Isaiah 21:5 BSB — MannaFest

Isaiah 21:5

They prepare a table, they lay out a carpet, they eat, they drink! Rise up, O princes, oil the shields!

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

They prepare the table, they set the watch, they eat, they drink: rise up, ye princes, anoint the shield.

KJV

Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield.

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Commentary

3 voices

Jerome

Commentary on Isaiah (420)

(Vers. 4, 5.) I fell down when I heard, I was troubled when I saw: my heart grew faint, darkness overwhelmed me: Babylon, my beloved, has become a wonder to me. Set the table, watch those who eat and drink: rise up, princes, take the shield. LXX: I acted unjustly so that I would not hear, I hastened so that I would not see, my heart went astray: iniquity has flooded over me; my soul is filled with fear. Set the table, watch the watchtower: eat, drink: rise up, princes, prepare the shields.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

Prepare 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.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Babylon had many watchtowers on its walls. anoint . . . shield--This was done to prevent the leather of the shield becoming hard and liable to crack. "Make ready for defense"; the mention of the "shield" alone implies that it is the Babylonian revellers who are called on to prepare for instant self-defense.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

10 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
עָרֹ֧ךְ	'a.Rokh	they are arranging	H6186 →
הַשֻּׁלְחָ֛ן	ha.shul.Chan	the table	H7979 →
צָפֹ֥ה	tza.Foh	they are spreading out	H6823 →
הַצָּפִ֖ית	ha.tza.Fit	the rug	H6844 →
אָכ֣וֹל	'a.Khol	eating	H398 →
שָׁתֹ֑ה	sha.Toh	drinking	H8354 →
ק֥וּמוּ	Ku.mu	<you> arise	H6965 →
הַשָּׂרִ֖ים	ha.sa.Rim	O officials	H8269 →
מִשְׁח֥וּ	mish.Chu	smear	H4886 →
מָגֵֽן׃ פ	ma.Gen	a shield	H4043 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Jeremiah 51:39
While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast, and I will make them drunk so that they may revel; then they will fall asleep forever and never wake up, declares…
leads to
- Jeremiah 25:27
  “Then you are to tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Drink, get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, because of the…
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Jeremiah 51:57
  I will make her princes and wise men drunk, along with her governors, officials, and warriors. Then they will fall asleep forever and not wake up,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD…
Through
Jeremiah 51:57
I will make her princes and wise men drunk, along with her governors, officials, and warriors. Then they will fall asleep forever and not wake up,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD…
leads to
- Jeremiah 46:18
  As surely as I live, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts, there will come one who is like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea.
- Jeremiah 48:15
  Moab has been destroyed and its towns have been invaded; the best of its young men have gone down in the slaughter, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.
- Jeremiah 51:39
  While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast, and I will make them drunk so that they may revel; then they will fall asleep forever and never wake up, declares…
Through
Jeremiah 51:11
Sharpen the arrows! Fill the quivers! The LORD has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because His plan is aimed at Babylon to destroy her, for it is the vengeance of…
leads to
- Jeremiah 46:4
  Harness the horses; mount the steeds; take your positions with helmets on! Polish your spears; put on armor!
- Jeremiah 50:45
  Therefore hear the plans that the LORD has drawn up against Babylon and the strategies He has devised against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged…
- Jeremiah 50:9
  For behold, I stir up and bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north. They will line up against her; from the north she will be captured. Their…

Featured studies on this passage

Walks through Isaiah 21

The Watchman

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About Isaiah

The Prophet Isaiah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Isaiah: the study guide →Read chapter 21 →The featured study →

Continue: Isaiah 21 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Isaiah

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Isaiah