The burden against Arabia. In the forest of Arabia shall ye lodge, [ye] caravans of Dedanites.
The last of three judgments in Isaiah 21 falls on the desert tribes who traded across northern Arabia. Traders who once moved along known roads must now sleep hidden in the desert scrub.
This verse opens the last part of a chapter that sentences more than one people.
In this chapter, though not a long one, there are three sentences of judgement — on Babylon (vv. 1-10), on Dumah (vv. 11, 12), and on Arabia (vv. 13-17).
The verse opens with a heading word. The ESV translates it "oracle"; older versions read "burden," the word these writers explain.
Besides its common use, this word opens several prophecies: "The burden of Babylon," "the burden of Moab" (Isaiah 13:1; Isaiah 15:1, and others). Scholars do not agree on the force of massa in these places. Its natural meaning would be "a judgement that lies heavy on the people." But some take it to mean "an oracle or sentence pronounced against them."
The weight is not only on those judged:
It means a heavy message, a message of judgement. It tends to weigh down the soul of the one who has to deliver it.
The verse names a people and a place. Neither is familiar today.
People mentioned in the "burden upon Arabia," Isaiah 21:13. They were probably the descendants of Dedan the Cushite.
The forest in ARABIA, Isaiah 21:13; its situation is unknown.
The caravans camp in the woods to hide, not to rest. One writer compares that cover with Edom's rocks and strongholds.
Edom had rocks and mountain strongholds, and they were no hiding place from the storm. The thickets of Arabia would be no better. And it is not only the travelling companies, or caravans, of Dedan who are thrown on the pity and care of the men of Tema. Within a year, utter ruin is declared on the mighty men of the sons of Kedar. Man fails, great or small; Jehovah abides and will reign over this earth and all the races of mankind.
These are real tribes in real places. The same writer passes on what scholars have found, then adds his own comment on prophecy studied without God.
Dr. Driver remarks that Arab does not mean Arabia in our sense of the word. It means one nomad tribe living in the north of the Peninsula. Ezekiel 27:21 names that tribe with Dedan and Kedar as traders with Tyre. Kedar was a wealthy pastoral tribe. Tema lay some 250 miles south-east of Edom… How sad to leave God out of prophecy.
One writer ties this burden to Isaiah's own day and to the fall of Babylon earlier in the chapter.
My impression is that this chapter refers to present or nearer times. It points to the fall of Babylon that was then coming… Arabia and Kedar come under present judgment, connected with the fall of Babylon.
Compared with the burden on Babylon in the same chapter, this one stops short of erasure.
At the close of the chapter Arabia comes under judgment. Disaster should overtake them too, but not in such overwhelming fashion as in the case of Babylon. Their mighty men would be "diminished." There would be a "residue," not a complete destruction. It is striking that of all these burdens the one upon Babylon is the most complete, without any hope of recovery.
Other writers look further ahead. Because a residue survives, these peoples appear again in Israel's later story.
The Arabians were among the nations that had dealings with Israel, and judgement is pronounced against them (Isaiah 21:13-17; Jeremiah 25:24). And no doubt they will join the alliances formed against God's ancient people when Israel is restored to their land again.
- Burden. The heading word means a sentence pronounced against a people. It weighs on them, and on the prophet who carries it.
- Hiding. Traders camp in thickets, and that cover is as useless as Edom's rocks and strongholds.
- Helpers. The caravans fall on the pity and care of the men of Tema.
- Limit. Unlike Babylon, this judgment leaves a residue; the mighty are diminished, not erased.
- Horizon. A remnant survives, so these tribes appear again in God's later dealings with Israel. Man fails, great or small; the Lord abides and will reign.
Bring ye water to meet the thirsty! The inhabitants of the land of Tema come forth with their bread for him that fleeth.
Isaiah 21 ends with a short judgment on Arabia, and this verse is the human scene inside it. Water and bread go out to people running for their lives — but who are they, and why this kindness here?
The chapter is a set of three short sentences of judgment, and this one is the last. One writer sets out the division:
In this chapter, though not a long one, are three sentences of judgement — on Babylon (vv. 1-10), on Dumah (vv. 11, 12), and on Arabia (vv. 13-17).
The name Tema covers three things at once — a man, the tribe that came from him, and the land they lived in:
Son of Ishmael, and father of a tribe of the same name; also the territory occupied by the tribe. Gen. 25:15; 1 Chr. 1:30; Job 6:19; Isa. 21:14; Jer. 25:23.
Two groups meet in this verse: the ones who run, and the ones who feed them. And the land itself gives the runners no cover:
The thickets of Arabia would be no better a hiding place from the storm than the rocks and mountain strongholds of Edom. Dedan's travelling companies, or caravans, are thrown on the pity and care of the men of Tema. But that is not all: God declares that within a year the mighty men of the sons of Kedar will be utterly wasted.
