Isaiah
Chapter 21
Fall of Babylon
An oracle concerning the Desert by the Sea: A fearful vision is shown to me: As whirlwinds sweep over the Negeb, coming in waves from the desert, from the fearful land,
the traitor betrays, the plunderer plunders. “Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media!” “I have silenced all the groanings.”
Therefore I am in anguish; my body is wracked with pain as a woman in travail. I am so bewildered that I cannot hear, I am so dismayed that I cannot see.
My mind reels, my heart falters in fear; the twilight I longed for has become a horror.
They set the tables, they spread the rugs, they eat and drink. Arise, O princes, oil the shield!
For this is what the Lord said to me, “Go, post a watchman and make him report what he sees.
If he sees riders: horsemen in pairs, men mounted on camels, men mounted on donkeys; let him observe diligently, let him listen attentively.”
Then the watchman shouted, “On a watchtower, O Lord, I stand through all the watches of the day, and at my post, I stay through all the watches of the night.
And look, here come riders, horsemen in pairs.” And he spoke up again: “Fallen is Babylon, fallen, and all the graven images of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”
O my people, threshed and winnowed, I announce to you what I have heard from the Lord Sabaoth, the God of Israel.
Against Duma
An oracle concerning Dumah: Someone calls to me out of Seir, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?”
The watchman answers, “Morning comes, but soon it will be night again. Come back and ask, if you want to ask again.”
Against Arabia
An oracle concerning Arabia: In the forest of Arabia lodge the Dedanites’ traveling companies.
Those who dwell in the land of Tema went to meet the fugitives: bring bread for the hungry and water for the thirsty.
These people have fled from the sword, from the whetted swords, from the bent bows, from the fury of battle.
For this is what the Lord has told me: “In a year’s time, as a worker bound by contract would reckon it, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end.
Few of Kedar’s archers and warriors will remain.” The Lord God of Israel has spoken.
Commentaries
Fall of Babylon – Against Duma – Against Arabia.
Verses 1-10 are somewhat unclear. It may be Isaiah’s warning not to trust in Babylon, which tried to rebel against Assyria but was destroyed by Sennacherib in 689 B.C. The prophet who has the vision is like a watchman watching for signs and measuring the time until dawn. The vision of Israel’s disaster and that of other nations fills the prophet with anguish (2-4). Dedan and Kedar are tribes of Arabia, and Teman is an oasis in the desert.