Isaiah 21:1
in Isaiah 21This is the burden against the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negev, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The burden of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it cometh from the wilderness, from a terrible land.
KJV
The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.
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This verse in Isaiah 21
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThe northern parts of Media and Persia, where their soldiers were mostly bred, was waste and mountainous, terrible to strangers that were to pass through it and producing soldiers that were very formidable. Elam (that is, Persia) is summoned to go up against Babylon, and, in conjunction with the forces of Media, to besiege it.
This site's exposition
the Desert by the Sea
on Isaiah 21:1-4
The older writers read "the Desert by the Sea" as a play on the plain of Babylon turned to wilderness. The prophet feels it in his body: "Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor". Elam and Media are the powers behind the fall of Babylon.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
(Verse 1, Line 2) Just as whirlwinds come from the South, it comes from the desert, from a dreadful land. A harsh vision has been announced to me. The voice of the Babylonian people is introduced, fearing that it, or rather Babylon itself, may hear that the Medes and the Elamites are preparing an army against them and are coming from the wilderness, and it sets forth an example of comparison. Just as, he says, a violent storm usually comes from the South wind: so to me comes desolation from the wilderness, from a dreadful land, of which I cannot even hear the name without fear. A harsh vision has been announced to me: for what is harder than present captivity? Whoever is unbelieving, acts unfaithfully; and whoever is a destroyer, devastates. It can be read in Hebrew as follows: If you kill, kill; and if you devastate, devastate, so that the prophecy of Elamite and Median, encouraging him to fulfill what he has begun, may be directed to him, daring to ascend without fear, to besiege the most powerful city. But if it is read as we have translated, as if it is said from a third person perspective, "Whoever is unbelieving, acts unfaithfully; and whoever is a destroyer, devastates," it must be connected with the previous statements, in which Babylon declares a harsh vision revealed to her. Rise up, O Elam, besiege the Medes: I have caused all their groaning to cease. Do not be afraid, says the Persian and the Mede, of the multitude of Babylon, nor be in awe of its former power: I have caused all their groaning and the weight with which it used to press you to cease: either because no one now laments and grieves under the power of Babylon, or because Babylon itself is so oppressed by such great evils that it does not even have free groaning.
(Chapter 21, Verse 1) The burden of the desert of the sea. Unless I were to read the following in the subsequent part of this chapter: Babylon has become a beloved wonder to me. And again: Babylon has fallen, has fallen, and all the carved images of her gods are shattered on the ground. And above: Go up, O Elam, lay siege, O Media: I would doubt that this weight, which is imposed on the deserted sea, is what is meant. Therefore, it is clear that the deserted sea is called Babylon, as Jeremiah says on behalf of God: I will make her sea a desert, and I will dry up her land, and Babylon will become heaps of sand (Jeremiah 51:36, 37). But the sea is called such because of the multitude of creatures living in it. Therefore, above, the multitude of Egypt is compared to the sea. The Lord will make the sea of Egypt a desert. And as for the Medes and Persians warring against Babylon, and overthrowing it, we read in the aforementioned Jeremiah: Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers. The Lord will raise up the spirit of the kings of the Medes against Babylon, and his thoughts will be against her, to destroy her, for it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his Temple. Raise a banner on the walls of Babylon, increase the guard, elevate the watchmen, prepare ambushes; for the Lord has planned and done what he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon. And again: Raise a signal on the earth, blow the trumpet among the nations, consecrate the nations against her, announce to the kings of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; summon against her the kings of Media, bring up horses like bristling locusts. Sanctify against her the nations, the kings of Media, their leaders and all their officials, and the whole land under their dominion. […]
(Chapter 21—Verse 1 and following) The burden of the desert of the sea. As hurricanes come from the south, it comes from the desert, from a fearful land. A harsh vision has been revealed to me: he who is unbelieving acts unfaithfully, and he who is a plunderer lays waste. Rise up, Elam, besiege Media: I have caused all their groaning to cease. Therefore my loins are filled with pain: distress has gripped me, like the distress of a woman in labor. 70: Vision of the desert of the sea.
