Isaiah 13:17

Modern

Behold, I will stir up against them the Medes, who have no regard for silver and no desire for gold.

Traditional

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

Literal

Behold, I am stirring up against them the Medes, who regard have no for silver, and gold—they do not delight in it.

Latin

Ecce ego suscitabo super eos Medos, qui argentum non quærant, nec aurum velint;

Hebrew

English

Behold, I will stir up against them the Medes, who have no regard for silver and no desire for gold.

The Lord is sovereign and controls history. He can influence kingdoms to carry out his will.
The Medes from northwestern Iran joined Persian King Cyrus to fight against Babylon in 539 BC.

Theme notes and profiles

Jeremiah 51:11
Sharpen the arrows! Fill the quivers! The LORD has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because His plan is aimed at Babylon to destroy her, for it is the vengeance of the LORD—vengeance for His temple.
Daniel 5:28–31
PERES means that your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”
Isaiah 41:25
I have raised up one from the north, and he has come—one from the east who calls on My name. He will march over rulers as if they were mortar, like a potter who treads the clay.
Jeremiah 51:27–28
“Raise a banner in the land! Blow the ram’s horn among the nations! Prepare the nations against her. Summon the kingdoms against her—Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a captain against her; bring up horses like swarming locusts.
Jeremiah 50:9
For behold, I stir up and bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north. They will line up against her; from the north she will be captured. Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not return empty-handed.
Proverbs 6:34–35
For jealousy enrages a husband, and he will show no mercy in the day of vengeance.
Isaiah 13:3–5
I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have even summoned My warriors to execute My wrath and exult in My triumph.
Isaiah 21:2
A dire vision is declared to me: “The traitor still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all her groaning.”

Media: An ancient kingdom; part of the Persian Empire