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Author: Eduardo Freire Canosa
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1 An oracle concerning the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the southland, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror.
2 A dire vision has been shown to me: The traitor betrays, the looter takes loot. Elam, attack! Media, lay siege! I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.
3 At this my body is racked with pain, pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor; I am staggered by what I hear, I am bewildered by what I see.
4 My heart falters, fear makes me tremble; the twilight I longed for has become a horror to me.
5 They set the tables, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink! Get up, you officers, oil the shields!
6 This is what the Lord says to me: "Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees.
7 When he sees chariots with teams of horses, riders on donkeys or riders on camels, let him be alert, fully alert."
8 And the lookout shouted, "Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; every night I stay at my post.
9 Look, here comes a man in a chariot with a team of horses. And he gives back the answer: 'Babylon has fallen, has fallen! All the images of its gods lie shattered on the ground!'"
10 O my people, crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the Lord Almighty, from the God of Israel.
11 An oracle concerning Dumah: Someone calls to me from Seir, "Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?"
12 The watchman replies, "Morning is coming, but also the night. If you would ask, then ask; and come back yet again."
13 An oracle concerning Arabia: You caravans of Dedanites, who camp in the thickets of Arabia,
14 bring water for the thirsty; you who live in Tema, bring food for the fugitives.
15 They flee from the sword, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow and from the heat of battle.
16 This is what the Lord says to me: "Within one year, as a servant bound by contract would count it, all the pomp of Kedar will come to an end.
17 The survivors of the bowmen, the warriors of Kedar, will be few." The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.
Nine canonical verses are exported to two revisions.
Revised Chapter 21 absorbs the remaining eight verses, imports a fourth oracle numbering four verses and carries the title, "Four Short Oracles."
2. A dire vision has been shown to me: The traitor betrays, the looter takes loot. Elam, attack! Media, lay siege! I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.
Explanation: This verse can only be speaking about Babylon or Assyria. Since elsewhere the Book of Isaiah holds that "Assyria will fall by a sword that is not of man; a sword, not of mortals, will devour them" (Isaiah 31:8) verse 2 concerns Babylon.
Destination: Revised Chapter 13, "Babylon,"
2 A dire vision has been shown to me: The traitor betrays, the looter takes loot. Elam, attack! Media, lay siege! I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused. 5 They set the tables, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink! Get up, you officers, oil the shields!6 This is what the Lord says to me: "Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees. 7 When he sees chariots with teams of horses, riders on donkeys or riders on camels, let him be alert, fully alert." Second Half of 24:16 But I said, "I waste away, I waste away! Woe to me! The treacherous betray! With treachery the treacherous betray!" 8 And the lookout shouted, "Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; every night I stay at my post. 9 Look, here comes a man in a chariot with a team of horses. And he gives back the answer: 'Babylon has fallen, has fallen! All the images of its gods lie shattered on the ground!'"
3-4. At this my body is racked with pain, pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor; I am staggered by what I hear, I am bewildered by what I see. 4 My heart falters, fear makes me tremble; the twilight I longed for has become a horror to me.
Analysis: Isaiah was not horrified visualizing the demise of unrighteous nations like Babylon. Even the destruction of Ephraim did not terrify him (Isaiah 10:22-23) and the continual destruction of his people just made him weep bitterly (Isaiah 22:4). Verses 3-4 suggest rather a vision of hell, "The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless" (Isaiah 33:14) or a vision concerning the devastation of the earth, "Terror and pit and snare await you, O people of the earth" (Isaiah 24:17). After some hesitation the second backdrop was favoured.
Destination: Revised Chapter 24, "The Day of The Lord."
5. They set the tables, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink! Get up, you officers, oil the shields!
Analysis: The officers are unaware of the impending danger and this rhymes with betrayal (v 2).
Destination: Revised Chapter 13, "Babylon." See verse 2 for the placement of verse 5.
6-10. This is what the Lord says to me: "Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees. 7 When he sees chariots with teams of horses, riders on donkeys or riders on camels, let him be alert, fully alert." 8 And the lookout shouted, "Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; every night I stay at my post. 9 Look, here comes a man in a chariot with a team of horses. And he gives back the answer: 'Babylon has fallen, has fallen! All the images of its gods lie shattered on the ground!'" 10 O my people, crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the Lord Almighty, from the God of Israel.
Destination: Obviously Revised Chapter 13, "Babylon." See verse 2 for the placement of verses 6-9.
Incoming Verses
22:1-3. An oracle concerning the Valley of Vision: What troubles you now, that you have all gone up on the roofs, 2 O town full of commotion, O city of tumult and revelry? Your slain were not killed by the sword, nor did they die in battle. 3 All your leaders have fled together; they have been captured without using the bow. All you who were caught were taken prisoner together, having fled while the enemy was still far away.
22:5. The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a day of tumult and trampling and terror in the Valley of Vision, a day of battering down walls and of crying out to the mountains.
Revised Chapter 21
Four Short Oracles
1 An oracle concerning the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the southland, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror.
11 An oracle concerning Dumah: Someone calls to me from Seir, "Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?" 12 The watchman replies, "Morning is coming, but also the night. If you would ask, then ask; and come back yet again."
13 An oracle concerning Arabia: You caravans of Dedanites, who camp in the thickets of Arabia, 14 bring water for the thirsty; you who live in Tema, bring food for the fugitives. 15 They flee from the sword, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow and from the heat of battle.
16 This is what the Lord says to me: "Within one year, as a servant bound by contract would count it, all the pomp of Kedar will come to an end. 17 The survivors of the bowmen, the warriors of Kedar, will be few." The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.
22:1 An oracle concerning the Valley of Vision: What troubles you now, that you have all gone up on the roofs, 22:2 O town full of commotion, O city of tumult and revelry? Your slain were not killed by the sword, nor did they die in battle. 22:3 All your leaders have fled together; they have been captured without using the bow. All you who were caught were taken prisoner together, having fled while the enemy was still far away.
22:5 The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a day of tumult and trampling and terror in the Valley of Vision, a day of battering down walls and of crying out to the mountains.
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