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Text -- Isaiah 21:1-13 (NET)
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Context
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 .”
The Lord Will Judge Arabia
21:13 Here is a message about Arabia : In the thicket of Arabia you spend the night, you Dedanite caravans .
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
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NET Notes: Isa 21:2 This is often interpreted to mean “all the groaning” that Babylon has caused others.
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NET Notes: Isa 21:5 Smearing the shields with oil would make them more flexible and effective in battle. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:394.
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NET Notes: Isa 21:6 The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 8, 16 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
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NET Notes: Isa 21:8 The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay). Some translations...
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NET Notes: Isa 21:11 The “night” probably here symbolizes distress and difficult times. See BDB 539 s.v. לַיְלָה.
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