Isaiah 14:4-23 That you shall take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How has the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!… (ver. 23), Hebrews kippod. The word occurs also in chap. 34:11; Zephaniah 2:14. It has been rendered otter, tortoise, owl, beaver, porcupine (R.V.). No one of the renderings proposed is satisfactory. "Bittern" is freer from objection than any other bird which might be proposed. It is a solitary bird, and loves such haunts as would be supplied by the marshes which were found in districts of Edom and Babylon and Nineveh, as the fruit of the desolation sent on them. It feeds at night, and hides during the day among the long grass and rushes of its favourite habitats. (J. Duns, D. D., F. R. S. E.) Parallel Verses KJV: That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! |
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