Bible Strands
Isaiah 13:17
Behold, I will stir up against them the Medes, who have no regard for silver and no desire for gold.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — YHWH declares impending judgment against Babylon by mobilizing the Medes, following a description of total desolation in Isaiah 13 and preceding a depiction of their merciless violence.
The words — The Hebrew מֵעִיר (me'ir) translates literally as "I will stir up" or "rouse," while כֶּסֶף (kesef, "silver") paired with לֹא (lo', "not") explicitly states the Medes' lack of material motivation.
The thread — This exact mobilization appears in Jeremiah 51:11, where the LORD arouses the kings of the Medes to execute His plan, and in Daniel 5:28, where their conquest confirms the division of a kingdom.
Why it lands — The text establishes that historical conquests are direct instruments of divine will, requiring the reader to acknowledge that political powers act precisely when and how God directs them.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 51:11 Sharpen the arrows! Fill the quivers! The LORD has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because His plan is aimed at Babylon to destroy her, for it is the vengeance of the LORD—vengeance for His temple.
- Daniel 5:28 PERES means that your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”
- Isaiah 41:25 I have raised up one from the north, and he has come—one from the east who calls on My name. He will march over rulers as if they were mortar, like a potter who treads the clay.
- Jeremiah 50:9 For behold, I stir up and bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north. They will line up against her; from the north she will be captured. Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not return empty-handed.
- Jeremiah 51:27 “Raise a banner in the land! Blow the ram’s horn among the nations! Prepare the nations against her. Summon the kingdoms against her—Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a captain against her; bring up horses like swarming locusts.
- Proverbs 6:34 For jealousy enrages a husband, and he will show no mercy in the day of vengeance.
- Isaiah 13:3 I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have even summoned My warriors to execute My wrath and exult in My triumph.
- Isaiah 21:2 A dire vision is declared to me: “The traitor still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all her groaning.”