Isaiah 14:23 · Bible study
Isaiah 14:23 Commentary: God's Sweeping Judgment on Babylon
Hebrew · 11 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Isaiah 14:23 uses porcupine and broom imagery to portray God's total judgment on Babylon. Learn its meaning for God's sovereignty over nations.
Research Summary
- Meaning: God will reduce Babylon to an uninhabitable swamp, cleansing it completely.
- Key words: Porcupine/hedgehog (קִפֹּד), broom of destruction (מַטְאֲטֵא הַשְׁמֵד), pools (אַגְמֵי).
- Main debate: Whether קִפֹּד refers to a hedgehog (porcupine) or a bittern (water bird); both are creatures of desolate places.
- Theological theme: Total divine judgment against pride and oppression.
- Best use: Teaching God's sovereignty over nations and the certainty of his promises.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
“I will make her a place for owls and for swamplands; I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of Hosts.
WEB World English Bible 2000
“I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water. I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” says Yahweh of Armies.
KJV King James Version 1769
I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith Jehovah of hosts.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And have made it for a possession of a bittern, And ponds of waters, And daubed it with the mire of destruction, The affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts!
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And I will make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water; and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith Jehovah of hosts.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And I will make it a possession for the ericius and pools of waters, and I will sweep it and wear it out with a besom, saith the Lord of hosts.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y convertiréla en posesión de erizos, y en lagunas de agua; y la barreré con escobas de destrucción, dice Jehová de los ejércitos.
E eu a porei como propriedade de corujas, e poças d´água; e a varrerei com a vassoura da destruição,diz o SENHOR dos exércitos.
J’ en ferai le gîte du hérisson et un marécage,
und will Babel machen zum Erbe der Igel und zum Wassersumpf und will sie mit einem Besen des Verderbens kehren, spricht der HERR Zebaoth.
En Ik zal hen stellen tot een erve der nachtuilen, en tot waterpoelen; en Ik zal hen met een bezem des verderfs uitvagen, spreekt de HEERE der heirscharen.
Ne farò il dominio del porcospino, un luogo di palude, la spazzerò con la scopa della distruzione, dice l’Eterno degli eserciti.
I uczynię je osiadłością bąków, i kałużami wód, i wymiotę go miotłą spustoszenia, mówi Pan zastępów.
И сделаю его владением ежей и болотом, и вымету его метлою истребительною, говорит Господь Саваоф.
我必使 巴比倫為箭豬 所得，又變為水 池；我要用滅亡的 掃帚 掃淨它。這是萬軍 之耶和華 說的。
And I will make you a heritage for the hedgehog, and pools of water: and I will go through it with the brush of destruction, says the Lord of armies.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Isaiah 14:23
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that this verse serves as the decisive closing image of the oracle against Babylon. Barnes observes that the concrete pictures, a porcupine's lair, stagnant pools, a broom, all drive home one point: complete and permanent desolation. Gill notes that the Hebrew word for “broom” (מטאטא) is a rare Aramaic term, fitting the prophet's address to Chaldeans. Keil and Delitzsch highlight the alliterative pairs “name and remnant, sprout and shoot” in the preceding verse, which this sweeping image reinforces. Calvin reads the hedgehog as a creature of waste places, matching the flooded terrain that would follow Babylon's fall. The unity across these sources is clear: the imagery is not random but deliberately accumulates to depict a judgment so thorough that nothing remains.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: God will utterly destroy Babylon, leaving it uninhabited and desolate, a permanent monument to his judgment.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Identity of the animal (קִפֹּד) | The creature inhabits desolate, waterlogged places and symbolizes the absence of human life. | Some commentators (Bochart, Gesenius) argue for a hedgehog or porcupine based on etymology and geography; others (Cambridge Bible, Wesley) prefer a bittern or waterfowl because the context mentions pools. |
| Meaning of 'pools of water' | Refers to marshes or swamps resulting from neglected canals after Babylon's fall. | Whether this describes a literal flooding caused by Cyrus's diversion of the Euphrates (Barnes, Gill) or a more general picture of neglect and decay (Keil and Delitzsch). |
