Isaiah 47:13

“Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels, &c.] Taken of astrologers, diviners, and soothsayers; who were never able to give any satisfactory answers to questions put to them, or to give good advice in cases of emergency; as appears from Nebuchadnezzar’s consultation with them about his dream; and Belshazzar’s about the handwriting upon the wall, which was the very night that the city was taken, (<270202>Daniel 2:2,10 5:7,8,30): let now the astrologers; or, “viewers of the heavens”f940; not that look upon them, and consider them as the work of God’s hands, in order to glorify him; but that examine the face of the skies, and the position of the heavenly bodies, their conjunctions…”

“wearied--(compare Isa 57:10; Eze 24:12). astrologers--literally, those who form combinations of the heavens; who watch conjunctions and oppositions of the stars. "Casters of the configurations of the sky" [HORSLEY]. GESENIUS explains it: the dividers of the heavens. In casting a nativity they observed four signs:--the horoscope, or sign which arose at the time one was born; the mid-heaven; the sign opposite the horoscope towards the west; and the hypogee. monthly prognosticators--those who at each new moon profess to tell thereby what is about to happen. Join, not as English Version, "save . . . from those things," &c.; but, "They that at new moons make known from (by means of) them the…”

“Thou art wearied - Thou hast practiced so many arts, and practiced them so long, that thou art exhausted in them. The ‘counsels’ here referred to, are those which the astrologers and diviners would take in examining the prognostications, and the supposed indications of future events. Let now the astrologers - Call in now the aid of the various classes of diviners on whom thou hast relied to save thee from the impending calamity and ruin. The words rendered here ‘astrologers’ (שׁמים הברי hoberēy shâmayim) mean properly “the dividers of the heavens;” those who divided, or cut up the heavens for the purpose of augury, or to take a horoscope (Gesenius). What this art was is not certainly…”

“Wearied - Thou hast spent thy time and strength in going from one to another, and all to no purpose. Isaiah 47:15”

“47:13 Babylon was advanced in astronomy, which the astrologers and stargazers used as a form of divination (see Dan 2:2, 10; 5:7).”

“wearied: Isa 57:10; Eze 24:12; Hab 2:13 Let now: Isa 44:25; Dan 2:2-10, Dan 5:7, Dan 5:8, Dan 5:15, Dan 5:16, Dan 5:30 astrologers, the stargazers: Heb. viewers of the heavens, the monthly prognosticators. Heb. that gave knowledge concerning the months. Isaiah 47:14”