Discovery BoxIsaiah 21:1--22:14
Context21:1 Here is a message about the Desert by the Sea: 1
Like strong winds blowing in the south, 2
one invades from the desert,
from a land that is feared.
21:2 I have received a distressing message: 3
“The deceiver deceives,
the destroyer destroys.
Attack, you Elamites!
Lay siege, you Medes!
I will put an end to all the groaning!” 4
21:3 For this reason my stomach churns; 5
cramps overwhelm me
like the contractions of a woman in labor.
I am disturbed 6 by what I hear,
horrified by what I see.
I shake in fear; 8
the twilight I desired
has brought me terror.
21:5 Arrange the table,
lay out 9 the carpet,
eat and drink! 10
Get up, you officers,
smear oil on the shields! 11
21:6 For this is what the sovereign master 12 has told me:
“Go, post a guard!
He must report what he sees.
21:7 When he sees chariots,
teams of horses, 13
riders on donkeys,
riders on camels,
he must be alert,
very alert.”
21:8 Then the guard 14 cries out:
“On the watchtower, O sovereign master, 15
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.” 16
When questioned, he replies, 17
“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, 18
what I have heard
from the Lord who commands armies,
the God of Israel,
I have reported to you.
21:11 Here is a message about Dumah: 19
Someone calls to me from Seir, 20
“Watchman, what is left of the night?
Watchman, what is left of the night?” 21
21:12 The watchman replies,
“Morning is coming, but then night. 22
If you want to ask, ask;
come back again.” 23
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 24 has told me: “Within exactly one year 25 all the splendor of Kedar will come to an end. 21:17 Just a handful of archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be left.” 26 Indeed, 27 the Lord God of Israel has spoken.
22:1 Here is a message about the Valley of Vision: 28
What is the reason 29
that all of you go up to the rooftops?
22:2 The noisy city is full of raucous sounds;
the town is filled with revelry. 30
Your slain were not cut down by the sword;
they did not die in battle. 31
22:3 32 All your leaders ran away together –
they fled to a distant place;
all your refugees 33 were captured together –
they were captured without a single arrow being shot. 34
22:4 So I say:
“Don’t look at me! 35
I am weeping bitterly.
Don’t try 36 to console me
concerning the destruction of my defenseless people.” 37
22:5 For the sovereign master, 38 the Lord who commands armies,
has planned a day of panic, defeat, and confusion. 39
In the Valley of Vision 40 people shout 41
and cry out to the hill. 42
22:6 The Elamites picked up the quiver,
and came with chariots and horsemen; 43
the men of Kir 44 prepared 45 the shield. 46
22:7 Your very best valleys were full of chariots; 47
horsemen confidently took their positions 48 at the gate.
22:8 They 49 removed the defenses 50 of Judah.
At that time 51 you looked
for the weapons in the House of the Forest. 52
22:9 You saw the many breaks
in the walls of the city of David; 53
you stored up water in the lower pool.
22:10 You counted the houses in Jerusalem, 54
and demolished houses so you could have material to reinforce the wall. 55
22:11 You made a reservoir between the two walls
for the water of the old pool –
but you did not trust in 56 the one who made it; 57
you did not depend on 58 the one who formed it long ago!
22:12 At that time the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, called for weeping and mourning,
for shaved heads and sackcloth. 59
22:13 But look, there is outright celebration! 60
You say, “Kill the ox and slaughter the sheep,
eat meat and drink wine.
Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” 61
22:14 The Lord who commands armies told me this: 62 “Certainly this sin will not be forgiven as long as you live,” 63 says the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies.
[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.
[21:1] 2 tn Or “in the Negev” (NASB).
[21:2] 3 tn Heb “a severe revelation has been related to me.”
[21:2] 4 sn This is often interpreted to mean “all the groaning” that Babylon has caused others.
[21:3] 5 tn Heb “my waist is filled with shaking [or “anguish”].”
[21:3] 6 tn Or perhaps, “bent over [in pain]”; cf. NRSV “I am bowed down.”
[21:4] 7 tn Heb “wanders,” perhaps here, “is confused.”
[21:4] 8 tn Heb “shuddering terrifies me.”
[21:5] 9 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”).
[21:5] 10 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.
[21:5] 11 sn Smearing the shields with oil would make them more flexible and effective in battle. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:394.
[21:6] 11 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 8, 16 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[21:7] 13 tn Or “a pair of horsemen.”
[21:8] 15 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.
[21:8] 16 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).
[21:9] 17 tn Or “[with] teams of horses,” or perhaps, “with a pair of horsemen.”
[21:9] 18 tn Heb “and he answered and said” (so KJV, ASV).
[21:10] 19 tn Heb “My trampled one, and the son of the threshing floor.”
[21:11] 21 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.
[21:11] 22 sn Seir is another name for Edom. See BDB 973 s.v. שֵׂעִיר.
[21:11] 23 sn The “night” probably here symbolizes distress and difficult times. See BDB 539 s.v. לַיְלָה.
[21:12] 23 sn Dumah will experience some relief, but it will be short-lived as night returns.
[21:12] 24 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.”
[21:16] 25 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[21:16] 26 tn Heb “in still a year, like the years of a hired worker.” See the note at 16:14.
