They prepare the table. They set the watch. They eat. They drink. Rise up, you princes, oil the shield!
Parallel Translations
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They prepare the table. They set the watch. They eat. They drink. Rise up, you princes, oil the shield!
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Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield.
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They prepare the table, they light the lamps, they eat, they drink — 'Rise up, ye princes, anoint the shield.'
Cross-references (10)
Passages linked to Isaiah 21:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 51:11 “Make the arrows sharp! Hold the shields firmly! Yahweh has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it; for it is the vengeance of Yahweh, the vengeance of his temple.
- Jeremiah 51:39 When they are heated, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunk, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up,” says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 51:57 I will make her princes, her wise men, her governors, her deputies, and her mighty men drunk. They will sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up,” says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Armies.
- Daniel 5:1-5 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded that the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem be brought to him; that the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, might drink from them. Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of God’s house which was at Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, drank from them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of bronze, of iron, of wood, and of stone. In the same hour, the fingers of a man’s hand came out and wrote near the lamp stand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace. The king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
- Isaiah 13:2 Set up a banner on the bare mountain! Lift up your voice to them! Wave your hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
- Isaiah 13:17-18 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will not value silver, and as for gold, they will not delight in it. Their bows will dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb. Their eyes will not spare children.
- Isaiah 22:13-14 and behold, joy and gladness, killing cattle and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.” Yahweh of Armies revealed himself in my ears, “Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
- Isaiah 45:1-3 Yahweh says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him, and strip kings of their armor; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut: “I will go before you and make the rough places smooth. I will break the doors of bronze in pieces and cut apart the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that it is I, Yahweh, who call you by your name, even the God of Israel.
- Jeremiah 51:27-28 “Set up a standard in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations against her! Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz! Appoint a marshal against her! Cause the horses to come up as the rough canker worm! Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, its governors, and all its deputies, and all the land of their dominion!
- 1 Corinthians 15:32 If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, then “let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain While they are eating and drinking, they shall be…
While they are eating and drinking, they shall be commanded to run to their weapons.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 21:5 Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower,…
Isa 21:5 Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, [and] anoint the shield.
Ver. 5. Prepare the table.] Insultat regi Balthasari, ac irridendo voces illius memorat. {a} Prepare the table, said Belshazzar. But more need he had to have said, Prepare the battle; set the army in array, &c. But this secure sot thought of no such matter. His destruction, though at hand, was hid from his eyes by the Lord, who
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“ Auferre mentem talibus primum solet,
Caliginemque, affundit, ut ruant suas
Furenter in clades, sibi quas noxii
Accersierunt ultro, consiliis malis. ”
Watch in the watchtower.] That we may revel the more securely.
Eat, drink.] Etiamsi Hannibal sit ad portas; Even if Hannabal is by the gates. Feed without fear, notwithstanding the siege.
Arise, ye princes, anoint the shield,] q.d., It would better become you, O Babylonian princes, so to do - viz., to stand to your arms - to furbish your shields, for your better defence against the Medes and Persians. {b} Some make these words to be the watchman’s warning, given upon the Persians entering the city.
{a} Zeged.
{b} Non convivandi sed pugnandi tempus est. - A Lapide.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Prepare the table; furnish it with meats and drinks,…
Prepare the table; furnish it with meats and drinks, as it follows. The prophet foretells what the Babylonians would be doing when their’ enemies were at their doors, that they would give up themselves to feasting and security.
Watch in the watch-tower, to give us notice of any approaching danger, that in the mean time we may more securely indulge ourselves in mirth and pleasures.
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Arise, ye princes; either,
1. Ye Medes and Persians; whilst your enemies the Babylonians are feasting securely, prepare to make your assault. Or,
2. Ye princes of Babylon; arise from the table and run to your arms. Which sudden alarm and change of their posture proceeded from tidings out of the watch-tower, as may be gathered from the former clause,
and is more fully expressed in the following verses.
