Amplified Bible
Isaiah 21:5
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 21:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield.
- New International Version (NIV)They set the tables, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink! Get up, you officers, oil the shields!
- English Standard Version (ESV)They prepare the table, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink. Arise, O princes; oil the shield!
- New King James Version (NKJV)Prepare the table, Set a watchman in the tower, Eat and drink. Arise, you princes, Anoint the shield!
Context of Isaiah 21:5
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. 4My mind reels, horror overwhelms me; The twilight I longed for has been turned into fear and trembling for me. They 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. 7When he sees a chariot, horsemen in pairs, A train of donkeys and a train of camels, Let him pay attention and listen closely, very closely.”
Read all of Isaiah 21Isaiah 21:5 word by word
עָרֹ֧ךְ הַשֻּׁלְחָ֛ן צָפֹ֥ה הַצָּפִ֖ית אָכ֣וֹל שָׁתֹ֑ה ק֥וּמוּ הַשָּׂרִ֖ים מִשְׁח֥וּ מָגֵֽן׃ פRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Prepareעָרַךְ‛ârak · to arrangeH6186
- the tableשֻׁלְחָןshûlchân · tableH7979
- watchצָפָהtsâphâh · to watchH6822
- in the watchtowerצָפִיתtsâphîyth · rugH6844
- eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
- drinkשָׁתָהshâthâh · to drinkH8354
- ariseקוּםqûm · to arise: riseH6965
- ye princesשַׂרώar · rulerH8269
- anointמָשַׁחmâshach · to anointH4886
- the shieldמָגֵןmâgên meginnâh · shieldH4043
Cross-references for Isaiah 21:5
- Isaiah 22:13Instead, there is joy and jubilation, Killing of oxen and slaughtering of sheep, Eating meat and drinking wine, saying, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”
- 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].
- 1 Corinthians 15:32What good has it done me if, [merely] from a human point of view, I fought with wild animals at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised [at all], let us eat and drink [enjoying ourselves now], for tomorrow we die.
- Isaiah 13:2Lift up a signal banner on the bare mountain, Summon them [the Medes and Persians] with a loud voice, Wave the [beckoning] hand so that they may enter the doorways of the [Babylonian] nobles.
- Isaiah 45:1This is what the Lord says to His anointed, to Cyrus [king of Persia], Whose right hand I have held To subdue nations before him, And I will ungird the loins of kings [disarming them]; To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
- Jeremiah 51:11Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields [and cover yourselves]! The Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes, Because His purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it; For that is the vengeance of the Lord, vengeance [on Babylon] for [plundering and destroying] His temple.
Commentaries on Isaiah 21:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5Prepare the table "The table is prepared" - In Hebrew the verbs are in the infinitive mood absolute, as in Ezekiel 1:14; : "And the animals ran and returned, ושוב רצוא ratso veshob, like the appearance of the lightning;" just as the Latins say, currere et reverti, for currebant et revertebantur. See Isaiah 33:11; (note), and the note there. Arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield - Kimchi observes that several of the rabbins understood this of…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5Prepare the table - This verse is one of the most striking and remarkable that occurs in this prophecy, or indeed in any part of Isaiah. It is language supposed to be spoken in Babylon. The first direction - perhaps supposed to be that of the king - is to prepare the table for the feast. Then follows a direction to set a watch - to make the city safe, so that they might revel without fear. Then a command to eat and drink: and then immediately a sudden…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. Prepare the table--namely, the feast in Babylon; during which Cyrus opened the dykes made by Semiramis to confine the Euphrates to one channel and suffered them to overflow the country, so that he could enter Babylon by the channel of the river. Isaiah first represents the king ordering the feast to be got ready. The suddenness of the irruption of the foe is graphically expressed by the rapid turn in the language to an alarm addressed to the Babylonian…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 21:5
In the dictionaries
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
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