Bible Strands
Isaiah 14:5
The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Isaiah pronounces a prophetic verdict against the fallen king of Babylon, continuing the taunt song begun in the preceding verse. The declaration addresses the collapse of tyrannical authority and is directed to the covenant community witnessing the oppressor's defeat.
The words — שָׁבַר (sha.Var) translates literally to "he has broken," while מַטֵּה (ma.Teh) denotes the "staff" or rod of control. These terms frame political power as a physical instrument of subjugation that God actively shatters.
The thread — The imagery of a broken ruling staff or scepter recurs in Psalms 125:3, Isaiah 9:4, and Isaiah 14:29. Each passage uses the same metaphor to mark the termination of oppressive dominance.
Why it lands — The text states that Yahweh actively dismantles the instruments of wicked rulers, requiring the reader to recognize that political oppression is subject to divine judgment. It demands sober acknowledgment that tyrannical authority is temporary and ultimately revoked by God.
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
The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.
Cross-references
- Psalms 125:3 For the scepter of the wicked will not rest upon the land allotted to the righteous, so that the righteous will not put forth their hands to injustice.
- Isaiah 9:4 For as in the day of Midian You have shattered the yoke of their burden, the bar across their shoulders, and the rod of their oppressor.
- Isaiah 14:29 Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken. For a viper will spring from the root of the snake, and a flying serpent from its egg.
- Jeremiah 48:15 Moab has been destroyed and its towns have been invaded; the best of its young men have gone down in the slaughter, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.
- Isaiah 10:5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.