Bible Strands
Isaiah 14:11
Your pomp has been brought down to Sheol, along with the music of your harps. Maggots are your bed and worms your blanket.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Isaiah pronounces this oracle against a fallen earthly ruler, as his former allies in the grave acknowledge his descent. The surrounding context frames this declaration during a moment of divine judgment on human arrogance.
The words — The Hebrew `שְׁאוֹל (she.'ol)` denotes the realm of the dead, while `יֻצַּע (yu.Tza')` literally means it is spread as a bed. These terms ground the verse in physical decay rather than abstract punishment.
The thread — The motif of Sheol as a resting place appears in Job 17:13, where the speaker anticipates darkness as his home. The theme of sudden divine evaluation echoes the judgment inscription in Daniel 5:25.
Why it lands — The text describes the complete reversal of royal pomp into grave decay, demanding recognition that human pride cannot escape mortality. Readers must confront the certainty that earthly glory yields to physical dissolution.
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
Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
Cross-references
- Daniel 5:25 Now this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN.
- Job 17:13 If I look for Sheol as my home, if I spread out my bed in darkness,
- Job 21:11 They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about,
- Job 24:19 As drought and heat consume the melting snow, so Sheol steals those who have sinned.
- Isaiah 21:4 My heart falters; fear makes me tremble. The twilight I desired has turned to horror.
- Isaiah 22:2 O city of commotion, O town of revelry? Your slain did not die by the sword, nor were they killed in battle.
- Isaiah 66:24 “As they go forth, they will see the corpses of the men who have rebelled against Me; for their worm will never die, their fire will never be quenched, and they will be a horror to all mankind.”
- Ezekiel 26:13 So I will silence the sound of your songs, and the music of your lyres will no longer be heard.
- Ezekiel 32:19 Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and be placed with the uncircumcised!
- Daniel 5:1 Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.