luxurious palaces. Her fateful time also will soon come, And her days will not be prolonged."
Although Babylon was quickly rebuilt by Esarhaddon, Sennacherib’s son and successor; and although no comparable destruction took place in 539 B.C. when the Neo-Babylonian Empire fell to Cyrus the Great, king of Persia - or any time thereafter; Isaiah's prophecy of ancient Babylon's desolation for generations found fulfillment over a long period of time. For Darius the Great and Xerxes both issued important decrees of demolition. And the plans that Alexander the Great had for rebuilding it did not survive his death. So by the close of the first century B.C., Babylon had remained desolate - "from generation to generation" and has remained so into the 21st Century.
This juxtapositon in chapter 13 of a near and far prophecy serves to be a means to confirm the reliability of the prophecies and hence the writings of Isaiah in the sense that when the relatively near prophecy is fulfilled in all of its detail, it reinforces the reliability of the far reaching prophecy. Note that Sennacherib's destruction of Babylon occurred in Isaiah's lifetime, (Isa 13:22). Furthermore, the prophet himself is authenticated as a prophet of the LORD. Hence his writings are truthful and invaluable. Finally, the severity and finality of the judgment of the LORD upon the whole earth when He comes to bring in His Eternal Kingdom, is foreshadowed by the destruction of Babylon, evidently to serve as a warning to all Judah and of all mankind to trust in the LORD in earnest sincerity or suffer the consequences, (Isa 13:19-22).