Annoint the shield; prepare yourselves and your arms for the battle approaching: The shield is put for all their weapons of offence and defence. They used to anoint their shields with oil, partly to preserve ahd polish them, and partly to make them slippery, that their enemies’ darts might not fasten in them, but slide off from them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Prepare the table,.... Set it, spread it, furnish it…
Prepare the table,.... Set it, spread it, furnish it with all kind of provisions, as at a feast; and such an one Belshazzar made, the night the city was taken: these words are directed to him by his courtiers or queen, as represented by the prophet, in order to remove his fears; see Dan 5:10,
watch in the watchtower; this is said to his servants, his soldiers, or sentinels, that were placed on watchtowers to observe the motions of the enemy, who were ordered on duty, and to be on guard, that he and his nobles might feast the more securely; and all this being done, a table furnished, and a guard set, he, his nobles, and all his guests, are encouraged to "eat" and "drink" liberally and cheerfully, without any fear of the Medes and Persians, who were now besieging the city; when, at the same time, by the Lord it would be said,
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arise, ye princes; not, ye nobles of Babylon, from your table, quit it, and your feasting and mirth:
and anoint the shield; prepare your arms, see that they are in good order, get them in readiness, and defend your king, yourselves, and your city, as some; but the princes of the Medes and Persians, Cyrus and his generals, are bid to take their arms, and enter the city while indulging themselves at their feast: it was usual to anoint shields, and other pieces of armour, partly that they might be smooth and slippery, as Jarchi, that so the darts of the enemy might easily slide off; and partly for the polishing and brightening of them, being of metal, especially of brass; so the Targum,
"polish and make the arms bright;''
see Sa2 1:21. Aben Ezra understands the words as an exhortation to the princes, to arise and anoint Darius king, in the room of Belshazzar slain; the word "shield" sometimes signifying a king, for which he mentions Psa 84:9 so Ben Melech; but they are a call of the prophet, or of the Lord, to the princes of the Medes and Persians, to take the opportunity, while the Babylonians were feasting, to fall upon them; and the words may be rendered thus (u),
"in or while preparing the table, watching in the watchtower, eating and drinking, arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield;''
which was done by their servants, though they are called upon.
(u) "disponendo, mensam, speculando speculam, comedendo, bibendo, surgite principes, ungite clypeum", Montanus; and to the same sense Grotius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Prepare - Furnish it with meats and drinks. The…
Prepare - Furnish it with meats and drinks. The prophet foretells what the Babylonians would be doing when their enemies were at their doors. Watch - To give us notice of any approaching danger, that in the meantime we may more securely indulge ourselves. Princes - Of Babylon: arise from the table and run to your arms. Shield - Prepare yourselves and your arms for the approaching battle. The shield is put for all their weapons of offense and defense. They used to anoint their shields with oil, to preserve and polish them, and to make them slippery.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 5. Prepare the table - "The table is…
Verse 5. Prepare the table - "The table is prepared"] In Hebrew the verbs are in the infinitive mood absolute, as in Eze 1:14: "And the animals ran and returned, רצוא ושוב ratso veshob, like the appearance of the lightning;" just as the Latins say, currere et reverti, for currebant et revertebantur. See Isa 32:11, and the note there.
Arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield.] Kimchi observes that several of the rabbins understood this of Belshazzar's impious feast and death. The king of a people is termed the shield, because he is their defense. The command, Anoint the shield, is the same with Anoint a new king. Belshazzar being now suddenly slain, while they were all eating and drinking, he advises the princes, whose business it was, to make speed and anoint another in his stead.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Isa 21:5. Prepare the table — Furnish it with…
Isa 21:5. Prepare the table — Furnish it with meats and drinks, as it follows. The prophet foretels what the Babylonians would be doing when their enemies were upon the point of entering their city: Watch in the watch-tower — To give us notice of any approaching danger, that we may more securely indulge ourselves in mirth and pleasures. Arise, ye princes — Either, 1st, Ye princes of Babylon. Arise from the table, and run to your arms: which sudden alarm was the consequence of tidings from the watch- tower. Or, 2d, Ye Medes and Persians; as if he had said, While your enemies, the Babylonians, are feasting securely, prepare and make your assault. Most commentators understand the clause in this latter sense. Dr. Waterland, after Vitringa, renders it, The table is spread: the watchman stands upon the watch; they eat, they drink: Arise now, ye princes, &c. The words paint in lively colours the security and revelling of the Babylonians, at the very time when the divine command is given to the Medes and Persians to seize this proper moment to make the assault. See Jer 51:11; Jer 51:28, &c. The expression, Anoint the shield, means, Prepare your arms: make ready for the battle. The shield is put for all their weapons, offensive and defensive. They used to anoint their shields with oil to preserve and polish them, and make them slippery, that their enemies’ darts might not fix in and penetrate, but slide off from them.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Prepare the table - This verse is one of…
Prepare the table - This verse is one of the most striking and remarkable that occurs in this prophecy, or indeed in any part of Isaiah. It is language supposed to be spoken in Babylon. The first direction - perhaps supposed to be that of the king - is to prepare the table for the feast. Then follows a direction to set a watch - to make the city safe, so that they might revel without fear. Then a command to eat and drink: and then immediately a sudden order, as if alarmed at an unexpected attack, to arise and anoint the shield, and to prepare for a defense. The “table” here refers to a feast - that impious feast mentioned in Dan. 5 in the night in which Babylon was taken, and Belshazzar slain. Herodotus (i. 195), Xenophon (“Cyr.” 7, 5), and Daniel Dan. 5 all agree in the account that Babylon was taken in the night in which the king and his nobles were engaged in feasting and revelry. The words of Xenophon are, ‘But Cyrus, when he heard that there was to be such a feast in Babylon, in which all the Babylonians would drink and revel through the whole night, on that night, as soon as it began to grow dark, taking many people, opened the dams into the river;’ that is, he opened the dykes which had been made by Semiramis and her successors to confine the waters of the Euphrates to one channel, and suffered the waters of the Euphrates again to flow over the country so that he could enter Babylon beneath its wall in the channel of the river. Xenophon has also given the address of Cyrus to the soldiers. ‘Now,’ says he, ‘let us go against them. Many of them are asleep; many of them are intoxicated; and all of them are unfit for battle (ἀσὺντακτοι asuntaktoi).’ Herodotus says (i. 191), ‘It was a day of festivity among them, and while the citizens were engaged in dance and merriment, Babylon was, for the first time, thus taken.’ Compare the account in Dan. 5.
