Discovery BoxIsaiah 21:6-9
Context21:6 For this is what the sovereign master 1 has told me:
“Go, post a guard!
He must report what he sees.
21:7 When he sees chariots,
teams of horses, 2
riders on donkeys,
riders on camels,
he must be alert,
very alert.”
21:8 Then the guard 3 cries out:
“On the watchtower, O sovereign master, 4
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.” 5
When questioned, he replies, 6
“Babylon has fallen, fallen!
All the idols of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”
[21:6] 1 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 8, 16 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[21:7] 2 tn Or “a pair of horsemen.”
[21:8] 3 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] 4 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] 5 tn Or “[with] teams of horses,” or perhaps, “with a pair of horsemen.”
