Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.

ISAIAH 14:20KJV
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Isaiah 14:20 (KJV)

What does Isaiah 14:20 mean?

Isaiah 14:20 portrays the king of Babylon as a ruler whose violence brought ruin on his own country. Instead of receiving an honorable burial, he faces disgrace, and the verse declares that the offspring of evildoers will never be renowned.

The words address the fallen king directly as “thou.” After the picture of his exposed body in verse 19, the denial of burial makes his disgrace visible even after death. The reason given is his treatment of his own land and people.

The Hebrew behind Isaiah 14:20

  • “joined” — יָחַד (yachad): This word carries the sense of being united or brought together. Here it pictures the king being denied a place among others in burial.
  • “seed” — זֶרַע (zeraʿ): This word can mean offspring or descendants. In this verse, it extends the judgment from the king to the offspring of evildoers.
  • “renowned” — קָרָא (qaraʾ): This word often means “called” or “named.” The KJV’s “renowned” conveys the sense of gaining a name or lasting recognition.

Why Isaiah 14:20 matters

  • The king’s power did not protect even his own people. The accusations “destroyed thy land” and “slain thy people” turn attention from his conquests to the harm he caused at home.
  • The verse belongs to a taunt against the king of Babylon, introduced in Isaiah 14:4. Its direct address speaks as though the fallen ruler were present to hear the verdict.
  • The final line reaches beyond one man. “The seed of evildoers” places the king’s disgrace in a wider statement about the future of those descended from people who do evil.

Where else these words appear

“joined” Hebrew H3161 · used in 3 verses

  • Genesis 49:6 O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.
  • Psalms 86:11 Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.

“burial” Hebrew H6900 · used in 13 verses

  • Genesis 35:20 And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day.
  • 2 Kings 9:28 And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.
  • Ecclesiastes 6:3 If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.

“evildoers” Hebrew H7489 · used in 80 verses

  • Genesis 19:7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.
  • 2 Kings 21:11 Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols:
  • Isaiah 1:4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

“destroyed” Hebrew H7843 · used in 136 verses

  • Genesis 6:11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
  • 2 Samuel 1:14 And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the LORD'S anointed?
  • Jeremiah 6:5 Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.