Isaiah 21:9

9 And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!" Then he answered and said, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen! And all the carved images of her gods He has broken to the ground."

Isaiah 21:9 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 21:9

And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men
Or "of a man" ^F24; a chariot with a man in it, Cyrus or Darius: [with] a couple of horsemen;
the army of the Medes and Persians, with their two leaders or generals, as before; only now seen nearer the city, just entering into it; for so the word may be rendered, "goeth", or "is gone in a chariot": and he answered, and said;
either the watchman, upon seeing the chariot and horsemen go into the city; or one of the horsemen that went in; so the Syriac and Arabic versions; or rather the prophet, and the Lord by him: Babylon is fallen, is fallen:
which is repeated to show the certainty of it. The same words are used of the fall of mystical Babylon, ( Revelation 14:8 ) ( 18:2 ) . The Targum is,

``it is fallen, and also it shall be, that Babylon shall fall;''

that is, a second time, and hereafter: and so Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it of two falls, one by the Medes and Persians, and the other by the hand of heaven, or God himself: literal Babylon fell by the former; mystical Babylon will fall by the latter, even by the breath of Christ's mouth, and the brightness of his coming: and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the
ground;
either Cyrus or Darius, who might do this, not from any detestation of them, but for the sake of the gold, and silver, and riches, that were about them; or rather the Lord by them, and so put an end to idolatry; as will be, when mystical Babylon is destroyed.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 (vya bkr) "currus viri", Pagninus, Montanus.

Isaiah 21:9 In-Context

7 And he saw a chariot with a pair of horsemen, A chariot of donkeys, and a chariot of camels, And he listened earnestly with great care.

8 Then he cried, "A lion, my Lord! I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime; I have sat at my post every night.

9 And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!" Then he answered and said, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen! And all the carved images of her gods He has broken to the ground."

10 Oh, my threshing and the grain of my floor! That which I have heard from the Lord of hosts, The God of Israel, I have declared to you.

11 The burden against Dumah. He calls to me out of Seir, "Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?"