Isaiah 21:8

8 Then he who saw cried out: ^{[a] 1}“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord, continually by day, and at my post I am stationed whole nights.

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 thus the Lord said to me: “Go, set a watchman; let him announce what he sees.

7 When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, let him listen diligently, very diligently. ”

8 Then he who saw cried out: “Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord, continually by day, and at my post I am stationed whole nights.

9 And behold, here come riders, horsemen in pairs! ” And he answered, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the carved images of her gods he has shattered to the ground. ”

10 O my threshed and winnowed one, what I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I announce to you.

Cross References

• 1. 21:8 Hab. 2:1

Footnotes

• [a] 21:8 Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac; Masoretic Text 'Then a lion cried out', or 'Then he cried out like a lion'