John Gill Commentary Isaiah 47

Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, &c.] The kingdom of Babylon is meant, as the Targum paraphrases it; or the Babylonish monarchy, called a virgin, because it had never been subdued and conquered from the first setting of it up, until it was by Cyrus; so Herodotus ^F3 says, this was the first time that Babylon was taken; and also because of the beauty and glory of it:

but now it is called to come down from its height and excellency, and its dominion over other kingdoms, and sit in a mournful posture, and as in subjection to other princes and states, Jerom observes, that some interpret this of the city of Rome, which is mystical Babylon, and whose ruin may be hinted at under the type of literal Babylon.

And though the church of Rome boasts of her purity and chastity, of her being espoused to Christ as a chaste virgin, she is no other than the great whore, the mother of harlots; and though she has reigned over the kings of the earth, the time is coming when she must come down from her throne and dignity, and sit and be rolled in the dust:

there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: that is, for her; there was a throne, but it was for Cyrus and Darius, kings of Persia, who should now possess it, when the king of Babylon should be obliged to come down from it. So the seat and throne which the dragon gave to the beast shall be taken from it, and be no more, (Revelation 13:2):

for you shall no more be called tender and delicate; or be treated in a tender and delicate manner; or live deliciously, and upon dainties, as royal personages do, (Revelation 18:7).

FOOTNOTES:

• F3: Clio, sive l. 1. c. 191.

Take the millstones, and grind meal
Foretelling that the Chaldeans should be taken captives, and used as such, and sent to prison houses, where they should turn the mill, and grind corn into meal; a very servile work, and which used to be done by captives and slaves, even by female ones, (Exodus 11:5) (12:29) (Judges 16:21) . The Targum is, ``go into servitude;'' of which this was a sign:

uncover thy locks :
the attire and dress of the head, by which the locks were bound up and kept together; but being taken off, would hang loose, and be dishevelled, as in captives and mourners. The Targum is, ``uncover the glory of thy kingdom:''

make bare the leg ;
or the shoulder, as the Vulgate Latin version, to be scourged by the Persians:

uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers :
they are bid to tuck up their clothes so high, that they might pass over the rivers which lay between them and Persia, whither they were carried captives. The Targum is, ``thy princes are broken, the people of their army are scattered, they pass away as the waters of the river.''

Your nakedness shall be uncovered, yes, your shame shall be seen ,
&c.] Not only stripped of their garments, and have nothing to cover their naked bodies, being spoiled of all by the soldiers; but should have nothing to cover those parts which women are most ashamed should be exposed to view, and which is often the case of such who fall into the hands of the conquerors. It is said of the whore of Rome, of mystical Babylon, that the kings of the earth should hate her, and make her desolate and naked, (Revelation 17:16) :

I will take vengeance ;
for though the Medes and Persians were the instruments, the destruction was of the Lord, who took vengeance of the Chaldeans, for their ill usage of his people; as he will on mystical Babylon, (Revelation 18:20) (19:2) :

and I will not meet you as a man ;
in a humane way, with lenity, tenderness, and compassion, but with inflexible wrath and fury; not with human strength, which is but weakness, but with the strength of the mighty God; as is said of mystical Babylon, strong is the Lord God that judgeth her ,
(Revelation 18:8) or it may be rendered, "I will not meet a man" ^F4 ; or a man shall not meet me, to stop or hinder me, by strength or might, or by prayers and entreaties. So some give the sense, "I will not receive the "intercession of any man for you"; which is observed by Kimchi. The Targum is, "I will change "your judgment from the children of men"; which agrees with the first sense.

FOOTNOTES:

• F4: (Mda egpa alw) "et non occurram homini", Cocceius; so some in Vatablus; "neque feram obstare quenquam mihi", Junius & Tremellius. So Ben Melech, "I will not receive the request of a man, his supplication for them."

As for our Redeemer
Or, "saith our Redeemer", as it may be supplied ^F5 : or, "our Redeemer" will do this; inflict this punishment on Babylon, even he who has undertaken our cause, and will deliver us from the Babylonish yoke, and return us to our land: these are the words of the Lord's people, expressing their faith in the things foretold of Babylon, and in their own deliverance: the Lord of hosts is his name ;
and therefore able to redeem his people, and destroy his enemies, being the Lord of armies above and below, and having all at his command: the Holy One of Israel ;
the sanctifier of them, their covenant God, and therefore will save them, and destroy their enemies, being hateful to him, because unholy and impure.

FOOTNOTES:

• F5: "[Inquit] viudex noster", Junius & Tremellius; "hoc dicit", Piscator.

Sit thou silent

Here the speech is directed again to Babylon, which used to be a place of noise and hurry, as well as famous and much talked of all the world over; but now there should be a deep silence in it, no voice to be heard, the inhabitants being gone, and no discourse concerning it; no more talked of and celebrated for its magnificence and authority, trade and riches, but buried in oblivion. It is represented as sitting in silence, either as a mourner, or as one that is free among the dead, remembered no more:

and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans ;

meaning either captivity or imprisonment, prison houses being dark; or into the state of the dead, which is a state of darkness:

for thou shall no more be called the lady of kingdoms ;

the mistress or governess of them, as she had been, having subdued many kingdoms and nations, and added them to her monarchy, which now would be at an end.

Thus mystical Babylon, or Rome, has reigned over the kings of the earth, and has been mistress over many nations; but the time is coming when she will sit in silence, and no voice will be heard in her; and when the kingdom of the beast will be full of darkness, (Revelation 17:15Revelation 17:18) (Revelation 18:22Revelation 18:23) (16:10) .