Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 21:9
And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, [with] a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.
9. Hardly has he spoken when the appointed vision appears: And, behold, here cometh a troop of men, horsemen in pairs (see Isa 21:7). And in the same breath the watchman declares its significance: Babylon is fallen, &c. (proph. perf.). Cf. Rev 18:1 f.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And, behold … a chariot of men – This place shows that the word chariot ( rekeb) may denote something else than a wagon or carriage, as a chariot drawn by men cannot be intended. The sense can be expressed, perhaps, by the word riding, I see a riding of men approach; that is, I see cavalry drawing near, or men riding and hastening to the battle.
With a couple of horsemen – The word with is not in the Hebrew. The meaning is, I see a riding of men, or cavalry; and they come in pairs, or two abreast. A part of the sentence is to be supplied from Isa 21:7. He saw not only horsemen, but riders on donkeys and camels.
And he answered – That is, the watchman answered. The word answer, in the Scriptures, means often merely to commence a discourse after an interval; to begin to speak Job 3:2; Dan 2:26; Act 5:8.
Babylon is fallen – That is, her ruin is certain. Such a mighty army is drawing near, and they approach so well prepared for battle, that the ruin of Babylon is inevitable. The repetition of this declaration that Babylon is fallen, denotes emphasis and certainty. Compare Psa 92:9 :
For lo, thine enemies, O Lord,
For lo, thine enemies shall perish.
Psa 93:3 :
The floods have lifted up, O Lord;
The floods have lifted up their waves.
A similar description is given of the fall of Babylon in Jer 50:32; Jer 51:8; and John has copied this description in the account of the overthrow of the mystical Babylon Rev 18:1-2. Babylon was distinguished for its pride, arrogance, and haughtiness. It became, therefore, the emblem of all that is haughty, and as such is used by John in the Apocalypse; and as such it was a most striking emblem of the pride, arrogance, haughtiness, and oppression which have always been evinced by Papal Rome.
And all the graven images – Babylon was celebrated for its idolatry, and perhaps was the place where the worship of idols commenced. The principal god worshipped there was Belus, or Bel (see the note at Isa 46:1).
Are broken … – That is, shall be destroyed; or, in spite of its idols, the whole city would be ruined.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 9. Here cometh a chariot of men, &c. – “A man, one of the two riders”] So the Syriac understands it, and Ephrem Syr.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Behold; the sum of what I have discovered is this.
A chariot of men; not filled with goods, as chariots of burden used to be; but provided with men, to fight from or with them.
With a couple of horsemen; understand, and a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; which is easily understood from Isa 21:7, where they are expressed.
He; the prophet Isaiah, who set the watchman or the Lord, by whose command he was set, Isa 21:6, who here gives an explication of the vision.
All the graven images of her gods; which is mentioned as an evidence that she was fully conquered, because otherwise they would not have suffered their idols to have been thrown to the ground.
He hath broken; God, by the hands of Cyrus, his instrument. Or it is an indefinite speech, he hath broken, &c., for they are broken, &c.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. chariot of menchariotswith men in them; or rather, the same body of riders, horsemen twoabreast, as in Isa 21:7[MAURER]. But HORSLEY,”The man drawn in a car with a pair of riders.” The firsthalf of this verse describes what the watchman sees; thesecond half, what the watchman says, in consequence of what hesees. In the interval between Isa 21:7;Isa 21:9, the overthrow ofBabylon by the horsemen, or man in the car, is accomplished. Theoverthrow needed to be announced to the prophet by the watchman,owing to the great extent of the city. HERODOTUS(1.131) says that one part of the city was captured some time beforethe other received the tidings of it.
answerednot tosomething said previously, but in reference to the subject inthe mind of the writer, to be collected from the preceding discourse:proclaimeth (Job 3:2,Margin; Dan 2:26; Act 5:8).
fallen . . . fallenTherepetition expresses emphasis and certainty (Psa 92:9;Psa 93:3; compare Jer 51:8;Rev 18:2).
imagesBel, Merodach,c. (Jer 50:2 Jer 51:44;Jer 51:52). The Persians had noimages, temples, or altars, and charged the makers of such withmadness [HERODOTUS 1.131];therefore they dashed the Babylonian “images broken unto theground.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men,…. Or “of a man” x; a chariot with a man in it, Cyrus or Darius:
[with] a couple of horsemen; the army of the Medes and Persians, with their two leaders or generals, as before; only now seen nearer the city, just entering into it; for so the word may be rendered, “goeth”, or “is gone in a chariot”, c.:
and he answered, and said either the watchman, upon seeing the chariot and horsemen go into the city; or one of the horsemen that went in; so the Syriac and Arabic versions; or rather the prophet, and the Lord by him:
Babylon is fallen, is fallen: which is repeated to show the certainty of it. The same words are used of the fall of mystical Babylon,
Re 14:8. The Targum is,
“it is fallen, and also it shall be, that Babylon shall fall;”
that is, a second time, and hereafter: and so Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it of two falls, one by the Medes and Persians, and the other by the hand of heaven, or God himself: literal Babylon fell by the former; mystical Babylon will fall by the latter, even by the breath of Christ’s mouth, and the brightness of his coming:
and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground; either Cyrus or Darius, who might do this, not from any detestation of them, but for the sake of the gold, and silver, and riches, that were about them; or rather the Lord by them, and so put an end to idolatry; as will be, when mystical Babylon is destroyed.
