Isaiah 21:6

"They prepare the table. They set the watch. They eat. They drink. Rise up, you princes, oil the shield!"

Key Reflection

In Isaiah 21:6, the original audience would have recognized a scene of grand feasting and revelry in Babylon. The instructions to prepare the table, set the watch, eat, drink, and anoint the shield suggest that this was part of a celebration before a military threat emerged. This juxtaposition highlights the sudden shift from festivity to preparation for battle, underscoring the vulnerability and eventual fall of Babylon as prophesied in Isaiah's vision.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Go, set a watchman -This was said to Isaiah in the vision. He represents himself as in Babylon, and as hearing God command him to set a watchman on the watch-tower who would announce what was to come to pass. All this is designed merely to bring the manner of the destruction of the city more vividly before the eye.

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