Isaiah 13 · Verse 18

Isaiah 13:18

Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.
Isaiah 13:18, King James Version

Isaiah 13:18 in other translations

BSBTheir 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.
WEBTheir bows will dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb. Their eyes will not spare children.
ASVAnd their bows shall dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.
YLTAnd bows dash young men to pieces, And the fruit of the womb they pity not, On sons their eye hath no pity.
DARBYAnd their bows shall dash the young men to pieces, and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb: their eye shall not spare children.
BBEIn their hands are bows and spears; they are cruel, violently putting the young men to death, and crushing the young women; they have no pity for children, and no mercy for the fruit of the body.
WebsterTheir bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.

What does Isaiah 13:18 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
18. bows--in the use of which the Persians were particularly skilled.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 18 Their bows also shall dash "Their bows shall dash" - Both Herodotus, 1:61, and Xenophon, Anab. iii., mention, that the Persians used large bows τοξα μεγαλα: and the latter says particularly that their bows were three cubits long, Anab. 4. They were celebrated for their archers, see Isa 22:6; Jer 49:35. Probably their neighbours and allies, the Medes, dealt much in the same sort of arms. In Psa 18:34, and Job 20:24, mention is made of a bow of steel; if the Persian bows were of metal, we may easily conceive that with a metalline bow of three cubits' length, and proportionably strong, the soldiers might dash and slay the young men, the weaker and unresisting of the inhabitants (for they are joined with the fruit of the womb and the children) in the general carnage on taking the city. תרתשנה terattashnah, shall be broken or shivered to pieces. This seems to refer, not to נערים nearim, young men, but to קשתות keshathoth, their bows. The bows of the young men shall be broken to pieces. On the fruit, etc. "And on the fruit," etc. - A MS. of Dr. Kennicott's reads ועל פרי veal peri and on the fruit. And nine MSS. (three ancient) and two editions, with the Septuagint, Vulgate, and Syriac, add likewise the conjunction ו vau, and, to על al, upon, afterwards.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 13:6-18

We have here the terrible desolation of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. Those who in the day of their peace were proud, and haughty, and terrible, are quite dispirited when trouble comes. Their faces shall be scorched with the flame. All comfort and hope shall fail. The stars of heaven shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened. Such expressions are often employed by the prophets, to describe the…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 13:6-18 →

Isaiah 13:18 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וּקְשָׁת֖וֹתu.ke.sha.Totand bowsH7198
נְעָרִ֣יםne.'a.RimyouthsH5288
תְּרַטַּ֑שְׁנָהte.ra.Tash.nahthey will dash in piecesH7376
וּפְרִי\־u.fe.ri-and [the] fruit ofH6529
בֶ֙טֶן֙ve.ten[the] wombH990
לֹ֣אlo'notH3808
יְרַחֵ֔מוּye.ra.Che.muthey will have compassion onH7355
עַל\־'al-onH5921
בָּנִ֖יםba.NimchildrenH1121
לֹֽא\־lo'-notH3808
תָח֥וּסta.Chusit will look with pityH2347
עֵינָֽם\׃'ei.Nameye theirH5869

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 13:18

  • 2 Kings 8:12

    And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child.

  • 2 Chronicles 36:17

    Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.

  • Isaiah 13:16

    Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.

  • Hosea 13:16

    Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.

  • Ezekiel 9:10

    And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.

  • Ezekiel 9:5-6

    And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.

  • Nahum 3:10

    Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.

  • Nahum 2:1

    He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
shall dash.
16; 2Ki 8:12; Ho 13:16; Na 2:1; 3:10
their eye.
2Ch 36:17; Eze 9:5,6,10

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 13:17

    Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.

  • Isaiah 13:18

    Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.

  • Isaiah 13:19

    And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

Read all of Isaiah 13

Isaiah 13:18 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y con arcos tirarán á los niños, y no tendrán misericordia de fruto de vientre, ni su ojo perdonará á hijos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et leurs arcs abattront les jeunes gens, et ils n’auront pas compassion du fruit du ventre; leur œil n’épargnera pas les fils.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und ihre Bogen werden Jünglinge niederstrecken, und über die Leibesfrucht werden sie sich nicht erbarmen, ihr Auge wird der Kinder nicht schonen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		sed sagittis parvulos interficient, et lactantibus uteris non miserebuntur, et super filios non parcet oculus eorum.