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

1The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. As windstorms in the Negev sweep on, It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land. 2A harsh vision has been shown to me; The treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, Elam, lay siege, Media; I have made an end of all the groaning she has caused. For this reason my loins are full of anguish; Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in labor. I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see. 4My mind reels, horror overwhelms me; The twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling. 5They set the table, they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink; “Rise up, captains, oil the shields,”

Isaiah 21:3 word by word

עַל־כֵּ֗ן מָלְא֤וּ מָתְנַי֙ חַלְחָלָ֔ה צִירִ֣ים אֲחָז֔וּנִי כְּצִירֵ֖י יֽוֹלֵדָ֑ה נַעֲוֵ֣יתִי מִשְּׁמֹ֔עַ נִבְהַ֖לְתִּי מֵרְאֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear

• For thisכֵּןkên · rightH3651
• reasonעַל‛al · uponH5921
• loinsמׇתְנַ֫יִםmôthen · loinH4975
• are fullמָלֵאmâlê' mâlâ' · to fillH4390
• of anguishחַלְחָלָהchalchâlâh · anguishH2479
• Painsצִירtsîyr · pangH6735
• have seizedאָחַז'âchaz · to graspH270
• woman in laborיָלַדyâlad · to begetH3205
• I am soמִן־min minnîy minnêy · fromH4480
• bewilderedעָוָה‛âvâh · to twistH5753
• hearשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085
• terrifiedבָּהַלbâhal · to dismayH926
• seeרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200

Cross-references for Isaiah 21:3

• Isaiah 15:5My heart cries out for Moab; His fugitives are as far as Zoar and Eglath-shelishiyah, For they go up the ascent of Luhith weeping; Surely on the road to Horonaim they raise a cry of distress over their ruin.
• Isaiah 16:9Therefore I will weep bitterly for Jazer, for the vine of Sibmah; I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh; For the shouting over your summer fruits and your harvest has fallen away.
• Habakkuk 3:16I heard and my inward parts trembled, At the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, And in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, For the people to arise who will invade us.
• Isaiah 13:8They will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of them; They will writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in astonishment, Their faces aflame.
• Isaiah 26:17As the pregnant woman approaches the time to give birth, She writhes and cries out in her labor pains, Thus were we before You, O Lord.
• Psalms 48:6Panic seized them there, Anguish, as of a woman in childbirth.
• Jeremiah 48:41Kerioth has been captured And the strongholds have been seized, So the hearts of the mighty men of Moab in that day Will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
• Jeremiah 49:22Behold, He will mount up and swoop like an eagle and spread out His wings against Bozrah; and the hearts of the mighty men of Edom in that day will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
• Jeremiah 50:43The king of Babylon has heard the report about them, And his hands hang limp; Distress has gripped him, Agony like a woman in childbirth.
• Micah 4:9“Now, why do you cry out loudly? Is there no king among you, Or has your counselor perished, That agony has gripped you like a woman in childbirth?
• 1 Thessalonians 5:3While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.
• Deuteronomy 28:67In the morning you shall say, ‘Would that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Would that it were morning!’ because of the dread of your heart which you dread, and for the sight of your eyes which you will see.
• Daniel 5:5Suddenly the fingers of a man’s hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing.

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