Isaiah 21:9

chariot of men--chariots with men in them; or rather, the same body of riders, horsemen two abreast, as in Isa 21:7 [MAURER]. But HORSLEY, "The man drawn in a car with a pair of riders." The first half of this verse describes what the watchman sees; the second half, what the watchman says, in consequence of what he sees. In the interval between Isa 21:7 and Isa 21:9, the overthrow of Babylon by the horsemen, or man in the car, is accomplished. The overthrow 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 before the other received the tidings of it.

answered--not to something said previously, but in reference to the subject in the mind of the writer, to be collected from the preceding discourse: proclaimeth (Job 3:2, Margin; Dan 2:26; Act 5:8).

fallen . . . fallen--The repetition expresses emphasis and certainty (Psa 92:9; Psa 93:3; compare Jer 51:8; Rev 18:2).

images--Bel, Merodach, &c. (Jer 50:2; Jer 51:44, Jer 51:52). The Persians had no images, temples, or altars, and charged the makers of such with madness [HERODOTUS 1.131]; therefore they dashed the Babylonian "images broken unto the ground."

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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.] He - that is, the watchman - numinis quodam afflatu commotus, by a divine instinct. or rather God himself.

Babylon is fallen, is fallen.] That is, Shall fall, certo, cito, penitus, certainly, speedily, utterly - ruit alto a culmine Troia. So shall shortly mystical Babylon, {Rev 18:8-19} as the Jesuits themselves, Ribera and A Lapide, confess; only they say this shall be toward the end of the world, when Rome shall become idolatrous, as though it were not so now. But what said Petrarch long since? There yet standeth near at hand a second Babylon, cito itidem casura, si vos essetis viri, which would soon be down, would you but stand up as men.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21:9 Babylon is fallen, fallen: Assyrian king Sennacherib destroyed the city of Babylon in 689 BC. The final fall of Babylon was in 539 BC. In Scripture, Babylon represents all the ungodly power structures of this world, including nations and kingdoms that do not submit to God and his word. The apostle John gave hope with his prophecy that all Babylons will fall (Rev 14:8; 18:2). • All the idols of Babylon lie broken: False gods could not save the Babylonians (see Isa 46:1-2).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The watchman whom Isaiah set up, told him who came toward Babylon, and the Angel declared that it should be destroyed: all this was done in a vision.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 9. Here cometh a chariot of men, &c. - "A man, one of the two riders"] So the Syriac understands it, and Ephrem Syr.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(9) And, behold, here cometh . . .—Better, Behold, there came . . . The words narrate a second vision, not the watchman’s 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.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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, Rev 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.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And, behold ... a chariot of men - This place shows that the word ‘chariot’ (רכב 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.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Horsemen, drawn by the ass and camel, ver. 7. This was verified long after.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

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.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

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.

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Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And, behold, here cometh, etc. Our translators make the words those of the watchman. But they are better taken as the prophet"s statement of a fact, "And behold, just then there cometh a troop of men, riding two and two the sign for which he was to watch (ver. 7), or rather the first part of it. We must suppose the rest of the sign to follow, and the watchman then to listen awhile attentively. Suddenly he hears the sound of a sacked town, and he exclaims, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, etc. All the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground. Recent documents, belonging to the time of Cyrus, and treating of his capture of Babylon, show that this expression is not to be understood literally. Cyrus was not an iconoclast; he did not break into pieces, or in any way destroy or insult the Babylonian idols. On the contrary, he maintained them in their several shrines, or restored them where they had been displaced; he professed himself a worshipper of the chief Babylonian gods Bel, Nebo, and Merodach he repaired the temple of Merodach; he prayed to Bel and Nebo to lengthen his days; he caused his son, Cambyses, to take part in the great religious ceremony wherewith the Babylonians opened the new year. Thus his conquest of Babylon did not bring upon its gods a physical, but only a moral, destruction. The Persian victory discredited and degraded them. It proclaimed to Western Asia that the idolatrous system so long prevalent in the region between Mount Zagros and the Mediterranean was no longer in the ascendant, but lay at the mercy of another quite different religion, which condescended to accord it toleration. Such was the permanent result. No doubt there was also, in the sack of the city, much damage done to many of the idols by a greedy soldiery, who may have carried off many images of gold or silver, and broken up others that were not portable, and stripped off the plates of precious metal from the idols of "brass, and iron, and wood, and stone". (Dan_5:6)

The work of the iconoclast.

