Bible Strands
Isaiah 13:19
And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The oracle pronounces judgment on Babylon within a prophetic declaration of divine warfare against proud empires. The announcement follows a description of a violent foreign army and precedes a declaration of permanent desolation.
The words — The Hebrew term צְבִי (tze.Vi) translates literally as "beauty" or "jewel," marking Babylon's former imperial status. The phrase כְּ/מַהְפֵּכַת (ke./mah.pe.Khat) means "like the overthrow," establishing a direct structural comparison to prior divine judgments.
The thread — The text explicitly equates Babylon's fate with Sodom and Gomorrah, mirroring Genesis 19:24 where God rains sulfur and fire on those cities. This pattern of irreversible ruin reappears in Deuteronomy 29:23 regarding burned soil and Daniel 4:30 regarding fallen royal pride.
Why it lands — The passage demands acknowledgment that political power and imperial splendor cannot withstand divine judgment. It requires readers to accept that human pride is temporary and subject to irreversible destruction.
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
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
Cross-references
- Daniel 4:30 the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?”
- Genesis 19:24 Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.
- Deuteronomy 29:23 All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His fierce anger.
- Jeremiah 49:18 As Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown along with their neighbors,” says the LORD, “no one will dwell there; no man will abide there.
- Jeremiah 50:40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighbors,” declares the LORD, “no one will dwell there; no man will abide there.
- Jeremiah 51:41 How Sheshach has been captured! The praise of all the earth has been seized. What a horror Babylon has become among the nations!
- Amos 4:11 “Some of you I overthrew as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand snatched from a blaze, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.
- Zephaniah 2:9 Therefore, as surely as I live,” declares the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, “surely Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah—a place of weeds and salt pits, a perpetual wasteland. The remnant of My people will plunder them; the remainder of My nation will dispossess them.”
- Isaiah 14:4 you will sing this song of contempt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased, and how his fury has ended!
- Isaiah 14:12 How you have fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O destroyer of nations.