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 ( 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 - ( 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 ( 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 -

!#%, legetai de panta men ech arche5s hudo5r einai, thalasso5n

kaloumene5n (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 lachalo5ph (as Knobel and Umbreit do), but the

arrangement of the words is opposed to this; lachalo5o5ph (pressing forwards) is sued instead of

yachalo5ph (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, cabe5d), 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, Rosenm and Knobel follow the Septuagint and Jarchi in explaining

(Dumah) as a variation of , (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, , 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;" Rosenmller, "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 easta 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 downliterally, O my grain, and the son of my threshing floorthis 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 nota 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 lifes 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 - ( chaboge5d). 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 Gods 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 -

habbogedbogedvehashshodedshoded. The MSS. vary in expressing or omitting the

vau, in these four words. Ten MSS. of Kennicott are without the vau in the second word, and

eight MSS. are without the vau in the fourth word; which justifies Symmachus, who has

rendered them passively: BB. He read

bagudshadud. Cocceius (Lexicon in voce) observes that the Chaldee very often renders the verb

bagad, by bazaz, he spoiled; and in this place, and in Isa_33:1, by the equivalent word

anas, to press, give trouble; and in Isa_24:16 both by anas and bazaz; and the Syriac in

this place renders it by 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 (Rosenmller). 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 ( 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 (m) in the word mishemoa' 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 ( me5re'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 himat 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 ushow 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 withoutfrom 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 inflictfruit-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; naavah means to bend, or bow

one's self, and is also used to denote a convulsive utterance of pain; taah, 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 (che5

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 neshephchishki (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 ( taah) 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 himBabylon 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 thingshints 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 Belshazzars 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 (O 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 Jahns 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, 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 Belshazzars 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 tzapo5h 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 Gods 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 metzappeh 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 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 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 t