Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 21:5
Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, [and] anoint the shield.
5. The prophet contrasts his own lonely vigils with the careless security of the Babylonian revellers (cf. Daniel 5; Jer 51:39; Isa 14:11).
Prepare the table, &c. ] Render as in R.V. They prepare the table, they set the watch (the only measure of precaution adopted by the revellers), they eat, they drink.
arise, ye princes ] The banquet breaks up in confusion, for the foe is at the gates.
anoint the shield ] Shields were oiled (2Sa 1:21), probably to make the blows glide off them.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Prepare the table – This verse is one of the most striking and remarkable that occurs in this prophecy, or indeed in any part of Isaiah. It is language supposed to be spoken in Babylon. The first direction – perhaps supposed to be that of the king – is to prepare the table for the feast. Then follows a direction to set a watch – to make the city safe, so that they might revel without fear. Then a command to eat and drink: and then immediately a sudden order, as if alarmed at an unexpected attack, to arise and anoint the shield, and to prepare for a defense. The table here refers to a feast – that impious feast mentioned in Dan. 5 in the night in which Babylon was taken, and Belshazzar slain. Herodotus (i. 195), Xenophon (Cyr. 7, 5), and Daniel Dan. 5 all agree in the account that Babylon was taken in the night in which the king and his nobles were engaged in feasting and revelry. The words of Xenophon are, But Cyrus, when he heard that there was to be such a feast in Babylon, in which all the Babylonians would drink and revel through the whole night, on that night, as soon as it began to grow dark, taking many people, opened the dams into the river; that is, he opened the dykes which had been made by Semiramis and her successors to confine the waters of the Euphrates to one channel, and suffered the waters of the Euphrates again to flow over the country so that he could enter Babylon beneath its wall in the channel of the river. Xenophon has also given the address of Cyrus to the soldiers. Now, says he, let us go against them. Many of them are asleep; many of them are intoxicated; and all of them are unfit for battle ( asuntaktoi). Herodotus says (i. 191), It was a day of festivity among them, and while the citizens were engaged in dance and merriment, Babylon was, for the first time, thus taken. Compare the account in Dan. 5.
Watch in the watch-tower – place a guard so that the city shall be secure. Babylon had on its walls many towers, placed at convenient distances (see the notes at Isa. 13), in which guards were stationed to defend the city, and to give the alarm on any approach of an enemy. Xenophon has given a similar account of the taking of the city: They having arranged their guards, drank until light. The oriental watch-towers are introduced in the book for the purpose of illustrating a general subject often referred to in the Scriptures.
Eat, drink – Give yourselves to revelry during the night (see Dan. 5)
Arise, ye princes – This language indicates sudden alarm. It is the language either of the prophet, or more probably of the king of Babylon, alarmed at the sudden approach of the enemy, and calling upon his nobles to arm themselves and make, a defense. The army of Cyrus entered Babylon by two divisions – one on the north where the waters of the Euphrates entered the city, and the other by the channel of the Euphrates on the south. Knowing that the city was given up to revelry on that night, they had agreed to imitate the sound of the revellers until they should assemble around the royal palace in the center of the city. They did so. When the king heard the noise, supposing that it was the sound of a drunken mob, he ordered the gates of the palace to be opened to ascertain the cause of the disturbance. When they were thus opened, the army of Cyrus rushed in, and made an immediate attack on all who were within. It is to this moment that we may suppose the prophet here refers, when the king, aroused and alarmed, would call on his nobles to arm themselves for battle (see Jahns Hebrew Commonwealth, p. 153, Ed. Andover, 1828).
Anoint the shield – That is, prepare for battle. Gesenius supposes that this means to rub over the shield with oil to make the leather more supple and impenetrable (compare 2Sa 1:21). The Chaldee renders it, Fit, and polish your arms. The Septuagint, Prepare shields. Shields were instruments of defense prepared to ward off the spears and arrows of an enemy in battle. They were usually made of a rim of brass or wood, and over this was drawn a covering of the skin of an ox or other animal in the manner of a drum-head with us. Occasionally the hide of a rhinoceros or an elephant was used. Burckhardt (Travels in Nubia) says that the Nubians use the hide of the hippopotamus for the making of shields. But whatever skin might be used, it was necessary occasionally to rub it over with oil lest it should become hard, and crack, or lest it should become so rigid that an arrow or a sword would easily break through it. Jarchi says, that shields were made of skin, and that they anointed them with the oil of olive. The sense is, Prepare your arms! Make ready for battle!