"Fallen, fallen is Babylon, and all the images of its gods he hath broken unto the ground." Recent researches have disclosed the fact that there were three sieges of Babylon during the time of Isaiah in B.C. 709 by Sargon, and in 703 and 691 by Sennacherib. Mr. George Smith, writing of the last of these three sieges, says, "Babylon was now wholly given up to an infuriated soldiery; its walls were thrown down, its temples demolished, its people given up to violence and slavery, the temples rifled, and the images of the gods brought out and broken in pieces." Herodotus is our authority for the supposed aversion of the Medes and Persians to all images. They not only thought it unlawful to use images, but imputed folly to those who did so." But modern researches do not confirm the statement of Herodotus, and we need see in the destruction of the Babylonian idols no more than the signs of a humiliating and overwhelming conquest. Cyrus has been hitherto regarded as a Persian and monotheist; it is now argued that he was an Elamite and a polytheist. Illustrating the subject, we note

I SOME MEN"S LIFE-WORK IS BUILDING UP. They make businesses; they found families; they start theories; they commence organizations; they build churches; they initiate societies. Such men are full of schemes. Moses founds a nation. David organizes a kingdom. Paul establishes a Christian society in the Gentile world. Wesley begins a sect.

II SOME MEN"S LIFE-WORK IS KEEPING UP. They cannot begin. They are not fertile in resources. Initial difficulties crush them. But quiet perseverance, good faithful work, enables them well to sustain what others have begun.

III SOME MEN"S LIFE-WORK IS BREAKING DOWN. As was Carlyle"s. He broke down society shams, and conceits and hypocrisies of modern thought. So Mahomet broke down corrupt Christianity. The skeptic is an iconoclast; but he breaks down for the pleasure of breaking down. The critic is an iconoclast; but he only attacks the evil. The reformer must often be an iconoclast; but he breaks down only that he may rebuild. Sometimes things reach such a pass that they cannot be reformed, and then "destruction cometh from the Lord," whatever agents he may use; as in the old world, Sodom, captivity of Israel, destruction of Babylon, etc. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Men - Not fitted with goods, but provided with men to fight. He - The prophet, who here gives an explication of the vision. He - God, by the hands of Cyrus.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

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.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

“And behold, this comes (or this is what is coming), mounted men, pairs of horsemen. And he answers (i. e speaks again) and says, Fallen, fallen, is Babylon, and all the images of her gods he has broken (or crushed) to the earth.” The last verb is indefinitely construed, but obviously refers to the enemy as the instrument of Babylon’s destruction, rather than to God as the efficient cause. The description given in v. 7 is abbreviated here, because so much was to be added. Still the correspondence is sufficiently exact. The structure of the passage is highly dramatic. In the sixth verse, the prophet is commanded to set a watch. In the seventh, the sentinel is ordered to look out for an army of men, mounted on horses, camels, and asses. In the eighth, he reports himself as being at his post. In the ninth, he sees the very army which had been described approaching. Answer is used, both in Greek and Hebrew, for the resumption of discourse by the same speaker, especially after an interval. It is here equivalent to spoke again. During the interval implied, the city is supposed to have been taken, so that when the watchman speaks again, it is to say that Babylon is fallen. The omission of all the intermediate details, for the purpose of bringing the extremes together, is a masterly stroke of poetical description, which would never have occurred to an inferior writer. The allusion to idols in the last clause is not intended merely to remind us that the conquest was a triumph of the true God over false ones, but to bring into view the well-known aversion of the Persians to all images. Herodotus says they not only thought it unlawful to use images, but imputed folly to those who did it. Here is another incidental but remarkable coincidence of prophecy even with profane history.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And behold this is coming When he prays concerning this, he will see sort of a chariot of men, etc.

Babylon has fallen, yea, it has fallen Jonathan renders: Has fallen and is also destined to fall. This denotes two downfalls in two consecutive years, first through Media and Persia, and in the second year, through Heaven, as it is stated (supra 13:19): “And Babylon, the beauty of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldees, shall be like God’s overturning of Sodom...” And so we find in Seder Olam (ch. 28): And in that year the news came concerning Darius, and after him, in the year, the news, “And Babylon, the beauty of the kingdoms...shall be like the overturning, etc.” (supra 13:19).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

צמד With a couple. Supply עם. with, before ויען.צמד

And every one of them answered,

Babylon is fallen, is fallen. The repetition indicates that no remnant has been left to her.

He hath broken. There is no noun in the text to which the pronoun he could refer; comp. אשר ילדה אותה ללוי whom she had born unto Levi (Num. 26:59).,.יָלְדָה הַיוֹלֶדֶת,שִׁבֵּר הַמְּשַׁבֵּ־

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.