Watch in the watch-tower - place a guard so that the city shall be secure. Babylon had on its walls many “towers,” placed at convenient distances (see the notes at Isa. 13), in which guards were stationed to defend the city, and to give the alarm on any approach of an enemy. Xenophon has given a similar account of the taking of the city: ‘They having arranged their guards, drank until light.’ The oriental watch-towers are introduced in the book for the purpose of illustrating a general subject often referred to in the Scriptures.
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Eat, drink - Give yourselves to revelry during the night (see Dan. 5)
Arise, ye princes - This language indicates sudden alarm. It is the language either of the prophet, or more probably of the king of Babylon, alarmed at the sudden approach of the enemy, and calling upon his nobles to arm themselves and make, a defense. The army of Cyrus entered Babylon by two divisions - one on the north where the waters of the Euphrates entered the city, and the other by the channel of the Euphrates on the south. Knowing that the city was given up to revelry on that night, they had agreed to imitate the sound of the revellers until they should assemble around the royal palace in the center of the city. They did so. When the king heard the noise, supposing that it was the sound of a drunken mob, he ordered the gates of the palace to be opened to ascertain the cause of the disturbance. When they were thus opened, the army of Cyrus rushed in, and made an immediate attack on all who were within. It is to this moment that we may suppose the prophet here refers, when the king, aroused and alarmed, would call on his nobles to arm themselves for battle (see Jahn’s “Hebrew Commonwealth,” p. 153, Ed. Andover, 1828).
Anoint the shield - That is, prepare for battle. Gesenius supposes that this means to rub over the shield with oil to make the leather more supple and impenetrable (compare 2Sa 1:21). The Chaldee renders it, ‘Fit, and polish your arms.’ The Septuagint, ‘Prepare shields.’ Shields were instruments of defense prepared to ward off the spears and arrows of an enemy in battle. They were usually made of a rim of brass or wood, and over this was drawn a covering of the skin of an ox or other animal in the manner of a drum-head with us. Occasionally the hide of a rhinoceros or an elephant was used. Burckhardt (“Travels in Nubia”) says that the Nubians use the hide of the hippopotamus for the making of shields. But whatever skin might be used, it was necessary occasionally to rub it over with oil lest it should become hard, and crack, or lest it should become so rigid that an arrow or a sword would easily break through it. Jarchi says, that ‘shields were made of skin, and that they anointed them with the oil of olive.’ The sense is, ‘Prepare your arms! Make ready for battle!’
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Drink. Persians refresh yourselves. --- Take up. Hebrew, "anoint."…
CHAPTER XXI.
Drink. Persians refresh yourselves. --- Take up. Hebrew, "anoint." He may also allude to the Babylonians, who were feasting.
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Prepare the table--namely, the feast in Babylon; during which…
Prepare the table--namely, the feast in Babylon; during which Cyrus opened the dykes made by Semiramis to confine the Euphrates to one channel and suffered them to overflow the country, so that he could enter Babylon by the channel of the river. Isaiah first represents the king ordering the feast to be got ready. The suddenness of the irruption of the foe is graphically expressed by the rapid turn in the language to an alarm addressed to the Babylonian princes, "Arise," &c. (compare Isa 22:13). MAURER translates, "They prepare the table," &c. But see Isa 8:9.
watch in . . . watchtower--rather, "set the watch." This done, they thought they might feast in entire security. Babylon had many watchtowers on its walls.
