Isa 21:9, 22:6 | JFB | STEP | 9. chariot of men —chariots with men in them; or rather, the same body of riders, horsemen two abreast, as in [MAURER ]. But HORSLEY , "The man drawn in a car with a pair of riders." The first half of this verse describes what the watchman sees; the second half, what the watchman says, in consequence of what he sees. In the interval between , the overthrow of Babylon by the horsemen, or man in the car, is accomplished. The overthrow needed to be announced to the prophet by the watchman, owing to the great extent of the city. HERODOTUS (1.131) says that one part of the city was captured some time before the other received the tidings of it. answered —not to something said previously, but in reference to the subject in the mind of the writer, to be collected from the preceding discourse: proclaimeth ( , Margin; ). fallen . . . fallen —The repetition expresses emphasis and certainty ( ; compare ). images —Bel, Merodach, &c. ( ). The Persians had no images, temples, or altars, and charged the makers of such with madness [HERODOTUS 1.131]; therefore they dashed the Babylonian "images broken unto the ground."

Isaiah 21:9

9. chariot of men—chariots with men in them; or rather, the same body of riders, horsemen two abreast, as in Isa 21:7 [MAURER]. But HORSLEY, "The man drawn in a car with a pair of riders." The first half of this verse describes what the watchman sees; the second half, what the watchman says, in consequence of what he sees. In the interval between Isa 21:7 and Isa 21:9, the overthrow of Babylon by the horsemen, or man in the car, is accomplished. The overthrow needed to be announced to the prophet by the watchman, owing to the great extent of the city. HERODOTUS (1.131) says that one part of the city was captured some time before the other received the tidings of it.

answered—not to something said previously, but in reference to the subject in the mind of the writer, to be collected from the preceding discourse: proclaimeth (Job 3:2, Margin; Da 2:26; Ac 5:8).

fallen . . . fallen—The repetition expresses emphasis and certainty (Ps 92:9; 93:3; compare Jer 51:8; Re 18:2).

images—Bel, Merodach, &c. (Jer 50:2; 51:44, 52). The Persians had no images, temples, or altars, and charged the makers of such with madness [HERODOTUS 1.131]; therefore they dashed the Babylonian "images broken unto the ground."

Isaiah 22:6

6. Elam—the country stretching east from the Lower Tigris, answering to what was afterwards called Persia (see on Isa 21:2). Later, Elam was a province of Persia (Ezr 4:9). In Sennacherib's time, Elam was subject to Assyria (2Ki 18:11), and so furnished a contingent to its invading armies. Famed for the bow (Isa 13:18; Jer 49:35), in which the Ethiopians alone excelled them.

with chariots of men and horsemen—that is, they used the bow both in chariots and on horseback. "Chariots of men," that is, chariots in which men are borne, war chariots (compare see on Isa 21:7; Isa 21:9).

Kir—another people subject to Assyria (2Ki 16:9); the region about the river Kur, between the Caspian and Black Seas.

uncovered—took off for the battle the leather covering of the shield, intended to protect the embossed figures on it from dust or injury during the march. "The quiver" and "the shield" express two classes—light and heavy armed troops.