Isaiah 21:4

"Therefore my thighs are filled with anguish. Pains have seized me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am in so much pain that I can’t hear. I am so dismayed that I can’t see."

Key Reflection

Isaiah 21:4 describes intense spiritual anguish, comparing the prophet's feelings to a woman in labor. This vivid imagery conveys the depth of emotional and spiritual distress, highlighting the weight of impending events or judgment.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

My heart panted -Margin, ‘My mind wandered.’ The Hebrew word rendered ‘panted’ (תעהtâ‛âh) means to wander about; to stagger; to be giddy; and is applied often to one that staggers by being intoxicated. Applied to the heart, it means that it is disquieted or troubled. The Hebrew word “heart” here is to be taken in the sense of “mind.” The night of my pleasure -There can be no doubt that the prophet here refers to the night of revelry and riot in which Babylon was taken. The prophet calls it the night of “his” pleasure, because he represents himself as being “in” Babylon when it should be taken, and, therefore, uses such language as an inhabitant of Babylon would use.

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