Commentators differ on the timing. One reads the whole chapter as looking at events close at hand, not the far future:
My impression is that this chapter refers to present or more immediate times — the then fall of Babylon… Arabia and Kedar come under present judgment, connected with the fall of Babylon.
Another looks further ahead, to a day when Israel is back in the land:
Among the nations that had relations with Israel, and against whom judgement is pronounced are the Arabians. Isa. 21:13-17; Jer. 25:24. And doubtless they will be included in the confederacies that will be raised against God's ancient people when Israel is again restored to their land.
The bread and water are not the only relief here. The blow on Arabia is limited, and the contrast with Babylon is striking:
At the close of the chapter Arabia comes under judgment. Disaster would overtake them too, but not as overwhelmingly as it overtook Babylon. Their mighty men would be "diminished," and a "residue" would be left, not a complete destruction. It is striking that of all these burdens the one upon Babylon is the most complete without any hope of recovery.
Scholars have located Tema on the map and tied the prophecy to Assyrian troop movements. Kelly reports their work and then names what it leaves out:
Dr. Driver remarks that "Arab" here does not mean Arabia in our sense of the word. It means one nomad tribe living in the north of the Peninsula, named in Ezekiel 27:21 with Dedan and Kedar as traders with Tyre. Kedar was a wealthy pastoral tribe. Tema lay some 250 miles south-east of Edom. Sargon's troops fought the Philistines in B.C. 720 and in 711. He adds that these two prophecies may have been given because people expected the Assyrians to campaign in the neighbouring regions in one of those years. How sad to leave God out of prophecy.
Caravans on the run, and armed men cut down to a remnant. One writer draws the lesson from both:
Man fails, great or small; Jehovah abides and will reign over this earth and all the races of mankind. What a gap there is in the outlook of all who do not believe in the world-kingdom of the Lord and of His Christ!
- Burden. The chapter holds three sentences of judgment — on Babylon, on Dumah, and on Arabia. This verse sits in the last one.
- Flight. Dedan's caravans hide in the thickets of Arabia. That cover is no better than the rocks and mountain strongholds of Edom.
- Kindness. The fugitives fall on the pity and care of the people of Tema, a tribe descended from Ishmael.
- Limit. Kedar's mighty men are only "diminished," and a residue survives. Babylon's burden leaves no hope of recovery.
- Speaker. Commentators differ on the timing — Babylon's fall, or later alliances against Israel. Either way the point holds: man fails, great or small, while the Lord abides and will reign.
For they flee from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war.
Isaiah 21 announces judgment — a "burden" — on one nation after another. By verse 15 the scene is desert traders driven from home, camped in the scrub and fed by strangers — and the question is whether anywhere is safe.
The verse explains the strange scene before it. These are not ordinary travellers but people in flight, and the desert cover they ran to gave them no safety:
The thickets of Arabia would hide them from the storm no better than the rocks and mountain strongholds of Edom. And the caravans of Dedan are not the only ones thrown on the pity and care of the men of Tema. Utter wasting within a year is pronounced on the mighty men of the sons of Kedar. Man fails, great or small; Jehovah abides and will reign over this earth and all the races of mankind.
The names in the passage belong to real desert tribes, not symbols. Kedar began with one man and grew into a tribe:
He was a son of Ishmael and the founder of an important tribe in north-west Arabia, though the name is probably also used for Arabs in general... The mentions of lambs, rams, goats, flocks, camels, tents, and tent-curtains show that these were a nomadic people, though the Bible also speaks of their "villages." Judgements were pronounced against them.
Dedan supplies the caravans in hiding, and they depend on the pity of the men of Tema — traders, not fighting men.
Some have tried to date this prophecy from Assyrian war records. One writer reports that work, then adds a warning:
Dr. Driver remarks that "Arab" here does not mean Arabia in our sense of the word. It means one particular nomad tribe living in the north of the Peninsula... Kedar was a wealthy shepherd tribe. Tema lay some 250 miles south-east of Edom. Sargon's troops fought the Philistines in 720 B.C. and again in 711. He suggests that both prophecies may have been given in view of an expected Assyrian campaign in the neighbouring regions, in one of those years. How sad to leave God out of prophecy.
The swords these people fled from belong to the same upheaval that brought down Babylon, named earlier in the chapter:
My impression is that this chapter refers to the present or nearer future — the fall of Babylon at that time... Arabia and Kedar come under present judgment, connected with the fall of Babylon.
