Isaiah 21:3
in Isaiah 21Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore are my loins filled with anguish; pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman in travail: I am pained so that I cannot hear; I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
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.
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This verse in Isaiah 21
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Therefore - 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 Isa 15:5, note; Isa 16:11, note). My loins - (see the note at Isa 16:11).
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.
This site's exposition
like the pains of a woman in labor
The same picture of labor pains falls on the people of Babylon at 13:8. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown allow the Hebrew to mean that Isaiah was too bowed down to hear and too dismayed to see. The vision overpowers the one receiving it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Verse 3, 4.) Therefore my loins are filled with pain: anguish has taken hold of me, like the anguish of a woman in labor: I am bowed down when I hear it, I am troubled when I see it. My heart is faint, darkness has overwhelmed me. Babylon, my beloved, has become a wonder to me. The prophets are therefore obscured, because many individuals are changed in them.
(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
511. Third, he designates the compassion of the prophet himself, which he designates as to the body, to which the affections of the mind redound, and this as to the feeling of pain: therefore are my loins filled with pain, that is, I suffer thus …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And therefore the destruction of Babylon is so often prophesied of by this evangelical prophet, because it was typical of the destruction of the man of sin, the great enemy of the New-Testament church, which is foretold in the Revelation in many expressions borrowed from these prophecies, which therefore must be consulted and collated by those who would understand the prophecy of that book.
Therefore are my loins filled with pain,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Let this give an effectual check to vain mirth and sensual pleasures, and forbid us ever to lay the reins on the neck of them--that we know not what heaviness the mirth may end in, nor how soon laughter may be turned into mourning; but this we know that for all these things God shall bring us into judgment; let us therefore mix trembling always with our joys.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
16:11). pain--(Compare Isa 13:8; 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;
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַל־ | ʾal- | there- | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֵּ֗ן | ken | -fore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| מָלְא֤וּ | malu | they are full | H4390 → | 249 times |
| מָתְנַי֙ | matenai | loins my | H4975 → | 47 times |
| חַלְחָלָ֔ה | chalchalah | anguish | H2479 → | |
| צִירִ֣ים | tzirim | pangs | H6735 → | 12 times |
| אֲחָז֔וּנִי | ʾachazuni | they have seized me | H270 → | 67 times |
| כְּצִירֵ֖י | ketzirei | like [the] pangs of | H6735 → | 12 times |
| יֽוֹלֵדָ֑ה | yoledah | [a woman who] gives birth | H3205 → | 496 times |
| נַעֲוֵ֣יתִי | naaveiti | I am bent over | H5753 → | |
| מִשְּׁמֹ֔עַ | mishemoa' | from hearing | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| נִבְהַ֖לְתִּי | nivhalti | I am terrified | H926 → | |
| מֵרְאֽוֹת׃ | mereot | from seeing | H7200 → | 1300 times |
עַל־there-
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֵּ֗ן-fore
kenH3651 →771 times
מָלְא֤וּthey are full
maluH4390 →249 times
מָתְנַי֙loins my
matenaiH4975 →47 times
חַלְחָלָ֔הanguish
chalchalahH2479 →
צִירִ֣יםpangs
tzirimH6735 →12 times
אֲחָז֔וּנִיthey have seized me
ʾachazuniH270 →67 times
כְּצִירֵ֖יlike [the] pangs of
ketzireiH6735 →12 times
יֽוֹלֵדָ֑ה[a woman who] gives birth
yoledahH3205 →496 times
נַעֲוֵ֣יתִיI am bent over
naaveitiH5753 →
מִשְּׁמֹ֔עַfrom hearing
mishemoa'H8085 →1159 times
נִבְהַ֖לְתִּיI am terrified
nivhaltiH926 →
מֵרְאֽוֹת׃from seeing
mereotH7200 →1300 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
Jeremiah 48:41Kirioth has been taken, and the strongholds seized. In that day the heart of Moab’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
it leads to
- Isaiah 13:8
Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another, their faces flushed with fear.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 6:24
We have heard the report; our hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped us, pain like that of a woman in labor.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 49:22
Look! An eagle will soar and swoop down, spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom’s mighty men will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
- Isaiah 13:8
Through
Isaiah 13:8Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another, their faces flushed with fear.
it leads to
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3
While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Nahum 2:10
She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!
- Isaiah 26:17
As a woman with child about to give birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in Your presence, O LORD.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3
Through
Isaiah 26:17As a woman with child about to give birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in Your presence, O LORD.
it leads to
- John 16:21
A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the…
- Jeremiah 4:31
For I hear a cry like a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child—the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands to…
- John 16:21
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.