Isaiah 14:30
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Then the firstborn of the poor will find pasture, and the needy will lie down in safety, but I will kill your root by famine, and your remnant will be slain.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
The coming Davidic king is peace for Israel, but for Philistia death. "And the poorest of the poor will feed, and needy ones lie down in peace; and I kill thy root through hunger, and he slays thy remnant." "The poorest of the poor:" becōrē dallim is an intensified expression for benē dallim, the latter signifying such as belong to the family of the poor, the former (cf., Job 18:13, mors dirissima) such as hold the foremost rank in such a family - a description of Israel, which, although at present deeply, very deeply, repressed and threatened on every side, would then enjoy its land in quietness and peace (Zep 3:12-13). In this sense ורעוּ is used absolutely; and there is no necessity for Hupfeld's conjecture (Ps. ii. 258), that we should read בכרי (in my pastures). Israel rises again, but Philistia perishes even to a root and remnant; and the latter again falls a victim on the one hand to the judgment of God (famine), and on the other to the punishment inflicted by the house of David. The change of persons in Isa 14:30 is no synallage; but the subject to yaharōg (slays) is the basilisk, the father of the flying dragon. The first strophe of the massah terminates here. It consists of eight lines, each of the two Masoretic Isa 14:29, Isa 14:30 containing four clauses.
Open source ↗In this chapter, I. More weight is added to the burden of Babylon, enough to sink it like a mill-stone; I. It is Israel's cause that is to be pleaded in this quarrel with Babylon (Isa 14:1-3). 2. The king of Babylon, for the time being, shall be remarkably brought down and triumphed over (v. 4-20). 3. The whole race of the Babylonians shall be cut off and extirpated (Isa 14:21-23). II. A confirmation of the prophecy of the destruction of Babylon, which was a thing at a distance, is here given in the prophecy of the destruction of the Assyrian army that invaded the land, which happened not long after (Isa 14:24-27). III. The success of Hezekiah against the Philistines is here foretold, and the advantages which his people would gain thereby (Isa 14:28-32).
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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Lambs will graze as in their own pastures, and strangers will feed in the ruins of the wealthy.
And this will be a sign to you, O Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from the same. But in the third year you will sow and reap; you will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
he will dwell on the heights; the mountain fortress will be his refuge; his food will be provided and his water assured.
They will roam the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged; and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God.
They carve out what is on the right, but they are still hungry; they eat what is on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one devours the flesh of his own offspring.
These pairs have befallen you: devastation and destruction, famine and sword. Who will grieve for you? Who can comfort you?
Why do you crush My people and grind the faces of the poor?” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.
It devours patches of his skin; the firstborn of death devours his limbs.