| The 'broom of destruction' as a metaphor | It signifies a thorough, complete removal of every trace of Babylon. | Whether the broom is a literal sweeping flood (Calvin) or a more general symbol of divine cleansing (most modern commentators). |
| Historical fulfillment | Babylon did fall and eventually became uninhabited marshland. | Whether the prophecy was fulfilled solely in the Persian conquest (539 BC) or gradually over centuries, and how much symbolic weight remains for future application. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Babylon sat on the Euphrates River, a city of enormous wealth and elaborate waterways. Canals and dykes controlled the river's annual floods, sustaining agriculture and urban life. When the prophet wrote this oracle, probably in the late eighth or seventh century BC, well before Babylon's fall in 539, he foresaw a day when those waterworks would fail. Cyrus the Persian captured Babylon by diverting the Euphrates, and later neglect left the region a marsh. The “pools of water” (אַגְמֵי־מָיִם) refer to these stagnant swamps. The animal, whether hedgehog (porcupine) or bittern, is consistently interpreted as a creature of desolate places. The Cambridge Bible notes that the bittern's habit of hiding in reeds fits the scene, while others argue that the Hebrew קִפֹּד is closest to the Arabic for hedgehog. Either way, the point is the same: no human will live there. The phrase “broom of destruction” is unique in Scripture (only here and related forms). Gill recounts a Talmudic story that the rabbis learned its meaning from an Arab girl ordering her servant to sweep. The image of a broom suggests a deliberate, efficient cleaning, nothing left behind. This stands in contrast to the city's former glory, described earlier in the chapter as the “golden city” that oppressed nations.
Textual Notes
The Hebrew text poses no significant variants. Clarke mentions sixteen manuscripts and seventeen of De Rossi reading a plural form “besoms” (בְּמַטְאֲטֵא), but this does not change the meaning. The word for “broom” (מטאטא) is an Aramaic loanword, used only here in the Old Testament. The Talmud records that rabbis learned its meaning from hearing an Arab girl use the equivalent word in daily speech (Ros Hashana 26b).
Reception History
In Christian tradition, this verse has been read as a vivid picture of divine judgment against proud empires. Reformation commentators like Calvin and Luther saw Babylon as a type of all worldly power that opposes God, and they sometimes applied the imagery to the papacy in their debates. Later evangelical interpreters focused on the historical fulfillment through Cyrus and the subsequent desolation visible even in the medieval period. The unique image of the broom became a motif for God's thorough cleansing, appearing in hymns about divine justice. Modern readers generally treat the verse as part of Isaiah's larger argument that God alone rules the nations and will bring down every arrogant throne.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- God's judgment leaves no room for life. The porcupine and pools signal a place uninhabitable by humans.
- God's judgment is carried out by God himself. Three times God says “I will”, the destruction is his personal act.
- God's judgment is a thorough workplace cleaning. The broom image shows nothing is overlooked; all evil is swept away.
Five-point outline
- The animal of desolation, a hedgehog or bittern, emphasizes a return to chaos.
- The flooded land, pools where palaces stood, shows how water, once Babylon's pride, becomes its grave.
- The unique Aramaic word for “broom” (מטאטא) underlines the foreign origin of this judgment.
- The phrase “Yahweh of Armies” positions the destruction as an act of the God who commands all spiritual and earthly forces.
- The historical fulfillment in Cyrus's conquest and the city's eventual ruin confirms that God's words are not empty.
Illustration hooks
- A landlord cleaning out a trashed rental property: everything removed, walls scrubbed, no trace of the former tenant.
- A surgeon removing a malignant tumor with clean margins: nothing left behind that could grow back.
- A thorough spring cleaning where old furniture, clothes, and clutter get hauled to the curb, not just tidied but gone.
Questions your congregation is asking
- “Does God still judge whole nations today, or is that only an Old Testament pattern?”
- “If Babylon was destroyed so completely, what hope is there for empires and powers that oppose God now?”
- “Is there any mercy in this judgment, any way for individuals within a doomed city to be saved?”
