Isaiah 21:7-9

7 When he sees chariots with teams of horses, riders on donkeys or riders on camels, let him be alert, fully alert.”

8 And the lookout^[a] shouted, “Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; every night I stay at my post.

9 Look, here comes a man in a chariot with a team of horses. And he gives back the answer: ‘Babylon has fallen, has fallen! All the images of its gods lie shattered on the ground!’ ”

Isaiah 21:7-9 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.

Cross References

• 1. ver 9
• 2. S Judges 6:5
• 3. Micah 7:7; Habakkuk 2:1
• 4. ver 7
• 5. S Isaiah 13:1; Isaiah 47:1,5; S Revelation 14:8
• 6. Isaiah 47:11; Jeremiah 51:8; Daniel 5:30; Revelation 18:2
• 7. S Leviticus 26:30; Isaiah 46:1; Jeremiah 50:2; Jeremiah 51:44
• 8. S Isaiah 2:18

Footnotes

• [a] Dead Sea Scrolls and Syriac; Masoretic Text "A lion"