Isaiah 21 Study Notes

21:6 The lookout was posted at some point distant from the battle, perhaps at the city of the attackers. He looked for signs of victory or defeat.

21:9 The attacking army returned intact with the announcement that Babylon has fallen. The focus is on the defeat of Babylon’s gods.

21:10 The crushed people were the people of Israel. The prophet confirmed to them that the destruction of Babylon had been announced by none other than God himself.

21:11-12 Dumah was an oasis in Arabia that controlled trade routes. In the eighth century it was an object of Assyrian invasion under Sennacherib and was an ally of Babylon. In the sixth century when the last Babylonian king, Nabonidus, moved to Tema in Arabia, he tried to control all the trade routes in that region. Besides designating an oasis in north central Arabia, the Hebrew word Dumah means “silence,” like the silence of death (Ps 94:17). Thus, the name sets the mood for the pronouncement. The Greek translation of the OT understood Dumah as a reference to Edom. Seir is a reference to an important part of Edom, but here Edom spoke to Dumah. The theme of the watchman continues from the preceding pronouncement. The question the watchman was asked is enigmatic, but it may be a way of asking how much longer the suffering (night) would last.

21:13-17 Dedan, Tema, and Kedar are references to geographical and/or political entities in northern Arabia. They were likely allies of Babylon during the eighth century BC. Brevard Childs (Isaiah) has pointed out that these tribes were defeated by Assyria between 691-689 BC.

21:16 Presumably a hired worker counted the time until his work was over with great attention and precision (see note at 16:13-14).