---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Isaiah 21"
description: "CHAPTER 21   :-. REPETITION OF THE
ASSURANCE GIVEN
IN THE THIRTEENTH AND
FOURTEENTH CHAPTERS
TO THE JEWS ABOUT
TO BE CAPTIVES
IN BABYLON, THAT
THEIR ENEMY"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/isaiah/21"
---

CHAPTER 21

. REPETITION OF THE
ASSURANCE GIVEN
IN THE THIRTEENTH AND
FOURTEENTH CHAPTERS
TO THE JEWS ABOUT
TO BE CAPTIVES
IN BABYLON, THAT
THEIR ENEMY
SHOULD BE
DESTROYED AND THEY
BE DELIVERED.
He does not narrate the event, but
graphically supposes himself a watchman in Babylon, beholding the
events as they pass.

**1. desert**—the champaign
between Babylon and Persia; it was once a *desert,* and it was
to become so again.
**of the sea**—The plain
was covered with the water of the Euphrates like a "sea"
([Jeremiah 51:13](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/13); [Jeremiah 51:36](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/36);
so [Isaiah 11:15](../../../kjv/isaiah/11/15), the Nile), until
Semiramis raised great dams against it. Cyrus removed these dykes,
and so converted the whole country again into a vast desert marsh.
**whirlwinds in the south**—
([Job 37:9](../../../kjv/job/37/9); [Zechariah 9:14](../../../kjv/zechariah/9/14)).
The south wind comes upon Babylon from the deserts of Arabia, and its
violence is the greater from its course being unbroken along the
plain ([Job 1:19](../../../kjv/job/1/19)).
**desert**—the plain
between Babylon and Persia.
**terrible land**—Media; to
guard against which was the object of Nitocris' great works
[HERODOTUS, 1.185].
Compare as to "terrible" applied to a wilderness, as being
full of unknown dangers, [Deuteronomy 1:29](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/1/29).

**2. dealeth treacherously**—referring
to the *military* stratagem employed by Cyrus in taking Babylon.
It may be translated, "is repaid with treachery"; then the
subject of the verb is *Babylon.* She is repaid in her own coin;
[Isaiah 33:1](../../../kjv/isaiah/33/1); [Habakkuk 2:8](../../../kjv/habakkuk/2/8),
favor this.
**Go up**—Isaiah abruptly
recites the order which he hears God giving to the Persians, the
instruments of His vengeance ([Isaiah 13:3](../../../kjv/isaiah/13/3);
[Isaiah 13:17](../../../kjv/isaiah/13/17)).
**Elam**—a province of
Persia, the original place of their settlement ([Isaiah 13:17](../../../kjv/isaiah/13/17)), east of the Euphrates. The name "Persia" was
not in use until the captivity; it means a "horseman";
Cyrus first trained the Persians in horsemanship. It is a mark of
authenticity that the name is not found before Daniel and Ezekiel
[BOCHART].
**thereof**—the "sighing"
*caused* by Babylon ([Isaiah 14:7](../../../kjv/isaiah/14/7);
[Isaiah 14:8](../../../kjv/isaiah/14/8)).

**3.** Isaiah imagines himself among
the exiles in Babylon and cannot help feeling moved by the calamities
which come on it. So for Moab ([Isaiah 15:5](../../../kjv/isaiah/15/5);
[Isaiah 16:11](../../../kjv/isaiah/16/11)).
**pain**—(Compare [Isaiah 13:8](../../../kjv/isaiah/13/8);
[Ezekiel 30:4](../../../kjv/ezekiel/30/4); [Ezekiel 30:19](../../../kjv/ezekiel/30/19);
[Nahum 2:10](../../../kjv/nahum/2/10)).
**at the hearing**—The
*Hebrew* may mean, "I was so bowed down that *I could not
hear;* I was so dismayed that *I could not see*"
([Genesis 16:2](../../../kjv/genesis/16/2); [Psalms 69:23](../../../kjv/psalms/69/23))
[MAURER].

