The Song of Songs 5:7

5:7 The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city.

They beat me, they bruised me;

they took away my cloak, those watchmen on the walls!

Isaiah 21:6-8

21:6 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.

Isaiah 21:11-12

Bad News for Seir

21:11 Here is a message about Dumah: ⁵ 

Someone calls to me from Seir, ⁶ 

“Watchman, what is left of the night?

Watchman, what is left of the night?” ⁷ 

21:12 The watchman replies,

“Morning is coming, but then night. ⁸ 

If you want to ask, ask;

come back again.” ⁹ 

Isaiah 56:10

56:10 All their watchmen ¹⁰  are blind,

they are unaware. ¹¹ 

All of them are like mute dogs,

unable to bark.

They pant, ¹²  lie down,

and love to snooze.

Isaiah 62:6

62:6 I ¹³  post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;

they should keep praying all day and all night. ¹⁴ 

You who pray to ¹⁵  the Lord, don’t be silent!

Ezekiel 3:17

3:17 “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman ¹⁶  for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must give them a warning from me.

Ezekiel 33:2-9

33:2 “Son of man, speak to your people, ¹⁷  and say to them, ‘Suppose I bring a sword against the land, and the people of the land take one man from their borders and make him their watchman. 33:3 He sees the sword coming against the land, blows the trumpet, ¹⁸  and warns the people, ¹⁹  33:4 but there is one who hears the sound of the trumpet yet does not heed the warning. Then the sword comes and sweeps him away. He will be responsible for his own death. ²⁰  33:5 He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, so he is responsible for himself. ²¹  If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved his life. 33:6 But suppose the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people. Then the sword comes and takes one of their lives. He is swept away for his iniquity, ²²  but I will hold the watchman accountable for that person’s death.’ ²³ 

33:7 “As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman ²⁴  for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must warn them on my behalf. 33:8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you must certainly die,’ ²⁵  and you do not warn ²⁶  the wicked about his behavior, ²⁷  the wicked man will die for his iniquity, but I will hold you accountable for his death. ²⁸  33:9 But if you warn the wicked man to change his behavior, ²⁹  and he refuses to change, ³⁰  he will die for his iniquity, but you have saved your own life.

Hebrews 13:17

13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls and will give an account for their work. ³¹  Let them do this ³²  with joy and not with complaints, for this would be no advantage for you.

[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).

[21:11]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ sn Seir is another name for Edom. See BDB 973 s.v. שֵׂעִיר.

[21:11]  ⁷ sn The “night” probably here symbolizes distress and difficult times. See BDB 539 s.v. לַיְלָה.

[21:12]  ⁸ sn Dumah will experience some relief, but it will be short-lived as night returns.

[21:12]  ⁹ 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.”

[56:10]  ¹⁰ sn The “watchmen” are probably spiritual leaders, most likely prophets and priests, responsible for giving the people moral direction.

[56:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they do not know”; KJV “they are all ignorant”; NIV “they all lack knowledge.”

[56:10]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text has הֹזִים (hozim), which appears to be derived from an otherwise unattested verbal root הָזָה (hazah). On the basis of alleged cognates, BDB 223 s.v. הָזָה offers the definition “dream, rave” while HALOT 243 s.v. הזה lists “pant.” In this case the dog metaphor of the preceding lines continues. The reference to dogs at the beginning of v. 11 favors the extension of the metaphor. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has חזים (“seers”) here. In this case the “watchmen” are directly identified as prophets and depicted as lazy.

[62:6]  ¹³ sn The speaker here is probably the prophet.

[62:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “all day and all night continually they do not keep silent.” The following lines suggest that they pray for the Lord’s intervention and restoration of the city.

[62:6]  ¹⁵ tn Or “invoke”; NIV “call on”; NASB, NRSV “remind.”

[3:17]  ¹⁶ tn The literal role of a watchman is described in 2 Sam 18:24; 2 Kgs 9:17.

[33:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “sons of your people.”

[33:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “shofar,” a ram’s horn rather than a brass instrument (so throughout the chapter).

[33:3]  ¹⁹ tn Sounding the trumpet was a warning of imminent danger (Neh 4:18-20; Jer 4:19; Amos 3:6).

[33:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “his blood will be on his own head.”

[33:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “his blood will be on him.”

[33:6]  ²² tn Or “in his punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity/punishment” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and in vv. 8 and 9; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment” for iniquity or “guilt” of iniquity.

[33:6]  ²³ tn Heb “his blood from the hand of the watchman I will seek.”

[33:7]  ²⁴ sn Jeremiah (Jer 6:17) and Habakkuk (Hab 2:1) also served in the role of a watchman.

[33:8]  ²⁵ tn The same expression occurs in Gen 2:17.

[33:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and you do not speak to warn.”

[33:8]  ²⁷ tn Heb “way.”

[33:8]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and his blood from your hand I will seek.”

[33:9]  ²⁹ tn Heb “from his way to turn from it.”

[33:9]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and he does not turn from his way.”

[13:17]  ³¹ tn Or “as ones who will give an account”; Grk “as giving an account.”

[13:17]  ³² tn Grk “that they may do this.”