Isaiah 21:5-15

5 They ¹set 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 ²report what he sees.

7 "When he sees ³riders, horsemen in pairs, A train of donkeys, a train of camels, Let him pay close attention, very close attention."

8 Then the lookout called, "⁴O 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, "⁵Fallen, fallen is Babylon; And all the ⁶images of her gods are shattered on the ground."

10 O my ⁷threshed 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.

Oracles about Edom and Arabia

11 The oracle concerning ⁸Edom. One keeps calling to me from ⁹Seir, "Watchman, how far gone is the night? Watchman, how far gone is the night?"

12 The watchman says, "Morning comes but also night. If you would inquire, inquire; Come back again."

13 The oracle about ¹⁰Arabia. In the thickets of Arabia you must spend the night, O caravans of ¹¹Dedanites.

14 Bring water for the thirsty, O inhabitants of the land of ¹²Tema, Meet the fugitive with bread.

15 For they have ¹³fled from the swords, From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow And from the press of battle.

Isaiah 21:5-15 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. Jeremiah 51:39, 57; Daniel 5:1-4
• 2. 2 Kings 9:17-20
• 3. Isaiah 21:9
• 4. Habakkuk 2:1
• 5. Isaiah 13:19; Isaiah 47:5, 9; Isaiah 48:14; Jeremiah 51:8; Revelation 14:8; Revelation 18:2
• 6. Isaiah 46:1; Jeremiah 50:2; Jeremiah 51:44
• 7. Jeremiah 51:33; Micah 4:13
• 8. Genesis 25:14
• 9. Genesis 32:3
• 10. Jeremiah 25:23, 24; Jeremiah 49:28
• 11. Genesis 10:7; Ezekiel 27:15
• 12. Genesis 25:15; Job 6:19
• 13. Isaiah 13:14, 15; Isaiah 17:13

Footnotes

• [a] Or "spread out the rugs" or possibly "they arranged the seating"
• [b] So DSS; M.T. "he called" like "a lion"
• [c] Lit "he has shattered to the earth"
• [d] Lit "son"
• [e] Or "burden"
• [f] So the Gr; Heb "Dumah, silence"
• [g] Lit "what" is the time "of the night?"
• [h] Lit "what" is the time "of the night?"
• [i] Or "burden"
• [j] Or "will spend"
• [k] Lit "to meet"