The Fall of Babylon Foretold

ISAIAH 21 COMMENTARY
WEDITED BY GLENN PEASE
A Prophecy Against Babylon
1 A prophecy against the Desert by the Sea:
Like whirlwinds sweeping through the southland,
an invader comes from the desert,
from a land of terror.
1.BARNES, “The burden - (see the note at Isa_13:1).
Of the desert - There have been almost as many interpretations of this expression, as there
have been interpreters. That it means Babylon, or the country about Babylon, there can be no
doubt; but the question why this phrase was applied, has given rise to a great diversity of
opinions. The term ‘desert’ (‫מדבר‬ midbar) is usually applied to a wilderness, or to a
comparatively barren and uncultivated country - a place for flocks and herds (Psa_65:13;
Jer_9:9 ff); to an actual waste, sandy desert Isa_32:15; Isa_35:1; and particularly to the deserts
of Arabia Gen_14:6; Gen_16:7; Deu_11:24. It may here be applied to Babylon either historically,
as having been “once” an unreclaimed desert: or by “anticipation,” as descriptive of what it
“would be” after it should be destroyed by Cyrus, or possibly both these ideas may have been
combined. That it was “once” a desert before it was reclaimed by Semiramis is the testimony of
all history; that it is “now” a vast waste is the united testimony of all travelers. There is every
reason to think that a large part of the country about Babylon was formerly overflowed with
water “before” it was reclaimed by dykes; and as it was naturally a waste, when the artificial
dykes and dams should be removed, it would again be a desert.
Of the sea - (‫ים‬ yam). There has been also much difference of opinion in regard to this word.
But there can be no doubt that it refers to the Euphrates, and to the extensive region of marsh
that was covered by its waters. The name ‘sea’ (‫ים‬ yam) is not unfrequently given to a large river,
to the Nile, and to the Euphrates (see the note at Isa_11:15; compare Isa_19:5). Herodotus (i.
184), says, that ‘Semiramis confined the Euphrates within its channel by raisin great dams
against it; for before, it overflowed the whole country like a sea.’ And Abydenus, in Eusebius,
(“Prepara. Evang.,” ix. 457) says, respecting the building of Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, that ‘it
is reported that all this was covered with water, and was called a sea - λέγεται δᆯ πάντα µεν ᅚξ ᅊρ
ᇿς ᆖδωρ εᅼναι, θαλασσων καλουµένην legetai de panta men ech arches hudor einai, thalasson

kaloumenen (Compare Strabo, “Geog.” xvi. 9, 10; and Arrianus, “De Expedit. Alexandri,” vii. 21).
Cyrus removed these dykes, reopened the canals, and the waters were suffered to remain, and
again converted the whole country into a vast marsh (see the notes at Isa. 13; 14)
As whirlwinds - That is, the army comes with the rapidity of a whirlwind. In Isa_8:8
(compare Hab_1:11), an army is compared to an overflowing and rapid river.
In the south - Whirlwinds or tempests are often in the Scriptures represented as coming
from the south, Zec_9:14; Job_37:9 :
Out of the south cometh the whirlwind,
And cold out of the north.
So Virgil:
- creberque procellis
Africus -
AEneid, i. 85.
The deserts of Arabia were situated to the south of Babylon, and the south winds are described
as the winds of the desert. Those winds are represented as being so violent as to tear away the
tents occupied by a caravan (Pietro della Valle, “Travels,” vol. iv. pp. 183, 191). In Job_1:19, the
whirlwind is represented as coming ‘from the wilderness; that is, from the “desert” of Arabia
(compare Jer_13:24; Hos_13:15).
So it cometh from the desert - (see Isa_13:4, and the note on that place). God is there
represented as collecting the army for the destruction of Babylon ‘on the mountains,’ and by
mountains are probably denoted the same as is here denoted by the desert. The country of the
“Medes” is doubtless intended, which, in the view of civilized and refined Babylon, was an
uncultivated region, or a vast waste or wilderness.
From a terrible land - A country rough and uncultivated, abounding in forests or wastes.
2. CLARKE, “The desert of the sea - This plainly means Babylon, which is the subject of
the prophecy. The country about Babylon, and especially below it towards the sea, was a great
flat morass, overflowed by the Euphrates and Tigris. It became habitable by being drained by the
many canals that were made in it.
Herodotus, lib. 1:184, says that “Semiramis confined the Euphrates within its channel by
raising great dams against it; for before it overflowed the whole country like a sea.” And
Abydenus, (quoting Megasthenes, apud Euseb. Praep. Evang. 9:41), speaking of the building of
Babylon by Nebuchadonosor, says, “it is reported that all this part was covered with water and
was called the sea; and that Belus drew off the waters, conveying them into proper receptacles,
and surrounded Babylon with a wall.” When the Euphrates was turned out of its channel by
Cyrus, it was suffered still to drown the neighboring country; and, the Persian government,
which did not favor the place, taking no care to remedy this inconvenience, it became in time a
great barren morassy desert, which event the title of the prophecy may perhaps intimate. Such it
was originally; such it became after the taking of the city by Cyrus; and such it continues to this
day.
As whirlwinds in the south “Like the southern tempests” - The most vehement
storms to which Judea was subject came from the desert country to the south of it. “Out of the
south cometh the whirlwind,” Job_37:9. “And there came a great wind from the wilderness, and

smote the four corners of the house,” Job_1:19. For the situation of Idumea, the country (as I
suppose) of Job, see Lam_4:21 compared with Job_1:1, was the same in this respect with that of
Judea: -
“And Jehovah shall appear over them,
And his arrow shall go forth as the lightning;
And the Lord Jehovah shall sound the trumpet;
And shall march in the whirlwinds of the south.”
Zec_9:14.
3. GILL, “The burden of the desert of the sea,.... That this is a prophecy of the destruction
of Babylon is clear from the express mention both of the Medes and Persians, by whom it should
be, and of Babylon itself, and its fall, Isa_21:2 which, though prophesied of before, is here
repeated, partly for the certainty of it, and partly for the comfort of the people of the Jews, who
would be captives in it, and so break off and prevent their confidence in a nation that would be
ruined; and perhaps this prophecy might be delivered out about the time or on account of
Merodach king of Babylon sending letters and a present to Hezekiah, who showed to his
messengers all his treasures. Babylon is here called "the desert of the sea", not because it was a
desert land, for it was a very fruitful one; or because it would be laid desolate, and become as a
wilderness; but either because there was one between that and the countries of Media and
Persia, as Kimchi, from whence its destroyers would come; or rather, because it was, as the word
may be rendered, a "plain", for so the land of Chaldea was, and the city of Babylon particularly
was built in a plain, Gen_11:2 and because this country abounded with pools and lakes, which
with the Hebrews are called seas; and especially since the city of Babylon was situated by the
river Euphrates, which ran about it, and through it and which therefore is said to dwell upon
many waters, Jer_51:13 hence it has this name of the desert of the sea; besides, Abydenus (l),
from Megasthenes, informs us, that all the places about Babylon were from the beginning water,
and were called a sea; and it should be observed that mystical Babylon is represented by a
woman in a desert, sitting on many waters, which are interpreted of a multitude of people and
nations, Rev_17:1 and some here by "sea" understand the multitude of its riches, power, and
people. The Targum is,
"the burden of the armies, which come from the wilderness, as the waters of the sea;''
understanding it not of Babylon, but of its enemies and invaders, as follows:
as whirlwinds in the south pass through; and nothing can hinder them, such is their force
and power; they bear all before them, come suddenly, blow strongly, and there is no resisting
them; see Zec_9:14,
so it cometh from the desert; or "he", that is, Cyrus; or "it", the army under him, would
come with like irresistible force and power as the southern whirlwinds do, which come from a
desert country; at least that part of it in which their soldiers were trained up, and which in their
march to Babylon must come through the desert, that lay, as before observed, between that and
their country, and through which Cyrus did pass (m):
from a terrible land; a land of serpents and scorpions, as Jarchi; or a land afar off, as Kimchi
and Ben Melech; whose power and usage, or customs, were not known, and so dreaded, as the

Medes and Persians were by Nitocris queen of Babylon, who took care to preserve her people,
and prevent their falling into their hands. The Targum is,
"from a land in which terrible things are done.''
4. HENRY, “We had one burden of Babylon before (ch. 13); here we have another prediction
of its fall. God saw fit thus to possess his people with the belief of this event by line upon line,
because Babylon sometimes pretended to be a friend to them (as Isa_39:1), and God would
hereby warn them not to trust to that friendship, and sometimes was really an enemy to them,
and God would hereby warn them not to be afraid of that enmity. Babylon is marked for ruin;
and all that believe God's prophets can, through that glass, see it tottering, see it tumbling, even
when with an eye of sense they see it flourishing and sitting as a queen. Babylon is here called
the desert or plain of the sea; for it was a flat country, and full of lakes, or loughs (as they call
them in Ireland), like little seas, and was abundantly watered with the many streams of the river
Euphrates. Babylon did but lately begin to be famous, Nineveh having outshone it while the
monarchy was in the Assyrian hands; but in a little time it became the lady of kingdoms; and,
before it arrived at that pitch of eminency which it was at in Nebuchadnezzar's time, God by this
prophet plainly foretold its fall, again and again, that his people might not be terrified at its rise,
nor despair of relief in due time when they were its prisoners, Job_5:3; Psa_37:35, Psa_37:36.
Some think it is here called a desert because, though it was now a populous city, it should in
time be made a desert. And therefore the destruction of Babylon is so often prophesied of by this
evangelical prophet, because it was typical of the destruction of the man of sin, the great enemy
of the New Testament church, which is foretold in the Revelation in many expressions borrowed
from these prophecies, which therefore must be consulted and collated by those who would
understand the prophecy of that book. Here is,
I. The powerful irruption and descent which the Medes and Persians should make upon Babylon
(Isa_21:1, Isa_21:2): They will come from the desert, from a terrible land. The northern parts of
Media and Persia, where their soldiers were mostly bred, was waste and mountainous, terrible
to strangers that were to pass through it and producing soldiers that were very formidable. Elam
(that is, Persia) is summoned to go up against Babylon, and, in conjunction with the forces of
Media, to besiege it. When God has work of this kind to do he will find, though it be in a desert,
in a terrible land, proper instruments to be employed in it. These forces come as whirlwinds
from the south, so suddenly, so strongly, so terribly, such a mighty noise shall they make, and
throw down every thing that stands in their way. As is usual in such a case, some deserters will
go over to them: The treacherous dealers will deal treacherously. Historians tell us of Gadatas
and Gobryas, two great officers of the king of Babylon, that went over to Cyrus, and, being well
acquainted with all the avenues of the city, led a party directly to the palace, where Belshazzar
was slain. Thus with the help of the treacherous dealers the spoilers spoiled. Some read it thus:
There shall be a deceiver of that deceiver, Babylon, and a spoiler of that spoiler, or, which
comes all to one, The treacherous dealer has found one that deals treacherously, and the
spoiler one that spoils, as it is expounded, Isa_33:1. The Persians shall pay the Babylonians in
their own coin; those that by fraud and violence, cheating and plundering, unrighteous wars and