**4. panted**—"is bewildered"
[BARNES].
**night of my pleasure**—The
prophet supposes himself one of the banqueters at Belshazzar's feast,
on the night that Babylon was about to be taken by surprise; hence
his expression, "*my* pleasure" ([Isaiah 14:11](../../../kjv/isaiah/14/11);
[Jeremiah 51:39](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/39); [Daniel 5:1-31](../../../kjv/daniel/5/1-31)).

**5. Prepare the table**—namely,
the feast in Babylon; during which Cyrus opened the dykes made by
Semiramis to confine the Euphrates to one channel and suffered them
to overflow the country, so that he could enter Babylon by the
channel of the river. Isaiah first represents the king ordering the
feast to be got ready. The suddenness of the irruption of the foe is
graphically expressed by the rapid turn in the language to an alarm
addressed to the Babylonian princes, "Arise," c. (compare
[Isaiah 22:13](../../../kjv/isaiah/22/13)). MAURER
translates, "*They prepare* the table," &c. But
see [Isaiah 8:9](../../../kjv/isaiah/8/9).
**watch in . . .
watchtower**—rather, "set the watch." This done, they
thought they might feast in entire security. Babylon had many
watchtowers on its walls.
**anoint . . . shield**—This
was done to prevent the leather of the shield becoming hard and
liable to crack. "Make ready for *defense*" the
mention of the "shield" alone implies that it is the
Babylonian revellers who are called on to prepare for instant
*self-defense.* HORSLEY
translates, "Grip the oiled shield."

**6. Go, set a watchman, let him
declare what he seeth**—God's direction to Isaiah to set a
watchman to "declare" what he sees. But as in , Isaiah himself is represented as the one who "declared."
HORSLEY makes *him*
the "watchman," and translates, "Come, let him who
standeth on the watchtower report what he seeth."

**7. chariot,** c.—rather, "a
body of riders," namely, some riding in pairs on horses
(literally, "pairs of horsemen," that is, two abreast),
others on asses, others on camels (compare [Isaiah 21:9](../../../kjv/isaiah/21/9)
[Isaiah 22:6](../../../kjv/isaiah/22/6)). "Chariot" is
not appropriate to be joined, as *English Version* translates,
with "asses"; the *Hebrew* means plainly in [Isaiah 22:6](../../../kjv/isaiah/22/6), as in [Isaiah 21:9](../../../kjv/isaiah/21/9), "a
body of men riding." The Persians used asses and camels for war
[MAURER]. HORSLEY
translates, "One drawn in a car, with a pair of riders, drawn by
an ass, drawn by a camel"; Cyrus is the man; the car drawn by a
camel and ass yoked together and driven by two postilions, one on
each, is the joint army of Medes and Persians under their respective
leaders. He thinks the more ancient military cars were driven by men
riding on the beasts that drew them; [Isaiah 21:9](../../../kjv/isaiah/21/9) favors this.

**8. A lion**—rather, "(The
watchman) cried, I am *as* a lion"; so *as* is
understood ([Isaiah 62:5](../../../kjv/isaiah/62/5); [Psalms 11:1](../../../kjv/psalms/11/1)).
The point of comparison to "a lion" is in [Psalms 11:1](../../../kjv/psalms/11/1), the *loudness* of the cry. But here it is rather his
*vigilance.* The lion's eyelids are short, so that, even when
asleep, he seems to be on the watch, awake; hence he was painted on
doors of temples as the symbol of watchfulness, guarding the place
(*Hor. Apollo*) [HORSLEY].

