DRAFT: A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Isaiah 21
Kuruvilla Thomas
Bangalore
Published on 17 November 2021 *
Introduction
This study treats Isaiah 21 as a cryptochiasmus in order to arrive at a coherent reconfiguration of the text ( see definition of cryptochiasmus in [1] ). If you wish to skip the technicalities of a chiastic parse, you may read starting from Section 4 of the Discussion section, which has the reconfigured text.
Isaiah 21 predicts the defeat and destruction of Qedar/Kedar in Arabia and the Fall of Babylon to the Medo-Persians. Although this chapter appears to contain three different prophecies on account of the 3 prophetic titles or "burdens" in vs. 1, 11, 13, we will treat the entire chapter as one prophecy. The chapter has abrupt changes in the perspective of the narrative; this may be a poetic style Isaiah adopts for the prophecy, but it also serves to obscure its meaning. We date this prophecy to a few years before Sennacherib's assault on Qedar, c. 691BC.
Discussion
1. Presuppositions
We base our parse of Isaiah 21 on the assumption that it refers to 3 Periods:
- The Devastation of Qedar by Sennacherib (691BC-689BC). We believe the prophecy refers to this particular attack on Qedar, because it occurs during Isaiah's ministry (see comment on vs 11,12 below), close to its end (see vs 4); and also because the length of this war was 2 years (see comment on vs 16-17). Qedar is referenced using synonyms throughout the prophecy, but it is mentioned by its real name in the appendix, vs 16-17
- The Fall of Babylon to Medo-Persia and the Destruction of Spiritual Babylon (539BC-480BC).
- The Devastation of Judea and Jerusalem during the First Jewish–Roman War (66AD–73AD).
2. Parsing the chiasmus
We will use NIV Bible for this parse.
Parsing this chiasmus involves dividing portions of the text into three categories as above. We will call the time of the Defeat of Qedar Period 1, the Fall of Babylon Period 2, and the Destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD Period 3.
Categorizing Isaiah 21
vs 1-2a belongs to Period 1. Sennacherib attacks Qedar. Assyria is known for its terrifying and devastating attacks.vs 2b belongs to Period 2. Medo-Persia attacks Babylon. We take "Elam" to refer to Persia.
vs 3-4 belongs to Period 3. The prophet is pained at the devastation of Jerusalem. (It is unlikely that he would suffer to the extent indicated at Babylon's defeat.)
vs 5-10 belong to Period 2. Verse 5 pithily describes Belshazzar's feast on the day of Babylon's fall. Verses 6-10 are regarding the fall of spiritual/religious Babylon.
vs 11-15 belongs to Period 1. The Assyrians attack Qedar/Dumah/Arabia. ( Although vs 16-17 applies to this Period, we consider it an addendum - see commentary below.)
Original text
We color-code the chiastic units of the original text (NIV) below for easy visual identification using: red for Period 1, blue for Period 2 and green for Period 3 . We have retranslated parts of the text that have been inaccurately rendered because of a lack of proper context.
Isaiah 21 1 A prophecy against the Desert by the Sea:
Like whirlwinds sweeping through the southland, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror. 2a A dire vision has been shown to me: The pillager pillages, the destroyer destroys [a].
2b Elam, attack! Media, lay siege! I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.
3 Truly [b] 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 Set the tables! Spread the seating rugs! Eat! Drink!
Rise, officers! Oil the shields! [c]
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 announces [d]: ‘Babylon has fallen, has fallen! All the images of its gods lie shattered on the ground!’”
10 My people who are crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the Lord Almighty, from the God of Israel.
11 A prophecy against Dumah:
Someone calls to me from Seir, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?” [e] 12 The watchman replies, “Morning is coming, but also the night. If you would ask, then ask; [f] come back yet again.”
13 A prophecy against 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.
Retranslation notes for Isaiah 21
[a] vs 2 "The pillager pillages, the destroyer destroys" instead of "The traitor betrays, the looter takes loot".
[b] vs 3 "Truly" instead of "At this".
[c] vs 5 "Set the tables! Spread the seating rugs! Eat! Drink! Rise, officers! Oil the shields! " instead of "They set the tables, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink! Get up, you officers, oil the shields!"
[d] vs 9 "announces" instead of "gives back the answer".