deceitful treaties, have made a prey of their neighbours, shall meet with their match, and by the
same methods shall themselves be made a prey of.
5. JAMISON, “Isa_21:1-10. 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.
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” (Jer_51:13,
Jer_51:36; so Isa_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; Zec_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).
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, Deu_1:29.
6. K&D, “The power which first brings destruction upon the city of the world, is a hostile
army composed of several nations. “As storms in the south approach, it comes from the desert,
from a terrible land. Hard vision is made known to me: the spoiler spoils, and the devastator
devastates. Go up, Elam! Surround, Maday! I put an end to all their sighing.” “Storms in the
south” (compare Isa_28:21; Amo_3:9) are storms which have their starting-point in the south,
and therefore come to Babylon from Arabia deserta; and like all winds that come from
boundless steppes, they are always violent (Job_1:19; Job_37:9; see Hos_13:15). It would be
natural, therefore, to connect mimmidbar with lachaloph (as Knobel and Umbreit do), but the
arrangement of the words is opposed to this; lachalooph (“pressing forwards”) is sued instead of
yachaloph (see Ges. §132, Anm. 1, and still more fully on Hab_1:17). The conjunctio
periphrastica stands with great force at the close of the comparison, in order that it may express
at the same time the violent pressure with which the progress of the storm is connected. It is
true that, according to Herod. i. 189, Cyrus came across the Gyndes, so that he descended into
the lowlands to Babylonia through Chalonitis and Apolloniatis, by the road described by Isidor
V. Charax in his Itinerarium,
(Note: See C. Masson's “Illustration of the route from Seleucia to Apobatana, as given by
Isid. of Charax,” in the Asiatic Journal, xii. 97ff.)
over the Zagros pass through the Zagros-gate (Ptolem. vi. 2) to the upper course of the Gyndes
(the present Diyala), and then along this river, which he crossed before its junction with the
Tigris. But if the Medo-Persian army came in this direction, it could not be regarded as coming
“from the desert.” If, however, the Median portion of the army followed the course of the
Choaspes (Kerkha) so as to descend into the lowland of Chuzistan (the route taken by Major
Rawlinson with a Guran regiment),

(Note: See Rawlinson's route as described in Ritter's Erdkunde, ix. 3 (West-asien), p.
397ff.)
and thus approached Babylon from the south-east, it might be regarded in many respects as
coming mimmidbar (from the desert), and primarily because the lowland of Chuzistan is a broad
open plain - that is to say, a midbar. According to the simile employed of storms in the south, the
assumption of the prophecy is really this, that the hostile army is advancing from Chuzistan, or
(as geographical exactitude is not to be supposed) from the direction of the desert of ed-Dahna,
that portion of Arabia deserta which bounded the lowland of Chaldean on the south-west. The
Medo-Persian land itself is called “a terrible land,” because it was situated outside the circle of
civilised nations by which the land of Israel was surrounded. After the thematic commencement
in Isa_21:1, which is quite in harmony with Isaiah's usual custom, the prophet begins again in
Isa_21:2. Chazuth (a vision) has the same meaning here as in Isa_29:11 (though not Isa_28:18);
and chazuth kashah is the object of the passive which follows (Ges. §143, 1, b). The prophet calls
the look into the future, which is given to him by divine inspiration, hard or heavy (though in the
sense of difficilis, not gravis, cabed), on account of its repulsive, unendurable, and, so to speak,
indigestible nature. The prospect is wide-spread plunder and devastation (the expression is the
same as in Isa_33:1, compare Isa_16:4; Isa_24:16, bagad denoting faithless or treacherous
conduct, then heartless robbery), and the summoning of the nations on the east and north of
Babylonia to the conquest of Babylon; for Jehovah is about to put an end (hishbatti, as in
Isa_16:10) to all their sighing (anchathah, with He raf. and the tone upon the last syllable), i.e.,
to all the lamentations forced out of them far and wide by the oppressor.
7.CALVIN, “1.The burden of the desert of the sea. The Prophet, after having taught that their hope
ought to be placed, not on the Egyptians, but on the mercy of God alone, and after having foretold that
calamities would come on the nations on whose favor they relied, adds a consolation in order to
encourage the hearts of the godly. He declares, that for the Chaldeans, to whom they will be captives, a
reward is prepared; from which it follows, that God takes account of the injuries which they endure. By the
desert (62) he means Chaldea, not that it was deserted or thinly inhabited, but because the Jews had a
desert on that side of them; just as if, instead of Italy, we should name “ Alps,” because they are nearer to
us, and because we must cross them on our road to Italy. This reason ought to be kept in view; for he
does not describe the nature of the country, but forewarns the Jews that the destruction of the enemies,
which he foretells, is near at hand, and is as certain as if the event had been before their eyes, as that
desert was. Besides, the prophets sometimes spoke ambiguously about Babylon, that believers alone
might understand the hidden mysteries, as Jeremiah changes the king’ name. (63)
As storms from the south. He says from the south, because that wind is tempestuous, and produces
storms and whirlwinds. (64) When he adds that “ cometh from the desert,” this tends to heighten the
picture; for if any storm arise in a habitable and populous region, it excites less terror than those which

spring up in deserts. In order to express the shocking nature of this calamity, he compares it to storms,
which begin in the desert, and afterwards take a more impetuous course, and rush with greater violence.
Yet the Prophet appears to mean something else, namely, that as they burst forth like storms from that
direction to lay Judea desolate, so another storm would soon afterwards arise to destroy them; and
therefore he says that this burden will come from a terrible land. By this designation I understand Judea
to be meant, for it was not enough to speak of the ruin of Babylon, if the Jews did not likewise understand
that it came from God. Why he calls it “ terrible land” we have seen in our exposition of the eighteenth
chapter. (65) It was because, in consequence of so many displays of the wrath of God, its disfigured
appearance might strike terror on all. The occasion on which the words are spoken does not allow us to
suppose that it is called “” on account of the astonishing power of God by which it was protected.
Although therefore Babylon was taken and plundered by the Persians and Medes, Isaiah declares that its
destruction will come from Judea; because in this manner God will revenge the injuries done to that
nation of which he had promised to be the guardian.
(62) “ plainly means Babylon, which is the subject of the prophecy. The country about Babylon, and
especially below it towards the sea, was a great flat morass, often overflowed by the Euphrates and
Tigris. It became habitable by being drained by the many canals that were made in it.” — Lowth.
FT320 The allusion appears to be to the use of the name “” instead of “” “ Coniah... were the signet upon
my right hand. Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol?” (Jer_22:24.) — Ed
FT321 Lowth remarks, and quotes Job_1:19, in support of the statement, that “ most vehement storms to
which Judea was subject came from the great desert country to the south of it.” — Ed
FT322 See p. 37
FT323 See vol. 1 p. 341
FT324 See vol. 1 p. 494
FT325 “ is here imparted to the description by the Prophet’ speaking of himself as of a Babylonian present
at Belshazzar’ feast, on the night when the town was surprised by Cyrus.” — Stock

FT326 “ corn (Heb. son) of my floor.” — Eng. Ver.
FT327 “ Dumah there are two interpretations, J. D. Michaelis, Gesenius, Maurer, Hitzig, Ewald, and
Umbreit understand it as the name of an Arabian tribe descended from Ishmael, (Gen_25:14,) or of a
place belonging to that tribe, perhaps the same now called Dumah Eljandil, on the confines of Arabia and
Syria. In that case, Seir, which lay between Judah and the desert of Arabia, is mentioned merely to
denote the quarter whence the sound proceeded. But as Seir was itself the residence of the Edomites or
children of Esau, Vitringa, Rosenmü and Knobel follow the Septuagint and Jarchi in explaining ‫דומה‬
(Dumah) as a variation of ‫,אדום‬ (Edom,) intended at the same time to suggest the idea of silence,
solitude, and desolation. — Alexander
FT328 See vol. 1 p. 265
FT329 “ water (or, bring ye, or, prevent ye) to him that was thirsty.” — Eng. Ver. Calvin’ version follows
closely that of the Septuagint, εἰς συνάντησιν ὕδωρ διψῶντι φέρετε, and agrees with other ancient
versions; but modern critics assign strong reasons for reading this verse in the preterite rather than in the
imperative.” — Ed
FT330 It would appear that, instead of “geminus est sensus,” some copies had read, “genuinus est
sensus;” for the French version gives “Cependant l’ que j’ mise en avant est plus simple;” “ the exposition
which I have given is more simple.” — Ed
FT331 “ the swords,” or, for fear (Heb. from the face.) — Eng. Ver. “ before the swords.” — Stock. “ the
presence of swords.” — Alexander
FT332 See vol 1 p. 496
FT333 “Diesque longa videtur opus debentibus.” — Hor. Ep. I.21. Another reading of this passage, which
gives “lenta “ instead of “longa,” is not less apposite to the purpose for which the quotation is made. “
those who perform task-work the day appears to advance slowly. ” — Ed
8. PULPIT, “THE BURDEN OF THE DESERT OF THE SEA. This is a short and somewhat vague, but
highly poetic, "burden of Babylon" It is probably an earlier prophecy than Isa_13:1-22. and 14; and
perhaps the first revelation made to Isaiah with respect to the fall of the great Chaldean capital. It exhibits
no consciousness of the fact that Babylon is Judah's predestined destroyer, and is expressive rather of
sympathy (verses 3, 4) than of triumph. Among recent critics, some suppose it to refer to Sargon's

