“The kings of the nations lie in stately glory, each in his own tomb,
Parallel translations
- WEB All the kings of the nations, sleep in glory, everyone in his own house.
- KJV All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.
- BSB All the kings of the nations lie in state, each in his own tomb.
- NKJV “All the kings of the nations, All of them, sleep in glory, Everyone in his own house;
- NASB “All the kings of the nations lie in glory, Each in his own tomb.
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
All other kings lie buried in honor, each in his own tomb. They receive the dignity in death that this tyrant will be denied.
Overview
Isaiah contrasts the customary honorable burial of kings with the shameful fate awaiting the Babylonian ruler in the next verse. Even pagan monarchs were laid to rest with their fathers, but this king will have no such rest. The verse heightens the disgrace of the one who exalted himself most.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 2 Chr 24:16They buried him in David’s city among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, and toward God and his house.
- Isa 22:16‘What are you doing here? Who has you here, that you have dug out a tomb here?’ Cutting himself out a tomb on high, chiseling a habitation for himself in the rock!”
- Job 30:23For I know that you will bring me to death, To the house appointed for all living.
- 2 Chr 24:25When they had departed from him (for they left him very sick), his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed, and he died. They buried him in David’s city, but they didn’t bury him in the tombs of the kings.
- Ezek 32:18–32Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, to the lower parts of the earth, with those who go down into the pit.
- Eccl 12:5yes, they shall be afraid of heights, and terrors will be on the way; and the almond tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; because man goes to his everlasting home, and the mourners go about the streets:
- Eccl 6:3If a man fathers a hundred children, and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not filled with good, and moreover he has no burial; I say, that a stillborn child is better than he:
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 14:18 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.