# Isaiah 13

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**Isaiah 13** is the thirteenth [chapter](/source/Chapters_and_verses_of_the_Bible) of the [Book of Isaiah](/source/Book_of_Isaiah) in the [Hebrew Bible](/source/Hebrew_Bible) or the [Old Testament](/source/Old_Testament) of the [Christian](/source/Christianity) [Bible](/source/Bible). This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet [Isaiah](/source/Isaiah), and is one of the [Books of the Prophets](/source/Nevi'im). In the [New King James Version](/source/New_King_James_Version), the chapter is sub-titled "Proclamation Against [Babylon](/source/Babylon)".[1]

## Text

The original text was written in [Hebrew language](/source/Biblical_Hebrew). [This chapter is divided into](/source/Chapters_and_verses_of_the_Bible) 22 verses.

- The American Old Testament scholar [Brevard Childs](/source/Brevard_Childs) links this chapter with the first part of [chapter 14](/source/Isaiah_14) as one section, composed of two units: 13:2-22 and 14:4b-21, "linked editorially by an initial superscription (13:1) and two redactional units 14:1-4a and 22-23.[2]

### Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in [Hebrew](/source/Biblical_Hebrew) are of the [Masoretic Text](/source/Masoretic_Text) tradition, which includes the [Codex Cairensis](/source/Codex_Cairensis) (895), [the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets](/source/Codex_Babylonicus_Petropolitanus) (916), [Aleppo Codex](/source/Aleppo_Codex) (10th century), [Codex Leningradensis](/source/Leningrad_Codex) (1008).[3]

Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the [Dead Sea Scrolls](/source/Dead_Sea_Scrolls) (3rd century BC or later):[4]

- [1QIsaa](/source/Isaiah_scroll): complete[5] (150-125BC)[6]
- 1QIsab: extant: verses 2‑5, 7‑8, 16, 18‑19[5]
- 4QIsaa (4Q55): extant: verses 4‑6[5]
- 4QIsab (4Q56): extant: verses 3-18[5]
- 4QIsal (4Q65): extant: verses 1‑4[5]

There is also a translation into [Koine Greek](/source/Koine_Greek) known as the [Septuagint](/source/Septuagint), made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the [Septuagint](/source/Septuagint) version include [Codex Vaticanus](/source/Codex_Vaticanus) (**B**; \mathfrak{G}B; 4th century), [Codex Sinaiticus](/source/Codex_Sinaiticus) (**S**; [BHK](/source/Biblia_Hebraica_(Kittel)): \mathfrak{G}S; 4th century), [Codex Alexandrinus](/source/Codex_Alexandrinus) (**A**; \mathfrak{G}A; 5th century) and [Codex Marchalianus](/source/Codex_Marchalianus) (**Q**; \mathfrak{G}Q; 6th century).[7]

## Parashot

The *[parashah](/source/Parashah)* sections listed here are based on the [Aleppo Codex](/source/Aleppo_Codex).[8] Isaiah 13 is a part of the *Prophecies about the Nations (Isaiah 13[–23](/source/Isaiah_23))*. {P}: open *parashah*; {S}: closed *parashah*.

- {S} 13:1-5 {S} 13:6-22 [14:1-2 {S}]

## Verse 1

- *The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of [Amoz](/source/Amoz) saw.*[9]

- "Burden" (Hebrew: [מַשָּׂ֖א](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%A9%D7%90), ): the keyword in the superscriptions for a total of nine similar oracles; the others being: [Isaiah 15:1](/source/Isaiah_15:1); [17:1](/source/Isaiah_17:1); [19:1](/source/Isaiah_19:1); [21:1](/source/Isaiah_21:1), [11](/source/Isaiah_21:11), [13](/source/Isaiah_21:13); [22:1](/source/Isaiah_22:1); [23:1](/source/Isaiah_23:1).[10]

## Verse 2

- *Lift up a banner on the high mountain* (NKJV)[11]

The [ASV](/source/American_Standard_Version) refers to "the bare mountain", i.e. "i.e. one denuded of trees, so that the signal might be clearly distinguished".[12]

## Verse 17

- "Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, - Who will not regard silver;
- And as for gold, they will not delight in it." (NKJV) [13]

- Cross reference: ; ; ;

This verse makes clear that Babylon was to fall at the hand of the [Medes](/source/Medes), probably under the leadership of [Cyrus the Great](/source/Cyrus_the_Great).[12] The Medes are specified *by name* as the instrument of God's wrath, pointing to a historical setting in the sixth century, but according to Childs, significantly "portrayed as a still future event, and ... not to be interpreted as a late postexilic retrojection of the events in 539" BC when Medes (and Persia) actually conquered Babylon.[14]

## Verse 21

- *[Desert animals](/source/Xerocole) will move into the ruined city* ([NLT](/source/New_Living_Translation)) [15]

[Owls](/source/Owl), [ostriches](/source/Ostrich) and [goats](/source/Wild_goat) are identified as examples.

## See also

- [Arabia](/source/Arabian_Peninsula)
- [Babylon](/source/Babylon)
- [Chaldea](/source/Chaldea)
- [Medes](/source/Medes)
- [Ophir](/source/Ophir)
- [Sodom and Gomorrah](/source/Sodom_and_Gomorrah)

- Related [Bible](/source/Bible) parts: [Genesis 10](/source/Genesis_10), [Isaiah 21](/source/Isaiah_21), [Isaiah 44](/source/Isaiah_44), [Isaiah 45](/source/Isaiah_45), [Jeremiah 51](/source/Jeremiah_51), [Daniel 5](/source/Daniel_5)

## Notes and references

1. : NKJV

1. Childs 2001, pp. 117–123.

1. Würthwein 1995, pp. 35–37.

1. Ulrich 2010, pp. 355–356.

1. Walch, Stephen (13 January 2016). ["Dead Sea Scrolls"](http://thewaytoyahuweh.com/research/dead-sea-scrolls/#isaiah). *The Way To Yahuweh*[better source needed]

1. Jull, Timothy A. J.; Donahue, Douglas J.; Broshi, Magen; Tov, Emanuel (1995). ["Radiocarbon Dating of Scrolls and Linen Fragments from the Judean Desert"](https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/radiocarbon/article/view/1642). *Radiocarbon*. **37** (1): 14. Retrieved 11 July 2017.

1. Würthwein 1995, pp. 73–74.

1. As implemented in the [Jewish Publication Society's 1917 edition of the Hebrew Bible in English](http://mechon-mamre.org/e/et/et0.htm).

1. [NKJV](/source/New_King_James_Version)

1. Childs 2001, p. 113.

1. [Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges](http://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/isaiah/13.htm) on Isaiah 13, accessed 26 March 2018

1. Childs 2001, p. 125.

## Sources

- Childs, Brevard S. (2001). *Isaiah*. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664221430.
- Ulrich, Eugene (ed.) (2010). [*The Biblical Qumran Scrolls: Transcriptions and Textual Variants*](https://archive.org/details/TheBiblicalQumranScrolls). Brill.
- Würthwein, Ernst (1995). [*The Text of the Old Testament*](https://books.google.com/books?id=FSNKSBObCYwC). Translated by Rhodes, Erroll F. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-0788-7. Retrieved January 26, 2019.

## External links

### Jewish

- [Isaiah 13: Hebrew with Parallel English](http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1013.htm)

### Christian

- [Isaiah 13 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate](http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=0&b=27&c=13) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160704055649/http://latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=0&b=27&c=13) 2016-07-04 at the Wayback Machine

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Isaiah 13](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah_13) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah_13?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.