Text -- Isaiah 21:1-12 (NET)

The Lord Will Judge Babylon

21:1 Here is a message about the Desert by the Sea: Like strong winds blowing in the south, one invades from the desert, from a land that is feared. 21:2 I have received a distressing message: “The deceiver deceives, the destroyer destroys. Attack, you Elamites! Lay siege, you Medes! I will put an end to all the groaning!” 21:3 For this reason reason my stomach churns; cramps overwhelm me like the contractions of a woman in labor. I am disturbed by what I hear, horrified by what I see. 21:4 My heart palpitates, I shake in fear; the twilight I desired has brought me terror. 21:5 Arrange the table, lay out the carpet, eat and drink! Get up, you officers, smear oil on the shields! 21:6 For this is what the sovereign master has told me: “Go, post a guard! He must report what he sees. 21:7 When he sees chariots, teams of horses, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, he must be alert, very alert.” 21:8 Then the guard cries out: “On the watchtower, O sovereign master, I stand all day long; at my post I am stationed every night. 21:9 Look what’s coming! A charioteer, a team of horses.” When questioned, he replies, “Babylon has fallen, fallen! All the idols of her gods lie shattered on the ground!” 21:10 O my downtrodden people, crushed like stalks on the threshing floor, what I have heard from the Lord who commands armies, the God of Israel, I have reported to you.

Bad News for Seir

21:11 Here is a message about Dumah: Someone calls to me from Seir, “Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?” 21:12 The watchman replies, “Morning is coming, but then night. If you want to ask, ask; come back again.”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Isa 21:1

¹ sn The phrase is quite cryptic, at least to the modern reader. Verse 9 seems to indicate that this message pertains to Babylon. Southern Mesopotamia was known as the Sealand in ancient times, because of its proximity to the Persian Gulf. Perhaps the reference to Babylon as a “desert” foreshadows the destruction that would overtake the city, making it like a desolate desert.

² tn Or “in the Negev” (NASB).

NET Notes: Isa 21:2

¹ tn Heb “a severe revelation has been related to me.”

² sn This is often interpreted to mean “all the groaning” that Babylon has caused others.

NET Notes: Isa 21:3

¹ tn Heb “my waist is filled with shaking [or “anguish”].”

² tn Or perhaps, “bent over [in pain]”; cf. NRSV “I am bowed down.”

NET Notes: Isa 21:4

¹ tn Heb “wanders,” perhaps here, “is confused.”

² tn Heb “shuddering terrifies me.”

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.

NET Notes: Isa 21:6

¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 8, 16 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

NET Notes: Isa 21:7

¹ tn Or “a pair of horsemen.”

NET Notes: Isa 21:8

¹ tn The Hebrew text has, “the lion,” but this makes little sense here. אַרְיֵה (’aryeh, “lion”) is probably a corruption of an original הָרֹאֶה (haro’eh, “the one who sees”), i.e., the guard mentioned previously in v. 6.

² tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay). Some translations take this to refer to the Lord (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV), while others take it to refer to the guard’s human master (“my lord”; cf. NIV, NLT).

NET Notes: Isa 21:9

¹ tn Or “[with] teams of horses,” or perhaps, “with a pair of horsemen.”

² tn Heb “and he answered and said” (so KJV, ASV).

NET Notes: Isa 21:10

¹ tn Heb “My trampled one, and the son of the threshing floor.”

NET Notes: Isa 21:11

¹ tn The noun דּוּמָה (dumah) means “silence,” but here it is a proper name, probably referring to a site in northern Arabia or to the nation of Edom. See BDB 189 s.v. II דּוּמָה. If Dumah was an area in northern Arabia, it would be of interest to the Edomites because of its strategic position on trade routes which they used. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:398.

² sn Seir is another name for Edom. See BDB 973 s.v. שֵׂעִיר.

³ sn The “night” probably here symbolizes distress and difficult times. See BDB 539 s.v. לַיְלָה.

NET Notes: Isa 21:12

¹ sn Dumah will experience some relief, but it will be short-lived as night returns.

² sn The point of the watchman’s final instructions (“if you want to ask, ask; come again”) is unclear. Perhaps they are included to add realism to the dramatic portrayal. The watchman sends the questioner away with the words, “Feel free to come back and ask again.”