Isaiah 21:15
in Isaiah 21For they flee from the sword—the sword that is drawn—from the bow that is bent, and from the stress of battle.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For they fled away from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war.
KJV
For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war.
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This verse in Isaiah 21
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAnd he places the cause of mercy: for they are fled from before the swords, that they might be moved to mercy: at the voice of the horsemen, and the archers, all the city is fled away (Jer 4:29).
This site's exposition
In the thickets of Arabia you must lodge
on Isaiah 21:13-15
The burden against Arabia sends the "caravans of Dedanites" to lodge "In the thickets of Arabia". Verse 14 tells the "dwellers of Tema" to "meet the refugees", which Gill reads against the custom that owed a fleeing man bread and water. Verse 15 names what they flee: "the sword".
This site's exposition
from the bow that is bent
Barnes gives the word for stress as kobed, the weight of battle. Henry thinks an Assyrian army took Arabia on its march. The warriors and archers of Kedar fall under the same sword.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Verse 14, 15.) Bring water to the thirsty, O inhabitants of the land of the South; meet the one fleeing with bread. For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the severity of battle.
(Verse 13 onwards) Burden in Arabia. In the evening you will sleep in the thicket, in the paths of Dodanim. Bring water to the thirsty ones you encounter: you who live in the land of the South, offer bread to the ones fleeing. Because they have fled from the swords, from the menacing sword, from the drawn bow, from the severity of battle.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
2 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. 3 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;
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
For they fled from the swords,.... Of their enemy, whom they could not withstand; perhaps the Assyrian army: from the drawn sword; just ready to be sheathed in them: and from the bent bow; just going to let the arrow fly at them: and from the grievousness of war: too heavy for them to bear.
It is probable that the king of Assyria, in some of the marches of his formidable and victorious army, took Arabia in his way, and, meeting with little resistance, made an easy prey of them.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For they fled - The inhabitants of one part of the land. The grievousness of war - Hebrew, כבד kobed - “the weight, the heaviness, the oppression” of war; probably from the calamities that would result from the march of the Assyrian through their land, either on his way to Judea or to Egypt.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מִפְּנֵ֥י | mipenei | from before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| חֲרָב֖וֹת | charavot | swords | H2719 → | 413 times |
| נָדָ֑דוּ | nadadu | they have fled | H5074 → | 28 times |
| מִפְּנֵ֣י׀ | mipenei | from before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| חֶ֣רֶב | cherev | a sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| נְטוּשָׁ֗ה | netushah | drawn | H5203 → | 40 times |
| וּמִפְּנֵי֙ | umipenei | and from before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| קֶ֣שֶׁת | keshet | a bow | H7198 → | 76 times |
| דְּרוּכָ֔ה | derukhah | bent | H1869 → | 62 times |
| וּמִפְּנֵ֖י | umipenei | and from before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| כֹּ֥בֶד | koed | [the] weight of | H3514 → | |
| מִלְחָמָֽה׃ ס | milchamah | battle | H4421 → | 320 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
מִפְּנֵ֥יfrom before
mipeneiH6440 →2123 times
חֲרָב֖וֹתswords
charavotH2719 →413 times
נָדָ֑דוּthey have fled
nadaduH5074 →28 times
מִפְּנֵ֣י׀from before
mipeneiH6440 →2123 times
חֶ֣רֶבa sword
cherevH2719 →413 times
נְטוּשָׁ֗הdrawn
netushahH5203 →40 times
וּמִפְּנֵי֙and from before
umipeneiH6440 →2123 times
קֶ֣שֶׁתa bow
keshetH7198 →76 times
דְּרוּכָ֔הbent
derukhahH1869 →62 times
וּמִפְּנֵ֖יand from before
umipeneiH6440 →2123 times
כֹּ֥בֶד[the] weight of
koedH3514 →
מִלְחָמָֽה׃ סbattle
milchamahH4421 →320 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 13:14Like a hunted gazelle, like a sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people, each will flee to his native land.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 22:17
So Micaiah declared: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These people have no master; let each one return home in peace.’”
- Jeremiah 50:16
Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the one who wields the sickle at harvest time. In the face of the oppressor’s sword, each will turn to his own people, each will flee to…
- 1 Kings 22:36
As the sun was setting, the cry rang out in the army: “Every man to his own city, and every man to his own land!”
- Jeremiah 51:9
“We tried to heal Babylon, but she could not be healed. Abandon her! Let each of us go to his own land, for her judgment extends to the sky and reaches to the clouds.”
- Revelation 18:9–10
Then the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her will weep and wail at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her.
- 1 Kings 22:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.