Isaiah 21:3

Isaiah 21:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it.
• New International Version (NIV)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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Therefore 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.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore my loins are filled with pain; Pangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labor. I was distressed when I heard it; I was dismayed when I saw it.

Context of Isaiah 21:3

1The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning the Desert of the Sea (the seasonally flooded plains just south of Babylon): As windstorms in the Negev (the South) sweep through, So it (God’s judgment) comes from the desert, from [the hostile armies of] a terrifying land. 2A harsh vision has been shown to me; The treacherous one deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam! Lay siege, Media! All the groaning [caused by Babylon’s ruthless oppressions] I [the Lord] have brought to an end. Therefore [continues Isaiah] my loins are filled with anguish; Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in childbirth; I am so bent and bewildered that I cannot hear, I am so terrified that I cannot see. 4My mind reels, horror overwhelms me; The twilight I longed for has been turned into fear and trembling for me. 5They set the table [for the doomed banquet], they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink; “Rise up, captains [of Belshazzar’s court], oil your shields [for battle, for your enemy is at the gates]!”

Isaiah 21:3 word by word

עַל־כֵּ֗ן מָלְא֤וּ מָתְנַי֙ חַלְחָלָ֔ה צִירִ֣ים אֲחָז֔וּנִי כְּצִירֵ֖י יֽוֹלֵדָ֑ה נַעֲוֵ֣יתִי מִשְּׁמֹ֔עַ נִבְהַ֖לְתִּי מֵרְאֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Therefore are my loinsמׇתְנַ֫יִםmôthen · loinH4975
• filledמָלֵאmâlê' mâlâ' · to fillH4390
• with painחַלְחָלָהchalchâlâh · anguishH2479
• pangsצִירtsîyr · pangH6735
• have taken holdאָחַז'âchaz · to graspH270
• of a woman that travailethיָלַדyâlad · to begetH3205
• I was bowed downעָוָה‛âvâh · to twistH5753
• at the hearingשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085
• I was dismayedבָּהַלbâhal · to dismayH926
• at the seeingרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200

Cross-references for Isaiah 21:3

• Isaiah 15:5My heart cries out for Moab; His fugitives are [fleeing] as far as Zoar and Eglath-shelishiyah. For they go up the ascent of Luhith weeping; For on the road to Horonaim they raise a cry of distress over their destruction.
• Isaiah 16:9Therefore I (Isaiah) will weep bitterly for Jazer, for the vines of Sibmah. I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh; For the war-cry [of the enemy] has fallen on your summer fruits and your harvest.
• Habakkuk 3:16I heard and my whole inner self trembled; My lips quivered at the sound. Decay and rottenness enter my bones, And I tremble in my place. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, For the people to arise who will invade and attack us.
• Isaiah 13:8They [of Babylon] will be shocked and terrified, Pains and anguish will grip them; They will be in pain like a woman in childbirth. They will stare aghast and horrified at one another, Their faces aflame [from the effects of the unprecedented warfare].
• Isaiah 26:17As a woman with child approaches the time to give birth, She is in pain and struggles and cries out in her labor, So we were before You, O Lord.
• Psalms 48:6Panic seized them there, And pain, as that of a woman in childbirth.
• Jeremiah 48:41Kerioth [and the cities] has been taken And the strongholds seized; And the hearts of the warriors of Moab in that day Shall be like the heart of a woman in childbirth.
• Jeremiah 49:22Behold, He will mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread His wings against [the city of] Bozrah; and in that day the heart of the mighty warriors of Edom will be like the heart of a woman in childbirth.
• Jeremiah 50:43The king of Babylon has heard the report about them, And his hands fall limp and helpless; Anguish has seized him, And agony like that of a woman in childbirth.
• Micah 4:9“Now, why do you cry out loudly? Is there no king among you? Has your counselor perished? For agony has gripped you like a woman in childbirth.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:3While they are saying, “Peace and safety [all is well and secure!]” then [in a moment unforeseen] destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains on a woman with child, and they will absolutely not escape [for there will be no way to escape the judgment of the Lord].
• Deuteronomy 28:67In the morning you will say, ‘I wish it were evening!’ and in the evening you will say, ‘I wish it were morning!’—because of the dread in your heart with which you tremble, and because of the sight of your eyes which you will see.
• Daniel 5:5Suddenly the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and began writing opposite the lampstand on [a well-lit area of] the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the part of the hand that did the writing.

Commentaries on Isaiah 21:3

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Therefore - 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 Isaiah 15:5, note; Isaiah 16:11, note). My…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see: Through his vision, Isaiah felt the fear of the Babylonian people (see also Daniel 8:27; 10:16–17).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. Isaiah imagines himself among the exiles in Babylon and cannot help feeling moved by the calamities which come on it. So for Moab (Is 15:5; 16:11). pain--(Compare Is 13:8; Eze 30:4, 19; Na 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" (Ge 16:2; Psa 69:23) [Maurer].Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 21:3

• Babylon
• Birth
• Isaiah
• Persia

In the dictionaries

• Anoint
• Cornfloor
• Evil
• Ezekiel
• Hezekiah (2)
• Isaiah
• Loins
• Pain
• Babel

Commentaries on Isaiah 21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings