They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; -The passers by contemplate with astonishment the body of the King of Babylon cast out, instead of lying in a splendid mausoleum, and can hardly believe their senses that it is he.
Verse 16. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee - to be certain they are not mistaken.
And consider - `meditate upon' (Horsley).
Verse 17. That opened not the house of his prisoners. But Maurer, as margin, 'did not let his captives loose, so as to go homewards' [baaytaah].
Verse 18. All the kings of the nations - i:e., this is the usual practice.
Lie in glory - in a grand mausoleum.
Every one in his own house - i:e., sepulchre, as in Ecclesiastes 12:5, "man goeth to his long home;" "grave" (Isaiah 14:19). To be excluded from the family sepulchre was a mark of infamy (Isaiah 34:3; Jeremiah 22:19; 1 Kings 13:22; 2 Chronicles 21:20; 2 Chronicles 24:25; 2 Chronicles 28:27).
Verse 19. Thou art cast out of thy grave - not that he had lain in the grave, and was then cast out of it, but 'cast out without a grave,' such a grave as might have been expected by thee ("thy").
Like an abominable branch - a useless sucker, starting up from the root of a tree, and cut away by the farmer.
And as the raiment of those that are slain. Such a raiment, covered with gore, and regarded with abhorrence as unclean by the Jews, was cast away usually. Or else, 'clothed (i:e., covered) with the slain,' as Job 7:5, "My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust" (Maurer). So Vulgate and Chaldaic. But the Syriac and Arabic, as the English version.
Thrust through - i:e., 'the slain who have been thrust through,' etc.
That go down to the stones of the pit - whose bodies are buried in sepulchres excavated amidst stones, though their bloody raiment is cast away, whereas the King of Babylon is an unburied 'carcass, trodden under foot,' like the cast-away raiment (cf. Numbers 19:14; Numbers 19:16).
Verse 20. Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial. Whereas the princes slain with thee shall be buried, thou shalt not.
Because thou hast destroyed thy land. Belshazzar (or his joint- partner on the throne, Nabonahit, as the name is read in the inscriptions: cf. notes, Daniel 5:1-31:) oppressed his land with wars and tyranny, so that he was much hated (Xenophon, 'Cyrop.' 4: 6, 3; 7: 5, 32.)
The seed of evil-doers shall never be renowned - rather, 'shall not be named forever: the Babylonian dynasty shall end with Belshazzar: his family shall not be perpetuated (Horsley).