> [[isaiah-20|← Previous]] | [[isaiah-00|TOC]] | [[isaiah-22|Next →]] --- # Isaiah, Chapter 21 ## Chapter 21 ### Fall of Babylon 1 Oracle on the wastelands by the sea: ^isaiah-21-1 Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negeb, it comes from the desert, from the fearful land. 2 A harsh vision has been announced to me: ^isaiah-21-2 “The traitor betrays, the despoiler spoils. Go up, O Elam; besiege, O Media; put an end to all its groaning!” 3 Therefore my loins are filled with anguish, ^isaiah-21-3 pangs have seized me like those of a woman in labor; I am too bewildered to hear, too dismayed to look. 4 My mind reels, ^isaiah-21-4 shuddering assails me; The twilight I yearned for he has turned into dread. 5 They set the table, ^isaiah-21-5 spread out the rugs; they eat, they drink. Rise up, O princes, oil the shield! 6 For thus my Lord said to me: ^isaiah-21-6 Go, station a watchman, let him tell what he sees. 7 If he sees a chariot, ^isaiah-21-7 a pair of horses, Someone riding a donkey, someone riding a camel, Then let him pay heed, very close heed. 8 Then the watchman cried, ^isaiah-21-8 “On the watchtower, my Lord, I stand constantly by day; And I stay at my post through all the watches of the night. 9 Here he comes— ^isaiah-21-9 a single chariot, a pair of horses— He calls out and says, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods are smashed to the ground!’” 10 To you, who have been threshed, ^isaiah-21-10 beaten on my threshing floor, What I have heard from the LORD of hosts, The God of Israel, I have announced to you. ### Dumah 11 Oracle on Dumah: ^isaiah-21-11 They call to me from Seir, “Watchman, how much longer the night? Watchman, how much longer the night?” 12 The watchman replies, ^isaiah-21-12 “Morning has come, and again night. If you will ask, ask; come back again.” ### In the Steppe 13 Oracle: in the steppe: ^isaiah-21-13 In the thicket in the steppe you will spend the night, caravans of Dedanites. 14 Meet the thirsty, bring them water, ^isaiah-21-14 inhabitants of the land of Tema, greet the fugitives with bread. 15 For they have fled from the sword, ^isaiah-21-15 from the drawn sword; From the taut bow, from the thick of battle. 16 For thus the Lord has said to me: In another year, like the years of a hired laborer, all the glory of Kedar shall come to an end. ^isaiah-21-16 17 Few of Kedar’s stalwart archers shall remain, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken. ^isaiah-21-17 \* (21:1] – [10) This oracle against Babylon is probably to be dated to the period just before the fall of Babylon to the Persians in 539 B.C. (v. [9]). \* (21:1) Wastelands by the sea: Babylonia. Negeb: the wilderness south of Judah. \* (21:2) Elam…Media: nations which, under the leadership of Cyrus, captured Babylon in 539 B.C. End to all its groaning: those who were captive of Babylon will be freed. \* (21:5) Babylon is destroyed while its leaders are feasting; cf. [Dn 5]. Oil the shield: shields were oiled and greased so as to divert blows more easily; cf. [2 Sm 1:21]. \* (21:11] – [12) Dumah: an oasis in north Arabia (cf. [Gn 25:14] and [1 Chr 1:30]), may be identified with the north Arabian Adummatu mentioned in Assyrian records of Sennacherib’s campaign against north Arabia. Seir: a site in Edom. The Edomites ask the prophet how much longer they must suffer (“the night” of suffering); he answers ambiguously: “Liberation (“morning”) and further suffering (“night”),” but perhaps they will later receive a more encouraging answer (“ask; come back again”). \* (21:13] – [14) In the steppe: the north Arabian steppe where the oases referred to were located. Dedanites: a north Arabian tribe associated with the oasis of Tema; cf. [[genesis-10|Gen 10]]:7; [25:3]; [Jer 25:23]. \* (21:16) Year…of a hired laborer: see note on [16:13] – [14]. Kedar: a nomadic tribe in Arabia; cf. [42:11]; [60:7]; [Ps 120:5]. a. (21:1) [Is 30:6]; [Dt 1:19]; [Jer 2:6]. b. (21:2) [[isaiah-24|Is 24]]:16; [33:1]. c. (21:2) [[isaiah-13|Is 13]]:17; [Jer 49:34]. d. (21:3) [[isaiah-16|Is 16]]:11; [Ps 38:8]. e. (21:4) [Dt 28:67]. f. (21:5) [Dn 5:5]. g. (21:8) [Hb 2:1]. h. (21:9) [Is 46:1]; [Jer 50:2]; [51:8]; [Rv 14:8]; [18:2]. i. (21:10) [Is 51:23]; [Jer 51:33]; [Mi 4:13]; [Hb 3:12]. j. (21:14) [Jb 6:19]. --- _New American Bible, revised edition_ (2010, 1991, 1986, 1970) Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. > [[isaiah-20|← Previous]] | [[isaiah-00|TOC]] | [[isaiah-22|Next →]]