Isaiah 21 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Isaiah 21

Fallen, Fallen Is Babylon

21:1 The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea.

  As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,
    it comes from the wilderness,
    from a terrible land.
2   A stern vision is told to me;
    the traitor betrays,
    and the destroyer destroys.
  Go up, O Elam;
    lay siege, O Media;
  all the sighing she has caused
    I bring to an end.
3   Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
    pangs have seized me,
    like the pangs of a woman in labor;
  I am bowed down so that I cannot hear;
    I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
4   My heart staggers; horror has appalled me;
    the twilight I longed for
    has been turned for me into trembling.
5   They prepare the table,
    they spread the rugs,¹
    they eat, they drink.
  Arise, O princes;
    oil the shield!
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:²
  “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.

11 The oracle concerning Dumah.

  One is calling to me from Seir,
    “Watchman, what time of the night?
    Watchman, what time of the night?”
12   The watchman says:
  “Morning comes, and also the night.
    If you will inquire, inquire;
    come back again.”

13 The oracle concerning Arabia.

  In the thickets in Arabia you will lodge,
    O caravans of Dedanites.
14   To the thirsty bring water;
    meet the fugitive with bread,
    O inhabitants of the land of Tema.
15   For they have fled from the swords,
    from the drawn sword,
  from the bent bow,
    and from the press of battle.

16 For thus the Lord said to me, “Within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end. 17 And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of Kedar will be few, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.”

Footnotes

[1] 21:5 Or they set the watchman
[2] 21:8 Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac; Masoretic Text Then a lion cried out, or Then he cried out like a lion

Commentary

v1: Words addressed to Babylon, as previously in chapters 13-14. It is described as the Desert by the Sea, a flat country, with many lakes, watered by smaller rivers flowing into the Euphrates. The whirlwinds were the Medes and Persians, attacking from the desert.

v2: The distressing vision. There were two traitors, officers of the king of Babylon, who defected to Cyrus, and then led enemy troops into the palace, killing Belshazzar, Dan 5.28, 30.

Babylon had previously defeated Israel, 2 Kings 17.24,30-31) and many other lands; the kingdom of Babylon was then taken over by the Medes and Persians, just as Babylon had taken over the Assyrian empire.

Babylon's cruelty ended, ending the sorrow and sighing it caused.

v3-4: Compare Dan 5.6; the prophet was greatly disturbed by what he saw. Isaiah was called to declare the things he saw; he could not remain unmoved by these things.

v5: Belshazzar had prepared a table with food and drink, while others watched out for him.

v6-7: Isaiah watched as the Lord showed him events unfolding. The Medes and Persians are represented by the pair of horsemen.

v8: The faithful watchman, always alert.

v9: The man in the chariot with its horses may have been the small party sent to kill Belshazzar, as well as the picture of the Medes and Persians. They joined together, to defeat the might of Babylon.

Babylon was defeated suddenly, and Belshazzar killed, and kingdom given over to the Medes and Persians. Their idols were left broken, having proved useless.

v10: Encouragement for Jewish captives, who had been "crushed" by the power and cruelty of Babylon. These events were directed by the Lord God of Israel. The return of the captives to their homeland moved a little closer.

v11-12: Addressed to Edom (Dumah), who lived in the land of Seir. They would also be threatened by the invasion of Babylon, bringing "night" to the whole nation. If, however, they returned to the true God, then a new morning would arrive.

v13-15: To Arabia, where nomadic peoples passed through. It was here also that fugitives from the attacks of Babylon journeyed.

v16-17: The word of God cannot fail; here He placed a time limit on the defeat of Babylon (Kedar).

Through all these prophecies of different nations, it is the God of Israel at work, and the people of God who remain in His heart.