Text -- Isaiah 21:5 (NET)

21:5 Arrange the table, lay out the carpet, eat and drink! Get up, you officers, smear oil on the shields!

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Isa 21:5

¹ tn The precise meaning of the verb in this line is debated. Some prefer to derive the form from the homonymic צָפֹה (tsafoh, “keep watch”) and translate “post a guard” (cf. KJV “watch in the watchtower”; ASV “set the watch”).

² tn The verbal forms in the first three lines are infinitives absolute, which are functioning here as finite verbs. It is uncertain if the forms should have an imperatival or indicative/descriptive force here.

³ sn Smearing the shields with oil would make them more flexible and effective in battle. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:394.