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Journey of a Passage

Isaiah 13:17–22

The Medes against Babylon, and the haunted ruin

"Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver." Babylon will be like Sodom and Gomorrah, never inhabited, a lair for desert animals and se'irim. The Masoretic Text, the Great Isaiah Scroll and 1QIsa-b agree on the Medes; the translations differ over the creatures: the library's Greek has "demons" and "dragons," the Vulgate pilosi ("hairy ones") and dracones, the KJV "satyrs."

Stable text: no manuscript differences in meaning

The family tree

Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.

✓ contains this verse · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
Hebrew
  1. The oracle as first spoken or written8th–6th century BC (by section; debated)
  2. Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa-a), Qumran Cave 1c. 125 BC (palaeography; reported)Descends, through lost copies, from The oracle as first spoken or written
  3. 1QIsa-b (1Q8), Qumran Cave 11st century BC – 1st century AD (reported)Descends, through lost copies, from The oracle as first spoken or written
  4. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from The oracle as first spoken or written
Greek
  1. Greek Isaiah (library: Giguet's French)Greek translation c. 2nd century BC; French 1872Translated from the Old Greek Isaiah
Latin
  1. Latin Vulgate (Clementine)Jerome c. AD 400, from Hebrew; edition 1592Translated from the Hebrew text Jerome used
English
  1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

Every witness, in order

  1. 8th–6th century BC (by section; debated)

    The oracle as first spoken or written

    – No copy survives

    No original survives. The oldest copies of Isaiah are the Qumran scrolls: the Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa-a, about 125 BC, nearly complete), 1QIsa-b (1Q8) and some twenty other fragmentary manuscripts.

  2. c. 125 BC (palaeography; reported)

    Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa-a), Qumran Cave 1

    ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from The oracle as first spoken or written

    How the site knows this: Described from a published transcription of the manuscript. Described in the site's own words from Martin Abegg's transcription (ETCBC/CACCHT Dead Sea Scrolls dataset v2.0.5); the transcription itself is not reproduced. Photographs and DJD XXXII not yet checked.

    Hebrew numbering: Isaiah 13:17–22. Names the Medes as in the Masoretic Text, with a singular verb ("regard") where the Masoretic Text has a plural; v. 22 adds "any more" at the end. Otherwise the differences are of spelling (fuller use of vowel letters) and small grammatical forms.

  3. 1st century BC – 1st century AD (reported)

    1QIsa-b (1Q8), Qumran Cave 1

    ◐ Contains part of itDescends, through lost copies, from The oracle as first spoken or written

    How the site knows this: Described from a published transcription of the manuscript. Described in the site's own words from Martin Abegg's transcription (ETCBC/CACCHT Dead Sea Scrolls dataset v2.0.5); the transcription itself is not reproduced. Photographs and DJD XXXII not yet checked.

    Hebrew numbering: Isaiah 13:17–22. Preserves vv. 17–18 in agreement with the Masoretic Text; the rest is lost.

  4. Jerome c. AD 400, from Hebrew; edition 1592

    Latin Vulgate (Clementine)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Hebrew text Jerome used

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

    Ecce ego suscitabo super eos Medos, qui argentum non quærant, nec aurum velint; sed sagittis parvulos interficient, et lactantibus uteris non miserebuntur, et super filios non parcet oculus eorum. Et erit Babylon illa gloriosa in regnis, inclyta superbia Chaldæorum, sicut subvertit Dominus Sodomam et Gomorrham. Non habitabitur usque in finem, et non fundabitur usque ad generationem et generationem; nec ponet ibi tentoria Arabs, nec pastores requiescent ibi. Sed requiescent ibi bestiæ, et replebuntur domus eorum draconibus, et habitabunt ibi struthiones, et pilosi saltabunt ibi; et respondebunt ibi ululæ in ædibus ejus, et sirenes in delubris voluptatis.

    Latin numbering: Isaiah 13:17–22. Jerome translated Isaiah from Hebrew (c. AD 400).

