Isaiah 21:4

Isaiah 21:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me.
• New International Version (NIV)My heart falters, fear makes me tremble; the twilight I longed for has become a horror to me.
• English Standard Version (ESV)My heart staggers; horror has appalled me; the twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling.
• New King James Version (NKJV)My heart wavered, fearfulness frightened me; The night for which I longed He turned into fear for me.

Context of Isaiah 21:4

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. 3Therefore [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. My 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]!” 6This is what the Lord says to me, “Go, station the lookout, let him report what he sees.

Isaiah 21:4 word by word

תָּעָ֣ה לְבָבִ֔י פַּלָּצ֖וּת בִּֽעֲתָ֑תְנִי אֵ֚ת נֶ֣שֶׁף חִשְׁקִ֔י שָׂ֥ם לִ֖י לַחֲרָדָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• My heartלֵבָבlêbâb · heartH3824
• pantedתָּעָהtâ‛âh · to go astrayH8582
• fearfulnessפַּלָּצוּתpallâtsûth · shudderingH6427
• affrightedבָּעַתbâ‛ath · to terrifyH1204
• me: the nightנֶ֫שֶׁףnesheph · twilightH5399
• of my pleasureחֵ֫שֶׁקchêsheq · desireH2837
• hath he turnedשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: makeH7760
• into fearחֲרָדָהchărâdâh · tremblingH2731

Cross-references for Isaiah 21:4

• Isaiah 5:11Woe (judgment is coming) to those who rise early in the morning to pursue intoxicating drink, Who stay up late in the night till wine inflames them!
• 1 Samuel 25:36Then Abigail came to Nabal, and he was holding a feast in his house [for the shearers], like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s mood was joyous because he was very drunk; so she told him nothing at all until the morning light.
• 2 Samuel 13:28Now Absalom commanded his servants, “Notice carefully, when Amnon’s heart is joyous with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him. Do not be afraid; have I not commanded you myself [and in doing so have I not taken full responsibility for his death]? Be courageous and brave.”
• Esther 5:12Haman also said, “Even Queen Esther let no one but me come with the king to the banquet she had prepared; and tomorrow also I am invited by her [together] with the king.
• Esther 7:6Esther said, “An adversary and an enemy is Haman, this evil man.” Then Haman became terrified before the king and queen.
• Job 21:11They send forth their little ones like a flock, And their children skip about.
• Jeremiah 51:39When they are inflamed [with wine and lust during their drinking bouts], I will prepare them a feast [of My wrath] And make them drunk, that they may rejoice And may sleep a perpetual sleep And not wake up,” declares the Lord.
• Daniel 5:1Belshazzar the king [who was a descendant of Nebuchadnezzar] gave a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking his wine in the presence of the thousand [guests].
• Nahum 1:10Like tangled thorn branches [gathered for fuel], And like those drowned in drunkenness, The people of Nineveh are consumed [through fire] Like stubble completely withered and dry [in the day of the Lord’s wrath].
• Luke 21:34“But be on guard, so that your hearts are not weighed down and depressed with the giddiness of debauchery and the nausea of self-indulgence and the worldly worries of life, and then that day [when the Messiah returns] will not come on you suddenly like a trap;

Commentaries on Isaiah 21:4

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4My heart panted - Margin, My mind wandered.‘ The Hebrew word rendered panted‘ (תעה tâ‛âh ) means to wander about; to stagger; to be giddy; and is applied often to one that staggers by being intoxicated. Applied to the heart, it means that it is disquieted or troubled. The Hebrew word “heart” here is to be taken in the sense of “mind.” The night of my pleasure - There can be no doubt that the prophet here refers to the night of revelry and riot in which…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. panted--"is bewildered" [Barnes]. night of my pleasure--The prophet supposes himself one of the banqueters at Belshazzar's feast, on the night that Babylon was about to be taken by surprise; hence his expression, "my pleasure" (Is 14:11; Jr 51:39; Da 5:1-31).Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 21:4

• Babylon
• Isaiah
• Persia

In the dictionaries

• Anoint
• Cornfloor
• Baptism (lutheran Doctrine)
• Evil
• Ezekiel
• Fear
• Hezekiah (2)
• Horror
• Isaiah
• 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