Chapter 21

Isaiah

1 note in this chapter

13 Arabia and Kedar: Isaiah 21:13

1The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea.As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,it comes from the wilderness,from a terrible land.2A stern vision is told to me;the traitor betrays,and the destroyer destroys.Go up, O Elam;lay siege, O Media;all the sighing she has causedI bring to an end.3Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;pangs have seized me,like the pangs of a woman in labor;I am bowed down so that I cannot hear;I am dismayed so that I cannot see.4My heart staggers; horror has appalled me;the twilight I longed forhas been turned for me into trembling.5They prepare the table,they spread the rugs,they eat, they drink.Arise, O princes;oil the shield!6For thus the Lord said to me:“Go, set a watchman;let him announce what he sees.7When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,riders on donkeys, riders on camels,let him listen diligently,very diligently.”8Then he who saw cried out:“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,continually by day,and at my post I am stationedwhole nights.9And behold, here come riders,horsemen in pairs!”And he answered,“Fallen, fallen is Babylon;and all the carved images of her godshe has shattered to the ground.”10O my threshed and winnowed one,what I have heard from the LORD of hosts,the God of Israel, I announce to you.11The oracle concerning Dumah.One is calling to me from Seir,“Watchman, what time of the night?Watchman, what time of the night?”12The watchman says:“Morning comes, and also the night.If you will inquire, inquire;come back again.”13The oracle concerning Arabia.In the thickets in Arabia you will lodge,O caravans of Dedanites.✦

13Arabia and Kedar: Isaiah 21:13

Critical Commentary

Several prophetic texts speak of Arabia and of Kedar, and this note gathers them. Isaiah 21:13 opens an oracle concerning Arabia (the Hebrew word for oracle can also mean a burden). Isaiah 42:11 mentions the villages that Kedar inhabits, and Kedar was a son of Ishmael, so these verses concern Ishmael’s line. Ezekiel 27:21 lists Arabia and the princes of Kedar among the traders in lambs, rams and goats.

Two verses in Deuteronomy are harder. Deuteronomy 33:2 has the LORD come from Sinai, dawn from Seir and shine forth from Mount Paran, with ten thousands of holy ones. Deuteronomy 32:21 has God provoke Israel to jealousy with a people who are no people, a foolish nation. A critical reader has to ask who these peoples are, whether the text itself identifies them, and how much later interpreters have read into the verses.

The oracle concerning Arabia. In the thickets in Arabia you will lodge, O caravans of Dedanites.
Isaiah 21:13

He said, “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran; he came from the ten thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at his right hand.
Deuteronomy 33:2

They have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
Deuteronomy 32:21

Source: see Credits and references (no. 1, p. 4).

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14To the thirsty bring water;meet the fugitive with bread,O inhabitants of the land of Tema.15For they have fled from the swords,from the drawn sword,from the bent bow,and from the press of battle.

16For thus the Lord said to me, “Within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end. 17And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of Kedar will be few, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.”

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