Introduction to Isaiah 21

Structure and Formatting

This chapter presents three further oracles against the nations. The first oracle is about how the Medes and Elamites will conquer and destroy Babylon. It comes from the later time period that the book of Isaiah addresses, the same period as in the oracle in chapters 13 and 14 and in Part Seven, chapters 40–55.The second oracle is about Edom, a kingdom to the south of Judah. Isaiah makes a wordplay on its name, rearranging the consonants and calling it Dumah, since that means “silence.” (There was a city in the eastern desert called Dumah, but this oracle is not about that city.) This oracle is apparently a response to an inquiry from the Edomites about whether their domination by Assyria is about to end. The answer is that it is about to end, but the Edomites will only have a short respite before they are conquered again. That will happen when the Babylonians displace the Assyrians as the dominant power in the region.The third oracle is about the powerful Arabian tribes that conducted caravans through the desert for trade. It predicts that they will no longer control their area, and they will have to leave their established routes and hide where they can, because enemy soldiers will invade the area. It is probably referring to the Assyrians, who expanded into that area to get control of the trade routes. 1. Babylon (1–10) 2. Dumah (Edom) (11–12) 3. Arabia (13–17)