Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 14:29

"Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of thee, because the rod that smote thee is broken; for out of the serpent`s root shall come forth an adder, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent." — Isaiah 14:29 (ASV)

Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina. — Better, Do not rejoice, Philistia, all of you; i.e., do not give yourself wholly to rejoicing. Here, as in Exodus 15:14, “Palestina” is used, not in the wider meaning with which we are familiar, but specifically as the country of the Philistines. The historical circumstances connected with the “oracle” before us are found in 2 Chronicles 18:18. The Philistines had invaded the low country (Shephelah), and the district known as the Negeb, or “south” of Judah, in the reign of Ahaz.

He had called in the help of Tiglath-pileser, the Assyrian king, to assist him against Rezin and Pekah (Isaiah 7:1), and so probably against these new invaders. Sargon (who succeeded Tiglath-pileser, B.C. 723) invaded Ashdod in B.C. 710 (Isaiah 20:1; Records of the Past, vii. 40). Sennacherib records a similar attack on Ashkelon and (according to Rawlinson’s interpretation) Ekron (Records of the Past, vii. 61). With these data, we are able to enter upon the interpretation of Isaiah’s prediction.

Because the rod of him that smote thee is broken. — The “rod,” as in Isaiah 10:24, is the power of Tiglath-pileser. The Philistines were exulting in his death, or in that of Ahaz as his ally, as though their peril was past. They are told that their exultation was premature.

Out of the serpent’s root. — The three forms of serpent life (we do not need to be precise about their identification from a zoologist’s perspective) may represent the three Assyrian kings named above, from whose invasions the Philistines were to suffer. Each form was more terrible than the preceding one. The fiery flying serpent (Isaiah 30:6; Numbers 21:6), which represented Sennacherib, was the most formidable of the three.

Similarly, in Isaiah 27:1, the “piercing serpent,” the “crooked serpent,” and the “dragon” are symbols of the Assyrian power. Some critics, however, primarily guided by the first words of the next verse, identify the three serpents as follows:

1. Ahaz
2. Hezekiah
3. The ideal king of Isaiah 11:1-9.