Isaiah 21:8

8 Then the lookout^[a] reported, "Lord, I stand on the watchtower all day, and I stay at my post all 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 For the Lord has said to me, "Go, post a lookout; let him report what he sees.

7 When he sees riders- pairs of horsemen, riders on donkeys, riders on camels- pay close attention."

8 Then the lookout reported, "Lord, I stand on the watchtower all day, and I stay at my post all night.

9 Look, riders come- horsemen in pairs." And he answered, saying, "Babylon has fallen, has fallen. All the idols of her gods have been shattered on the ground."

10 My downtrodden and threshed people, I have declared to you what I have heard from the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel.

Footnotes

• [a]. DSS, Syr; MT reads Then a lion