Isaiah 47:8

“Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, &c.] To carnal lusts and pleasures; gratifying her sensual appetite; indulging herself in everything that was agreeable to the senses; abounding in delicacies, and living deliciously; as is said of mystical Babylon, (<661804>Revelation 18:4,7), particularly given to venereal pleasures. Curtius saysf929, “no city was more corrupt in its manners, or furnished to irritate or allure to immoderate pleasures. Parents and husbands suffered their children and wives to prostitute themselves to strangers, so that they had but a price.” Yea, every woman was obliged by a law to do this once in life, and that in a public manner, in the temple of…”

“given to pleasures--(See on Isa 47:1). In no city were there so many incentives to licentiousness. I am . . . none . . . beside me-- (Isa 47:10). Language of arrogance in man's mouth; fitting for God alone (Isa 45:6). See Isa 5:8, latter part. widow . . . loss of children--A state, represented as a female, when it has fallen is called a widow, because its king is no more; and childless, because it has no inhabitants; they having been carried off as captives (Isa 23:4; Isa 54:1, Isa 54:4-5; Rev 18:7-8).”

“Therefore hear now this - The prophet proceeds, in this verse and the following, to detail more particularly the sins of Babylon, and to state the certainty of the punishment which would come upon her. In the previous verses, the denunciation of punishment had been figurative. It had been represented under the image of a lady delicately trained and nurtured, doomed to the lowest condition of life, and compelled to stoop to the most menial offices. Here the prophet uses language without figure, and states directly her crimes, and her doom. That art given to pleasures - Devoted to dissipation, and to the effeminate pleasures which luxury engenders (see the notes at Isaiah 47:1). Curtius, in…”

“I am - Independent, and self - sufficient. None - Which is not either subject to me, or far inferior to me in power and glory. Shall not sit - I shall never want either a king or people to defend me. Isaiah 47:9”

“47:8 I am the only one, and there is no other: This was a claim to divinity (cp. 45:5; 47:10). Only the Lord can make such a claim. For any created thing, including a nation, to utter this is the height of hubris. • To be a widow or to lose one’s children was a disgrace.”

“given: Isa 21:4, Isa 21:5, Isa 22:12, Isa 22:13, Isa 32:9; Jdg 18:7, Jdg 18:27; Jer 50:11; Dan 5:1-4, Dan 5:30; Zep 2:15; Rev 18:3-8 I am: Isa 47:10; Jer 50:31, Jer 50:32, Jer 51:53; Dan 4:22, Dan 4:30, Dan 5:23, Dan 11:36; Hab 2:5-8; Th2 2:4 I shall not: Psa 10:5, Psa 10:6; Nah 1:10; Luk 12:18-20, Luk 17:27-29; Rev 18:7 Isaiah 47:9”

“A third strophe of this proclamation of punishment is opened here with ועתה, on the ground of the conduct censured. "And now hear this, thou voluptuous one, she who sitteth so securely, who sayeth in her heart, I am it, and none else: I shall not sit a widow, nor experience bereavement of children. And these two will come upon thee suddenly in one day: bereavement of children and widowhood; they come upon thee in fullest measure, in spite of the multitude of thy sorceries, in spite of the great abundance of thy witchcrafts. Thou trustedst in thy wickedness, saidst, No one seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, they led thee astray; so that thou saidst in thy heart, I am it, and none else.…”