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anoint . . . shield--This was done to prevent the leather of the shield becoming hard and liable to crack. "Make ready for defense"; the mention of the "shield" alone implies that it is the Babylonian revellers who are called on to prepare for instant self-defense. HORSLEY translates, "Grip the oiled shield."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 5. The scene of the wildest agitation continues, but…
5. The scene of the wildest agitation continues, but it is not unsystematic and insane. There is brevity, rapidity, life, and system in the description.
Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink — This is addressed to the Babylonians. The phrase “watch,” etc., is better rendered, Spread the carpets. It describes a banquet scene. However, the usual guard is probably around, and an alarm may have been sounded.
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Arise, ye princes — Princes of Persia and Media — address, as it were, of the prophet.
Anoint the shield — Besmear the “shield,” a practice among the ancients, to aid the glancing off of lances and arrows. See VIRGIL’S Eneid, 7.626: “Pars leves clypeos… arvina pingui” — shields smooth with fat oil.
This was practiced, some say, for the preservation of the leather.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 5. The prophet contrasts his own lonely vigils with…
5. The prophet contrasts his own lonely vigils with the careless security of the Babylonian revellers (cf. Daniel 5; Jer_51:39; Isa_14:11).
Prepare the table, &c.] Render as in R.V. They prepare the table, they set the watch (the only measure of precaution adopted by the revellers), they eat, they drink.
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arise, ye princes] The banquet breaks up in confusion, for the foe is at the gates.
anoint the shield] Shields were oiled (2Sa_1:21), probably to make the blows glide off them.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (5) Prepare the table, watch in the watch-tower.—The words…
(5) Prepare the table, watch in the watch-tower.—The words (historical infinitive) are better taken as indicative: They prepare . . . they watch. The last clause has been variously rendered, they spread the coverlet; i.e., for the couches of the revellers (Amo_6:4); and they take a horoscopes (Ewald). Here, with hardly a shadow of a doubt, there is a reference to the temper of reckless revel such as was the immediate forerunner of the capture of Babylon. The prophet had, perhaps, an analogue of such blind security before his eyes at the very time he wrote (Isa_22:13), which led him to anticipate a like state of things in Babylon.
Anoint the shield . . .—The summons is one which in the prophet’s vision breaks in on the songs and music of the revel. The shields thought of were those covered with leather, which was oiled, partly to protect it from wet, partly to make the stroke of the sword glide off from it. The call implies that even this precaution had been neglected by the revellers.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Prepare the table, etc. With lyrical abruptness, the prophet…
Prepare the table, etc. With lyrical abruptness, the prophet turns from his own feelings to draw a picture of Babylon at the time when she is attacked. tie uses historical infinitives, the most lively form of narrative. Translate, They deck the table, set the watch, eat, drink; i.e. having decked the table, they commit the task of watching to a few, and then give themselves up to feasting and reveling, as if there were no danger. It is impossible not to think of Belshazzar"s feast, and the descriptions of the Greek historians (Herod., 1:191; Xen., "Cyrop.," 7:23), which mark at any rate the strength of the tradition that, when Babylon was taken, its inhabitants were engaged in revelry. Arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield. In the midst of the feast there enters to the revellers one from the outside, with these words, "Rise, quit the banquet; get your shields; anoint them; arm yourselves." That shields were greased with fat or oil before being used in battle appears from Virg., "AEneid," 7:625, and other places. It was thought that the enemy"s weapons would more readily glance off an oiled surface.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Anoint the shield
Isa_21:5
Anoint the shield
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Anoint the shield
The ancient shields being mostly of stout leather stretched over a frame or rim of metal or wood, it was necessary to rub them with oil, lest they should become hard and crack, or lest they should become so rigid that an arrow or spear might easily penetrate them.
Shields of this kind are still much in use, and still require the same treatment, in Western Asia; and we have ourselves frequently seen them on sale in the bazaars, and in use among the Arabs, the Kurds, and the Caucasians. (J. Kitto, D. D.)
Things that did not happen
What is a shield? It is a very peculiar part of Gods armour. It is not a strength in calamity; it is something which prevents calamity from coming. My strength is my power to bear; but my shield is my escape from bearing. My strength lifts me when the blow falls; my shield catches the blow before it falls. My strength supports what is; my shield wards off what might have been. I have often praised God for the strength; but I have seldom anointed the shield. I have recognised a thousand times His songs in the night; but I have not sufficiently thanked Him that the night itch has not been deeper. (G. Matheson, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 They prepare
They prepare
Here "They" refers to the leaders of Babylon.
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prepare the table
Here "table" represents the food that people will eat at the feast. (See: Metonymy)
arise, princes
Here "princes" refers in general to men with authority and not necessarily to sons of kings.
anoint your shields with oil
Soldiers would put oil on their leather shields so they would stay soft and not crack during battle. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
prince
anoint
shield
oil
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.