capture of the city in B.C. 710; but the objection to this view, from the entire absence of all reference to
Assyria as the conquering power, and the mention of "Elam" and "Media" in her place, is absolutely fatal
to it. There can be no reasonable doubt that the same siege is intended as in Isa_13:1-22; where also
Media is mentioned (Isa_13:17); and there are no real grounds for questioning that the event of which the
prophet is made cognizant is that siege and capture of Babylon by Cyrus the Great which destroyed the
Babylonian empire.
Isa_21:1
The desert of the sea. The Isaianic authorship of this title is doubtful, since "the desert of the sea" is an
expression elsewhere wholly unknown to biblical writers. Some regard "the sea" as the Euphrates, in
which case "the desert of the sea" may be the waste tract west of the Euphrates, extending thence to the
eastern borders of Palestine. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; rather, as whirlwinds in the
south country, sweeping along. The "south country" is that immediately to the south of Judaea. Its liability
to whirlwinds is noticed in Zec_9:14 and in Job_37:9. It cometh. What cometh? Dr. Kay says, "God's
visitation;" Rosenmüller, "a numerous army." But is it not rather the "grievous vision" of the next
verse? From the desert. The great desert bounding Palestine on the east—a truly "terrible land." Across
this, as coming from Baby-Ionia to Palestine, seemed to rush the vision which it was given to the prophet
to see.
9. BI, “The desert of the sea
This enigmatical name for Babylon was no doubt suggested by the actual character of the
country in which the city stood.
It was an endless breadth or succession of undulations “like the sea,” without any cultivation or
even any tree: low, level, and full of great marshes; and which used to be overflowed by the
Euphrates, till the whole plain became a sea, before the river was banked in by Semiramis, as
Herodotus says. But the prophet may allude also to the social and spiritual desert which Babylon
was to the nations over which its authority extended, and especially to the captive Israelite; and
perhaps, at the same time, to the multitude of the armies which it poured forth like the waters of
the sea. (Sir E. Strachey, Bart.)
The prophecy against Babylon
It is a magnificent specimen of Hebrew poetry in its abrupt energy and passionate intensity. The
prophet is, or imagines himself to be, in Babylon. Suddenly he sees a storm of invasion sweeping
down through the desert, which fills him with alarm. Out of the rolling whirlwind troops of
armed warriors flash into distinctness. A splendid banquet is being held in the great Chaldean
city; the tables are set, the carpets are spread; they eat, they drink, the revel is at its height.
Suddenly a wild cry is heard, “Arise, ye princes, anoint the shield!”—in other words, the foe is at
hand. “Spring up from the banquet, smear with” oil the leathern coverings of your shields that
the blows of the enemy may slide off from them in battle. The clang of arms disturbs the
Babylonian feast. The prophet sitting, as it were an illuminated spirit, as a watchman upon the
tower calls aloud to ask me cause of the terror. What is it that the watchman sees? The
watchman, with deep, impatient groan, as of a lion, complains that he sees nothing; that he has
been set there, apparently for no purpose, all day and all night long. But even as he speaks there
suddenly arises an awful need for his look-out. From the land of storm and desolation, the
desert between the Persian Gulf and Babylon, he sees a huge and motley host, some mounted on
horses, some on asses, some on camels, plunging forward through the night. It is the host of
Cyrus on his march against Babylon. In the advent of that Persian host he sees the downfall of
the dynasty of Nebuchadnezzar and the liberation of Judah from her exile. On the instant, as

though secure of victory, he cries out, “Babylon is fallen.” And he, that is, Cyrus the Persian king,
a monotheist though he be, a worshipper of fire and the sun, has dashed in pieces all the graven
images of the city of Nimrod. Then he cries to his fellow exiles in Babylonian captivity, “O my
people, crushed and trodden down”—literally, “O my grain, and the son of my threshing floor”—
“this is my prophecy for you; it is a prophecy of victory for your champions; it is a prophecy of
deliverance for yourselves.” (Dean Farrar, D. D.)
The Persian advance on Babylon
(Isa_21:7; Isa_21:9):—It is a slight but obvious coincidence of prophecy and history that
Xenophon represents the Persians advancing by two and two. (J. A. Alexander.)
The Persian aversion to images
The allusion to idols (Isa_21:9) is not intended merely to remind us that the conquest was a
triumph of the true God over false ones, but to bring into view the well-known aversion of the
Persians to all images. Herodotus says they not only thought it unlawful to use images, but
imputed folly to those who did it. Here is another incidental but remarkable coincidence of
prophecy even with profane history. (J. A. Alexander.)
“The burden of the desert of the sea”
There is a burden in all vast things; they oppress the soul. The firmament gives it; the mountain
gives it; the prairie gives it. But I think nothing gives it like looking on the sea. The sea suggests
something which the others do not—a sense of desertness. In the other cases the vastness is
broken to the eye. The firmament has its stars; the mountain has its peaks; the prairie has its
flowers; but the sea, where it is open sea, has nothing. It seems a strange thing that the prophet,
in making the sea a symbol of life’s burden, should have selected its aspect of loneliness. Why
not take its storms? Because the heaviest burden of life is not its storms but its solitude. There
are no moments so painful as our island moments. One half of our search for pleasure is to avoid
self-reflection. The pain of solitary responsibility is too much for us. It drives the middle-aged
man into fast living, and the middle-aged woman into gay living. I cannot bear to hear the
discord of my own past. It appalls me; it overwhelms me; I fly to the crowd to escape my
unaccompanied shadow. (G. Matheson, D. D.)
2
A dire vision has been shown to me:
The traitor betrays, the looter takes loot.

Elam, attack! Media, lay siege!
I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.
1.BARNES, “A grievous vision - Margin, as in Hebrew ‘Hard.’ On the word ‘vision,’ see the
note at Isa_1:1. The sense here is, that the vision which the prophet saw was one that indicated
great calamity Isa_21:3-4.
Is declared unto me - That is, is caused to pass before me, and its meaning is made known
to me.
The treacherous dealer - (‫חבוגד‬ chaboged). The perfidious, unfaithful people. This is the
usual signification of the word; but the connection here does not seem to require the
signification of treachery or perfidy, but of “violence.” The word has this meaning in Hab_2:5,
and in Pro_11:3, Pro_11:6. It refers here to the Medes; and to the fact that oppression and
violence were now to be exercised toward Babylon. Lowth renders this:
‘The plunderer is plundered, and the destroyer is destroyed;’
But the authority for so rendering it is doubtful. He seems to suppose that it refers to Babylon.
The Hebrew evidently means, that there is to be plundering and devastation, and that this is to
be accomplished by a nation accustomed to it, and which is immediately specified; that is, the
united kingdom of Media and Persia. The Chaldee renders it, ‘They who bring violence, suffer
violence; and the plunderers are plundered.’ Jarchi says, that the sense of the Hebrew text
according to the Chaldee is, ‘Ah! thou who art violent! there comes another who will use thee
with violence; and thou plunderer, another comes who will plunder thee, even the Medes and
Persians, who will destroy and lay waste Babylon.’ But the Hebrew text will not bear this
interpretation. The sense is, that desolation was about to be produced by a nation “accustomed”
to it, and who would act toward Babylon in their true character.
Go up - This is an address of God to Media and Persia (see the note at Isa_13:17).
O Elam - This was the name of the country originally possessed by the Persians, and was so
called from Elam a son of Shem Gen_10:22. It was east of the Euphrates, and comprehended
properly the mountainous countries of Khusistan and Louristan, called by the Greek writers
“Elymais.” In this country was Susa or Shushan, mentioned in Dan_8:2. It is here put for Persia
in general, and the call on Elam and Media to go up, was a call on the united kingdom of the
Medes and Persians.
Besiege - That is, besiege Babylon.
O Media - (see the note at Isa_13:17).
All the sighing thereof have I made to cease - This has been very differently interpreted
by expositors. Some understand it (as Rosenmuller, Jerome, and Lowth,) as designed to be
taken in an “active” sense; that is, all the groaning “caused” by Babylon in her oppressions of
others, and particularly of God’s people, would cease. Others refer it to the army of the Medes
and Persians, as if “their” sighing should be over; that is, their fatigues and labors in the
conquest of Babylon. Calvin supposes that it means that the Lord would be deaf to the sighs of
Babylon; that is, he would disregard them and would bring upon them the threatened certain
destruction. The probable meaning is that suggested by Jerome, that God would bring to an end
all the sighs and groans which Babylon had caused in a world suffering under her oppressions
(compare Isa_14:7-8).

2. CLARKE, “The treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler
spoileth “The plunderer is plundered, and the destroyer is destroyed” - ‫הבוגד‬‫בוגד‬
‫והשודד‬‫שודד‬ habboged boged vehashshoded shoded. The MSS. vary in expressing or omitting the ‫ו‬
vau, in these four words. Ten MSS. of Kennicott are without the ‫ו‬ vau in the second word, and
eight MSS. are without the ‫ו‬ vau in the fourth word; which justifies Symmachus, who has
rendered them passively: ᆇ αθετων αθετειται και ᆇ ταλαιπωριζων ταλαιπωρει. He read ‫בגוד‬‫שדוד‬
bagud shadud. Cocceius (Lexicon in voce) observes that the Chaldee very often renders the verb
‫בגד‬ bagad, by ‫בזז‬ bazaz, he spoiled; and in this place, and in Isa_33:1, by the equivalent word ‫אנס‬
anas, to press, give trouble; and in Isa_24:16 both by ‫אנס‬ anas and ‫בזז‬ bazaz; and the Syriac in
this place renders it by ‫טלם‬ talam, he oppressed.
All the sighing thereof have I made to cease “I have put an end to all her
vexations” - Hebrews “Her sighing; that is, the sighing caused by her.” So Kimchi on the place:
“It means those who groaned through fear of him: for the suffixes of the nouns refer both to the
agent and the patient. All those who groaned before the face of the king of Babylon he caused to
rest;” Chald. And so likewise Ephrem Syr. in loc., edit. Assemani: “His groans, viz., the grief and
tears which the Chaldeans occasioned through the rest of the nations.”
3. GILL, “A grievous vision is declared unto me,.... The prophet; meaning the vision of
Babylon's destruction, which was "hard", as the word signifies, and might seem harsh and cruel;
not to him, nor to the Jews, but to the Chaldeans:
the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth; that is,
according to Jarchi, one treacherous dealer deals treacherously with another, and one spoiler
spoils another; the Medes and Persians deal treacherously with and spoil the Babylonians, who
had dealt treacherously with and spoiled other nations: and to this sense some read the words,
"the treacherous dealer hath found a treacherous dealer, and the spoiler one that spoileth" (n):
some take it to be a compellation of the Medes and Persians, calling upon them, under these
characters, to go up and besiege Babylon, as, "O treacherous dealer, O spoiler" (o); though the
words may be understood of the perfidy and treachery of the Babylonians, of which they had
been frequently guilty, and which is given as a reason of their fall and ruin; or rather they
suggest the treacherous means by which they should be ruined, even by some from among
themselves; particularly, history (p) informs us, that Gobrias and Gadates, two noblemen of the
king of Babylon, being used ill by him, revolted from him, and joined with Cyrus; and when the
river Euphrates was drained, went at the head of his army in two parties, and guided them into
the city, and took it; or rather Belshazzar king of Babylon himself is meant, who acted, and
continued to act, most impiously and wickedly: and therefore,
go up, O Elam; or Elamites, as the Targum and Septuagint; see Act_2:9 these were Persians,
so called from Elam, a province in Persia; who are here called upon by the Lord of armies,
through the mouth of the prophet, to go up to war against Babylon; and these are mentioned
first, because Cyrus, who commanded the whole army, was a Persian: or if Elam is taken for a

