Isaiah 21:5

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 Living Translation (NLT)Look! They are preparing a great feast. They are spreading rugs for people to sit on. Everyone is eating and drinking. But quick! Grab your shields and prepare for battle. You are being attacked!

Context of Isaiah 21:5

3Therefore 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. 4My heart wavered, fearfulness frightened me; The night for which I longed He turned into fear for me. Prepare the table, Set a watchman in the tower, Eat and drink. Arise, you princes, Anoint the shield! 6For thus has the Lord said to me: “Go, set a watchman, Let him declare what he sees.” 7And he saw a chariot with a pair of horsemen, A chariot of donkeys, and a chariot of camels, And he listened earnestly with great care.

Isaiah 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 22:13But instead, joy and gladness, Slaying oxen and killing sheep, Eating meat and drinking wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
• Daniel 5:1Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand.
• 1 Corinthians 15:32If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
• Isaiah 13:2“Lift up a banner on the high mountain, Raise your voice to them; Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.
• Isaiah 45:1“Thus says the Lord to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held— To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut:
• Jeremiah 51:11Make the arrows bright! Gather the shields! The Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His plan is against Babylon to destroy it, Because it is the vengeance of the Lord, The vengeance for 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

• Babylon
• Isaiah
• Persia
• Watchman

In the dictionaries

• Anoint
• Buckler
• Cornfloor
• Shield
• Watches
• Anointing
• Armor; Arms
• Evil
• Ezekiel
• Hezekiah (2)

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