  5. AD 1008

    Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

    ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from The oracle as first spoken or written

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

    הִנְנִ֛י מֵעִ֥יר עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם אֶת־מָדָ֑י אֲשֶׁר־כֶּ֙סֶף֙ לֹ֣א יַחְשֹׁ֔בוּ וְזָהָ֖ב לֹ֥א יַחְפְּצוּ־בֽוֹ׃ וּקְשָׁת֖וֹת נְעָרִ֣ים תְּרַטַּ֑שְׁנָה וּפְרִי־בֶ֙טֶן֙ לֹ֣א יְרַחֵ֔מוּ עַל־בָּנִ֖ים לֹֽא־תָח֥וּס עֵינָֽם׃ וְהָיְתָ֤ה בָבֶל֙ צְבִ֣י מַמְלָכ֔וֹת תִּפְאֶ֖רֶת גְּא֣וֹן כַּשְׂדִּ֑ים כְּמַהְפֵּכַ֣ת אֱלֹהִ֔ים אֶת־סְדֹ֖ם וְאֶת־עֲמֹרָֽה׃ לֹֽא־תֵשֵׁ֣ב לָנֶ֔צַח וְלֹ֥א תִשְׁכֹּ֖ן עַד־דּ֣וֹר וָד֑וֹר וְלֹֽא־יַהֵ֥ל שָׁם֙ עֲרָבִ֔י וְרֹעִ֖ים לֹא־יַרְבִּ֥צוּ שָֽׁם׃ וְרָבְצוּ־שָׁ֣ם צִיִּ֔ים וּמָלְא֥וּ בָתֵּיהֶ֖ם אֹחִ֑ים וְשָׁ֤כְנוּ שָׁם֙ בְּנ֣וֹת יַֽעֲנָ֔ה וּשְׂעִירִ֖ים יְרַקְּדוּ־שָֽׁם׃ וְעָנָ֤ה אִיִּים֙ בְּאַלְמנוֹתָ֔יו וְתַנִּ֖ים בְּהֵ֣יכְלֵי עֹ֑נֶג וְקָר֤וֹב לָבוֹא֙ עִתָּ֔הּ וְיָמֶ֖יהָ לֹ֥א יִמָּשֵֽׁכוּ׃

    Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against them, who do not value silver and take no delight in gold (v. 17)

    Hebrew numbering: Isaiah 13:17–22.

  6. 1611

    King James Bible

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

    Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children. And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.

  7. Greek translation c. 2nd century BC; French 1872

    Greek Isaiah (library: Giguet's French)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Old Greek Isaiah

    How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

    Voici que je vais susciter contre vous les Mèdes, qui comptent pour rien l’argent, et n’ont pas besoin d’or. Ils briseront les arcs des jeunes hommes, ils seront sans pitié pour vos enfants; et vos fils, ils ne les épargneront point. Ainsi en sera-t-il de Babylone, que le roi des Chaldéens appelle glorieuse, comme de Sodome et de Gomorrhe, que Dieu a renversées. Elle ne sera plus jamais habitée, et l’on n’y rentrera plus durant de longues générations; et les Arabes ne la traverseront plus, et les pasteurs ne viendront plus s’y reposer. Mais les bêtes fauves s’y reposeront, et ses maisons seront pleines de leurs cris; les dragons y feront leur séjour, et les démons y danseront; Et les onocentaures y habiteront, et les hérissons feront leurs nids dans leurs demeures.

    Greek (digital file) numbering: Isaiah 13:17–22. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check only); a C check needs Ziegler's Göttingen Isaiah or Rahlfs–Hanhart.

What changed, and why

Classification: stable text; translation differences in the animal names (se'irim, tannim, benot ya'anah).

History: Cyrus took Babylon in 539 BC without destroying it; the city declined over centuries. The oracle's picture is the end result, not the event of 539.

Revelation 18:2 (fallen Babylon "the hold of every foul spirit") draws on the haunted-ruin image.

What the evidence shows

  • Independently documentedThe witnesses agree that the Medes are named in 13:17.
  • Independently documentedThe library's Greek renders se'irim as "demons."
  • Conflicts with current evidenceBabylon was left uninhabited in 539 BC. It declined slowly over centuries.

Sources

    Related lessons

    • Isaiah 13: The Burden of Babylon →The first of the "burdens" (massa, oracles) on the nations, headed "which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see." God musters an army from the end of heaven (13:1–5); the day of the LORD comes with terror, darkened stars and a shaken earth (vv. 6–16); God stirs up the Medes, who cannot be bought off, and Babylon becomes like Sodom and Gomorrah, haunted by desert animals (vv. 17–22). The poem's horrors, including children dashed to pieces, are part of the text and are discussed openly.
    • Investigation: One Isaiah or Several? →The book names one prophet, Isaiah son of Amoz, who worked under four kings of Judah in the 8th century BC. From chapter 40 on, Babylon is about to fall, Cyrus of Persia is named, and Isaiah's name never appears again. Since the 18th century most scholars have explained this by several authors or editors over two centuries; traditional readers hold that the 8th-century prophet foresaw these events. This investigation lays out what the book says, what each explanation rests on, and what neither side can prove.