province, which was indeed subject to Babylon, of which Shushan was the capital city, Dan_8:2
the governor of it, Abradates, revolted from the Babylonians, and joined Cyrus, and fought with
him (q):
besiege, O Media; or, O ye Medes, join with the Persians in the siege of Babylon; as they did:
all the sighing thereof have I made to cease; either of the army of the Medes and Persians,
who, by reason of long and tedious marches, frequent battles, and hard sieges, groaned and
sighed; but now it would be over with them, when Babylon was taken; or of the Babylonians
themselves, who would have no mercy shown them, nor have any time for sighing, being cut off
suddenly, and in a moment; or rather of other people oppressed by them, and particularly the
Lord's people the Jews, who had been in captivity for the space of seventy years, during which
they had sighed and groaned, because of the hardships they endured; but now sighing would be
at an end, and they should have deliverance, as they had, by Cyrus the Persian. The sighing is
not that with which they sighed, but which they caused in others.
4. HENRY, “To the proud oppressors it would be a grievous vision (Isa_21:2), particularly to
the king of Babylon for the time being, and it should seem that he it is who is here brought in
sadly lamenting his inevitable fate (Isa_21:3, Isa_21:4): Therefore are my loins filled with pain;
pangs have taken hold upon me, etc., which was literally fulfilled in Belshazzar, for that very
night in which his city was taken, and himself slain, upon the sight of a hand writing mystic
characters upon the wall his countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him, so that
the joints of his loins were loosed and his knees smote one against another, Dan_5:6. And yet
that was but the beginning of sorrows. Daniel's deciphering the writing could not but increase
his terror, and the alarm which immediately followed of the executioners at the door would be
the completing of it. And those words, The night of my pleasure has he turned into fear to me,
plainly refer to that aggravating circumstance of Belshazzar's fall that he was slain on that night
when he was in the height of his mirth and jollity, with his cups and concubines about him and a
thousand of his lords revelling with him; that night of his pleasure, when he promised himself
an undisturbed unallayed enjoyment of the most exquisite gratifications of sense, with a
particular defiance of God and religion in the profanation of the temple vessels, was the night
that was turned into all this fear. Let this give an effectual check to vain mirth and sensual
pleasures, and forbid us ever to lay the reins on the neck of them - that we know not what
heaviness the mirth may end in, nor how soon laughter may be turned into mourning; but this
we know that for all these things God shall bring us into judgment; let us therefore mix
trembling always with our joys.
5. JAMISON, “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; Isa_33:1; Hab_2:8, favor this.
Go up — Isaiah abruptly recites the order which he hears God giving to the Persians, the
instruments of His vengeance (Isa_13:3, Isa_13:17).
Elam — a province of Persia, the original place of their settlement (Gen_10:22), 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 (Isa_14:7, Isa_14:8).

6. PULPIT , “A grievous vision; literally, a hard vision; not, however, "hard of interpretation" (Kay), but
rather "hard to be borne," "grievous," "calamitous." The treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously;
rather, perhaps, the robber robs (Knobel); or, the violent man uses violence (Rosenmüller). The idea of
faithlessness passes out of the Hebrew boged occasionally, and is unsuitable here, more especially if it is
the army of Cyrus that is intended. Go up, O Elam. The discovery that Cyrus, at the time of his conquest
of Babylon, Bore the title of "King of Ansan," not "King of Persia," coupled with the probability that "Ansan"
was a part of Elam, lends a peculiar interest to these words. Isaiah could not describe Cyrus as "King of
Persia," and at the same time be intelligible to his contemporaries, since Persia was a country utterly
unknown to them. In using the term "Elam" instead, he uses that of a country known to the Hebrews
(Gen_14:1), adjoining Persia, and, at the time of his expedition against Babylon, subject to
Cyrus. Besiege, O Media. Having given "Elam" the first place, the prophet assigns to Media the second.
Eleven years before he attacked Babylon, Cyrus had made war upon Astyages (Istuvegu), King of the
Medes, had captured him, and become king of the nation, with scarcely any opposition (see the 'Cylinder
of Nabonidus'). Hence the Medes would naturally form an important portion of the force which he led
against Babylon. All the sighing thereof have I made to cease. The "sighing" caused by Babylon to the
nations, to the captives, and to the kings whose prison-doors were kept closed (Isa_14:17), God has in
his counsels determined to bring to an end.
7.CALVIN, “2.A harsh vision. As the object was to soothe the grief of the people, it may be thought not
to be appropriate to call a vision, which is the occasion of joy, a harsh vision. But this refers to the
Babylonians, who, puffed up with their prosperity, dreaded no danger; for wealth commonly produces
pride and indifference. As if he had said, “ is useless to hold out the riches and power of the Babylonians,
and when a stone is hard, there will be found a hard hammer to break it.”
The spoiler. As Babylon had gained its power by plundering and laying waste other nations, it seemed to
be free from all danger. Although they had been a terror to others, and had practiced every kind of
barbarity and cruelty, yet they could not avoid becoming a prey and enduring injuries similar to those
which they had inflicted on others. The Prophet goes farther, and, in order to obtain credit to his
statements, pronounces it to be a righteous retaliation, that violence should correspond to violence.
Go up, O Elam. Elam is a part of Persia; but is taken for the whole of Persia, and on this account also the
Persians are called Elamites. It is worthy of observation, that, when Isaiah foretold these things, there
was no probability of war, and that he was dead a hundred years before there was any apprehension of
this calamity. Hence it is sufficiently evident that he could not have derived his information on this subject
from any other than the Spirit of God; and this contributes greatly to confirm the truth and certainty of the

prediction.
Besiege, O Mede. By commanding the Medes and Persians, he declares that this will not befall the
Babylonians at random or by chance, but by the sure decree of God, in whose name, and not in that of
any private individual, he makes the announcement. Coming forward therefore in the name of God, he
may, like a captain or general, command his soldiers to assemble to give battle. In what manner God
employs the agency of robbers and wicked men, has been formerly explained at the tenth chapter. (66)
I have made all his groaning to cease. Some understand it to mean, that the groaning, to which the
Babylonians had given occasion, ceased after they were subdued by the Medes and Persians; for by their
tyrannical measures they had caused many to groan, which must happen when wicked and ungodly men
possess rank and power. Others approach more closely, perhaps, to the real meaning of the Prophet,
when they say, that “ groaning ceased,” because the Babylonians experienced no compassion, having
formerly shewn none to others. But I explain it more simply to mean, that the Lord was deaf to their
groanings; as if he had said, that there would be no room for their groanings and lamentations, because
having been cruel and barbarous, it was just that they should receive back the same measure which they
had meted out to others. (Mat_7:2.)
3
At this my body is racked with pain,
pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor;
I am staggered by what I hear,
I am bewildered by what I see.
1.BARNES, “Therefore - In this verse, and the following, the prophet represents himself as
“in” Babylon, and as a witness of the calamities which would come upon the city. He describes
the sympathy which he feels in her sorrows, and represents himself as deeply affected by her
calamities. A similar description occurred in the pain which the prophet represents himself as
enduring on account of the calamities of Moab (see Isa_15:5, note; Isa_16:11, note).
My loins - (see the note at Isa_16:11).
With pain - The word used here (‫חלחלה‬ chalchalah) denotes properly the pains of parturition,
and the whole figure is taken from that. The sense is, that the prophet was filled with the most
acute sorrow and anguish, in view of the calamities which were coming on Babylon. That is, the

sufferings of Babylon would be indescribably great and dreadful (see Nah_2:11; Eze_30:4,
Eze_30:9).
I was bowed down - Under the grief and sorrow produced by these calamities.
At the hearing it - The Hebrew may have this sense, and mean that these things were made
to pass before the eye of the prophet, and that the sight oppressed him, and bowed him down.
But more probably the Hebrew letter ‫מ‬ (m) in the word ‫משׁמע‬ mishe
moa' is to be taken
“privatively,” and means, ‘I was so bowed down or oppressed that I could not see; I was so
dismayed that I could not hear;’ that is, all his senses were taken away by the greatness of the
calamity, and by his sympathetic sufferings. A similar construction occurs in Psa_69:23 : ‘Let
their eyes be darkened that they see not’ (‫מראות‬ mere
'oth) that is, “from” seeing.
2. PULPIT, “Therefore are my loins filled with pain, etc. (comp. above, Isa_15:5; Isa_16:9-11). The
prophet is horrorstruck at the vision shown him—at the devastation, the ruin, the carnage (Isa_13:18). He
does not stop to consider how well deserved the punishment is; he does not, perhaps, as yet know how
that, in smiting Babylon, God will be specially avenging the sufferings of his own nation (see the
introductory paragraph). I was bowed down at the hearing, etc.; rather, I am so agonized that I cannot
hear; I am so terrified that I cannot see.
3. GILL, “Therefore are my loins filled with pain,.... As a woman at the time of
childbirth, as the following words show: these words are spoken by the prophet, not with respect
to himself, as if he was pained at heart at the prophecy and vision he had of the ruin of Babylon,
since that was a mortal enemy of his people; and besides, their sighing being made to cease
could never be a reason of distress in him, but of joy: these words are spoken by him in the
person of the Babylonians, and particularly of Belshazzar their king:
pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth; which
come suddenly and at once, are very sharp and strong, and inevitable, which cannot be escaped;
so the sudden destruction of the wicked, and particularly of antichrist at the last day, and the
terror that shall attend it, are expressed by the same metaphor, 1Th_5:2,
I was bowed down at the hearing of it; distorted and convulsed; not the prophet at the
hearing of the prophecy, but Belshazzar, whom he personated, at hearing that Cyrus had entered
the city, and was at the gates of his palace:
I was dismayed at the seeing of it; the handwriting upon the wall, at which his countenance
changed, his thoughts were troubled, his loins loosed, and his knees smote one against another,
Dan_5:6.
4. PULPIT, “The sadness of a nation's overthrow.
A nation is God's creation, no less than an individual. And it is a far more elaborate work. What
forethought, what design, what manifold wisdom, must not have been required for the planning out of

