Chapter 21
Isaiah 21:1-17
1. The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.
2. A grievous vision is declared unto me: The treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam; besiege, O Media: all the sighing thereof have I made to cease.
3. Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it
4. My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me.
5. Prepare the table, watch in the watch-tower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield.
6. For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.
7. And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed.
8. And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watch-tower in the day-time, and I am set in my ward whole nights;
9. And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.
10. O my thrashing, and the corn of my floor: that which I have heard of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you.
11. The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?
12. The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye; return, come.
13. The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim.
14. The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled.
15. For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war.
16. Fore thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail:
17. And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it
1. The burden of the desert of the sea. The Prophet, after having taught that their hope ought to be placed, not on the Egyptians, but on the mercy of God alone, and after having foretold that calamities would come on the nations on whose favor they relied, adds a consolation in order to encourage the hearts of the godly. He declares, that for the Chaldeans, to whom they will be captives, a reward is prepared; from which it follows, that God takes account of the injuries which they endure. By the desert 1 he means Chaldea, not that it was deserted or thinly inhabited, but because the Jews had a desert on that side of them; just as if, instead of Italy, we should name “the Alps,” because they are nearer to us, and because we must cross them on our road to Italy. This reason ought to be kept in view; for he does not describe the nature of the country, but forewarns the Jews that the destruction of the enemies, which he foretells, is near at hand, and is as certain as if the event had been before their eyes, as that desert was. Besides, the prophets sometimes spoke ambiguously about Babylon, that believers alone might understand the hidden mysteries, as Jeremiah changes the king’s name. 2
As storms from the south. He says from the south, because that wind is tempestuous, and produces storms and whirlwinds. 3 When he adds that “it cometh from the desert,” this tends to heighten the picture; for if any storm arise in a habitable and populous region, it excites less terror than those which spring up in deserts. In order to express the shocking nature of this calamity, he compares it to storms, which begin in the desert, and afterwards take a more impetuous course, and rush with greater violence.