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 21:5
Anoint the shield
Anoint the shield
The ancient shields being mostly of stout leather stretched over a frame or rim of metal or wood, it was necessary to rub them with oil, lest they should become hard and crack, or lest they should become so rigid that an arrow or spear might easily penetrate them.
Shields of this kind are still much in use, and still require the same treatment, in Western Asia; and we have ourselves frequently seen them on sale in the bazaars, and in use among the Arabs, the Kurds, and the Caucasians. (J. Kitto, D. D.)
Things that did not happen
What is a shield? It is a very peculiar part of Gods armour. It is not a strength in calamity; it is something which prevents calamity from coming. My strength is my power to bear; but my shield is my escape from bearing. My strength lifts me when the blow falls; my shield catches the blow before it falls. My strength supports what is; my shield wards off what might have been. I have often praised God for the strength; but I have seldom anointed the shield. I have recognised a thousand times His songs in the night; but I have not sufficiently thanked Him that the night itch has not been deeper. (G. Matheson, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. Prepare the table – “The table is prepared”] In Hebrew the verbs are in the infinitive mood absolute, as in Eze 1:14: “And the animals ran and returned, ratso veshob, like the appearance of the lightning;” just as the Latins say, currere et reverti, for currebant et revertebantur. See Isa 32:11, and the note there.
Arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield.] Kimchi observes that several of the rabbins understood this of Belshazzar’s impious feast and death. The king of a people is termed the shield, because he is their defense. The command, Anoint the shield, is the same with Anoint a new king. Belshazzar being now suddenly slain, while they were all eating and drinking, he advises the princes, whose business it was, to make speed and anoint another in his stead.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Prepare the table; furnish it with meats and drinks, as it follows. The prophet foretells what the Babylonians would be doing when their enemies were at their doors, that they would give up themselves to feasting and security.
Watch in the watch-tower, to give us notice of any approaching danger, that in the mean time we may more securely indulge ourselves in mirth and pleasures.
Arise, ye princes; either,
1. Ye Medes and Persians; whilst your enemies the Babylonians are feasting securely, prepare to make your assault. Or,
2. Ye princes of Babylon; arise from the table and run to your arms. Which sudden alarm and change of their posture proceeded from tidings out of the watch-tower, as may be gathered from the former clause,
and is more fully expressed in the following verses.
Annoint the shield; prepare yourselves and your arms for the battle approaching: The shield is put for all their weapons of offence and defence. They used to anoint their shields with oil, partly to preserve ahd polish them, and partly to make them slippery, that their enemies darts might not fasten in them, but slide off from them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. Prepare the tablenamely,the feast in Babylon; during which Cyrus opened the dykes made bySemiramis to confine the Euphrates to one channel and suffered themto overflow the country, so that he could enter Babylon by thechannel of the river. Isaiah first represents the king ordering thefeast to be got ready. The suddenness of the irruption of the foe isgraphically expressed by the rapid turn in the language to an alarmaddressed to the Babylonian princes, “Arise,” c. (compareIsa 22:13). MAURERtranslates, “They prepare the table,” &c. Butsee Isa 8:9.
watch in . . .watchtowerrather, “set the watch.” This done, theythought they might feast in entire security. Babylon had manywatchtowers on its walls.