[e] vs 11 “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?” instead of "Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?".
[f] vs 12 removed "and".
3. Building the reconfigured text
From this parse, it appears that Isaiah 21 forms a cryptochiasmus as below:A1 vs 1-2a Period 1. Sennacherib attacks Qedar
B1 vs 2b Period 2. Babylon falls to Medo-Persia
X vs 3-4 Period 3. The devastation of Jerusalem
B2 vs 5-10 Period 2. Babylon is fallen
A2 vs 11-15 Period 1. The Assyrians attack Qedar
We now reconstruct the passages in the right order based on the chiastic structure above and based on the ordering rules of a cryptochiasmus [1].
We lead with central pivot point 'X'. The corresponding subunits (For example; subunit A1 corresponds to A2) are placed contiguously to form units (For example, A1,A2 is a unit ) so that we get a list of such units.
The sequence selected for rearrangement is:
X [A1,A2] [B1,B2] (1)
Translating (1) into verse numbers, we get:
vs 3-4 [vs 1-2a, vs 11-15] [vs 2b, vs 5-10] (2)
We arrive at the reconfigured passage in the next section by rearranging the verses so they are in sequence (2).
4. Isaiah 21 Reconfigured
The Devastation of Judea and Jerusalem during the First Jewish–Roman War (66AD–73AD) (vs 3-4)3 Truly 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.
Qedar is devastated by Sennacherib (691BC-689BC) (vs 1-2a, vs 11-15)
1 A prophecy against the Desert by the Sea:
Like whirlwinds sweeping through the southland, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror.
2a A dire vision has been shown to me: The pillager pillages, the destroyer destroys.
11 A prophecy against Dumah:
Someone calls to me from Seir, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?” 12 The watchman replies, “Morning is coming, but also the night. If you would ask, then ask; come back yet again.”
13 A prophecy against 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.
The Fall of Babylon to Medo-Persia and the Destruction of Spiritual Babylon (539BC-480BC) (vs 2b, vs 5-10)
2b Elam, attack! Media, lay siege! I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.
5 Set the tables! Spread the seating rugs! Eat! Drink!
Rise, 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 announces: ‘Babylon has fallen, has fallen! All the images of its gods lie shattered on the ground!’”
10 My people who are crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the Lord Almighty, from the God of Israel.
5. A Commentary on the Reconfigured Text
5.1 The Devastation of Judea and Jerusalem during the First Jewish–Roman War (66AD–73AD) (vs 3-4)
3 Truly 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.
Isaiah is in agony at the vision he sees of the Roman devastation of the holy city of Jerusalem and its temple. Isaiah was a prophet to the Judahites, and seeing the horrific massacre of their descendants, albeit 7 1/2 centuries later, shocked him to the core. This vision continued to haunt him until his death - his twilight years were ruined. ( See more on this Period in our parse of Daniel 9 [2].)
5.2 Qedar is devastated by Sennacherib (691BC-689BC) (vs 1-2a, vs 11-15)
The passage for this Period may seem to contain three prophecies regarding three peoples, but we show below that it predicts this one assault by Assyria on Qedar/Kedar. The names in the three titles - "Desert by the Sea", "Dumah" and "Arabia" - are synonyms for Qedar in this prophecy
The Qedarites were the descendants of Abraham's first son Ishmael by Sarah's slave Hagar (Genesis 16, 25:13-15). Abraham sent away Hagar and Ishmael into the desert south of Judah, and Ishmael's descendants can be found there to this day (see Genesis 21:8-21).
1a A prophecy against the Desert by the Sea:
The Qedarites were a league of nomadic tribes that, in Isaiah's time, occupied the north-western region of Arabia. Qedar was presumably called the "Desert by the Sea", because the desert nation had the Red Sea along its western border.
1b Like whirlwinds sweeping through the southland, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror. 2a A dire vision has been shown to me: The pillager pillages, the destroyer destroys.
The Assyrians, known for their barbarous assaults ("land of terror"), invaded Qedar in an attack that had the overpowering force of a sandstorm in the Negev desert ("whirlwinds" in the "southland"), for they were bent on looting and destroying the land. They presumably entered Qedar through the Nabataean desert region that lay between the two nations ("invader comes from the desert").