each people's national character, for the partitioning out to them of their special gifts and aptitudes, for the
apportionment to each of its place in history, for the conduct of each through the many centuries of its
existence! It is a sad thing to be witness of a nation's demise. Very deeply does Isaiah feel its sadness.
His "loins are filled with pain;" the pangs that take hold of hint are "as the pangs of a woman that
travaileth;" he is "so agonized that he cannot hear," "so terrified that he cannot look" (verse 3). "His heart
flutters," like a frightened bird; terror overwhelms him; he cannot sleep for thinking of the dread calamity;
"the night of his pleasure is turned into fear." The sadness of such a calamity is twofold. It consists
(1) in the fact;
(2) in the circumstances.
I. THE SADNESS OF THE FACT. We mourn an individual gone from us—how much more a nation! What
a blank is created! What arts and industries are not destroyed or checked! What possibilities of future
achievement are not cut off! Again, an individual is only removed; he still exists, only in another place. But
a nation is annihilated. It has but one life. There is "no healing of its bruise" (Nah_3:19), no transference
of it to another sphere. From existence it has passed into nonexistence, and nothing can recall it into
being. It is like a sun extinguished in mid-heaven.
II. THE SADNESS OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES. The end of a nation comes necessarily by violence, from
within or from without—from without most commonly. A fierce host invades its borders, spreads itself over
its fertile fields, tramples down its crops, exhausts its granaries, consumes its cattle, burns its towns and
villages, carries everywhere ruin and desolation. Wanton injury is added to the injury which war cannot
but inflict—fruit-trees are cut down (Isa_16:8), works of art are destroyed, good land is purposely "marred
with stones" (2Ki_3:10). And if inanimate things suffer, much more do animate ones. Beasts of burden are
impressed and worked to death; horses receive fearful wounds and scream with pain; cattle perish for
want of care; beasts of prey increase as population lessens, and become a terror to the scanty remnant
(2Ki_17:25). Not only do armed men fall by thousands in fair fight, but (in barbarous times) the unwarlike
mass of the population suffers almost equally. "Every one that is found is thrust through, and every one
that is joined to them is slain by the sword" (Isa_13:15). Even women and children are not spared. Virgins
and matrons are shamefully used (Isa_13:16); children are ruthlessly dashed to the ground
(Isa_13:16; Psa_137:9); every human passion being allowed free course, the most dreadful excesses are
perpetrated. No doubt in modern times civilization and Christianity tend to alleviate in some degree the
horrors of war; but in a war of conquest, when the destruction of a nationality is aimed at, frightful scenes
are almost sure to occur, sufficient to sadden all but the utterly unfeeling. It should be the earnest

determination of every Christian to endeavor in every possible way to keep his own country free from the
guilt of such wars.
5. JAMISON, “Isaiah imagines himself among the exiles in Babylon and cannot help feeling
moved by the calamities which come on it. So for Moab (Isa_15:5; Isa_16:11).
pain — (Compare Isa_13:8; Eze_30:4, Eze_30:19; Nah_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” (Gen_16:2; Psa_69:23) [Maurer].
6. K&D, “Here again, as in the case of the prophecy concerning Moab, what the prophet has
given to him to see does not pass without exciting his feelings of humanity, but works upon him
like a horrible dream. “Therefore are my loins full of cramp: pangs have taken hold of me, as
the pangs of a travailing woman: I twist myself, so that I do not hear; I am brought down
with fear, so that I do not see. My heart beats wildly; horror hath troubled me: the darkness of
night that I love, he hath turned for me into quaking.” The prophet does not describe in detail
what he saw; but the violent agitation produced by the impression leads us to conclude how
horrible it must have been. Chalchalah is the contortion produced by cramp, as in Nah_2:11;
tzirim is the word properly applied to the pains of childbirth; na‛avah means to bend, or bow
one's self, and is also used to denote a convulsive utterance of pain; ta‛ah, which is used in a
different sense from Psa_95:10 (compare, however, Psa_38:11), denotes a feverish and irregular
beating of the pulse. The darkness of evening and night, which the prophet loved so much (che
shek, a desire arising from inclination, 1Ki_9:1, 1Ki_9:19), and always longed for, either that he
might give himself up to contemplation, or that he might rest from outward and inward labour,
had bee changed into quaking by the horrible vision. It is quite impossible to imagine, as
Umbreit suggests, that nesheph chishki (the darkness of my pleasure) refers to the nocturnal feast
during which Babylon was stormed (Herod. i. 191, and Xenophon, Cyrop. vii. 23).
7.CALVIN, “3.Therefore are my loins, filled with pain. Here the Prophet represents the people as
actually present, for it was not enough to have simply foretold the destruction of Babylon, if he had not
confirmed the belief of the godly in such a manner that they felt as if the actual event were placed before
their eyes. Such a representation was necessary, and the Prophet does not here describe the feelings of
his own heart, as if he had compassion on the Babylonians, but, on the contrary, as we have formerly
said, (67) he assumes, for the time, the character of a Babylonian. (68)It ought undoubtedly to satisfy our
minds that the hidden judgments of God are held out to us, as in a mirror, that they may arouse the
sluggishness of our faith; and therefore the Prophets describe with greater beauty and copiousness, and
paint in lively colors, those things which exceed the capacity of our reason. The Prophet, thus expressing

his grief, informs believers how awful is the vengeance of God which awaits the Chaldeans, and how
dreadfully they will be punished, as we are struck with surprise and horror when any sad intelligence is
brought to us.
As the pangs of a woman that travaileth. He adds a stronger expression of grief, when he compares it to
that of a woman in labor, as when a person under fearful anguish turns every way, and writhes in every
part of his body. Such modes of expression are employed by the Prophets on account of our
sluggishness, for we do not perceive the judgments of God till they be pointed at, as it were, with the
finger, and affect our senses. We are warned to be on our guard before they arrive.
4
My heart falters,
fear makes me tremble;
the twilight I longed for
has become a horror to me.
1.BARNES, “My heart panted - Margin, ‘My mind wandered.’ The Hebrew word rendered
‘panted’ (‫תעה‬ ta‛ah) means to wander about; to stagger; to be giddy; and is applied often to one
that staggers by being intoxicated. Applied to the heart, it means that it is disquieted or
troubled. The Hebrew word “heart” here is to be taken in the sense of “mind.”
The night of my pleasure - There can be no doubt that the prophet here refers to the night
of revelry and riot in which Babylon was taken. The prophet calls it the night of “his” pleasure,
because he represents himself as being “in” Babylon when it should be taken, and, therefore,
uses such language as an inhabitant of Babylon would use. “They” would call it the night of their
pleasure, because it was set apart to feasting and revelry.
Hath he turned into fear - God has made it a night of consternation and alarm. The
prophet here refers to the fact that Babylon would be taken by Cyrus during that night, and that
consternation and alarm would suddenly pervade the affrighted and guilty city (see Dan. 5).
2. PULPIT, “My heart panted; rather, my heart trembleth, or fluttereth. The night of my pleasure; i.e. "the
night, wherein, I am wont to enjoy peaceful and pleasant slumbers."
3. GILL, “My heart panted,.... Fluttered about, and could hardly keep its place: or, "my mind
wandered" (r); like a person in distraction and confusion, that knew not what to think say or do:

fearfulness affrighted me; the terror of Cyrus's army seized him, of its irruption into the
city, and of his being destroyed by it; the writing on the wall threw him into a panic, and the
news of the Medes and Persians being entered the city increased it:
the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me; in which he promised
himself so much pleasure, at a feast he had made for his princes, wives, and concubines; either
in honour of his god, as some think (s), being an annual one; or, as Josephus ben Gorion (t)
says, on account of the victory he had obtained over the Medes and Persians; and so was quite
secure, and never in the least thought of destruction being at hand; but in the midst of all his
revelling, mirth, and jollity, the city was surprised and taken, and he slain, Dan_5:1. So mystical
Babylon, in the midst of her prosperity, while she is saying that she sits a queen, and knows no
sorrow, her judgment and plagues shall come upon her, Rev_18:7.
4. PULPIT, “Fall of Babylon.
It is thought, by some recent commentators, that the description refers to the siege of Babylon in B.C. 710
by Sargon the Assyrian. The King of Babylon at that time was Merodach-Baladan, who sent letters and a
present to Hezekiah when he was sick (Isa_39:1; 2Ki_20:12). The prophet may well grieve over the fall of
Babylon, as likely to drag down with it weaker kingdoms.
I. THE SOUND OF THE TEMPEST. What sublime poesy have the prophets found in the tempest! We are
perhaps impressed more through the perception of the ear than that of the eye, by the sense of vague,
vast, overwhelming power working through all the changes of the world. The sweeping up of a tempest
from the southern dry country of Judah is like the gathering of a moles belli, and this, again betokens that
Jehovah of hosts is stirring up his might in the world unseen. Hence his arrows go forth like lightning, his
trumpet blows (Zec_9:14). This movement comes from the terrible land, the desert, the haunt of serpents
and other horrible creatures.
II. THE VISION OF CALAMITY. The march of the barbarous conqueror is marked by cruelty and
devastation. The prophet's heart is overpowered within him. He writhes with anguish as in the visions of
the even-tide the picture of Babylon's fall passes before his mind. He beholds a scene of rivalry. There is
feasting and mirth. We are reminded of that description which De Quincey adduced as an example of the
sublime: "Belshazzar the king made a great feast unto a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the
thousand" (Dan_5:1); and of Byron's description of the eve of the battle of Waterloo at Brussels. Suddenly
an alarm is given; the walls have been stormed, the palace is threatened; the banqueters must start from
the couch and exchange the garb of luxury for the shield and the armor. The impression of the picture is
heightened by the descriptions in Herodotus and Xenophon ('Cyrop.,' 7.5), whether they refer to the same
event or no. It is the picture of careless ease and luxury surprised by sudden terror. "Let us go against

