The Meaning of Isaiah 43:14 Explained

Isaiah 43:14

KJV: Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.

YLT: Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: 'For your sake I have sent to Babylon, And caused bars to descend -- all of them, And the Chaldeans, whose song is in the ships.

Darby: Thus saith Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought all of them down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.

ASV: Thus saith Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring down all of them as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships of their rejoicing.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Thus saith  the LORD,  your redeemer,  the Holy One  of Israel;  For your sake I have sent  to Babylon,  and have brought down  all their nobles,  and the Chaldeans,  whose cry  [is] in the ships. 

What does Isaiah 43:14 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Yahweh, Israel"s Redeemer and the Holy One of Israel (cf. Isaiah 41:14), would bring judgment on Babylon for the sake of the Israelites. His judgment would be for their sake in two senses: it would demonstrate His sovereignty to them in a fresh way, and it would fulfill His covenant promises to preserve them. The Babylonians would flee as fugitives from the Lord and His instrument of punishment, the Medo-Persians. Isaiah pictured them fleeing in boats, sailing south down the Euphrates River. Note the similarity between the Babylonians in their ships on their river and the Egyptians, who also sailed ships on their river, the Nile. The Chaldeans, Song of Solomon -called by the Assyrians, were the warriors of southern Mesopotamia who forged the Babylonian Empire.

Context Summary

Isaiah 43:14-28 - A Way In The Wilderness
Let uptake care lest we thwart God's purpose in our lives. We were made to show forth His praise, Isaiah 43:21; but we must beware of causing a revoking of His gracious purpose (See Numbers 14:34, r.v. margin): by prayerlessness, Isaiah 43:22; by the neglect of little things, Isaiah 43:23; by the lack of sweetness and tenderness in our disposition, Isaiah 43:24. "Be not high-minded, but fear; for if God spared not the natural branches, neither will He spare thee," Romans 11:20-21, r.v.
On the other hand, directly sin is repented of and put away, it is blotted out, Isaiah 43:25. It is persistence in sin that causes God to turn from us. If we forsake what is evil, as soon as we are conscious of it, "the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin." It is blotted out as a cloud from the sky and no more remembered against us forever. This is done for God's own sake. The reason for our salvation and deliverance is not in us, but in Him. The cross of shame and sorrow was His own expedient, and the Lamb in the midst of the throne is the emblem of the divine Atonement, which was commenced and finished by the inexplicable grace of God. [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 43

1  The Lord comforts the church with his promises
8  He appeals to the people for witness of his omnipotence
14  He foretells them the destruction of Babylon
18  And his wonderful deliverance of his people
22  He reproves the people as inexcusable

What do the individual words in Isaiah 43:14 mean?

Thus says Yahweh your Redeemer the Holy one of Israel for your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives them all and the Chaldeans in their ships who rejoice
כֹּֽה־ אָמַ֧ר יְהוָ֛ה גֹּאַלְכֶ֖ם קְד֣וֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל לְמַעַנְכֶ֞ם שִׁלַּ֣חְתִּי בָבֶ֗לָה וְהוֹרַדְתִּ֤י בָֽרִיחִים֙ כֻּלָּ֔ם וְכַשְׂדִּ֖ים בָּאֳנִיּ֥וֹת רִנָּתָֽם

כֹּֽה־  Thus 
Parse: Adverb
Root: כֹּה  
Sense: thus, here, in this manner.
אָמַ֧ר  says 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
יְהוָ֛ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
גֹּאַלְכֶ֖ם  your  Redeemer 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular construct, second person masculine plural
Root: גְּאוּלִים 
Sense: to redeem, act as kinsman-redeemer, avenge, revenge, ransom, do the part of a kinsman.
קְד֣וֹשׁ  the  Holy  one 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular construct
Root: קָדֹושׁ  
Sense: sacred, holy, Holy One, saint, set apart.
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל  of  Israel 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשְׂרָאֵל  
Sense: the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his wrestling with the angel at Peniel.
לְמַעַנְכֶ֞ם  for  your  sake 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine plural
Root: לְמַעַן 
Sense: purpose, intent prep.
שִׁלַּ֣חְתִּי  I  will  send 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: שָׁלַח  
Sense: to send, send away, let go, stretch out.
בָבֶ֗לָה  to  Babylon 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular, third person feminine singular
Root: בָּבֶל  
Sense: Babel or Babylon, the ancient site and/or capital of Babylonia (modern Hillah) situated on the Euphrates.
וְהוֹרַדְתִּ֤י  and  bring  down 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Conjunctive perfect, first person common singular
Root: יָרַד  
Sense: to go down, descend, decline, march down, sink down.
בָֽרִיחִים֙  as  fugitives 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: בָּרִחַ  
Sense: fleeing subst.
כֻּלָּ֔ם  them  all 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
וְכַשְׂדִּ֖ים  and  the  Chaldeans 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Proper Noun, masculine plural
Root: כַּשְׂדִּים  
Sense: a territory in lower Mesopotamia bordering on the Persian Gulf.
בָּאֳנִיּ֥וֹת  in  their  ships 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine plural
Root: אֳנִיָּה  
Sense: ship.
רִנָּתָֽם  who  rejoice 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: רִנָּה  
Sense: ringing cry.