Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 14:9

"Sheol from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations." — Isaiah 14:9 (ASV)

Hell from beneath is moved for thee ... —“Hell,” or Sheol, is, as elsewhere, the shadow-world, the region of the dead. Into that world the king of Babylon descends. The “dead” and the Rephaim are there, the giant-spectres, now faint and feeble (Deuteronomy 2:11; Deuteronomy 3:11), of departed forms of greatness. The verb (“it stirreth up”), which is masculine, while the noun is feminine, seems to personify Sheol, as Hades is personified in Revelation 20:14.

The “chief ones” are, literally, the he-goats, or “bell-wethers” of the flock (Isaiah 34:6; Zechariah 10:3), of which Hades is the shepherd (Psalms 49:14). Even in Sheol the kings of the earth retain their former majesty, and sit on thrones apart from the common dead. In Ezekiel 32:17-32 we have a reproduction of the same imagery, and the kings appear, each with his “weapons of war.” The whole passage finds a striking parallel in the Assyrian legend of the Descent of Ishtar (Records of the Past, i. p. 144), where Hades is described.

“The abode of darkness and famine.

Night is not seen—in darkness they dwell.
Ghosts, like birds, flutter their wings there.
On the door and gate-posts the dust lies undisturbed.

*

To be the ruler of a palace will be your rank;
A throne of state will be your seat.”