The Medieval Church1 voice
507. The burden of the desert of the sea. Here he threatens against the enemies who oppressed them by taking away their goods, although they were joined to them by some treaty. And this is divided into three parts. First, against those who were joined …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
South - In those parts which lay southward from Judea, where there were many and great deserts. Pass through - As meeting with no opposition. It - The burden or judgment.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The burden of the desert of the sea,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
desert--the champaign between Babylon and Persia; it was once a desert, and it was to become so again. of the sea--The plain was covered with the water of the Euphrates like a "sea" (Jer 51:13, 36; so Isa 11:15, the Nile), until Semiramis raised great dams against it.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The desert of the sea - This plainly means Babylon, which is the subject of the prophecy. The country about Babylon, and especially below it towards the sea, was a great flat morass, overflowed by the Euphrates and Tigris. It became habitable by being drained by the many canals that were made in it. Herodotus, lib. 1:184, says that “Semiramis confined the Euphrates within its channel by raising great dams against it; for before it overflowed the whole country like a sea.” And Abydenus, (quoting Megasthenes, apud Euseb. Praep. Evang. 9:41), speaking of the building of Babylon by Nebuchadonosor, says, “it is reported that all this part was covered with water and was called the sea; and that Belus drew off the waters, conveying them into proper receptacles, and surrounded Babylon with a wall.” When the Euphrates was turned out of its channel by Cyrus, it was suffered still to drown the neighboring country; and, the Persian government, which did not favor the place, taking no care to remedy this inconvenience, it became in time a great barren morassy desert, which event the title of the prophecy may perhaps intimate. Such it was originally; such it became after the taking of the city by Cyrus; and such it continues to this day. As whirlwinds in the south “Like the southern tempests” - The most vehement storms to which Judea was subject came from the desert country to the south of it. “Out of the south cometh the whirlwind,” Job 37:9. “And there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house,” Job 1:19. For the situation of Idumea, the country (as I suppose) of Job, see Lam 4:21 compared with Job 1:1, was the same in this respect with that of Judea: - “And Jehovah shall appear over them, And his arrow shall go forth as the lightning; And the Lord Jehovah shall sound the trumpet; And shall march in the whirlwinds of the south.” Zec 9:14.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The burden - (see the note at Isa 13:1). Of the desert - There have been almost as many interpretations of this expression, as there have been interpreters. That it means Babylon, or the country about Babylon, there can be no doubt; but the question why this phrase was applied, has given rise to a great diversity of opinions.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
The harsh prophecy of the western desert This prophecy refers to Babylonia, as is delineated therein. If you ask, Did he not already prophesy about it (supra 13): “On a tranquil mountain raise a banner,” and the entire chapter?
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The burden of the armies which are coming from the wilderness, as the waters of the sea, rushing along as the tempests: yea, they are coming by the way of the south, hurrying along; yea, they are coming from the wilderness, from the land, in which terrible things are done.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מַשָּׂ֖א | masa' | [the] oracle of | H4853 → | 66 times |
| מִדְבַּר־ | midbar- | [the] wilderness of | H4057 → | 270 times |
| יָ֑ם | yam | [the] sea | H3220 → | 396 times |
| כְּסוּפ֤וֹת | kesufot | like storm-winds | H5492 → | 16 times |
| בַּנֶּ֙גֶב֙ | banegev | in the south | H5045 → | |
| לַֽחֲלֹ֔ף | lachalof | to sweep on | H2498 → | 28 times |
| מִמִּדְבָּ֣ר | mimidbar | from [the] wilderness | H4057 → | 270 times |
| בָּ֔א | ba' | [someone is] coming | H935 → | 2568 times |
| מֵאֶ֖רֶץ | meeretz | from a land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| נוֹרָאָֽה׃ | noraah | to be feared | H3372 → | 315 times |
מַשָּׂ֖א[the] oracle of
masa'H4853 →66 times
מִדְבַּר־[the] wilderness of
midbar-H4057 →270 times
יָ֑ם[the] sea
yamH3220 →396 times
כְּסוּפ֤וֹתlike storm-winds
kesufotH5492 →16 times
בַּנֶּ֙גֶב֙in the south
banegevH5045 →
לַֽחֲלֹ֔ףto sweep on
lachalofH2498 →28 times
מִמִּדְבָּ֣רfrom [the] wilderness
mimidbarH4057 →270 times
בָּ֔א[someone is] coming
ba'H935 →2568 times
מֵאֶ֖רֶץfrom a land
meeretzH776 →2504 times
נוֹרָאָֽה׃to be feared
noraahH3372 →315 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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 14:23“I will make her a place for owls and for swamplands; I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of Hosts.
it leads to
- Zephaniah 2:14
Herds will lie down in her midst, creatures of every kind. Both the desert owl and screech owl will roost atop her pillars. Their calls will sound from the window, but desolation will lie…
- Isaiah 34:11–15
The desert owl and screech owl will possess it, and the great owl and raven will dwell in it. The LORD will stretch out over Edom a measuring line of chaos and a plumb…
- Isaiah 13:21–22
But desert creatures will lie down there, and howling creatures will fill her houses. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will leap about.
- Revelation 14:8
Then a second angel followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”
- Zephaniah 2:14
Through
Zechariah 9:14Then the LORD will appear over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning. The Lord GOD will sound the ram’s horn and advance in the whirlwinds of the south.
it leads to
- Psalms 18:14
He shot His arrows and scattered the foes; He hurled lightning and routed them.
- Psalms 18:14
Through
Isaiah 13:1This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:
it leads to
- Isaiah 47:1–15
“Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of Chaldea! For you will no longer be called tender or delicate.
- Jeremiah 50:1
This is the word that the LORD spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans:
- Isaiah 47:1–15
Through
Isaiah 17:1This is the burden against Damascus: “Behold, Damascus is no longer a city; it has become a heap of ruins.
it leads to
- Amos 1:3–5
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Damascus, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they threshed Gilead with sledges of iron.
- Amos 1:3–5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.