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

1This is the divine revelation about the desert by the sea. Like a storm sweeping through the Negev, an invader will come from the desert, from a terrifying land. 2I was shown a harsh vision. The traitor betrays. The destroyer destroys. Go to war, Elam! Surround them, Media! I will put an end to all the groaning. That is why my body is full of trembling. Pain grips me like the pain of childbirth. I’m disturbed by what I hear. I’m terrified by what I see. 4I’m confused. I’m shaking with terror. The twilight hours I longed for make me tremble. 5Set the table. Spread the rugs ⌞by the table⌟. Eat. Drink. Get up, you leaders! Prepare your shields for battle!

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. Its people flee as far as Zoar at Eglath Shelishiyah. They go up the mountain road to Luhith. They cry loudly over the destruction on the way to Horonaim.
• Isaiah 16:9I will cry for the grapevines of Sibmah as Jazer cries for them. I will drench you with my tears, Heshbon and Elealeh. The shouts of joy for your ripened fruits and your harvest will be silenced.
• Habakkuk 3:16I have heard, so there’s trembling within me. At the report my lips quivered. A rotten feeling has entered me. I tremble where I stand. I wait for the day of trouble to come to the people who will attack us.
• Isaiah 13:8They’ll be terrified. Pain and anguish will seize them. They’ll writhe like a woman giving birth to a child. They’ll look at one another in astonishment. Their faces will be burning red.
• Isaiah 26:17O Lord, when we are with you, we are like pregnant women ready to give birth. They writhe and cry out in their labor pains.
• Psalms 48:6Trembling seized them like the trembling that a woman experiences during labor.
• Jeremiah 48:41The cities will be taken, and the fortified places will be captured. On that day Moab’s soldiers will be like women in childbirth.
• Jeremiah 49:22The enemy will swoop down like eagles and spread their wings over Bozrah. On that day Edom’s soldiers will be like women in childbirth.
• Jeremiah 50:43The king of Babylon has heard reports about them, and he loses courage. Anguish will grip him as pain grips a woman in labor.
• Micah 4:9Now why are you crying so loudly? Don’t you have a king? Has your counselor died? Pain grips you like a woman in labor.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:3When people say, “Everything is safe and sound!” destruction will suddenly strike them. It will be as sudden as labor pains come to a pregnant woman. They won’t be able to escape.
• Deuteronomy 28:67In the morning you’ll say, “If only it were evening!” And in the evening you’ll say, “If only it were morning!” You’ll talk this way because of the things that will terrify you and because of the things you’ll see.
• Daniel 5:5Suddenly, the fingers of a person’s hand appeared and wrote on the plaster wall opposite the lamp stand of the royal palace. The king watched as the hand wrote.

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