Isaiah 21:1

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

The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.

ISAIAH CHAPTER 21 The prophet’ s fear and trouble at his vision of Babylon’ s ruin by the Medes and Persians, . He mocketh Babel, . Edom, scorning the prophet, is called to repentance, ,12. The time of Arabia’ s calamity set. The desert of the sea; Babylon, as is evident both from her destroyers, the Medians, , and especially from , where she is named. She seems to be called desert prophetically, to intimate, that although she was now a most populous city and kingdom, yet shortly she should be turned into a desolate wilderness, as was threatened, , &c. But the word here rendered desert sometimes signifies a plain, as a very learned interpreter hath observed, and thus it most properly agrees to Babylon, and the land about it, which geographers note to be a very plain country, without any considerable mountains in it. It is called the desert of the sea, because it is situate by the sea, as the isles of the sea, , are those countries which were beside the sea. And the title of the sea might well be given to the waters of Babylon, because of the great plenty and multitude of them, the great channel of Euphrates, and the several several lesser channels cut out, and the vast lakes of water; in which respects it is said to sit upon many waters, , the name of sea being given by the Hebrews to every great collection of waters. In the south; in those parts which lay southward from Judea where there were many and grreat deserts, in which the winds have greater force. See . Pass through; as meeting with no stop or opposition. It; the burden or judgment. Or, he, the Median, as it is in the next verse. Cometh from the desert; from Media and Persia; thus expressed, either because those countries were full of deserts, or because a great desert lay between them and Chaldea, as geographers and historians report. From a terrible land; from the Medes, a warlike and formidable people, as appears both from sacred and profane writers.

Isaiah 21:1 The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; [so] it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.Ver. 1. The burden of the desert of the sea,] i.e., Of Babylon, which is here called a sea, because situated by many waters, and the desert or plain of the sea, because it stood in a plain, or was to be turned into a desert. See Isaiah 13:1-22; Isaiah 14:1-32 Jeremiah 51:1-64. It is so often prophesied against; (1.) For the comfort of God’ s people, who were to suffer hard and heavy things from this city; (2.) For a caution to them not to trust in such a tottering state. A Lapide saith, that about the time of this prophecy, Hezekiah was making a league and amity with Merodach, king of Babylon, to whose ambassadors he had showed all his treasures, and was well shent for it. To take him off which design, the ruin of Babylon is here before prophesied. As whirlwinds in the south pass through.] Patentibus campis, ac locis arenosis, vehementissimo impetu cuncta prosternentes, without stop or stay, bearing down all before them, covering whole armies with sand sometimes, and destroying theirs. So it cometh.] Or, So he cometh, that is, Cyrus with his armies; Vastator Babyloniae, he cometh fiercely and furiously. From the wilderness.] From Persia, which is desert in many places, especially toward Babylon. From a terrible land.] From Media, the people whereof were barbarous and brutish, skilful to destroy. Nitocris, queen of Babylon, feared a hostile irruption from this land, did her utmost to prevent it, but that would not be. Pliny saith the greatest tempests at sea come from the South. Herodot.

XXI. (1) The burden of the desert of the sea . . .—The title of the prophecy is obviously taken from the catch-word of “the desert” that follows. The “sea” has been explained (1) as the Euphrates, just as in Isaiah 18:2; Isaiah 19:5, it appears as used of the Nile (Cheyne). (2) As pointing to the surging flood of the mingled myriads of its population. (3) Xenophon’s description of the whole plain of the Euphrates, intersected by marshes and lakes, as looking like a sea affords, perhaps, a better explanation. As whirlwinds in the south . . .—The “South” (or Negeb) is here, as elsewhere, the special name of the country lying south of Judah. The tempests of the region seem to have been proverbial (Zechariah 9:14; Jeremiah 4:11; Jeremiah 13:24; Hosea 13:15). So it cometh.—The absence of a subject to the verb gives the opening words a terrible vagueness. Something is coming “from the wilderness, a terrible land,” beyond it. The “wilderness” in this case is clearly the Arabian desert, through part of which the Euphrates flows. The context determines the “terrible land” as that of Elam and Media.

CHAPTER XXI Prediction of the taking of Babylon by the Medes and Persians at the time of a great festival, 1-9. Short application of the prophecy to the Jews, partly in the person of God, and partly in his own, 10. Obscure prophecy respecting Dumah, 11, 12. Prophecy concerning the Arabians to be fulfilled in a very short time after its delivery, 13-17. The first ten verses of this chapter contain a prediction of the taking of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. It is a passage singular in its kind for its brevity and force, for the variety and rapidity of the movements, and for the strength and energy of colouring with which the action and event are painted. It opens with the prophet's seeing at a distance the dreadful storm that is gathering and ready to burst upon Babylon. The event is intimated in general terms, and God's orders are issued to the Persians and Medes to set forth upon the expedition which he has given them in charge. Upon this the prophet enters into the midst of the action; and in the person of Babylon expresses, in the strongest terms, the astonishment and horror that seizes her on the sudden surprise of the city at the very season dedicated to pleasure and festivity, Isaiah 21:3-4. Then, in his own person, describes the situation of things there, the security of the Babylonians, and in the midst of their feasting the sudden alarm of war, Isaiah 21:5. The event is then declared in a very singular manner. God orders the prophet to set a watchman to look out, and to report what he sees; he sees two companies marching onward, representing by their appearance the two nations that were to execute God's orders, who declare that Babylon is fallen, Isaiah 21:6-9. But what is this to the prophet, and to the Jews, the object of his ministry? The application, the end, and design of the prophecy are admirably given in a short, expressive address to the Jews, partly in the person of God, partly in that of the prophet: "O my threshing - " "O my people, whom for your punishment I shall make subject to the Babylonians, to try and to prove you, and to separate the chaff from the corn, the bad from the good, among you; hear this for your consolation: your punishment, your slavery, and oppression will have an end in the destruction of your oppressors." - L. NOTES ON CHAP. XXI Verse 1. 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. i. 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. IX.

1, 2. The “hard vision” of Babylon’s fate.

The burden - (see the note at Isaiah 13:1). Of the desert - There have been almost as many interpretations of this expression, as there have been interpreters.

1. The desert of the sea — Babylon lay on an extended plain of its own, and this was contiguous to the great desert of Arabia on the southwest, from which violent winds often rush.