Commentators differ on how far this reaches. Elsewhere the same writer reads these chapters as something far wider than one campaign:
The chapters after 18 do not tell of Israel's deliverance, as the earlier ones did. They tell of the invasion and overrunning of the nations already mentioned — the overflowing scourge... Babylon is overcome — Dumah and Kedar destroyed — Jerusalem is ravaged — Tyre falls. In short it is a universal overthrow. Its central scene is the land of Canaan, but it takes in the whole world.
Not every burden in Isaiah falls with the same weight. The wording about Arabia sets a limit:
At the close of the chapter Arabia comes under judgment. Disaster would overtake them too, but not on the scale of Babylon's. Their mighty men would be "diminished," and there would be a "residue" — not a complete destruction. It is striking that of all these burdens, the one on Babylon is the most complete, with no hope of recovery.
- Flight. Traders, not armies, are running here. The drawn sword and the bent bow drove them from home, and they live on the pity of strangers.
- No cover. The thickets of Arabia hid them no better than Edom's rocks. No landscape shelters a people from the storm God has announced.
- Named. Dedan, Tema and Kedar were real desert tribes — shepherds, tent-dwellers and caravan traders. God pronounced judgment against them by name.
- Measured. Arabia's fighting men are "diminished," and a "residue" survives. Only Babylon's ruin is complete, with no hope of recovery.
- Anchored. You can date this prophecy from Assyrian war records, but that reading alone leaves God out. Man fails, great or small; Jehovah abides and will reign over all the races of mankind.
For thus hath the Lord said unto me Within a year, according to the years of a hired servant, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail;
Isaiah 21:16 ends a short prophecy against Arabia with a deadline for Kedar's glory, counted out like a hired worker's contract. It raises two questions: who Kedar was, and why God would set a clock on a desert tribe.
Kedar was a person before it was a people. One reference work gives the family line and the way of life behind the name:
Son of Ishmael, and founder of an important tribe living in the north-west of Arabia. The name is probably also used for Arabs generally. The psalmist longed for peace, because he had been living in the tents of Kedar, among those who "hated peace." The references to lambs, rams, goats, flocks, camels, tents and tent-curtains show that a nomadic people is in view. Yet their "villages" are also mentioned. Judgements were pronounced against them.
So the "glory" about to collapse is the wealth of a tent-dwelling people: herds, caravans and fighting men.
The phrase about a hired worker's year is not vague. Isaiah used the same wording earlier against Moab, and one commentator explains it there, quoting an older translation:
Whatever the full bearing of this "burden" on Moab may be, the last verse says: "Within three years, as the years of a hired worker … the glory of Moab shall be brought to nothing." The years of a hired worker are exactly measured out, I suppose, as would be the case in such a situation. There can be no doubt to the believing mind that this was fulfilled to the letter. We do not know the instrument, though — whether the king of Judah or the Assyrian.
A hired man counts his term to the day, because his pay depends on it. God counts Kedar's term the same way. And the clock is not Isaiah's guess: the Lord spoke it to him.
The verses just before describe fugitives fleeing into the scrubland, where the people of Tema feed them. The deadline of verse 16 cancels that refuge:
The thickets of Arabia would be no more an effective hiding place from the storm than the rocks and mountain strongholds of Edom. The travelling companies or caravans of Dedan are not the only ones thrown on the pity and care of the men of Tema. Complete ruin within a year is announced against the mighty men of the sons of Kedar too. Man fails, great or small; Jehovah abides and will reign over this earth and all the races of mankind.
Human glory is what expires. God's rule does not.
Verse 17 softens verse 16 in one respect: something survives. Not every judgement in this chapter falls with the same weight.
At the close of the chapter Arabia comes under judgment. Disaster should overtake them too, but not in such overwhelming fashion as in the case of Babylon. Their mighty men should be "diminished," and there should be a "residue," and not a complete destruction. It is striking that of all these burdens the one upon Babylon is the most complete without any hope of recovery.
Commentators differ on when the blow fell. One ties it to events of that time: "Arabia and Kedar come under present judgment, connected with the fall of Babylon" (J. N. Darby). Kelly mentions a suggested link to Assyrian campaigns around 720 and 711 B.C. He warns against dating prophecy while leaving out its Author: "How sad to leave God out of prophecy" (William Kelly).
Because a remnant survives, Kedar appears again in Isaiah — no longer a doomed tribe, but a contributor to Israel's blessing:
The rams of Nebaioth are mentioned, with the flocks of Kedar his brother, as contributing to the prosperity of Israel in the future day of blessing.
Another writer finds the same hope in Ishmael's own family line: "When Israel is blessed in the future and receives the promised Land for his glorious possession, the descendants of Ishmael will not be forgotten" (Arno Clemens Gaebelein).
