Isaiah 21:1-10

God Commands That Babylon Be Taken

1 The ¹oracle concerning the ²wilderness of the sea. As ³windstorms in the Negev sweep on, It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.

2 A ⁴harsh vision has been shown to me; The ⁵treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, ⁶Elam, lay siege, Media; I have made an end of all the groaning she has caused.

3 For this reason * my ⁷loins are full of anguish; Pains have seized me like the pains of a ⁸woman in labor. I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see.

4 My mind reels, horror overwhelms me; The twilight I longed for has been ⁹turned for me into trembling.

5 They ¹⁰set the table, they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink; "Rise up, captains, oil the shields,"

6 For thus the Lord says to me, "Go, station the lookout, let him ¹¹report what he sees.

7 "When he sees ¹²riders, horsemen in pairs, A train of donkeys, a train of camels, Let him pay close attention, very close attention."

8 Then the lookout called, "¹³O Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower, And I am stationed every night at my guard post.

9 "Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs." And one said, "¹⁴Fallen, fallen is Babylon; And all the ¹⁵images of her gods are shattered on the ground."

10 O my ¹⁶threshed people, and my afflicted of the threshing floor! What I have heard from the LORD of hosts, The God of Israel, I make known to you.

Isaiah 21:1-10 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. Isaiah 13:1
• 2. Isaiah 13:20-22; Isaiah 14:23; Jeremiah 51:42
• 3. Zechariah 9:14
• 4. Psalms 60:3
• 5. Isaiah 24:16; Isaiah 33:1
• 6. Isaiah 22:6; Jeremiah 49:34
• 7. Isaiah 13:8; Isaiah 16:11
• 8. Psalms 48:6; Isaiah 13:8; Isaiah 26:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:3
• 9. Deuteronomy 28:67
• 10. Jeremiah 51:39, 57; Daniel 5:1-4
• 11. 2 Kings 9:17-20
• 12. Isaiah 21:9
• 13. Habakkuk 2:1
• 14. Isaiah 13:19; Isaiah 47:5, 9; Isaiah 48:14; Jeremiah 51:8; Revelation 14:8; Revelation 18:2
• 15. Isaiah 46:1; Jeremiah 50:2; Jeremiah 51:44
• 16. Jeremiah 51:33; Micah 4:13

Footnotes

• [a] Or "burden of"
• [b] Or "sandy wastes, sea country"
• [c] I.e. South country
• [d] Lit "her groaning"
• [e] Lit "heart has wandered"
• [f] Lit "shuddering"
• [g] Or "spread out the rugs" or possibly "they arranged the seating"
• [h] So DSS; M.T. "he called" like "a lion"
• [i] Lit "he has shattered to the earth"
• [j] Lit "son"