Isaiah21
New King James Version
1The burden against the Wilderness of the Sea. As whirlwinds in the South pass through, So it comes from the desert, from a terrible land.
2A distressing vision is declared to me; The treacherous dealer deals treacherously, And the plunderer plunders. Go up, O Elam! Besiege, O Media! All its sighing I have made to cease.
3Therefore my loins are filled with pain; Pangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labor. I was distressed when I heard it; I was dismayed when I saw it.
4My heart wavered, fearfulness frightened me; The night for which I longed He turned into fear for me.
5Prepare the table, Set a watchman in the tower, Eat and drink. Arise, you princes, Anoint the shield!
6For thus has the Lord said to me: “Go, set a watchman, Let him declare what he sees.”
7And he saw a chariot with a pair of horsemen, A chariot of donkeys, and a chariot of camels, And he listened earnestly with great care.
8Then he cried, “A lion, my Lord! I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime; I have sat at my post every night.
9And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!” Then he answered and said, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen! And all the carved images of her gods He has broken to the ground.”
10Oh, my threshing and the grain of my floor! That which I have heard from the Lord of hosts, The God of Israel, I have declared to you.
11The burden against Dumah. He calls to me out of Seir, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?”
12The watchman said, “The morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire; Return! Come back!”
13The burden against Arabia. In the forest in Arabia you will lodge, O you traveling companies of Dedanites.
14O inhabitants of the land of Tema, Bring water to him who is thirsty; With their bread they met him who fled.
15For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, From the bent bow, and from the distress of war.
16For thus the Lord has said to me: “Within a year, according to the year of a hired man, all the glory of Kedar will fail;
17and the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the people of Kedar, will be diminished; for the Lord God of Israel has spoken it.”
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Isaiah 21.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The taking of Babylon. (1-10). Of the Edomites. (11,12) . Of the Arabs. (13-17).
vv1-10
Babylon was a flat country, abundantly watered. The destruction of Babylon, so often prophesied of by Isaiah, was typical of the destruction of the great foe of the New Testament church, foretold in the Revelation. To the poor oppressed captives it would be welcome news; to the proud oppressors it would be grievous. Let this check vain mirth and sensual pleasures, that we know not in what heaviness the mirth may end. Here is the alarm given to Babylon, when forced by Cyrus. An ass and a camel seem to be the symbols of the Medes and Persians. Babylon's idols shall be so far from protecting her, that they shall be broken down. True believers are the corn of God's floor; hypocrites are but as chaff and straw, with which the wheat is now mixed, but from which it shall be separated. The corn of God's floor must expect to be threshed by afflictions and persecutions. God's Israel of old was afflicted. Even then God owns it is his still. In all events concerning the church, past, present, and to come, we must look to God, who has power to do any thing for his church, and grace to do every thing that is for her good.
vv11-12
God's prophets and ministers are as watchmen in the city in a time of peace, to see that all is safe. As watchmen in the camp in time of war, to warn of the motions of the enemy. After a long sleep in sin and security, it is time to rise, to awake out of sleep. We have a great deal of work to do, a long journey to go; it is time to be stirring. After a long dark night is there any hope of the day dawning? What tidings of the night? What happens to-night? We must never be secure. But many make curious inquiries of the watchmen. They would willingly have nice questions solved, or difficult prophecies interpreted; but they do not seek into the state of their own souls, about the way of salvation, and the path of duty. The watchman answers by way of prophecy. There comes first a morning of light, and peace, and opportunity; but afterward comes a night of trouble and calamity. If there be a morning of youth and health, there will come a night of sickness and old age; if a morning of prosperity in the family, in the public, yet we must look for changes. It is our wisdom to improve the present morning, in preparation for the night that is coming after it. Inquire, return, come. We are urged to do it quickly, for there is no time to trifle. Those that return and come to God, will find they have a great deal of work to do, and but little time to do it in.
vv13-17
The Arabians lived in tents, and kept cattle. A destroying army shall be brought upon them, and make them an easy prey. We know not what straits we may be brought into before we die. Those may know the want of necessary food who now eat bread to the full. Neither the skill of archers, nor the courage of mighty men, can protect from the judgments of God. That is poor glory, which will thus quickly come to nothing. Thus hath the Lord said to me; and no word of his shall fall to the ground. We may be sure the Strength of Israel will not lie. Happy are those only whose riches and glory are out of the reach of invaders; all other prosperity will speedily pass away.
Key Words
מַשָּׂא: a burden; specifically, tribute, or (abstractly) porterage; figuratively, an utterance, chiefly adoom, especially singing; mental, desire
מִדְבָּר: a pasture (i.e. open field, whither cattle are driven); by implication, a desert; also speech (including its organs)
יָם: a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water; specifically (with the article), the Mediterranean Sea; sometimes a large river, or an artifical basin; locally, the west, or (rarely) the south
סוּפָה: a hurricane
נֶגֶב: the south (from its drought); specifically, the Negeb or southern district of Judah, occasionally, Egypt (as south to Palestine)
חָלַף: properly, to slide by, i.e. (by implication) to hasten away, pass on, spring up, pierce or change
בּוֹא: to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)
מִן: properly, a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses
יָרֵא: to fear; morally, to revere; caus. to frighten
אֶרֶץ: the earth (at large, or partitively a land)
Cross References
Isaiah 21Explicitly mirrors the prophetic cry: 'Babylon is fallen, is fallen,' representing God's ultimate victory.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallels the retributive principle of the treacherous spoiler being spoiled in turn.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Belshazzar's fatal feast fulfills 'the night of my pleasure turned into fear.'
Supported by JFB
Explains 'desert of the sea' as Babylon dwelling upon 'many waters' (Euphrates).
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Identifies the Medes as the designated instruments of God's vengeance against Babylon.
Supported by JFB
Prophesies that Babylon's leaders will be thrown into a fatal sleep during their feast.
Supported by JFB
Provides a poetic parallel for the violent 'whirlwinds in the south.'
Supported by JFB
Matches the image of God marching in the whirlwinds of the south.
Supported by JFB
Details the Medes and Elamites (Persians) rising up to besiege Babylon.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallels the agonizing pangs of childbearing representing sudden, severe judgment.
Supported by JFB
Shows the prophet's personal emotional distress at witnessing foreign calamities in vision.
Supported by JFB
Parallels Babylon's judgment to a threshing floor ready for the harvest.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Expounds the spiritual and literal role of a watchman warning of approaching danger.
Uses the identical technical term 'years of an hireling' to specify an exact judgment timeframe.