**9. chariot of men**—chariots
with men in them; or rather, the same body of riders, horsemen two
abreast, as in [Isaiah 21:7](../../../kjv/isaiah/21/7)
[MAURER]. But HORSLEY,
"The man drawn in a car with a pair of riders." The first
half of this verse describes what the watchman *sees;* the
second half, what the watchman *says,* in consequence of what he
sees. In the interval between [Isaiah 21:7](../../../kjv/isaiah/21/7);
[Isaiah 21:9](../../../kjv/isaiah/21/9), the overthrow of
Babylon by the horsemen, or man in the car, is accomplished. The
overthrow needed to be announced to the prophet by the watchman,
owing to the great extent of the city. HERODOTUS
(1.131) says that one part of the city was captured some time before
the other received the tidings of it.
**answered**—not to
something *said* previously, but in reference to the subject in
the mind of the writer, to be collected from the preceding discourse:
*proclaimeth* ([Job 3:2](../../../kjv/job/3/2),
*Margin;* [Daniel 2:26](../../../kjv/daniel/2/26); [Acts 5:8](../../../kjv/acts/5/8)).
**fallen . . . fallen**—The
repetition expresses emphasis and certainty ([Psalms 92:9](../../../kjv/psalms/92/9);
[Psalms 93:3](../../../kjv/psalms/93/3); compare [Jeremiah 51:8](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/8);
[Revelation 18:2](../../../kjv/revelation/18/2)).
**images**—Bel, Merodach,
c. ([Jeremiah 50:2](../../../kjv/jeremiah/50/2) [Jeremiah 51:44](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/44);
[Jeremiah 51:52](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/52)). The Persians had no
images, temples, or altars, and charged the makers of such with
madness [HERODOTUS 1.131];
therefore they dashed the Babylonian "images broken unto the
ground."

**10. my threshing**—that is, my
people (the Jews) trodden down by Babylon.
**corn of my floor**—*Hebrew,*
"my son of the floor," that is, my people, treated as corn
laid on the floor for threshing; implying, too, that by affliction, a
remnant (grain) would be separated from the ungodly (chaff) [MAURER].
HORSLEY translates, "O
thou object of my unremitting *prophetic pains.*" See
[Isaiah 28:27](../../../kjv/isaiah/28/27); [Isaiah 28:28](../../../kjv/isaiah/28/28).
Some, from [Jeremiah 51:33](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/33), make
Babylon the object of the threshing; but Isaiah is plainly addressing
his countrymen, as the next words show, not the Babylonians.
[Isaiah 21:11](../../../kjv/isaiah/21/11);
[Isaiah 21:12](../../../kjv/isaiah/21/12). A PROPHECY
TO THE IDUMEANS WHO
TAUNTED THE AFFLICTED
JEWS IN THE BABYLONISH
CAPTIVITY.
One out of Seir asks, What of the
night? Is there a hope of the dawn of deliverance? Isaiah replies,
The morning is beginning to dawn (*to us*); but night is also
coming (*to you*). Compare [Isaiah 21:12](../../../kjv/isaiah/21/12). The Hebrew captives would be delivered, and taunting Edom
punished. If the Idumean wish to ask again, he may do so; if he
wishes an answer of peace for his country, then let him "return
(repent), come" [BARNES].

**11. Dumah**—a tribe and region
of Ishmael in Arabia ([Genesis 25:14](../../../kjv/genesis/25/14);
[1 Chronicles 1:30](../../../kjv/1-chronicles/1/30)); now called *Dumah
the Stony,* situated on the confines of Arabia and the Syrian
desert; a part put for the *whole* of Edom. VITRINGA
thinks "Dumah," *Hebrew,* "silence," is here
used for Idumea, to imply that it was soon to be reduced to *silence*
or destruction.
**Seir**—the principal
mountain in Idumea, south of the Dead Sea, in Arabia-Petræa. "He
calleth" ought to be rather, "*There is a call* from
Seir."
**to me**—Isaiah. So the
heathen Balak and Ahaziah received oracles from a Hebrew prophet.
**Watchman**—the prophet
([Isaiah 62:6](../../../kjv/isaiah/62/6); [Jeremiah 6:17](../../../kjv/jeremiah/6/17)),
so called, because, like a watchman on the lookout from a tower, he
announces future events which he sees in prophetic vision ([Habakkuk 2:1](../../../kjv/habakkuk/2/1);
[Habakkuk 2:2](../../../kjv/habakkuk/2/2)).
**what of the night**—What
tidings have you to give as to the state of the night? Rather, "What
*remains* of the night?" How much of it is past? [MAURER].
"Night" means calamity ([Job 35:10](../../../kjv/job/35/10);
[Micah 3:6](../../../kjv/micah/3/6)), which, then, in the
wars between Egypt and Assyria, pressed sore on Edom; or on Judah
(if, as BARNES thinks, the
question is asked in mockery of the suffering Jews in Babylon). The
*repetition* of the question marks, in the former view, the
anxiety of the Idumeans.