them," says Cyrus in Xenophon. "Many of them are asleep, many intoxicated, and all of them unfit for
battle." The scene, then, may be used parabolically to enforce those lessons of temperance, of
watchfulness, of sobriety, and prayerfulness which our religion inculcates.
III. THE WATCHMAN. The word of Jehovah directs that a watchman shall be posted, the prophet
"dividing himself into two persons"—his own proper person and that of the speculator or scout upon the
height of the watch-tower. So Habakkuk "stands upon his watch, and sets him upon the tower" (Hab_2:1).
And what does the prophet see? Cavalry riding two abreast, some on horses, others on asses, others
(with the baggage) on camels. This he sees; but he hears no authentic tidings of distant things, though
straining his ear in utmost tension. Then he groans with the deep tones of the impatient lion. How long is
he to remain at his post? We cannot but think of the fine opening of the 'Agamemnon' of AEschylus,
where the weary warder soliloquizes—
"The gods I ask deliverance from these labors,
Watch of a year's length, whereby, slumbering thro' it
On the Atreidai's roof on elbow, dog-like,
I know of mighty star-groups the assemblage,
And those that bring to men winter and summer."
(R. Browning's translation.)
As he waits for "the torch's token and the glow of fire," so does Isaiah wait for certain news about
Babylon. And, no sooner is the plaint uttered, than the wish is realized. The watchman sees a squadron
of cavalry, riding two abreast, and the truth flashes on him—Babylon is fallen! The images, symbols of the
might of the city, protected by the gods they represented, are dashed to the ground and broken. What
was felt under such circumstances may be gathered by the student of Greek history from the awful
impression made, on the eve of the expedition to Sicily, by the discovery of the mutilation of the statues of
the Hermai. It is all over with Babylon.
IV. THE ANGUISH OF THE PATRIOT. "O my threshed and winnowed one!" Poor Israel, who has already
suffered so much from the Assyrian, how gladly would the prophet have announced better tidings! The
threshing-floor is an image of suffering, and not confined to the Hebrews. It may be found in old Greek

lore, and in modern Greek folk-poesy. No image, indeed, can be more expressive
(comp. Isa_41:15; Mic_4:12, Mic_4:13; Jer_51:33). "But love also takes part in the threshing, and
restrains the wrath."
V. GENERAL LESSONS. The Christian minister is, too, a watcher. He must listen and he must look.
There are oracles to be heard by the attentive ear, breaking out of the heart of things—hints in the
distance to be caught by the wakeful and searching eye. "They whom God has appointed to watch are
neither drowsy nor dim-sighted. The prophet also, by this example, exhorts and stimulates believers to
the same kind of attention, that by the help of the lamp of the Word they may obtain a distant view of the
power of God."—J.
5. JAMISON, “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” (Isa_14:11; Jer_51:39; Dan_5:1-31).
6. CALVIN, “4.My heart was shaken. Others render it not amiss, “ heart wandered;” for excessive
terror moves the heart, as it were, out of its place. He declares how sudden and unlooked for will be the
destruction of Babylon, for a sudden calamity makes us tremble more than one which has been long
foreseen and expected. Daniel relates, that what Isaiah here foretells was accomplished, and that he was
an eye-witness. Belshazzar had that night prepared a magnificent banquet, when the Persians suddenly
rushed upon him, and nothing was farther from his expectation than that he would be slain. High delight
was thus suddenly changed into terror. (Dan_5:30.)
5
They set the tables,
they spread the rugs,
they eat, they drink!
Get up, you officers,
oil the shields!
1.BARNES, “Prepare the table - This verse is one of the most striking and remarkable that
occurs in this prophecy, or indeed in any part of Isaiah. It is language supposed to be spoken in
Babylon. The first direction - perhaps supposed to be that of the king - is to prepare the table for
the feast. Then follows a direction to set a watch - to make the city safe, so that they might revel

without fear. Then a command to eat and drink: and then immediately a sudden order, as if
alarmed at an unexpected attack, to arise and anoint the shield, and to prepare for a defense.
The “table” here refers to a feast - that impious feast mentioned in Dan. 5 in the night in which
Babylon was taken, and Belshazzar slain. Herodotus (i. 195), Xenophon (“Cyr.” 7, 5), and Daniel
Dan. 5 all agree in the account that Babylon was taken in the night in which the king and his
nobles were engaged in feasting and revelry. The words of Xenophon are, ‘But Cyrus, when he
heard that there was to be such a feast in Babylon, in which all the Babylonians would drink and
revel through the whole night, on that night, as soon as it began to grow dark, taking many
people, opened the dams into the river;’ that is, he opened the dykes which had been made by
Semiramis and her successors to confine the waters of the Euphrates to one channel, and
suffered the waters of the Euphrates again to flow over the country so that he could enter
Babylon beneath its wall in the channel of the river. Xenophon has also given the address of
Cyrus to the soldiers. ‘Now,’ says he, ‘let us go against them. Many of them are asleep; many of
them are intoxicated; and all of them are unfit for battle (ᅊσᆷντακτοι asuntaktoi).’ Herodotus says
(i. 191), ‘It was a day of festivity among them, and while the citizens were engaged in dance and
merriment, Babylon was, for the first time, thus taken.’ Compare the account in Dan. 5.
Watch in the watch-tower - place a guard so that the city shall be secure. Babylon had on
its walls many “towers,” placed at convenient distances (see the notes at Isa. 13), in which
guards were stationed to defend the city, and to give the alarm on any approach of an enemy.
Xenophon has given a similar account of the taking of the city: ‘They having arranged their
guards, drank until light.’ The oriental watch-towers are introduced in the book for the purpose
of illustrating a general subject often referred to in the Scriptures.
Eat, drink - Give yourselves to revelry during the night (see Dan. 5)
Arise, ye princes - This language indicates sudden alarm. It is the language either of the
prophet, or more probably of the king of Babylon, alarmed at the sudden approach of the enemy,
and calling upon his nobles to arm themselves and make, a defense. The army of Cyrus entered
Babylon by two divisions - one on the north where the waters of the Euphrates entered the city,
and the other by the channel of the Euphrates on the south. Knowing that the city was given up
to revelry on that night, they had agreed to imitate the sound of the revellers until they should
assemble around the royal palace in the center of the city. They did so. When the king heard the
noise, supposing that it was the sound of a drunken mob, he ordered the gates of the palace to be
opened to ascertain the cause of the disturbance. When they were thus opened, the army of
Cyrus rushed in, and made an immediate attack on all who were within. It is to this moment that
we may suppose the prophet here refers, when the king, aroused and alarmed, would call on his
nobles to arm themselves for battle (see Jahn’s “Hebrew Commonwealth,” p. 153, Ed. Andover,
1828).
Anoint the shield - That is, prepare for battle. Gesenius supposes that this means to rub
over the shield with oil to make the leather more supple and impenetrable (compare 2Sa_1:21).
The Chaldee renders it, ‘Fit, and polish your arms.’ The Septuagint, ‘Prepare shields.’ Shields
were instruments of defense prepared to ward off the spears and arrows of an enemy in battle.
They were usually made of a rim of brass or wood, and over this was drawn a covering of the
skin of an ox or other animal in the manner of a drum-head with us. Occasionally the hide of a
rhinoceros or an elephant was used. Burckhardt (“Travels in Nubia”) says that the Nubians use
the hide of the hippopotamus for the making of shields. But whatever skin might be used, it was
necessary occasionally to rub it over with oil lest it should become hard, and crack, or lest it
should become so rigid that an arrow or a sword would easily break through it. Jarchi says, that
‘shields were made of skin, and that they anointed them with the oil of olive.’ The sense is,
‘Prepare your arms! Make ready for battle!’

2. CLARKE, “Prepare the table “The table is prepared” - In Hebrew the verbs are in
the infinitive mood absolute, as in Eze_1:14 : “And the animals ran and returned, ‫רצוא‬‫ושוב‬ ratso
veshob, like the appearance of the lightning;” just as the Latins say, currere et reverti, for
currebant et revertebantur. See Isa_33:11 (note), and the note there.
Arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield - Kimchi observes that several of the rabbins
understood this of Belshazzar’s impious feast and death. The king of a people is termed the
shield, because he is their defense. The command, Anoint the shield, is the same with Anoint a
new king. Belshazzar being now suddenly slain, while they were all eating and drinking, he
advises the princes, whose business it was, to make speed and anoint another in his stead.
3. GILL, “Prepare the table,.... Set it, spread it, furnish it with all kind of provisions, as at a
feast; and such an one Belshazzar made, the night the city was taken: these words are directed to
him by his courtiers or queen, as represented by the prophet, in order to remove his fears; see
Dan_5:10,
watch in the watchtower; this is said to his servants, his soldiers, or sentinels, that were
placed on watchtowers to observe the motions of the enemy, who were ordered on duty, and to
be on guard, that he and his nobles might feast the more securely; and all this being done, a
table furnished, and a guard set, he, his nobles, and all his guests, are encouraged to "eat" and
"drink" liberally and cheerfully, without any fear of the Medes and Persians, who were now
besieging the city; when, at the same time, by the Lord it would be said,
arise, ye princes; not, ye nobles of Babylon, from your table, quit it, and your feasting and
mirth:
and anoint the shield; prepare your arms, see that they are in good order, get them in
readiness, and defend your king, yourselves, and your city, as some; but the princes of the
Medes and Persians, Cyrus and his generals, are bid to take their arms, and enter the city while
indulging themselves at their feast: it was usual to anoint shields, and other pieces of armour,
partly that they might be smooth and slippery, as Jarchi, that so the darts of the enemy might
easily slide off; and partly for the polishing and brightening of them, being of metal, especially of
brass; so the Targum,
"polish and make the arms bright;''
see 2Sa_1:21. Aben Ezra understands the words as an exhortation to the princes, to arise and
anoint Darius king, in the room of Belshazzar slain; the word "shield" sometimes signifying a
king, for which he mentions Psa_84:9 so Ben Melech; but they are a call of the prophet, or of the
Lord, to the princes of the Medes and Persians, to take the opportunity, while the Babylonians
were feasting, to fall upon them; and the words may be rendered thus (u),
"in or while preparing the table, watching in the watchtower, eating and drinking, arise, ye
princes, and anoint the shield;''
which was done by their servants, though they are called upon.

