Isaiah 21:1-10
21:1 a concerning Babylon—the desert by the sea: This description of Babylon was perhaps an ironic way to say that the land was physically lush but spiritually desolate.• Disaster ... from the desert: Literally from the desert, from the terrifying land (cp. Deut 8:15 b).
21:2 c I see: The prophet personalized Babylon’s experience, which intensifies his poetry, as does the terse language and the repetition of similar sounds, such as the betrayer betraying (Hebrew habboged boged) and the destroyer destroying (Hebrew hashoded shoded; also in 33:1 d).
• The Elamites lived to the northeast of Babylon. Along with the Medes, they were archrivals of the Babylonians.
• I will make an end to all the groaning Babylon caused: Babylon had caused groaning by attacking and enslaving many nations. It is likely that the Elamites and Medes played a part in the overthrow of Babylon in 539 BC (21:9 e).
21:3 f I grow faint ... I am too afraid: Through his vision, Isaiah experienced the terror of the Babylonian people (see also Dan 8:27 g; 10:16-17 h).
21:7 i The riders were messengers who reported what had taken place on the battlefield.
21:9 j Babylon is fallen, fallen: Assyrian king Sennacherib destroyed the city of Babylon in 689 BC. The final fall of Babylon was in 539 BC. In Scripture, Babylon represents all the ungodly power structures of this world, including nations and kingdoms that do not submit to God and his word. The apostle John gave hope with his prophecy that all Babylons will fall (Rev 14:8 k; 18:2 l).
• All the idols of Babylon lie broken: False gods could not save the Babylonians (see Isa 46:1-2 m).
21:10 n O my people: The focus shifted back to the people of Judah.
• Judah would be oppressed (threshed and winnowed) by the Babylonians but Babylon, too, would fall.
• I have told you everything: The prophet had been faithful in his duty to report what the Lord revealed to him.
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