**12.** Reply of the prophet, The
*morning* (prosperity) *cometh,* and (soon after follows)
*the night* (adversity). Though you, Idumeans, may have a gleam
of prosperity, it will soon be followed by adversity again.
Otherwise, as BARNES,
"Prosperity cometh (to the Jews) to be quickly followed by
adversity (to you, Idumeans, who exult in the fall of Jerusalem, have
seized on the southern part of their land in their absence during the
captivity, and now deride them by your question)" (). This view is favored by .
**if ye will inquire,
inquire**—If ye choose to consult me again, do so (similar
phrases occur in [Genesis 43:14](../../../kjv/genesis/43/14);
[2 Kings 7:4](../../../kjv/2-kings/7/4); [Esther 4:16](../../../kjv/esther/4/16)).
**return, come**—"Be
converted to God (and then), come" [GESENIUS];
you will then receive a more favorable answer.
[Esther 4:16](../../../kjv/esther/4/16). PROPHECY THAT
ARABIA WOULD
BE OVERRUN
BY A FOREIGN FOE
WITHIN A YEAR.
Probably in the wars between
Assyria and Egypt; Idumea and Arabia lay somewhat on the intermediate
line of march.

**13. upon**—that is, respecting.
**forest**—not a grove of
trees, but a region of thick underwood, rugged and inaccessible; for
Arabia has no forest of trees.
**travelling
companies**—caravans: ye shall be driven through fear of the foe
to unfrequented routes ([Isaiah 33:8](../../../kjv/isaiah/33/8);
[Judges 5:6](../../../kjv/judges/5/6); [Jeremiah 49:8](../../../kjv/jeremiah/49/8)
is parallel to this passage).
**Dedanim**—In North Arabia
([Genesis 25:3](../../../kjv/genesis/25/3); [Jeremiah 25:23](../../../kjv/jeremiah/25/23);
[Ezekiel 25:13](../../../kjv/ezekiel/25/13); [Ezekiel 27:20](../../../kjv/ezekiel/27/20);
a different "Dedan" occurs [Ezekiel 27:20](../../../kjv/ezekiel/27/20)).

**14. Tema**—a kindred tribe: an
oasis in that region ([Jeremiah 25:23](../../../kjv/jeremiah/25/23)).
The Temeans give water to the faint and thirsting Dedanites; the
greatest act of hospitality in the burning lands of the East, where
water is so scarce.
**prevented**—that is,
anticipated the wants of the fugitive Dedanites by supplying bread
([Genesis 14:18](../../../kjv/genesis/14/18)).
**their bread**—rather,
"*his* (the fugitive's) bread"; the bread *due to
him,* necessary for his support; so "*thy* grave"
([Isaiah 14:19](../../../kjv/isaiah/14/19)), [MAURER].

**15. they**—the fugitive
Dedanites and other Arabs.

**16. years of . . . hireling**—(See
on [Isaiah 21:1](../../../kjv/isaiah/21/1)).
**Kedar**—a wandering tribe
([Psalms 120:5](../../../kjv/psalms/120/5)). North of
Arabia-Petræa, and south of Arabia-Deserta; put for Arabia in
general.

**17. residue . . . diminished**—The
remnant of Arab warriors, famous in the bow, left after the invasion,
shall be small.

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