Isaiah 21:8

8 Then the seer called out: "Upon a watchtower, Lord, I'm standing all day; and upon my observation post I'm stationed throughout the night.

Isaiah 21:8 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 21:8

And he cried, a lion
That is, the watchman cried, a lion, or that he saw a lion; not Uriah the priest, as the Septuagint; nor Habakkuk, as some Jewish writers; but Cyrus, at the head of the Persian and Median armies, compared to a lion for his fierceness, courage, and strength; see ( 2 Timothy 4:17 ) a type of Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, by whom antichrist, or mystical Babylon, will be destroyed, ( Revelation 5:5 ) . The Targum is,

``the prophet said, the voice of armies, coming with coats of mail, as a lion.''

Aben Ezra interprets it, the watchman cried as a lion, with a great voice; upon sight of the chariots and horsemen, he lifted up his voice, and roared like a lion, to express the terror he was in, and the greatness of the calamity that was coming upon the city. I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime:
so that nothing could escape his notice: and I am set in my ward whole nights:
which expresses his diligence, vigilance, and constancy, in the discharge of his duty; and therefore what he said he saw might be depended on.

Isaiah 21:8 In-Context

6 The Lord said this to me: "Go, post a lookout to report what he sees.

7 When he sees chariots, pairs of horsemen, donkey riders, camel riders, he should listen carefully, carefully, very carefully."

8 Then the seer called out: "Upon a watchtower, Lord, I'm standing all day; and upon my observation post I'm stationed throughout the night.

9 Here they come: charioteers, pairs of horsemen!" One spoke up and said, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon, and all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground!"

10 Oh, my downtrodden people, threshed on my threshing floor, what I heard from the LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, I reported to you.

Footnotes

• [a]. DSS (1QIsaa), Syr; MT a lion