[21:17] 27 tn Heb “and the remnant of the number of the bow, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will be few.”
[21:17] 28 tn Or “for” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
[22:1] 29 sn The following message pertains to Jerusalem. The significance of referring to the city as the Valley of Vision is uncertain. Perhaps the Hinnom Valley is in view, but why it is associated with a prophetic revelatory “vision” is not entirely clear. Maybe the Hinnom Valley is called this because the destruction that will take place there is the focal point of this prophetic message (see v. 5).
[22:1] 30 tn Heb “What to you, then?”
[22:2] 31 tn Heb “the boisterous town.” The phrase is parallel to “the noisy city” in the preceding line.
[22:2] 32 sn Apparently they died from starvation during the siege that preceded the final conquest of the city. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:409.
[22:3] 33 tn Verse 3 reads literally, “All your leaders ran away, apart from a bow they were captured, all your found ones were captured together, to a distant place they fled.” J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:403, n. 3) suggests that the lines of the verse are arranged chiastically; lines 1 and 4 go together, while lines 2 and 3 are parallel. To translate the lines in the order they appear in the Hebrew text is misleading to the English reader, who is likely unfamiliar with, or at least insensitive to, chiastic parallelism. Consequently, the translation above arranges the lines as follows: line 1 (Hebrew) = line 1 (in translation); line 2 (Hebrew) = line 4 (in translation); line 3 (Hebrew) = line 3 (in translation); line 4 (Hebrew) = line 2 (in translation).
[22:3] 34 tn Heb “all your found ones.” To achieve tighter parallelism (see “your leaders”) some prefer to emend the form to אַמִּיצַיִךְ (’ammitsayikh, “your strong ones”) or to נֶאֱמָצַיִךְ (ne’ematsayikh, “your strengthened ones”).
[22:3] 35 tn Heb “apart from [i.e., without] a bow they were captured”; cf. NAB, NRSV “without the use of a bow.”
[22:4] 35 tn Heb “look away from me” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).
[22:4] 36 tn Heb “don’t hurry” (so NCV).
[22:4] 37 tn Heb “the daughter of my people.” “Daughter” is here used metaphorically to express the speaker’s emotional attachment to his people, as well as their vulnerability and weakness.
[22:5] 37 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 12, 14, 15 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[22:5] 38 tn Heb “For [there is] a day of panic, and trampling, and confusion for the master, the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].”
[22:5] 39 tn The traditional accentuation of the Hebrew text suggests that this phrase goes with what precedes.
[22:5] 40 tn The precise meaning of this statement is unclear. Some take קִר (qir) as “wall” and interpret the verb to mean “tear down.” However, tighter parallelism (note the reference to crying for help in the next line) is achieved if one takes both the verb and noun from a root, attested in Ugaritic and Arabic, meaning “make a sound.” See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:404, n. 5.
[22:5] 41 sn Perhaps “the hill” refers to the temple mount.
[22:6] 39 tn Heb “[with] the chariots of men, horsemen.”
[22:6] 40 sn A distant region in the direction of Mesopotamia; see Amos 1:5; 9:7.
[22:6] 41 tn Heb “Kir uncovers” (so NAB, NIV).
[22:6] 42 sn The Elamites and men of Kir may here symbolize a fierce army from a distant land. If this oracle anticipates a Babylonian conquest of the city (see 39:5-7), then the Elamites and men of Kir are perhaps viewed here as mercenaries in the Babylonian army. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:410.
[22:7] 41 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
[22:7] 42 tn Heb “taking a stand, take their stand.” The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following finite verb. The translation attempts to bring out this emphasis with the adverb “confidently.”
[22:8] 43 tn Heb “he,” i.e., the enemy invader. NASB, by its capitalization of the pronoun, takes this to refer to the Lord.
[22:8] 45 tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV), likewise at the beginning of v. 12.
[22:8] 46 sn Perhaps this refers to a royal armory, or to Solomon’s “House of the Forest of Lebanon,” where weapons may have been kept (see 1 Kgs 10:16-17).
[22:9] 45 tn Heb “the breaks of the city of David, you saw that they were many.”
[22:10] 47 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[22:10] 48 tn Heb “you demolished the houses to fortify the wall.”
[22:11] 49 tn Heb “look at”; NAB, NRSV “did not look to.”
[22:11] 50 tn The antecedent of the third feminine singular suffix here and in the next line is unclear. The closest feminine noun is “pool” in the first half of the verse. Perhaps this “old pool” symbolizes the entire city, which had prospered because of God’s provision and protection through the years.
[22:11] 51 tn Heb “did not see.”
[22:12] 51 tn Heb “for baldness and the wearing of sackcloth.” See the note at 15:2.
[22:13] 53 tn Heb “happiness and joy.”
[22:13] 54 tn The prophet here quotes what the fatalistic people are saying. The introductory “you say” is supplied in the translation for clarification; the concluding verb “we die” makes it clear the people are speaking. The six verbs translated as imperatives are actually infinitives absolute, functioning here as finite verbs.
[22:14] 55 tn Heb “it was revealed in my ears [by?] the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].”
[22:14] 56 tn Heb “Certainly this sin will not be atoned for until you die.” This does not imply that their death will bring atonement; rather it emphasizes that their sin is unpardonable. The statement has the form of an oath.