11a A prophecy against Dumah:
Dumah (known today as Al-Jawf), was the capital of Qedar. Located in Wadi Sirhan, it was of strategic importance, as it was a junction along the major trade routes through Arabia. "Dumah" synecdochically refers to Qedar in this prophecy.
11b Someone calls to me from Seir, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?” 12 The watchman replies, “Morning is coming, but also the night. If you would ask, then ask; come back yet again.”
Isaiah apparently passed on the prediction about the Assyrian attack in vs 1-2a to the people of Qedar. In return, Isaiah (the "watchman") receives an enquiry from the capital Dumah through Seir in Qedar (parts of Edom's Seir mountain range extended into the northern border of Qedar, and this part of Qedar was closest to Judah), seeking details on the coming horrors ("what of the night?"). Isaiah replies that relief ("morning") will come, but only after a period of great distress ("night"). The enquirer is urged to return for more details at the start of the Assyrian attack - the prophecy in the addendum (vs 16-17) was given to Qedar at that time - because certain prophecies must be made as close to the event as possible. (Note that the perspective shifts from the first person in vs 11b to the third person in vs 12.)
This passage, [vs 11-12], about Isaiah's interaction with the people of Qedar before the war, is the chiastic pivot of this Period. The subunits, [vs 1-2a] and [13-15], are regarding the Assyrian assault on Qedar.
13a A prophecy against Arabia:
Since Qedar was located in north-western Arabia, we believe the "Arabia" of this prophecy is another synonym for Qedar (see Ezekiel 27:21).
13b 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.
The other cities of Qedar are exhorted to aid the refugees from the capital city of Dumah and elsewhere during this attack - the merchant caravans of the Dedanites (cf. Gen. 37:25, Ezekiel 27:20) are to take water, and Tema (or Tayma) is to provide food. ( Qedar was primarily made up of barren desert, sprinkled with a few trading cities - such as Dumah, Dedan and Tema - along its oases.)
5.3 The Fall of Babylon to Medo-Persia and the Destruction of Spiritual Babylon (539BC-480BC) (vs 2b, vs 5-10)
The Fall of Physical Babylon (vs 2b,5)2b Elam, attack! Media, lay siege! I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.
The Medo-Persians are urged to lay siege to Babylon (the Elam of Isaiah's time had become a province of Persia by the time of this attack, so Elam represents Persia here), as they were chosen by God to halt the torment from the tyrannical co-regents Nabonidus and Belshazzar of Babylon (see also Isaiah 45:13). ( Modern 'Babylon' has similar characteristics - cf. Rev 18:5-7.)
5a Set the tables!
Spread the seating rugs!
Eat! Drink!
We imagine these words spoken by Belshazzar, as he prepared his feast and then exhorted his nobles to partake (Dan 5:1). The Babylonians were inordinately confident in the strength of their fortifications, for even when besieged by the Medo-Persians, they indulged in festive revelry. The Babylonian nobles at Belshazzar's feast mocked God by drinking wine from the holy vessels of the temple at Jerusalem (Dan. 5:2). As punishment for this sacrilege, the famous Writing On The Wall at this feast foretold Belshazzar's defeat and death that same day (Dan. 5).
5b Rise, officers! Oil the shields!
The mood at the feast abruptly changes when the king is alerted that the city's defences are breached. Apparently, the Medo-Persians entered Babylon along a river bed after diverting the river that ran through the city; they entered at night, undetected under the cover of the noise from the revelry. The king orders the Babylonian commanders to prepare for battle by oiling their shields, for oiled shields provide better protection. But it is too late, and they are too inebriated to put up a viable defence (see Dan 5:30,31).
The Fall of Spiritual/Religious Babylon (vs 6-10)
We believe that the events of the passage below (vs 6-10) took place in Jerusalem, after the temples at Babylon were destroyed by Xerxes (c. 480BC), around 60 years after the fall of the city of Babylon (539BC).
The passage in vs 6-10 seems to be chiastically structured, with [vs 8-9], the announcement of Babylon's fall, forming the pivot. The subunits, [vs 6-7] and [vs 10], are regarding the message from God to the prophet.
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.”
Charioteers were sent out from Medo-Persia to the surrounding nations with an important announcement. The chariots were pulled by either a pair of horses, donkeys or camels; the chariots with these various animals must have gone in separate directions, as they travel at different speeds and are suitable for different terrain.
