On the other hand, what Xenophon so elaborately relates, and what is also in all probability described in Daniel 5:30 (compare Jeremiah 51:39, Jeremiah 51:57), is referred to in Isaiah 21:5 : "They cover the table, watch the watch, eat, drink. Rise up, ye princes! Anoint the shield!" This is not a scene from the hostile camp, where they are strengthening themselves for an attack upon Babylon: for the express allusion to the covering of the table is intended to create the impression of confident and careless good living; and the exclamation "anoint the shield" (cf., Jeremiah 51:11) presupposes that they have first of all to prepare themselves for battle, and therefore that they have been taken by surprise. What the prophet sees, therefore, is a banquet in Babylon. The only thing that does not seem quite to square with this is one of the infinitives with which the picture is so vividly described (Ges. 131, 4, b), namely tzâpōh hatztzâphith. Hitzig's explanation, "they spread carpets" (from tzâphâh, expandere, obducere, compare the Talmudic tziphâh, tziphtâh, a mat, storea), commends itself thoroughly; but it is without any support in biblical usage, so that we prefer to follow the Targum, Peshito, and Vulgate (the Sept. does not give any translation of the words at all), and understand the hap. leg. tzâphith as referring to the watch: "they set the watch." They content themselves with this one precautionary measure, and give themselves up with all the greater recklessness to their night's debauch (cf., Isaiah 22:13). The prophet mentions this, because (as Meier acknowledges) it is by the watch that the cry, "Rise up, ye princes," etc., is addressed to the feasters. The shield-leather was generally oiled, to make it shine and protect it from wet, and, more than all, to cause the strokes it might receive to glide off (compare the laeves clypeos in Virg. Aen. vii. 626). The infatuated self-confidence of the chief men of Babylon was proved by the fact that they had to be aroused. They fancied that they were hidden behind the walls and waters of the city, and therefore they had not even got their weapons ready for use.

Isaiah 21:11 Parallel Commentaries

Dumah. Dumah is probably the same as Dumatha, a city of Arabia, mentioned by Stephanus, and the modern Dumah and Dumathalgandel, on the borders of Arabia and Syria, in a rocky valley. The Edomites, says Bp. Lowth, as well as Jews, were subdued by the Babylonians. They enquire of the prophet how long their subjection is to last; he intimates that the Jews should be delivered from their captivity; not so the Edomites. 'The morning cometh, and also the night'.

Genesis 25:14 And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa,

1 Chronicles 1:30 Mishma, and Dumah, Massa, Hadad, and Tema,

me out

Isaiah 34:1 Come near, you nations, to hear; and listen, you people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein...

Isaiah 63:1-6 Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel...

Numbers 24:18 And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly.

Deuteronomy 2:5 Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth...

Psalm 137:7 Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Raze it, raze it, even to the foundation thereof.

Jeremiah 49:7-22 Concerning Edom, thus said the LORD of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent...

Ezekiel 35:1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Joel 3:19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah...

Amos 1:6,11,12 Thus said the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof...

Obadiah 1:1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus said the Lord GOD concerning Edom; We have heard a rumor from the LORD...

Malachi 1:2-4 I have loved you, said the LORD. Yet you say, Wherein have you loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? said the LORD...

what

Isaiah 21:6 For thus has the LORD said to me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he sees.

Jeremiah 37:17 Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD?...