Leading a Discussion
This verse is the climax of the taunt song against Babylon's king. The images of a porcupine, stagnant pools, and a broom are not chosen at random. They work together to say: God's judgment is complete, personal, and irreversible. As you discuss, let the weight of this passage remind you that the same God who judged Babylon will one day put all wrongs right.
Discussion questions
- What stands out to you in this verse, the animal, the water, or the broom? Why?
- Why do you think God uses such concrete, physical images to describe judgment?
- How does the fact that God himself says “I will” three times affect your understanding of this prophecy?
- Read the cross-references: 1 Kings 14:10 and 2 Kings 21:13. How do those “sweeping” passages help explain this one?
- What does the choice of a porcupine (or hedgehog) say about the kind of desolation Babylon faces?
- How does this judgment against Babylon fit with the hope offered elsewhere in Isaiah (e.g., Isaiah 65:17-25)?
- What does this verse teach us about God's patience and his eventual, certain justice?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| I Kings 14:10 | therefore, behold, I will bring evil on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam everyone who urinates on a wall, he who is shut up and he who is left at large in Israel, and will utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam, as a man sweeps away dung until it is all gone. |
| II Kings 21:13 | I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plumb line of Ahab’s house; and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. |
| Isaiah 13:21 | But wild animals of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of jackals. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will frolic there. |
| Isaiah 13:22 | Hyenas will cry in their fortresses, and jackals in the pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged. |
| Isaiah 34:11 | But the pelican and the porcupine will possess it. The owl and the raven will dwell in it. He will stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plumb line of emptiness. |
| Isaiah 34:15 | The arrow snake will make her nest there, and lay, hatch, and gather under her shade. Yes, the kites will be gathered there, every one with her mate. |
| Jeremiah 50:39 | Therefore the wild animals of the desert with the wolves will dwell there. The ostriches will dwell therein. It will be inhabited no more forever, neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. |
| Jeremiah 50:40 | As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighbor cities,” says Yahweh, “so no man will dwell there, neither will any son of man live therein. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke highlights that the prophet uses a Chaldean word for "besom" (broom) when addressing the Chaldeans, deliberately employing their own language to underscore the nature of God's coming judgment. He also notes that several ancient manuscripts read the plural "besoms of destruction," intensifying the image of total ruin.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes examines the translation of "bittern," noting the Hebrew word likely means hedgehog or porcupine, not a bird. He prefers the common interpretation that Babylon itself became filled with pools of water after Cyrus diverted the Euphrates, and that God would "sweep" the city with total destruction as with a broom, leaving it completely uninhabitable.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin identifies the animal as likely a water-dwelling creature because the verse mentions pools of water. He observes that Babylon lay between the Euphrates and Tigris, so the Lord's threat of a deluge naturally suits its geography.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Cambridge Bible Schools notes that "bittern" fits the desolate scene better than the alternative translation "hedgehog" or "porcupine," since the bittern shares the hedgehog's trick of rolling into an unrecognisable mass. The "pools of water" are marshes formed when the Euphrates overflowed its neglected canals and dykes.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
And I wil make it a possession to ye hedgehogge, and pooles of water, and I will sweepe it with the besome of destruction, sayeth the Lord of hostes.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB notes that the Hebrew word for bittern more likely means hedgehog, and the word for besom means a sweep-net. They connect the prophecy's imagery to Cyrus diverting the Euphrates. For JFB, this fragment about Assyria's fall under Sennacherib was a pledge that God would also destroy Babylon.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch highlights the alliterative word pairs name and remnant, sprout and shoot as a proverbial way of saying everyone without exception. They stress that the Euphrates flooding and hedgehogs replacing palaces are God's judgment, and the final image of God sweeping Babylon away with a broom of destruction turns the city's clay origin into its fitting end.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley notes that the bittern is a water bird that naturally inhabits solitary, marshy places, exactly the condition Babylon would fall into. The pools he refers to were once carefully managed by the Euphrates' irrigation systems, but after the city's destruction the neglect turned the land back into stagnant waters.