anoint . . . shieldThiswas done to prevent the leather of the shield becoming hard andliable to crack. “Make ready for defense” themention of the “shield” alone implies that it is theBabylonian revellers who are called on to prepare for instantself-defense. HORSLEYtranslates, “Grip the oiled shield.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Prepare the table,…. Set it, spread it, furnish it with all kind of provisions, as at a feast; and such an one Belshazzar made, the night the city was taken: these words are directed to him by his courtiers or queen, as represented by the prophet, in order to remove his fears; see Da 5:10:
watch in the watchtower; this is said to his servants, his soldiers, or sentinels, that were placed on watchtowers to observe the motions of the enemy, who were ordered on duty, and to be on guard, that he and his nobles might feast the more securely; and all this being done, a table furnished, and a guard set, he, his nobles, and all his guests, are encouraged to “eat” and “drink” liberally and cheerfully, without any fear of the Medes and Persians, who were now besieging the city; when, at the same time, by the Lord it would be said,
arise, ye princes; not, ye nobles of Babylon, from your table, quit it, and your feasting and mirth:
[and] anoint the shield; prepare your arms, see that they are in good order, get them in readiness, and defend your king, yourselves, and your city, as some; but the princes of the Medes and Persians, Cyrus and his generals, are bid to take their arms, and enter the city while indulging themselves at their feast: it was usual to anoint shields, and other pieces of armour, partly that they might be smooth and slippery, as Jarchi, that so the darts of the enemy might easily slide off; and partly for the polishing and brightening of them, being of metal, especially of brass; so the Targum,
“polish and make the arms bright;”
see 2Sa 1:21. Aben Ezra understands the words as an exhortation to the princes, to arise and anoint Darius king, in the room of Belshazzar slain; the word “shield” sometimes signifying a king, for which he mentions Ps 84:9 so Ben Melech; but they are a call of the prophet, or of the Lord, to the princes of the Medes and Persians, to take the opportunity, while the Babylonians were feasting, to fall upon them; and the words may be rendered thus u,
“in or while preparing the table, watching in the watchtower, eating and drinking, arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield;”
which was done by their servants, though they are called upon.
u “disponendo, mensam, speculando speculam, comedendo, bibendo, surgite principes, ungite clypeum”, Montanus; and to the same sense Grotius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
On the other hand, what Xenophon so elaborately relates, and what is also in all probability described in Dan 5:30 (compare Jer 51:39, Jer 51:57), is referred to in Isa 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., Jer 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 tzapoh hatztzaphith . Hitzig’s explanation, “they spread carpets” (from tzaphah , expandere , obducere , compare the Talmudic tziphah , tziphtah , 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. tzaphith 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., Isa 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.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
5. Prepare the table. These verbs may be taken for participles; as if he had said, “While they were preparing the table and appointing a guard, while they were eating and drinking, sudden terror arose; there was a call to arms, Arise ye princes,” etc.. But Isaiah presents lively descriptions, so as to place the actual event, as it were, before our eyes. Certainly Xenophon does not describe so historically the storming of the city; and this makes it evident that it was not natural sagacity, but heavenly inspiration, that taught Isaiah to describe so vividly events that were unknown. Besides, we ought to observe the time when these predictions were uttered; for at that time the kingdom of Babylon was in its most flourishing condition, and appeared to have invincible power, and dreaded no danger. Isaiah ridicules this vain confidence, and shews that this power will speedily be laid in ruins.
Let it not be thought absurd that he introduces the watchmen as speaking; for although the siege had not shaken off the slothfulness of a proud and foolish tyrant so as to hinder him from indulging in gaiety and feasting, still there is no room to doubt that men were appointed to keep watch. It is customary indeed with princes to defend themselves by guards, that they may more freely and without any disturbance abandon themselves to every kind of pleasure; but the Prophet expressly mixes up the sentinels with the delicacies of the table, to make it more evident that the wicked tyrant was seized with a spirit of giddiness before he sunk down to drunken reveling. The king of Babylon was thus feasting and indulging in mirth with his courtiers, when he was overtaken by a sudden and unexpected calamity, not that he was out of danger, but because he disregarded and scorned the enemy. The day before it happened, it might have been thought incredible, for the conspiracy of Gobryas, and of that party which betrayed him, had not yet been discovered. At the time when Isaiah spoke, none would have thought that an event so extraordinary would ever take place.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(5) Prepare the table, watch in the watch-tower.The words (historical infinitive) are better taken as indicative: They prepare . . . they watch. The last clause has been variously rendered, they spread the coverlet; i.e., for the couches of the revellers (Amo. 6:4); and they take a horoscopes (Ewald). Here, with hardly a shadow of a doubt, there is a reference to the temper of reckless revel such as was the immediate forerunner of the capture of Babylon. The prophet had, perhaps, an analogue of such blind security before his eyes at the very time he wrote (Isa. 22:13), which led him to anticipate a like state of things in Babylon.
