Isaiah 21:8

Isaiah 21:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights:
• New International Version (NIV)And the lookout shouted, “Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; every night I stay at my post.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Then he who saw cried out: "Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord, continually by day, and at my post I am stationed whole nights.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then he cried, “A lion, my Lord! I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime; I have sat at my post every night.

Context of Isaiah 21:8

6For this is what the Lord says to me: “Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees. 7When he sees chariots with teams of horsemen, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, he must be alert, fully alert.” Then the lookout shouted: “Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; night after night I stay at my post. 9Look, here come the riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one answered, saying: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground!” 10O my people, crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel.

Isaiah 21:8 word by word

וַיִּקְרָ֖א אַרְיֵ֑ה עַל־מִצְפֶּ֣ה׀ אֲדֹנָ֗י אָנֹכִ֞י עֹמֵ֤ד תָּמִיד֙ יוֹמָ֔ם וְעַל־מִ֨שְׁמַרְתִּ֔י אָנֹכִ֥י נִצָּ֖ב כָּל־הַלֵּילֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear

• Then the lookoutאַרְיֵה'ărîy 'aryêh · lionH738
• shoutedקָרָאqârâ' · to call: call outH7121
• Dayתָּמִידtâmîyd · continuallyH8548
• after dayיוֹמָםyômâm · by dayH3119
• my lordאֲדֹנָי'ădônây · LordH136
• Iאָֽנֹכִ֫י'ânôkîy · IH595
• standעָמַד‛âmad · to stand: standH5975
• onעַל‛al · uponH5921
• the watchtowerמִצְפֶּהmitspeh · lookoutH4707
• night afterכֹּלkôl kôl · allH3605
• nightלַ֫יְלָהlayil lêyl layelâh · nightH3915
• stayנָצַבnâtsab · to standH5324
• my postמִשְׁמֶ֫רֶתmishmereth · chargeH4931

Cross-references for Isaiah 21:8

• Isaiah 5:29Their roaring is like that of a lion; they roar like young lions. They growl and seize their prey; they carry it away, and no one can rescue it.
• Jeremiah 4:7A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to lay waste your land. Your cities will be reduced to ruins and lie uninhabited.
• Jeremiah 25:38He has left His den like a lion, for their land has been made a desolation by the sword of the oppressor, and because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
• Jeremiah 49:19Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered pasture. For in an instant I will chase Edom from her land. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? For who is like Me, and who can challenge Me? What shepherd can stand against Me?”
• Jeremiah 50:44Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered pasture. For in an instant I will chase Babylon from her land. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? For who is like Me, and who can challenge Me? What shepherd can stand against Me?”
• 1 Peter 5:8Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
• Isaiah 56:10Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber.
• Isaiah 62:6On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD shall take no rest for yourselves,
• Psalms 63:6When I remember You on my bed, I think of You through the watches of the night.
• Psalms 127:1Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain.
• Habakkuk 2:1I will stand at my guard post and station myself on the ramparts. I will watch to see what He will say to me, and how I should answer when corrected.

Commentaries on Isaiah 21:8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8And he cried, A lion "He that looked out on the watch" - The present reading, אריה aryeh, a lion, is so unintelligible, and the mistake so obvious, that I make no doubt that the true reading is הראה haroeh, the seer; as the Syriac translator manifestly found it in his copy, who renders it by דקוא duka, a watchman.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8And he cried, A lion - Margin, As a lion.‘ This is the correct rendering. The particle כ (k ) - as,‘ is not unfrequently omitted (see Isaiah 62:5; Psalm 11:1). That is, I see them approach with the fierceness, rapidity, and terror of a lion (compare Revelation 10:3). My lord, I stand continually upon the watch-tower - This is the speech of the watchman, and is addressed, not to Yahweh, but to him that appointed him. It is designed to show the “diligence”…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. A lion--rather, "(The watchman) cried, I am as a lion"; so as is understood (Is 62:5; Psa 11:1). The point of comparison to "a lion" is in Re 10:3, the loudness of the cry. But here it is rather his vigilance. The lion's eyelids are short, so that, even when asleep, he seems to be on the watch, awake; hence he was painted on doors of temples as the symbol of watchfulness, guarding the place (Hor. Apollo) [Horsley].Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 21:8

• Babylon
• Isaiah
• Persia
• Watchman

In the dictionaries

• Anoint
• Cornfloor
• Ward
• Watches
• Evil
• Ezekiel
• Hezekiah (2)
• Isaiah
• Watch-Tour
• 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