Isaiah 21:11

Bad News for Seir

21:11 Here is a message about Dumah: ¹ 

Someone calls to me from Seir, ² 

“Watchman, what is left of the night?

Watchman, what is left of the night?” ³ 

Isaiah 21:16

21:16 For this is what the sovereign master ⁴  has told me: “Within exactly one year ⁵  all the splendor of Kedar will come to an end.

[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.

[21:11]  ² sn Seir is another name for Edom. See BDB 973 s.v. שֵׂעִיר.

[21:11]  ³ sn The “night” probably here symbolizes distress and difficult times. See BDB 539 s.v. לַיְלָה.

[21:16]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[21:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “in still a year, like the years of a hired worker.” See the note at 16:14.