Willem S. Prinsloo, "Isaiah 14:12-15: Humiliation, Hubris, Humiliation," Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 93.3 (1981): 432-438.

Prinsloo stresses that although historical aspects are important, the exegetical process must start synchronically. A structural analysis, according to objective, formal, syntactic criteria, will provide an objective framework which permits both content and historical aspects to feature. He illustrates this by Isa 14:12-15, which presents an A-B-A structure which accentuates hubris (B, 13a-14). At the same time this is emphatically cancelled by the double destruction (Ax2, 12 and 15).

Prinsloo highlights the stark contrast between hubris and humiliation which runs throughout the text. Although commentators commonly agree that 14:12-15 contains mythological elements, no one has, as yet, been able to determine their precise origin. In Prinsloo's synchronic approach, however, the principal issue is the function of the myth in the present context, rather than its historical origin. It is Yahweh who is bringing about the unknown Babylonian monarch. The effect of the account of his downfall is enhanced by the fact that, whereas the poem is formally a lament, its content makes it "a paean of triumph" over the fall of the Babylonian king. "Yahweh triumphs over every power. He transforms hubris to humiliation."