SUMMARY
This is the first in a series of oracles concerning various foreign nations. The profound historical trauma of the Babylonian exile is evident in the editors’ decision to open the collection with a poem focused on Babylon.
ANALYSIS
Chapter 13 introduces a collection of poems called the oracles concerning foreign nations. In them, the God of Israel surveys the kingdoms of the earth and renders judgment on their actions and attitudes. The theological assumption behind these oracles is that YHWH is above all kings and rulers of all kingdoms. As such, YHWH is entitled to judge the earth’s kingdoms.
In Chapter 13, Babylon becomes the target of God’s wrath and fury. The poem’s core is a vivid and masterfully crafted portrayal of the horrors of war that will be unleashed upon Babylon. As a dominant empire of the ancient Near East, Babylon had spilled much blood. The oracleAn oracle is a divine utterance of guidance, promise, or judgment delivered to humans through an intermediary (who is often also called an oracle). In the Bible oracles are given by Balaam (in the book of Numbers) and by David (in 2 Samuel). A number... More reveals that the devastation Babylon inflicted on many other nations—including Judah—would now be turned against it. In a horrifying line, the poem even imagines the violent suffering of children (v16).
YHWH’s judgment against Babylon also spills over to other parts of creationCreation, in biblical terms, is the universe as we know or perceive it. Genesis says that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the book of Revelation (which speaks of end times) the author declares that God created all things and... More. The “earth” itself becomes a desolation (v. 9), the heavenly luminaries lose their light (v. 10), the heavens tremble (v. 13) and the earth shakes (v. 13).
Key to understanding this passage is the recognition that human sin cannot be contained. It crosses generations (v. 16), impacts creation, and causes the very foundations of this world to tremble (v. 13).
