The Meaning of Isaiah 21:1 Explained

Isaiah 21:1

KJV: The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.

YLT: The burden of the wilderness of the sea. 'Like hurricanes in the south for passing through, From the wilderness it hath come, From a fearful land.

Darby: The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through, so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.

ASV: The burden of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it cometh from the wilderness, from a terrible land.

Discover Isaiah 21:1

CONTEXT: What is the Context of Isaiah 21:1?

MEANING: What does Isaiah 21:1 Mean?

WORDS: What do the individual words in Isaiah 21:1 mean?

RELATIONS: What do the major concepts mean in Isaiah 21:1?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The burden  of the desert  of the sea.  As whirlwinds  in the south  pass  through; [so] it cometh  from the desert,  from a terrible  land. 

What does Isaiah 21:1 Mean?

Study Notes

burden
Babylon
The city, Babylon is not in view here, as the immediate context shows. It is important to note the significance of the name when used symbolically. "Babylon" is the Greek form: invariably in the O.T. Hebrew the word is simply Babel, the meaning of which is confusion, and in this sense the word is used symbolically.
(1) In the prophets, when the actual city is not meant, the reference is to the "confusion" into which the whole social order of the world has fallen under Gentile world-domination. (See "Times of the Gentiles," Luke 21:24 ; Revelation 16:14 ; Isaiah 13:4 gives the divine view of the welter of warring Gentile powers. The divine order is given in Isaiah 11. Israel in her own land, the centre of the divine government of the world and channel of the divine blessing; and the Gentiles blessed in association with Israel. Anything else is, politically, mere "babel."
(2) In Revelation 14:8-11 ; Revelation 16:19 the Gentile world-system is in view in connection with Armageddon; Revelation 16:14 ; Revelation 19:21 while in Revelation 17. the reference is to apostate Christianity, destroyed by the nations Revelation 17:16 headed up under the Beast; Daniel 7:8 ; Revelation 19:20 and false prophet. In Isaiah the political Babylon is in view, literally as to the then existing city, and symbolically as to the times of the Gentiles. In the Revelation both the symbolical- political and symbolical-religious Babylon are in view, for there both are alike under the tyranny of the Beast. Religious Babylon is destroyed by political Babylon Revelation 17:16 political Babylon by the appearing of the Lord Revelation 19:19-21 . That Babylon the city is not to be rebuilt is clear from; Isaiah 13:19-22 ; Jeremiah 51:24-26 ; Jeremiah 51:62-64 . By political Babylon is meant the Gentile world-system. (See "World,"; John 7:7 ; Revelation 13:8 ) It may be added that, in Scripture symbolism, Egypt stands for the world as such; Babylon for the world of corrupt power and corrupted religion; Nineveh for the pride, the haughty glory of the world.
A "burden," Heb. massa= a heavy, weighty thing, is a message, or oracle concerning Babylon, Assyria, Jerusalem, etc. It is "heavy" because the wrath of God is in it, and grievous for the prophet to declare.
Babylon
The city, Babylon is not in view here, as the immediate context shows. It is important to note the significance of the name when used symbolically. "Babylon" is the Greek form: invariably in the O.T. Hebrew the word is simply Babel, the meaning of which is confusion, and in this sense the word is used symbolically.
(1) In the prophets, when the actual city is not meant, the reference is to the "confusion" into which the whole social order of the world has fallen under Gentile world-domination. (See "Times of the Gentiles," Luke 21:24 ; Revelation 16:14 ; Isaiah 13:4 gives the divine view of the welter of warring Gentile powers. The divine order is given in Isaiah 11. Israel in her own land, the centre of the divine government of the world and channel of the divine blessing; and the Gentiles blessed in association with Israel. Anything else is, politically, mere "babel."
(2) In Revelation 14:8-11 ; Revelation 16:19 the Gentile world-system is in view in connection with Armageddon; Revelation 16:14 ; Revelation 19:21 while in Revelation 17. the reference is to apostate Christianity, destroyed by the nations Revelation 17:16 headed up under the Beast; Daniel 7:8 ; Revelation 19:20 and false prophet. In Isaiah the political Babylon is in view, literally as to the then existing city, and symbolically as to the times of the Gentiles. In the Revelation both the symbolical- political and symbolical-religious Babylon are in view, for there both are alike under the tyranny of the Beast. Religious Babylon is destroyed by political Babylon Revelation 17:16 political Babylon by the appearing of the Lord Revelation 19:19-21 . That Babylon the city is not to be rebuilt is clear from; Isaiah 13:19-22 ; Jeremiah 51:24-26 ; Jeremiah 51:62-64 . By political Babylon is meant the Gentile world-system. (See "World,"; John 7:7 ; Revelation 13:8 ) It may be added that, in Scripture symbolism, Egypt stands for the world as such; Babylon for the world of corrupt power and corrupted religion; Nineveh for the pride, the haughty glory of the world.

Verse Meaning

This oracle concerns the wilderness of the sea. This enigmatic title probably refers to the flat Mesopotamian plain northwest of the Persian Gulf, which the Assyrian and Babylonian empires occupied (cf. Isaiah 21:9). This area would become a wilderness because of God"s judgment. The oracle came as a sirocco (a hot, desert wind) from the Negev, a region infamous in Judah for its barrenness and heat. The destruction coming on Babylonia from a terrifying land would be similar to the devastation that blew into Judah periodically from the Negev.

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 21

1  The prophet, bewailing the captivity of his people,
6  sees in a vision the fall of Babylon by the Medes and Persians
11  Edom, scorning the prophet, is moved to repentance
13  The set time of Arabia's calamity

What do the individual words in Isaiah 21:1 mean?

The burden against the Wilderness of the Sea As whirlwinds in the Negev pass through from the desert [So] it comes from a land terrible
מַשָּׂ֖א מִדְבַּר־ יָ֑ם כְּסוּפ֤וֹת בַּנֶּ֙גֶב֙ לַֽחֲלֹ֔ף מִמִּדְבָּ֣ר בָּ֔א מֵאֶ֖רֶץ נוֹרָאָֽה

מַשָּׂ֖א  The  burden  against 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מַשָּׂא 
Sense: load, bearing, tribute, burden, lifting.
מִדְבַּר־  the  Wilderness 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מִדְבָּר 
Sense: wilderness.
יָ֑ם  of  the  Sea 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: יָם  
Sense: sea.
כְּסוּפ֤וֹת  As  whirlwinds 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, feminine plural
Root: סוּפָה 
Sense: storm-wind.
בַּנֶּ֙גֶב֙  in  the  Negev 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: נֶגֶב  
Sense: south-country, Nekeb, south.
לַֽחֲלֹ֔ף  pass  through 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: חָלַף 
Sense: to pass on or away, pass through, pass by, go through, grow up, change, to go on from.
מִמִּדְבָּ֣ר  from  the  desert 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מִדְבָּר 
Sense: wilderness.
בָּ֔א  [So]  it  comes 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
מֵאֶ֖רֶץ  from  a  land 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
נוֹרָאָֽה  terrible 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Participle, feminine singular
Root: יָרֵא 
Sense: to fear, revere, be afraid.

What are the major concepts related to Isaiah 21:1?

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