All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?
Parallel translations
- WEB They all will answer and ask you, “Have you also become as weak as we are? Have you become like us?”
- BSB They will all respond to you, saying, “You too have become weak, as we are; you have become like us!”
- NKJV They all shall speak and say to you: ‘Have you also become as weak as we? Have you become like us?
- NASB “They will all respond and say to you, ‘Even you have become weak as we, You have become like us.
- NLT With one voice they all cry out, ‘Now you are as weak as we are!
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
The dead kings mock the fallen tyrant, asking if he too has become as weak as they are. His vaunted power is exposed as no different from theirs in the end.
Overview
The shades in Sheol greet the Babylonian king with bitter astonishment that he shares their weakness. All the pretension of his earthly glory is leveled by death. This anticipates the great reversal Scripture proclaims, where the proud are brought low and only those found in Christ have hope beyond the grave.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Ps 49:6–14They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;
- Ezek 32:21The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
- Eccl 2:16For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.
- Ps 49:20Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.
- Ps 82:6–7I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
- Luke 16:20–23And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 14:10 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.