- Named. Kedar was a son of Ishmael and the head of a rich nomadic Arab tribe — real tents, real flocks, real archers, not a symbol.
- Timed. "According to the years of a hired worker" means measured out to the day. The same wording against Moab came true to the letter.
- Exposed. Desert thickets hide no better than Edom's rocks. Human glory fails, while Jehovah abides and will reign.
- Limited. Kedar's warriors shrink and a residue survives. Babylon's judgement in this chapter leaves no hope of recovery.
- Reclaimed. That residue matters. The flocks of Kedar reappear in Israel's future day of blessing, and God does not forget Ishmael's descendants.
and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, shall be diminished for Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath spoken.
The burden on Arabia — Isaiah's message of judgment against it — ends with a count: few archers left in Kedar. The verse also names who guarantees that count, so everything hangs on the last clause.
Kedar was a man before it was a tribe. One reference work gives the family line and the way of life behind the name:
Son of Ishmael, and founder of an important tribe living in the north-west of Arabia, though the name is probably also used for Arabs generally. Genesis 25:13; 1 Chronicles 1:29. The Psalmist wanted peace, for he had been living in the tents of Kedar, among those who 'hated peace.' Psalm 120:5-6... The references to lambs, rams, goats, flocks, camels, tents, and tent-curtains show that a nomadic people are in view. Yet their "villages" are also mentioned. Judgements were pronounced against them. Isaiah 21:16-17; Jeremiah 49:28; Ezekiel 27:21.
These were tent-dwellers with herds and camels — wealth on the move.
The verse leaves survivors. Older translations use the words "residue" and "diminished." Set this burden beside the one on Babylon that opens the chapter:
At the close of the chapter Arabia comes under judgment. Disaster would overtake them too, but not in such an overwhelming way as in the case of Babylon. Their mighty men would be "diminished," and there would be a "residue," not a complete destruction. It is striking that of all these burdens, the one on Babylon is the most complete, with no hope of recovery. So also in Revelation 17 and 18, the "Mystery" Babylon is going to be completely destroyed, with not a trace left.
Judgment is measured. God does not deal with every nation the same way.
The verse names one loss: not the flocks, not the tents, but the archers. Earlier in the chapter, caravans depend on the men of Tema for bread. Now the fighting men come into view, with a one-year limit on the sentence:
It is not only the travelling companies or caravans of Dedan that are thrown on the pity and care of the men of Tema; utter wasting within a year is pronounced on the mighty men of the sons of Kedar. Man fails, whether great or small; the LORD remains and will reign over this earth and all the races of mankind. What a gap there is in the outlook of all who do not believe in the world-kingdom of the Lord and of His Christ!
The refugee and the warrior end in the same place. The failure is not Arabia's alone. It is man's.
The last clause is the reason for everything before it. One writer reports a scholar's attempt to tie the prophecy to known Assyrian campaigns, then gives his verdict:
Kedar was a wealthy pastoral tribe... Sargon's troops were at war with the Philistines in 720 B.C. and in 711. He adds that both prophecies may have been given because an Assyrian campaign in the neighbouring regions was expected in one of those years. How sad to leave God out of prophecy.
Armies are the instrument. The verse traces the outcome to a speaker, and names Him as the God of Israel.
How far ahead is Isaiah looking? One reading ties Kedar's fall to the fall of Babylon in the same chapter:
My impression is that this chapter refers to present or more immediate times — the fall of Babylon at that time... Arabia and Kedar come under present judgment, connected with the fall of Babylon.
The same writer elsewhere sets these chapters in a wider frame, with Kedar one name on a long list:
Egypt is overrun as well as Ethiopia, in which Israel had trusted. Babylon is overcome — Dumah and Kedar destroyed — Jerusalem is ravaged — Tyre falls. In short, it is a universal overthrow, the central scene of which is the land of Canaan, but in which the whole world is included.
God is not singling Kedar out for special anger. Its archers fall inside a judgment that reaches Egypt, Babylon, Tyre — and Jerusalem too.
- Spoken. The verse ends where its authority begins. God has spoken, so the count of Kedar's surviving archers stands. Explaining it only by Assyrian troop movements leaves God out of prophecy.
- Counted. God thins Kedar's strength — the archers of a wealthy nomad tribe descended from Ishmael, rich in flocks, camels and tents.
- Spared. A "residue" is left. Babylon falls with no hope of recovery; Arabia's judgment is real but measured.
- Shared. Kedar falls inside a wider overthrow — Egypt, Babylon, Tyre and Jerusalem too. No nation is exempt, and Israel least of all.
- Settled. Strength fails in every nation, great or small. The LORD remains, and He will reign over this earth. That is the outlook this verse defends.