4. HENRY, “A representation of the posture in which Babylon should be found when the
enemy should surprise it - all in festival gaiety (Isa_21:5): “Prepare the table with all manner of
dainties. Set the guards; let them watch in the watch-tower while we eat and drink securely and
make merry; and, if any alarm should be given, the princes shall arise and anoint the shield, and
be in readiness to give the enemy a warm reception.” Thus secure are they, and thus do they gird
on the harness with as much joy as if they were putting it off.
5. JAMISON, “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,” etc. (compare Isa_22:13). Maurer translates, “They prepare the
table,” etc. But see Isa_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 revelers who are called on to prepare for instant self-defense. Horsley translates,
“Grip the oiled shield.”
6. K&D, “On the other hand, what Xenophon so elaborately relates, and what is also in all
probability described in Dan_5:30 (compare Jer_51:39, Jer_51:57), is referred to in Isa_21:5 :
“They cover the table, watch the watch, eat, drink. Rise up, ye princes! Anoint the shield!” This
is not a scene from the hostile camp, where they are strengthening themselves for an attack
upon Babylon: for the express allusion to the covering of the table is intended to create the
impression of confident and careless good living; and the exclamation “anoint the shield” (cf.,
Jer_51:11) presupposes that they have first of all to prepare themselves for battle, and therefore
that they have been taken by surprise. What the prophet sees, therefore, is a banquet in Babylon.
The only thing that does not seem quite to square with this is one of the infinitives with which
the picture is so vividly described (Ges. §131, 4, b), namely tzapoh hatztzaphith. Hitzig's
explanation, “they spread carpets” (from tzaphah, expandere, obducere, compare the Talmudic
tziphah, tziphtah, a mat, storea), commends itself thoroughly; but it is without any support in
biblical usage, so that we prefer to follow the Targum, Peshito, and Vulgate (the Sept. does not
give any translation of the words at all), and understand the hap. leg. tzaphith as referring to the
watch: “they set the watch.” They content themselves with this one precautionary measure, and
give themselves up with all the greater recklessness to their night's debauch (cf., Isa_22:13). The
prophet mentions this, because (as Meier acknowledges) it is by the watch that the cry, “Rise up,
ye princes,” etc., is addressed to the feasters. The shield-leather was generally oiled, to make it
shine and protect it from wet, and, more than all, to cause the strokes it might receive to glide off
(compare the laeves clypeos in Virg. Aen. vii. 626). The infatuated self-confidence of the chief
men of Babylon was proved by the fact that they had to be aroused. They fancied that they were

hidden behind the walls and waters of the city, and therefore they had not even got their
weapons ready for use.
7. PULPIT, “Prepare the table, etc. With lyrical abruptness, the prophet turns from his own feelings to
draw a picture of Babylon at the time when she is attacked. tie uses historical infinitives, the most lively
form of narrative. Translate, They deck the table, set the watch, eat, drink; i.e. having decked the table,
they commit the task of watching to a few, and then give themselves up to feasting and reveling, as if
there were no danger. It is impossible not to think of Belshazzar's feast, and the descriptions of the Greek
historians (Herod; 1.191; Xen; 'Cyrop.,' 7.23), which mark at any rate the strength of the tradition that,
when Babylon was taken, its inhabitants were engaged in revelry. Arise, ye princes, and anoint the
shield. In the midst of the feast there enters to the revellers one from the outside, with these words,
"Rise, quit the banquet; get your shields; anoint them; arm yourselves." That shields were greased with
fat or oil before being used in battle appears from Virg; 'AEneid,' 7.625, and other places. It was thought
that the enemy's weapons would more readily glance off an oiled surface.
8. CALVIN, “5.Prepare the table. These verbs may be taken for participles; as if he had said, “ they
were preparing the table and appointing a guard, while they were eating and drinking, sudden terror
arose; there was a call to arms, Arise ye princes,” etc.. But Isaiah presents lively descriptions, so as to
place the actual event, as it were, before our eyes. Certainly Xenophon does not describe so historically
the storming of the city; and this makes it evident that it was not natural sagacity, but heavenly inspiration,
that taught Isaiah to describe so vividly events that were unknown. Besides, we ought to observe the time
when these predictions were uttered; for at that time the kingdom of Babylon was in its most flourishing
condition, and appeared to have invincible power, and dreaded no danger. Isaiah ridicules this vain
confidence, and shews that this power will speedily be laid in ruins.
Let it not be thought absurd that he introduces the watchmen as speaking; for although the siege had not
shaken off the slothfulness of a proud and foolish tyrant so as to hinder him from indulging in gaiety and
feasting, still there is no room to doubt that men were appointed to keep watch. It is customary indeed
with princes to defend themselves by guards, that they may more freely and without any disturbance
abandon themselves to every kind of pleasure; but the Prophet expressly mixes up the sentinels with the
delicacies of the table, to make it more evident that the wicked tyrant was seized with a spirit of giddiness
before he sunk down to drunken reveling. The king of Babylon was thus feasting and indulging in mirth
with his courtiers, when he was overtaken by a sudden and unexpected calamity, not that he was out of
danger, but because he disregarded and scorned the enemy. The day before it happened, it might have

been thought incredible, for the conspiracy of Gobryas, and of that party which betrayed him, had not yet
been discovered. At the time when Isaiah spoke, none would have thought that an event so extraordinary
would ever take place.
6
This is what the Lord says to me:
“Go, post a lookout
and have him report what he sees.
1.BARNES, “Go, set a watchman - This was said to Isaiah in the vision. He represents
himself as in Babylon, and as hearing God command him to set a watchman on the watch-tower
who would announce what was to come to pass. All this is designed merely to bring the manner
of the destruction of the city more vividly before the eye.
2. PULPIT, “Go, set a watchman. The event is not to be immediate, it is to be watched for; and Isaiah
is not to watch himself, but to set the watchman. Moreover, the watchman waits long before he sees
anything (verse 8). These unusual features of the narrative seem to mark a remote, not a near,
accomplishment of the prophecy.
3. GILL, “For thus hath the Lord said unto me,.... This is a confirmation of the above
prophecy from the Lord himself, he showing to the prophet, in a visionary way, the ruin of
Babylon, and the means and instruments of it:
go, set a watchman; not Habakkuk, as Jarchi; nor Urias, as the Septuagint; nor Jeremiah, as
others; but himself, who, in a way of vision, represented a watchman on the walls of Babylon;
and which was no way unsuitable to his character and office as a prophet:
let him declare what he seeth; what he sees coming at a distance, or at hand, let him
faithfully and publicly make it known: these are not the words of the king of Babylon to one of
his watchmen; but of the Lord of hosts to his prophet.
4. HENRY, “A description of the alarm which should be given to Babylon upon its being
forced by Cyrus and Darius. The Lord, in vision, showed the prophet the watchman set in his
watch-tower, near the watch-tower, near the palace, as is usual in times of danger; the king
ordered those about him to post a sentinel in the most advantageous place for discovery, and,
according to the duty of a watchman, let him declare what he sees, Isa_21:6. We read of
watchmen thus set to receive intelligence in the story of David (2Sa_18:24), and in the story of
Jehu, 2Ki_9:17. This watchman here discovered a chariot with a couple of horsemen attending

it, in which we may suppose the commander-in-chief to ride. He then saw another chariot drawn
by asses or mules, which were much in use among the Persians, and a chariot drawn by camels,
which were likewise much in use among the Medes; so that (as Grotius thinks) these two
chariots signify the two nations combined against Babylon, or rather these chariots come to
bring tidings to the palace; compare Jer_51:31, Jer_51:32. One post shall run to meet another,
and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one
end while he is revelling at the other end and knows nothing of the matter. The watchman,
seeing these chariots at some distance, hearkened diligently with much heed, to receive the first
tidings. And (Isa_21:8) he cried, A lion; this word, coming out of a watchman's mouth, no doubt
gave them a certain sound, and every body knew the meaning of it, though we do not know it
now. It is likely that it was intended to raise attention: he that has an ear to hear, let him hear, as
when a lion roars. Or he cried as a lion, very loud and in good earnest, the occasion being very
urgent. And what has he to say? 1. He professes his constancy to the post assigned him: “I stand,
my lord, continually upon the watch-tower, and have never discovered any thing material till
just now; all seemed safe and quiet.” Some make it to be a complaint of the people of God that
they had long expected the downfall of Babylon, according to the prophecy, and it had not yet
come; but withal a resolution to continue waiting; as Hab_2:1, I will stand upon my watch, and
set me upon the tower, to see what will be the issue of the present providences. 2. He gives
notice of the discoveries he had made (Isa_21:9): Here comes a chariot of men with a couple of
horsemen, a vision representing the enemy's entry into the city with all their force or the tidings
brought to the royal palace of it.
5. JAMISON, “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 Isa_21:10, 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.”
6. K&D, “The prophecy is continued with the conjunction “for” (ci). The tacit link in the train
of thought is this: they act thus in Babylon, because the destruction of Babylon is determined.
The form in which this thought is embodied is the following: the prophet receives instruction in
the vision to set a me
tzappeh upon the watch-tower, who was to look out and see what more took
place. “For thus said the Lord to me, Go, set a spy; what he seeth, let him declare.” In other
cases it is the prophet himself who stands upon the watch-tower (Isa_21:11; Hab_2:1-2); but
here in the vision a distinction is made between the prophet and the person whom he stations
upon the watch-tower (specula). The prophet divides himself, as it were, into two persons
(compare Isa_18:4 for the introduction; and for the expression “go,” Isa_20:2). He now sees
through the medium of a spy, just as Zechariah sees by means of the angel speaking in him; with
this difference, however, that here the spy is the instrument employed by the prophet, whereas
there the prophet is the instrument employed by the angel.
7.CALVIN, “6.For thus hath the Lord said to me. The Prophet is commanded to set a watchman on the
watchtower, to see these things at a distance; for they cannot be perceived by the eyes, or learned by
conjecture. In order, therefore, that all may know that he did not speak at random, he declares that he

foretells these things; for although they are unknown to men, and incredible, yet he clearly and distinctly
knows them by the spirit of prophecy, because he is elevated above the judgment of men. This ought to
be carefully observed; for we must not imagine that the prophets learned from men, or foresaw by their
own sagacity, those things which they made known; and on this account also they were justly called “”
(1Sa_9:9.) Though we also see them, yet our sight is dull, and we scarcely perceive what is at our feet;
and even the most acute men are often in darkness, because they understand nothing but what they can
gather by the use of reason. But the prophets speak by the Spirit of God, as from heaven. The amount of
what is stated is, that whosoever shall attempt to measure this prophecy by their own judgment will do
wrong, because it has proceeded from God, and therefore it goes far beyond our sense.
Go, appoint a watchman. It gives additional weight that he “ a watchman in the name of God.” If it be
objected, “ relate incredible things as if they had actually happened,” he replies that he does not declare
them at random; for he whom the prince has appointed to be a watchman, sees from a distance what
others do not know. Thus Isaiah saw by the revelation of the Spirit what was unknown to others.
7
When he sees chariots
with teams of horses,
riders on donkeys
or riders on camels,
let him be alert,
fully alert.”
1.BARNES, “And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen - This passage is very
obscure from the ambiguity of the word ‫רכב‬ rekeb - ‘chariot.’ Gesenius contends that it should
be rendered ‘cavalry,’ and that it refers to cavalry two abreast hastening to the destruction of the
city. The word ‫רכב‬ rekeb denotes properly a chariot or wagon Jdg_5:28; a collection of wagons
2Ch_1:14; 2Ch_8:6; 2Ch_9:25; and sometimes refers to the “horses or men” attached to a
chariot. ‘David houghed all the chariots’ 2Sa_8:4; that is, all the “horses” belonging to them.
‘David killed of the Syrians seven hundred chariots’ 2Sa_10:18; that is, all “the men” belonging
to seven hundred chariots. According to the present Masoretic pointing, the word ‫רכב‬ rekeb
does not mean, perhaps, anything else than a chariot strictly, but other forms of the word with
the same letters denote “riders or cavalry.” Thus, the word ‫רכב‬ rakab denotes a horseman
2Ki_9:17; a charioteer or driver of a chariot 1Ki_22:34; Jer_51:21. The verb ‫רבב‬ rabab means “to

