Isaiah 21:8
in Isaiah 21Then the lookout shouted: “Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; night after night I stay at my post.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he cried as a lion: O Lord, I stand continually upon the watch-tower in the day-time, and am set in my ward whole nights;
KJV
And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights:
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This verse in Isaiah 21
Commentary
11 notes on this verse(Verse 8.) And he looked closely with much attention, and the lion cried out: I am standing continually on the watchtower of the Lord, both day and night. And that lookout who was positioned to see what was coming cried out like a lion, or rather, he is called a lion himself as a prophet.
This site's exposition
They prepare a table
on Isaiah 21:5-8
Verse 5 shows the court of Babylon at a feast, "they eat, they drink", even as the princes are told to "oil the shields". Its confidence and its danger stand in one scene. The Lord tells the prophet to "post a lookout and have him report what he sees".
This site's exposition
Then the lookout shouted
Older versions have the lookout cry, A lion. Clarke took lion as a slip for the seer, and the Berean has the lookout who shouted from his post on the watchtower. Barnes keeps the lion as a likeness for the fierce host the lookout sees coming.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Verse 8.) I am a watchman of the Lord, standing continuously during the day, and I am a guard of my duty, standing all through the night. LXX: The Lord said: I have stood throughout the day, and I have stood over the camp throughout the night. The Prophet stands on the lookout of the Lord, and in his light, he sees what is to come. He has this responsibility, and this task assigned to him, to see what is to come in the darkness of this age.
[In the Gospels it is said,] "And he began to send them forth two by two." He sent them two by two that no one of them, being abandoned and alone, might fall into a denial, like Peter, or flee, like John. Human frailty quickly …
The Medieval Church1 voice
517. Third, the declaration is set out: and a lion cried out, a lion according to strength of soul, who formerly was a watchman through eminence of contemplation. And first, he declares his own diligence: I am upon the watchtower of the Lord: I will …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And he cried, a lion,.... That is, the watchman cried, a lion, or that he saw a lion; not Uriah the priest, as the Septuagint; nor Habakkuk, as some Jewish writers; but Cyrus, at the head of the Persian and Median armies, compared to a lion for his fierceness, courage, and strength; see 2Ti 4:17 a type of Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, by whom antichrist, or mystical Babylon, will be destroyed, Rev 5:
) he cried, A lion; this word, coming out of a watchman's mouth, no doubt gave them a certain sound, and everybody knew the meaning of it, though we do not know it now. It is likely that it was intended to raise attention: he that has an ear to hear, let him hear, as when a lion roars.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
And he cried, A lion “He that looked out on the watch” - The present reading, אריה aryeh, a lion, is so unintelligible, and the mistake so obvious, that I make no doubt that the true reading is הראה haroeh, the seer; as the Syriac translator manifestly found it in his copy, who renders it by דקוא duka, a watchman.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
A lion--rather, "(The watchman) cried, I am as a lion"; so as is understood (Isa 62:5; The point of comparison to "a lion" is in Re 10:3, the loudness of the cry. But here it is rather his vigilance.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And he cried, A lion - Margin, ‘As a lion.’ This is the correct rendering. The particle כ (k) - ‘as,’ is not unfrequently omitted (see Isa 62:5; Psa 11:1). That is, ‘I see them approach with the fierceness, rapidity, and terror of a lion (compare Rev 10:3). My lord, I stand continually upon the watch-tower - This is the speech of the watchman, and is addressed, not to Yahweh, but to him that appointed him. It is designed to show the “diligence” with which he had attended to the object for which he was appointed. He had been unceasing in his observation; and the result was, that now at length he saw the enemy approach like a lion, and it was certain that Babylon now must fall. The language used here has a striking resemblance to the opening of the “Agamemnon” of AEschylus; being the speech of the watchman, who had been very long upon his tower looking for the signal which should make known that Troy had fallen. It thus commences: ‘Forever thus! O keep me not, ye gods, Forever thus, fixed in the lonely tower Of Atreus’ palace, from whose height I gaze O’er watched and weary, like a night-dog, still Fixed to my post; meanwhile the rolling year Moves on, and I my wakeful vigils keep By the cold star-light sheen of spangled skies.’ Symmons, quoted in the “Pictorial Bible.” I am set in my ward - My place where one keeps watch. It does not mean that he was confined or imprisoned, but that he had kept his watch station (משׁמרת mishemeret from שׁמר shâmar “to watch, to keep, to attend to”). Whole nights - Margin, ‘Every night.’ It means that he had not left his post day or night.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקְרָ֖א | vaiyikra' | and he called out | H7121 → | 733 times |
| אַרְיֵ֑ה | ʾaryeh | a lion | H738 → | 80 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מִצְפֶּ֣ה׀ | mitzpeh | a watchtower | H4707 → | |
| אֲדֹנָ֗י | ʾadonai | O Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| אָנֹכִ֞י | ʾanokhi | I | H595 → | 359 times |
| עֹמֵ֤ד | ʾomed | [am] standing | H5975 → | 521 times |
| תָּמִיד֙ | tamid | continually | H8548 → | 104 times |
| יוֹמָ֔ם | yomam | by day | H3119 → | 50 times |
| וְעַל־ | veal- | and at | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מִ֨שְׁמַרְתִּ֔י | mishmarti | post my | H4931 → | |
| אָנֹכִ֥י | ʾanokhi | I | H595 → | 359 times |
| נִצָּ֖ב | nitzav | [am] stationed | H5324 → | |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַלֵּילֽוֹת׃ | haleilot | the nights | H3915 → | 233 times |
וַיִּקְרָ֖אand he called out
vaiyikra'H7121 →733 times
אַרְיֵ֑הa lion
ʾaryehH738 →80 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
מִצְפֶּ֣ה׀a watchtower
mitzpehH4707 →
אֲדֹנָ֗יO Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
אָנֹכִ֞יI
ʾanokhiH595 →359 times
עֹמֵ֤ד[am] standing
ʾomedH5975 →521 times
תָּמִיד֙continually
tamidH8548 →104 times
יוֹמָ֔םby day
yomamH3119 →50 times
וְעַל־and at
veal-H5921 →5755 times
מִ֨שְׁמַרְתִּ֔יpost my
mishmartiH4931 →
אָנֹכִ֥יI
ʾanokhiH595 →359 times
נִצָּ֖ב[am] stationed
nitzavH5324 →
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הַלֵּילֽוֹת׃the nights
haleilotH3915 →233 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
Psalms 63:6When I remember You on my bed, I think of You through the watches of the night.
it leads to
- Psalms 42:8
The LORD decrees His loving devotion by day, and at night His song is with me as a prayer to the God of my life.
- Psalms 119:147–148
I rise before dawn and cry for help; in Your word I have put my hope.
- Psalms 149:5
Let the saints exult in glory; let them shout for joy upon their beds.
- Psalms 119:55
In the night, O LORD, I remember Your name, that I may keep Your law.
- Psalms 77:4–6
You have kept my eyes from closing; I am too troubled to speak.
- Psalms 42:8
Through
Jeremiah 4:7A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to lay waste your land. Your cities will be reduced to ruins and…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 5:6
Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 6:11
Then I asked: “How long, O Lord?” And He replied: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left unoccupied and the land is desolate and ravaged,
- Jeremiah 5:6
Through
Jeremiah 49:19Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered pasture. For in an instant I will chase Edom from her land. Who is the chosen one…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 12:5
“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, how will you do in the thickets…
- Jeremiah 12:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 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); 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; Peter Chrysologus, SERMON 170 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.