English Standard Version
Isaiah 21:2
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 caused I bring to an end.
Isaiah 21:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease.
- New International Version (NIV)A dire vision has been shown to me: The traitor betrays, the looter takes loot. Elam, attack! Media, lay siege! I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.
- New King James Version (NKJV)A distressing vision is declared to me; The treacherous dealer deals treacherously, And the plunderer plunders. Go up, O Elam! Besiege, O Media! All its sighing I have made to cease.
- New Living Translation (NLT)I see a terrifying vision: I see the betrayer betraying, the destroyer destroying. Go ahead, you Elamites and Medes, attack and lay siege. I will make an end to all the groaning Babylon caused.
Context of Isaiah 21:2
1The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on, it comes from the wilderness, from a terrible land. A 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 caused I 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 for has been turned for me into trembling.
Read all of Isaiah 21Isaiah 21:2 word by word
חָז֥וּת קָשָׁ֖ה הֻגַּד־לִ֑י הַבּוֹגֵ֤ד׀ בּוֹגֵד֙ וְהַשּׁוֹדֵ֣ד׀ שׁוֹדֵ֔ד עֲלִ֤י עֵילָם֙ צוּרִ֣י מָדַ֔י כָּל־אַנְחָתָ֖ה הִשְׁבַּֽתִּי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- A grievousקָשֶׁהqâsheh · severeH7186
- visionחָזוּתchâzûth · visionH2380
- is declaredנָגַדnâgad · to tellH5046
- unto me; the treacherous dealerבָּגַדbâgad · to act treacherouslyH898
- and the spoilerשָׁדַדshâdad · to ruinH7703
- Go upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
- O Elamעֵילָם‛êylâm ‛ôlâm · ElamH5867
- besiegeצוּרtsûr · to confineH6696
- O Mediaמָדַיmâday · MediaH4074
- all the sighingאֲנָחָה'ănâchâh · sighingH585
- thereof have I made to ceaseשָׁבַתshâbath · to ceaseH7673
Cross-references for Isaiah 21:2
- Psalms 60:3You have made your people see hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.
- Proverbs 13:15Good sense wins favor, but the way of the treacherous is their ruin.
- Isaiah 24:16From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise, of glory to the Righteous One. But I say, "I waste away, I waste away. Woe is me! For the traitors have betrayed, with betrayal the traitors have betrayed."
- Isaiah 33:1Ah, you destroyer, who yourself have not been destroyed, you traitor, whom none has betrayed! When you have ceased to destroy, you will be destroyed; and when you have finished betraying, they will betray you.
- 1 Samuel 24:13As the proverb of the ancients says, 'Out of the wicked comes wickedness.' But my hand shall not be against you.
- Jeremiah 51:44And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and take out of his mouth what he has swallowed. The nations shall no longer flow to him; the wall of Babylon has fallen.
- Revelation 13:10If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.
- Isaiah 13:2On a bare hill raise a signal; cry aloud to them; wave the hand for them to enter the gates of the nobles.
- Jeremiah 50:14Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around, all you who bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the Lord.
- Jeremiah 49:34The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah.
- Jeremiah 51:11"Sharpen the arrows! Take up the shields! 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, the vengeance for his temple.
- Daniel 5:28Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians."
- Daniel 8:20As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia.
- Isaiah 14:1For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob.
- Isaiah 35:10And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
- Isaiah 47:6I was angry with my people; I profaned my heritage; I gave them into your hand; you showed them no mercy; on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.
Commentaries on Isaiah 21:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2The treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth "The plunderer is plundered, and the destroyer is destroyed" - שודד והשודד בוגד הבוגד habboged boged vehashshoded shoded . The MSS. vary in expressing or omitting the ו vau, in these four words. Ten MSS. of Kennicott are without the ו vau in the second word, and eight MSS. are without the ו vau in the fourth word; which justifies Symmachus, who has rendered them passively: ̔ ̔ . He…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2A grievous vision - Margin, as in Hebrew Hard.‘ On the word vision,‘ see the note at Isaiah 1:1. The sense here is, that the vision which the prophet saw was one that indicated great calamity Isaiah 21:3-4. Is declared unto me - That is, is caused to pass before me, and its meaning is made known to me. The treacherous dealer - (חבוגד chabôgēd ). The perfidious, unfaithful people. This is the usual signification of the word; but the connection here does…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2A dire vision is declared to me: The prophet makes Babylon's experience personal, which strengthens his poetry. The concise language and repeated sounds, like The traitor still betrays (Hebrew habboged boged) and the destroyer still destroys (Hebrew hashoded shoded; also in Isaiah 33:1), add to this effect. The Elamites lived northeast of Babylon. They, along with the Medes, were major rivals of the Babylonians. I will put an end to all her groaning…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. dealeth treacherously--referring to the military stratagem employed by Cyrus in taking Babylon. It may be translated, "is repaid with treachery"; then the subject of the verb is Babylon. She is repaid in her own coin; Is 33:1; Ha 2:8, favor this. Go up--Isaiah abruptly recites the order which he hears God giving to the Persians, the instruments of His vengeance (Is 13:3, 17). Elam--a province of Persia, the original place of their settlement (Ge…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 21:2
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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