ride,” and is usually applied to riding on the backs of horses or camels; and the sense here is,
that the watchman saw “a riding,” or persons riding two abreast; that is, “cavalry,” or men borne
on horses, and camels, and asses, and hastening to attack the city.
With a couple of horsemen - The word ‘couple’ (‫צמד‬ tsemed) means properly a “yoke or
pair;” and it means here that the cavalry was seen “in pairs, that is,” two abreast.
A chariot of asses - Or rather, as above, “a riding” on donkeys - an approach of men in this
manner to battle. Asses were formerly used in war where horses could not be procured. Thus
Strabo (xv. 2, 14) says of the inhabitants of Caramania, ‘Many use donkeys for war in the want of
horses.’ And Herodotus (iv. 129) says expressly that Darius Hystaspes employed donkeys in a
battle with the Scythians.
And a chariot of camels - A “riding” on camels. Camels also were used in war, perhaps
usually to carry the baggage (see Diod. ii. 54; iii. 44; Livy, xxxvii. 40; Strabo, xvi. 3). They are
used for all purposes of burden in the East, and particularly in Arabia.
2. CLARKE, “And he saw a chariot, etc. “And he saw a chariot with two riders; a
rider on an ass, a rider on a camel” - This passage is extremely obscure from the ambiguity
of the term ‫רכב‬ recheb, which is used three times, and which signifies a chariot, or any other
vehicle, or the rider in it; or a rider on a horse, or any other animal; or a company of chariots, or
riders. The prophet may possibly mean a cavalry in two parts, with two sorts of riders; riders on
asses or mules, and riders on camels; or led on by two riders, one on an ass, and one on a camel.
However, so far it is pretty clear, that Darius and Cyrus, the Medes and the Persians, are
intended to be distinguished by the two riders on the two sorts of cattle. It appears from
Herodotus, 1:80, that the baggage of Cyrus’ army was carried on camels. In his engagement with
Croesus, he took off the baggage from the camels, and mounted his horsemen upon them; the
enemy’s horses, offended with the smell of the camels, turned back and fled. - L.
3. GILL, “And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen,.... The drivers of it, or the
riders in it; perhaps meaning Cyrus and Darius:
a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; by the former may be meant the Persians, who
very much used mules or asses; and the Medes by the latter, who abounded in camels: the words
are in the singular number, and may be rendered, "a rider of an ass, and a rider of a camel" (w);
and so may describe the couple of riders along with the chariot, which may signify the whole
army of the Medes and Persians, chariots being much used in war; and the rider of the ass or
mule may design Cyrus, who was called a mule, because of his mixed descent, being a Persian by
his father, and a Mede by his mother's side; so the oracle of Apollo told the Babylonians, that
their city should stand, until a mule was king of the Medes; and the rider of the camel may point
at Darius:
and he hearkened diligently with much heed; the watchman that was set to watch used
the utmost attention to what he saw, and listened diligently to the noise of this chariot and
horsemen, as they came nearer.

4. PULPIT, “And he saw he hearkened; rather, he shall see he shall hearken (Kay). He is to wait
and watch until he sees a certain sight; then he is to listen attentively, and he will hear the crash of the
falling city. A chariot with a couple of horsemen; rather, a troop of horsemen riding two and two. This is
exactly how a cavalry force was ordinarily represented by the Assyrians. Chariots are not intended either
here or in Isa_21:9. They were not employed by the Persians until a late period of their history. A chariot
of asses, and a chariot of camels; rather, men mounted on asses and on camels. It is well known that
both animals were employed by the Persians in their expeditions to carry the baggage (Herod; 1.80;
4.129; Xen; 'Cyrop.,' 7.1, etc.). But neither animal was ever attached to a chariot.
5. JAMISON, “chariot, etc. — 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 Isa_21:9; Isa_22:6). “Chariot” is not appropriate to be joined, as English Version
translates, with “asses”; the Hebrew means plainly in Isa_21:7, as in Isa_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; Isa_21:9 favors this.
6. K&D, “What the man upon the watch-tower sees first of all, is a long, long procession, viz.,
the hostile army advancing quietly, like a caravan, in serried ranks, and with the most perfect
self-reliance. “And he saw a procession of cavalry, pairs of horsemen, a procession of asses, a
procession of camels; and listened sharply, as sharply as he could listen.” Receb, both here and
in Isa_21:9, signifies neither riding-animals nor war-chariots, but a troop seated upon animals -
a procession of riders. In front there was a procession of riders arranged two and two, for
Persians and Medes fought either on foot or on horseback (the latter, at any rate, from the time
of Cyrus; vid., Cyrop. iv 3); and parash signifies a rider on horseback (in Arabic it is used in
distinction from rakib, the rider on camels). Then came lines of asses and camels, a large number
of which were always taken with the Persian army for different purposes. They not only carried
baggage and provisions, but were taken into battle to throw the enemy into confusion. Thus
Cyrus gained the victory over the Lydians by means of the great number of his camels (Herod. i.
80), and Darius Hystaspis the victory over the Scythians by means of the number of asses that
he employed (Herod. iv 129). Some of the subject tribes rode upon asses and camels instead of
horses: the Arabs rode upon camels in the army of Xerxes, and the Caramanians rode upon
asses. What the spy saw was therefore, no doubt, the Persian army. But he only saw and
listened. It was indeed “listening, greatness of listening,” i.e., he stretched his ear to the utmost
(rab is a substantive, as in Isa_63:7; Psa_145:7; and hikshib, according to its radical notion,
signifies to stiffen, viz., the ear);
(Note: Böttcher has very correctly compared kashab (kasuba) with kashah (kasa), and
Fleischer with sarra (tzar), which is applied in the kal and hiphil (asarra) to any animal

(horse, ass, etc.) when it holds its ears straight and erect to listen to any noise (sarra udhneı̄h,
or udhnahu bi-udhneı̄h, or bi-udhnı̄h iv., asarra bi-udhnı̄h, and also absolutely asarra, exactly
like hikshib).)
but he heard nothing, because the long procession was moving with the stillness of death.
7.CALVIN, “7.And he saw a chariot. What he now adds contains a lively description of that defeat.
Some think that it is told by the king’ messenger. This is a mistake; for the Prophet, on the contrary,
foretells what he has learned from the watchman whom he appointed by the command of God. Here he
represents the watchman as looking and reporting what he saw. As if at the first glance he had not seen it
clearly, he says that there is “ chariot,” and afterwards observing more closely, he says that there is “
couple of horses” in the chariot. At first, on account of the novelty and great distance of the objects, the
report given is ambiguous and confused; but afterwards, when a nearer view is obtained, they are better
understood. There is no absurdity in applying to prophets or to divine visions what belongs to men; for we
know that God, accommodating himself to our feeble capacity, takes upon himself human feelings.
8
And the lookout[a]
shouted,
“Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower;
every night I stay at my post.
1.BARNES, “And he cried, A lion - Margin, ‘As a lion.’ This is the correct rendering. The
particle ‫כ‬ (k) - ‘as,’ is not unfrequently omitted (see Isa_62:5; Psa_11:1). That is, ‘I see them
approach with the fierceness, rapidity, and terror of a lion (compare Rev_10:3).
My lord, I stand continually upon the watch-tower - This is the speech of the
watchman, and is addressed, not to Yahweh, but to him that appointed him. It is designed to
show the “diligence” with which he had attended to the object for which he was appointed. He
had been unceasing in his observation; and the result was, that now at length he saw the enemy
approach like a lion, and it was certain that Babylon now must fall. The language used here has a
striking resemblance to the opening of the “Agamemnon” of AEschylus; being the speech of the
watchman, who had been very long upon his tower looking for the signal which should make
known that Troy had fallen. It thus commences:
‘Forever thus! O keep me not, ye gods,
Forever thus, fixed in the lonely tower
Of Atreus’ palace, from whose height I gaze
O’er watched and weary, like a night-dog, still

Fixed to my post; meanwhile the rolling year
Moves on, and I my wakeful vigils keep
By the cold star-light sheen of spangled skies.’
Symmons, quoted in the “Pictorial Bible.”
I am set in my ward - My place where one keeps watch. It does not mean that he was
confined or imprisoned, but that he had kept his watch station (‫משׁמרת‬ mishe
meret from ‫שׁמר‬ sha
mar “to watch, to keep, to attend to”).
Whole nights - Margin, ‘Every night.’ It means that he had not left his post day or night.
2. CLARKE, “And he cried, A lion “He that looked out on the watch” - The present
reading, ‫אריה‬ aryeh, a lion, is so unintelligible, and the mistake so obvious, that I make no doubt
that the true reading is ‫הראה‬ haroeh, the seer; as the Syriac translator manifestly found it in his
copy, who renders it by ‫דקוא‬ duka, a watchman.
3. GILL, “And he cried, a lion,.... That is, the watchman cried, a lion, or that he saw a lion;
not Uriah the priest, as the Septuagint; nor Habakkuk, as some Jewish writers; but Cyrus, at the
head of the Persian and Median armies, compared to a lion for his fierceness, courage, and
strength; see 2Ti_4:17 a type of Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, by whom antichrist, or
mystical Babylon, will be destroyed, Rev_5:5. The Targum is,
"the prophet said, the voice of armies, coming with coats of mail, as a lion.''
Aben Ezra interprets it, the watchman cried as a lion, with a great voice; upon sight of the
chariots and horsemen, he lifted up his voice, and roared like a lion, to express the terror he was
in, and the greatness of the calamity that was coming upon the city.
I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime: so that nothing could escape
his notice:
and I am set in my ward whole nights: which expresses his diligence, vigilance, and
constancy, in the discharge of his duty; and therefore what he said he saw might be depended
on.
4. PULPIT, “And he cried, A lion; rather, he cried as a lion; i.e. with a loud deep voice
(comp. Rev_10:3). The watchman, after long waiting, becomes impatient, and can contain himself no
longer. He makes complaint of his long vain watch. My lord; rather, O Lord. The watchman addresses his
complaint to Jehovah.

The Fall of Babylon Foretold

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