A Judahite prophet (not Isaiah) was commanded by God to place a lookout, so as to watch for any passing chariot (Isaiah predicts this announcement from the perspective of this other prophet - this event took place long after Isaiah's ministry). At the time, Jerusalem was a poor, isolated town that was slowly recovering from the Babylonian exile, so a chariot with a team of animals must have been an unusual sight. The lookout was to pay close attention to the charioteer, to make sure that he heard his announcement accurately.
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 announces:
‘Babylon has fallen, has fallen!
All the images of its gods
lie shattered on the ground!’”
The lookout had diligently waited for many days when he sees the chariot. The message from Medo-Persia was, "Babylon has fallen" (cf. Rev 18:1). Cyrus did not harm Babylon when he conquered it, because he considered the city to be sacred, but his successor Xerxes destroyed the temple and the idols at Babylon and exiled its priests of the Satanic bloodline families, because he was wary of their spiritual powers (c. 480BC) (see appendix in [4]).
This event is accorded great importance here - it is described in some detail in this otherwise terse prophecy and structured as a chiasmus - because the fall of religious Babylon is a type of that watershed event, the final fall of Satan's empire of "Babylon" and the end of his reign on earth (cf. Rev 18:1).
10 My people who are crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the Lord Almighty, from the God of Israel.
The unnamed Judahite prophet (not Isaiah) passes on the message from God about the lookout (in vs 6-7) to his people. Although the Judahite slaves (those "crushed on the threshing floor") got their freedom soon after the fall of the city of Babylon through a proclamation from Cyrus (Ezra 1), they were not truly safe from Satan's evil designs on them until his priests were exiled from Medo-Persia. ( The priests regrouped in Pergamum and later harassed Judea through the Greeks - see Daniel 11 - but Judah was safe from them for around 150 years. The priests' exile can be considered the "moment of conception" of the Greek Empire, and the end of Babylon as the centre of the world.)
Similarly, at the start of the Millennial Reign, the people of God will be eternally freed from Satan's tyranny at the fall of his empire of "Babylon".
5.4 Addendum to the Prophecy (691 BC) (vs 16-17)
The prophecy in this addendum was supplied to the people of Qedar at the start of the Assyrian assault, when they came seeking the additional information on the war that was promised in vs 12.
16 This is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a servant bound by contract would count it, all the splendor of Kedar will come to an end. 17 The survivors of the archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.” The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.
What is the meaning of the phrase, "as a servant bound by contract would count it"? A hired hand (presumably a fellow Israelite) can be expected to take holidays for up to half the days of a year - for sabbaths, festivals, religious observance etc.. So 1 years worth of employment by a continuously-employed slave may take up to 2 years to complete by a hired hand - see Deuteronomy 15:18 (see similar prediction in Isa. 16:14 [3]). Effectively, this prophecy predicts that the Assyrian assault will last for 2 years. This time interval may be ambiguously worded so that the wicked cannot take undue advantage of an accurate knowledge of the future.
The Assyrians devastated Qedar - primarily Dumah - and slaughtered its army (as was their cruel custom) within 2 years, and turned it into a vassal nation. Dumah's queen and the idols of its gods were carried away, and a puppet king was installed. The Assyrians referred to Dumah as Adummatu, and they described it as a fortress of Arabia that was destroyed by Sennacherib's forces.
Conclusion
With this chiastic reconstruction of the text, we have shown that Isaiah 21 contains prophecies on three distinct Periods. The destruction of Qedar can be considered a type of the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem and the end of the Old Covenant in 70AD, because the children of the slave Hagar represent the Old Covenant, according to Galatians 4:21-31 (esp. Gal. 4:25). This is the rare cryptochiasmus that does not have a Period for the start of Christ's Millennial Reign, but this final fall of physical and spiritual Babylon can be considered a type of the fall of modern 'Babylon' at the start of the Millennial Reign (see Rev 18) [5]. This cryptochiasmus is also unusual in that the titles are a part of the chiastic structure.
References
[1] A Definition of Cryptochiasmus[2] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of "The 70 Weeks Of Daniel"
[3] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Isaiah 15-16
[4] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Daniel 8
[5] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Revelation 4-22, Part 2
* Updated 1 June 2023 with modified parse and interpretation.