NOTES for Isa 13:12
The infinite value and uniqueness of human life, about which the Lord speaks through the prophet Isaiah, has today become an almost obvious principle, though one constantly violated. But it is useful to remember that it was not always so. At the time when the Lord spoke these words, it was completely different: people were sold and bought, and life was worth almost nothing. Moreover, a clan, tribe, or other "historical community" of people was given far greater importance than an individual person. Even the concept of personhood was absent. The matter, however, is not even in ancient and half-forgotten realities. Less than a century ago, relatively civilized countries brought countless human sacrifices for the sake of social and political ideas. Today we are witnesses of wars in which people have to give their lives for things that are, to put it mildly, unconvincing. But God's will has not changed, and the word of the Lord that human life is more precious than everything else in this world remains relevant. Of course, it is pleasant to realize that since the eighth century BC, when Isaiah wrote these words, humanity has noticeably drawn closer to their realization. It is unpleasant, but far more useful, to realize how far we still are from it.