Isaiah 21:5-15

5 They prepare the table, they set the watch, they eat, they drink: rise up, you princes, anoint the shield.

6 For thus has the Lord said to me, Go, set a watchman: let him declare what he sees:

7 and when he sees a troop, horsemen in pairs, a troop of donkeys, a troop of camels, he shall listen diligently with much heed.

8 He cried as a lion: Lord, I stand continually on the watch-tower in the day-time, and am set in my ward whole nights;

9 and, behold, here comes a troop of men, horsemen in pairs. He answered, Fallen, fallen is Bavel; and all the engraved images of her gods are broken to the ground.

10 You my threshing, and the grain of my floor! that which I have heard from the LORD of hosts, the God of Yisra'el, have I declared to you.

11 The burden of Dumah. One calls to me out of Se`ir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?

12 The watchman said, "The morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire. Come back again."

13 The burden on `Arav. In the forest in `Arav shall you lodge, you caravans of Dedanim.

14 To him who was thirsty they brought water; the inhabitants of the land of Tema did meet the fugitives with their bread.

15 For they fled away from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the heat of battle.

Isaiah 21:5-15 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 21

This chapter contains prophecies against Babylon, Idumea, and Arabia. The prophecy against Babylon is called "the burden of the desert of the sea"; whose enemies are described by the fierce manner of their coming, and by the land from whence they came, Isa 21:1 which vision being declared to the prophet, is called a grievous one; what made it so was treachery among themselves; and the Medes and Persians are invited to besiege them, Isa 21:2 their terror and distress upon it are represented by the pains of a woman in travail, whom the prophet personates, Isa 21:3,4 and by the methods they took to defend themselves, to which they were alarmed, when in the greatest security and jollity, Isa 21:5 all which is illustrated by the vision of the watchman, who saw the Medes and Persians on the march, signified by a chariot and a couple of horsemen, who declares the fall of Babylon, and the destruction of its gods, Isa 21:6-9 which would issue in the good and comfort of the church and people of God, Isa 21:10 then follows the prophecy against Idumea, which consists of a question put to the watchman, and his answer to it; to which an exhortation is added, Isa 21:11,12 and the chapter concludes with another prophecy against Arabia: the calamities threatened are lodging in a forest, thirst, famine, and fleeing from the sword Isa 21:13-15, and the time is fixed when all this should be, by which their glory would fail, and the number of their archers and mighty men be lessened; for the confirmation of which the divine testimony is annexed, Isa 21:16,17.