Text -- Isaiah 21:11-17 (NET)

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. 21:14 Bring out some water for the thirsty. You who live in the land of Tema, bring some food for the fugitives. 21:15 For they flee from the swords– from the drawn sword and from the battle-ready bow and from the severity of the battle. 21:16 For this is what the sovereign master has told me: “Within exactly one year all the splendor of Kedar will come to an end. 21:17 Just a handful of archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be left.” Indeed, the Lord God of Israel has spoken.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

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.”

NET Notes: Isa 21:16

¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

² tn Heb “in still a year, like the years of a hired worker.” See the note at 16:14.

NET Notes: Isa 21:17

¹ tn Heb “and the remnant of the number of the bow, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will be few.”

² tn Or “for” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).