Isaiah 21

Wesley: Dumah—of Edom or Idumea. He—the people of Dumah, one of them in the name and by the appointment of the rest. Me—to the watchman: the prophet delivers his prophecy in the form of a dialogue. Seir—out of Edom, which is frequently called Seir. Watchman—the watchman of Edom, whom they had set as people use to do in times of great danger. Night—they come very early to inquire what had happened in the night; which shews a state of great perplexity and fear. The repetition shews the greatness of their solicitude.

Dumah and Seir are Edom, not a twenty-first-century night-watch.

Calvin: the burden of Dumah. It is evident from Genesis 25:14 that this nation was descended from a son of Ishmael. The prophecy is obscure on account of its brevity; yet the Jews needed to be fortified when so many changes took place, that they might not think all things happen by chance. Out of Seir: Mount Seir was a mountain of the Edomites; under this name he includes the whole kingdom. Watchman, what of the night? The Edomites who put the question were solicitous about the danger.

Watchman, what of the night?

Wesley: The night—the night is past without any mischief, and the light of the morning is approaching; but tho’ the morning is coming, it will be gone, and the night will return, and your fears with it. Come—if you will inquire, inquire: I perceive your danger is not past, and there will be occasion for farther enquiries. Therefore return, come—come to me the next morning, and so from morning to morning.

The watchman’s answer is honest: morning is coming, but so is another night. He invites Edom to keep asking—an offer to seek the LORD while there is time.

Calvin: the morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye; return, come. The answer does not grant safety; a morning may come, and night with it. The call to enquire again sends them back to the word, not to a new habitation out of reach of danger. Safer to remain with the godly than to flee the Church through fear.

Common to both: morning, and also the night.

Wesley: Forest—not as you used to do, in the houses or tents of the Arabians: whereby he implies, that that populous country should be a wilderness. Companies—in those parts travelers then did, and still do, go together in companies. Dedanim—these were merchants, who used to trade with Tyre, and their way lay thro’ Arabia. Dedanite caravans lodging in thickets.

The forest-lodge is Arabia’s flight, not a modern trade route.

Calvin: the burden upon Arabia. He now passes on to the Arabians, and foretells that they too, in their own turn, will be dragged to the judgment-seat of God, so that he does not leave unnoticed any of the nations known to the Jews. They will be seized with such fear that they will leave their houses and flee into the woods; he states the direction of the flight, to Dedanim.

Thickets replace tents because the Lord has summoned Arabia.

Wesley: Tema—a part of Arabia. Fled—whereby he implies, that those other Arabians, against whom this prophecy is principally directed, should be reduced to great scarcity, and forced to flee for their lives, from a bloody enemy. Neither side disputes this: water for the thirsty, bread for the fugitive.

Tema’s bread is a mercy to fugitives. Do not aim the verse at a twenty-first-century column.

Calvin: to meet the thirsty bring waters. He heightens the trembling: they will not take time even to collect what is necessary for the journey. The Arabians will come into the country of Dedanim empty; he exhorts the inhabitants of Tema to go out and meet them with bread and water, because otherwise they will faint. Some think he mocks at cruel Arabians; that exposition is too constrained. He states the fact more clearly: extreme want.

The people of Tema bring water and bread to the fugitives.

Wesley (on v. 14): those Arabians against whom this prophecy is principally directed should be reduced to great scarcity, and forced to flee for their lives, from a bloody enemy. Swords, bow, and battle press them out.

The drawn sword is that age’s.

Calvin: for they fled away from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war. The reason of the thirst and the thickets is war. They do not roam for trade; they run from the heat of battle that the Lord has appointed.

The refugees have fled from swords and bows.

Wesley: A year—from the time of this prophecy: an exact year. Glory—their power, and riches, and all things wherein they used to glory. This was executed by the Assyrians. Hireling—as in the Moab oracle, hirelings are punctual in observing the time for which they are hired. A counted year, then Kedar’s glory ends.

The hireling’s year is that age’s clock, not a twenty-first-century date scheme.

Calvin: within a year, as the years of an hireling, all the glory of Kedar shall fail. The time is fixed so that believers may not faint, as with Moab’s three years. The hireling counts exactly; so will this year run. Kedar’s glory—power, wealth, name—fails because the Lord has said it.

The hireling’s clock is the Lord’s. Both readings: within a year, Kedar’s glory ended.

His glory of v. 16 still names the stroke: power and riches wherein they used to glory, executed by the Assyrians. The remainder few is that glory’s end. Common to both: the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.

The God of Israel has spoken.

Calvin: and the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it. What remains of their strength will be a remnant unlike their former glory. The seal is the speaker: the God of Israel, not Isaiah’s private guess.

Agreed on both sides: the LORD has spoken.