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Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be ravished.
Isaiah 13:16 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Their infants also will be dashed in pieces before their eyes. Their houses will be ransacked, and their wives raped.
  • KJV Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.
  • NKJV Their children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished.
  • NASB Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces Before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives raped.
  • NLT Their little children will be dashed to death before their eyes. Their homes will be sacked, and their wives will be raped.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

In the conquest even infants and households will suffer brutal violence. War's horrors fall upon proud Babylon.

Overview

The graphic depiction of slaughtered children and plundered homes reflects the brutal realities of ancient conquest that God permitted as judgment on a violent empire. Babylon, which had shown no mercy to others, receives the measure it dealt. Such passages confront us with the seriousness of sin and the justice God will execute.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 6

  • Hos 10:14the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be demolished as Shalman devastated Beth-arbel in the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to pieces along with their children.
  • Nah 3:10Yet she became an exile; she went into captivity. Her infants were dashed to pieces at the head of every street. They cast lots for her dignitaries, and all her nobles were bound in chains.
  • Ps 137:8–9O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.
  • Isa 13:18Their bows will dash young men to pieces; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; they will not look with pity on the children.
  • Lam 5:11Women have been ravished in Zion, virgins in the cities of Judah.
  • Zech 14:2For I will gather all the nations for battle against Jerusalem, and the city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be removed from the city.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 13:16YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).

How Isaiah 13:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.