Anoint the shield . . .The summons is one which in the prophets vision breaks in on the songs and music of the revel. The shields thought of were those covered with leather, which was oiled, partly to protect it from wet, partly to make the stroke of the sword glide off from it. The call implies that even this precaution had been neglected by the revellers.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. The scene of the wildest agitation continues, but it is not unsystematic and insane. There is brevity, rapidity, life, and system in the description.
Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink This is addressed to the Babylonians. The phrase “watch,” etc., is better rendered, Spread the carpets. It describes a banquet scene. However, the usual guard is probably around, and an alarm may have been sounded.
Arise, ye princes Princes of Persia and Media address, as it were, of the prophet.
Anoint the shield Besmear the “shield,” a practice among the ancients, to aid the glancing off of lances and arrows. See VIRGIL’S Eneid, 7.626: “Pars leves clypeos arvina pingui” shields smooth with fat oil.
This was practiced, some say, for the preservation of the leather.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 21:5 Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, [and] anoint the shield.
Ver. 5. Prepare the table. ] Insultat regi Balthasari, ac irridendo voces illius memorat. a Prepare the table, said Belshazzar. But more need he had to have said, Prepare the battle; set the army in array, &c. But this secure sot thought of no such matter. His destruction, though at hand, was hid from his eyes by the Lord, who
“ Auferre mentem talibus primum solet,
Caliginemque, affundit, ut ruant suas
Furenter in clades, sibi quas noxii
Accersierunt ultro, consiliis malis. ”
Watch in the watchtower.
Eat, drink.
Arise, ye princes, anoint the shield,
a Zeged.
b Non convivandi sed pugnandi tempus est. – A Lapide.
Prepare, &c. Figure of speech Irony. App-6.
eat: Isa 22:13, Isa 22:14, Dan 5:1-5, 1Co 15:32
arise: Isa 13:2, Isa 13:17, Isa 13:18, Isa 45:1-3, Jer 51:11, Jer 51:27, Jer 51:28
Reciprocal: 2Sa 1:21 – anointed 1Ki 1:49 – General Psa 127:1 – the watchman Isa 14:11 – pomp Isa 47:8 – given Jer 46:3 – General Jer 51:39 – their heat Jer 51:57 – I will Nah 2:5 – recount Hab 2:1 – tower Hab 2:5 – he transgresseth 1Th 5:7 – and they
Isa 21:5. Prepare the table Furnish it with meats and drinks, as it follows. The prophet foretels what the Babylonians would be doing when their enemies were upon the point of entering their city: Watch in the watch-tower To give us notice of any approaching danger, that we may more securely indulge ourselves in mirth and pleasures. Arise, ye princes Either, 1st, Ye princes of Babylon. Arise from the table, and run to your arms: which sudden alarm was the consequence of tidings from the watch- tower. Or, 2d, Ye Medes and Persians; as if he had said, While your enemies, the Babylonians, are feasting securely, prepare and make your assault. Most commentators understand the clause in this latter sense. Dr. Waterland, after Vitringa, renders it, The table is spread: the watchman stands upon the watch; they eat, they drink: Arise now, ye princes, &c. The words paint in lively colours the security and revelling of the Babylonians, at the very time when the divine command is given to the Medes and Persians to seize this proper moment to make the assault. See Jer 51:11; Jer 51:28, &c. The expression, Anoint the shield, means, Prepare your arms: make ready for the battle. The shield is put for all their weapons, offensive and defensive. They used to anoint their shields with oil to preserve and polish them, and make them slippery, that their enemies darts might not fix in and penetrate, but slide off from them.
21:5 Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: {h} arise, ye princes, [and] anoint the shield.
(h) While they are eating and drinking, they will be commanded to run to their weapons.
If the setting for the prophecy was the embassy of Merodach-baladan, the people who set the table and provide a meal refers to the Judeans. They entertained representatives of the nation under divine judgment (Babylon) who, as they dined with the Judeans, planned war against them among themselves. [Note: Motyer, p. 175.] The Assyrians captured and destroyed Babylon in 686 B.C. Another possibility is that Isaiah saw a banquet in Babylon (cf. Daniel 5). The plan for battle would, in that case, be that of Babylon’s invading enemy, perhaps the Medes and Persians. [Note: Oswalt, p. 394; Archer, p. 624.]
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)