x “currus viri”, Pagninus, Montanus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But when he is about to speak, his complaint is stifled in his mouth. “And, behold, there came a cavalcade of men, pairs of horsemen, and lifted up its voice, and said, Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the images of its gods He hath dashed to the ground!” It is now clear enough where the long procession went to when it disappeared. It entered Babylon, made itself master of the city, and established itself there. And now, after a long interval, there appears a smaller cavalcade, which has to carry the tidings of victory somewhere; and the spy hears them cry out in triumph, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon!” In Rev 18:1-2, the same words form the shout of triumph raised by the angel, the antitype being more majestic than the type, whilst upon the higher ground of the New Testament everything moves on in spiritual relations, all that is merely national having lost its power. Still even here the spiritual inwardness of the affair is so far expressed, that it is Jehovah who dashes to the ground; and even the heathen conquerors are obliged to confess that the fall of Babylon and its pesilim (compare Jer 51:47, Jer 51:52) is the work of Jehovah Himself. What is here only hinted at from afar – namely, that Cyrus would act as the anointed of Jehovah – is expanded in the second part (Isaiah 40-66) for the consolation of the captives.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
9. Babylon is fallen, is fallen. This shews plainly that it is not king Belshazzar’s watchman who is introduced, for this speech would be unsuitable to such a character. The Prophet therefore makes known, by the command of God, what would happen. Now, this may refer either to God or to Darius, as well as to the watchman; and it makes little difference as to the meaning, for Darius, being God’s servant in this matter, is not inappropriately represented to be the herald of that judgment. There would be greater probability in referring it to God himself; for Darius had no such thoughts when he overthrew the idols of the Babylonians. But the speech agrees better with the character of a guardian, as if an angel added an interpretation to the prophecy.
And all the graven images of her gods. There is here an implied contrast between the living God and dead idols. This mode of expression, too, deserves notice, when he calls them “images of gods;” for the Babylonians knew, as all idolaters loudly proclaim, that their images are not gods. Yet they ascribed to them divine power, and when this is done, “the truth of God is changed into a lie,” (Rom 1:25,) and not only so, but God himself is denied. But on this subject we shall afterwards speak more largely. Here we see, that by her destruction Babylon was punished for idolatry, for he assigns the reason why Babylon was destroyed. It was because the Lord could not endure that she should glory in her “graven images.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9) And, behold, here cometh . . .Better, Behold, there came . . . The words narrate a second vision, not the watchmans narrative of the first. He sees now, as it were, a part of the cavalcade which he had beheld before, and now it is no longer silent, but reports what has been accomplished. Babylon is fallen, is fallen! The words are applied to the destruction of the mystical Babylon in Rev. 14:8; Rev. 18:2. Stress is laid on the destruction of the idols of Babylon by the iconoclastic Persians.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. But soon his complaint is hushed, and then bursts on his view the cavalcade, coming as it were from out of Babylon itself, shouting, Babylon is fallen, is fallen. This is Delitzsch’s explanation, who says of this part of the scene: “It is now clear enough where the procession went to when it disappeared. It had entered Babylon, made itself master of the city, and established itself there, and afterward came forth announcing the downfall.” This is ingenious, and neither the grammar nor the rhetoric of the passage is adverse to such an explanation. That Cyrus was to act as the anointed of Jehovah in this scene is more fully stated in Isa 41:2-3; Isa 45:1. And the scene here in effect repeats the facts prophesied of in chapter 13.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 21:9 And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, [with] a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.
Ver. 9. And, behold, here cometh a chariot o men. ] Or, Behold, even now are gone in – that is Cyrus and Darius as Isa 21:7 have broken into the town, and surprised it.
And he answered and said.
Babylon is fallen, is fallen.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
men. Hebrew. ‘ish. App-14.
Babylon is fallen, &c. Note the Figure of speech Epizeuxis, for emphasis.
the graven images of her gods. Reference to Pentateuch. Phrase peculiar to Deu 7:25; Deu 12:3. App-92.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
behold: Jer 50:3, Jer 50:9, Jer 50:29, Jer 50:42, Jer 51:27
Babylon: Isa 13:19, Isa 14:4, Jer 50:2, Jer 51:8, Jer 51:64, Rev 14:8, Rev 18:2, Rev 18:21
all: Isa 46:1, Isa 46:2, Jer 50:2, Jer 50:38, Jer 51:44, Jer 51:47, Jer 51:52
Reciprocal: Isa 14:22 – I will Isa 19:1 – the idols Isa 21:7 – And he saw Isa 25:2 – For Jer 27:7 – until Jer 43:12 – in the Eze 10:1 – I looked Rev 18:10 – that great
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
21:9 And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, [with] a couple of horsemen. And {m} he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken to the ground.
(m) The watchman whom Isaiah set up, told him who came toward Babylon, and the angel declared that it would be destroyed: all this was done in a vision.