Isaiah 21:11

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

Bad News for Seir This is an oracle about Dumah: Someone calls to me from Seir,“Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?”

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

מַשָּׂ֖א דּוּמָ֑ה אֵלַי֙ קֹרֵ֣א מִשֵּׂעִ֔יר שֹׁמֵר֙ מַה־מִלַּ֔יְלָה שֹׁמֵ֖ר מַה־מִלֵּֽיל׃

Transliteration

maśśā' dūmāh to me qōrē' from śē'îr šōmēr what-from llaylāh šōmēr what-from llêl

Grammar Details

• *maśśā'*: noun, masculine singular construct - burden/oracle
• *dūmāh*: proper noun - Dumah (Edom)
• *qōrē'*: verb participle, qal active - calling
• *śē'îr*: proper noun - Seir (Edom)
• *šōmēr*: verb participle, qal active - watchman/guardian
• *llaylāh*: noun, masculine singular with prefix min - from night
• *llêl*: noun, masculine singular with prefix min - from night

Word Meanings

• *maśśā'*: burden/oracle/prophecy
• *dūmāh*: Dumah/silence (wordplay on Edom)
• *šōmēr mah-millaylāh*: watchman, what of the night?/guard, how far gone is the night?

Referenced Verses

• Gen 25:14 : 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa,
• 1 Chr 1:30 : 30 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema,
• Ps 137:7 : 7 Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. They said,“Tear it down, tear it down, right to its very foundation!”
• Isa 21:6 : 6 For this is what the Lord has told me:“Go, post a guard! He must report what he sees.
• Isa 34:1-9 : 1 The Lord Will Judge Edom Come near, you nations, and listen! Pay attention, you people! The earth and everything it contains must listen, the world and everything that lives in it. 2 For the LORD is angry at all the nations and furious with all their armies. He will annihilate them and slaughter them. 3 Their slain will be left unburied, their corpses will stink; the hills will soak up their blood. 4 All the stars in the sky will fade away, the sky will roll up like a scroll; all its stars will wither, like a leaf withers and falls from a vine or a fig withers and falls from a tree. 5 He says,“Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. Look, it now descends on Edom, on the people I will annihilate in judgment.” 6 The LORD’s sword is dripping with blood, it is covered with fat; it drips with the blood of young rams and goats and is covered with the fat of rams’ kidneys. For the LORD is holding a sacrifice in Bozrah, a bloody slaughter in the land of Edom. 7 Wild oxen will be slaughtered along with them, as well as strong bulls. Their land is drenched with blood, their soil is covered with fat. 8 For the LORD has planned a day of revenge, a time when he will repay Edom for her hostility toward Zion. 9 Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch and her soil into brimstone; her land will become burning pitch. 10 Night and day it will burn; its smoke will ascend continually. Generation after generation it will be a wasteland and no one will ever pass through it again. 11 Owls and wild animals will live there, all kinds of wild birds will settle in it. The LORD will stretch out over her the measuring line of ruin and the plumb line of destruction. 12 Her nobles will have nothing left to call a kingdom and all her officials will disappear. 13 Her fortresses will be overgrown with thorns; thickets and weeds will grow in her fortified cities. Jackals will settle there; ostriches will live there. 14 Wild animals and wild dogs will congregate there; wild goats will bleat to one another. Yes, nocturnal animals will rest there and make for themselves a nest. 15 Owls will make nests and lay eggs there; they will hatch them and protect them. Yes, hawks will gather there, each with its mate. 16 Carefully read the scroll of the LORD! Not one of these creatures will be missing, none will lack a mate. For the LORD has issued the decree, and his own spirit gathers them. 17 He assigns them their allotment; he measures out their assigned place. They will live there permanently; they will settle in it through successive generations.
• Isa 63:1-6 : 1 The Victorious Divine Warrior Who is this who comes from Edom, dressed in bright red, coming from Bozrah? Who is this one wearing royal attire, who marches confidently because of his great strength?“It is I, the one who announces vindication, and who is able to deliver!” 2 Why are your clothes red? Why do you look like someone who has stomped on grapes in a vat? 3 “I have stomped grapes in the winepress all by myself; no one from the nations joined me. I stomped on them in my anger; I trampled them down in my rage. Their juice splashed on my garments, and stained all my clothes. 4 For I looked forward to the day of vengeance, and then payback time arrived. 5 I looked, but there was no one to help; I was shocked because there was no one offering support. So my right arm accomplished deliverance; my raging anger drove me on. 6 I trampled nations in my anger, I made them drunk in my rage, I splashed their blood on the ground.”
• Jer 37:17 : 17 Then King Zedekiah had him brought to the palace. There he questioned him privately and asked him,“Is there any message from the LORD?”Jeremiah answered,“Yes, there is.” Then he announced,“You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”
• Jer 49:7-9 : 7 Judgment Against Edom The LORD of Heaven’s Armies spoke about Edom.“Is wisdom no longer to be found in Teman? Can Edom’s counselors not give her any good advice? Has all of their wisdom turned bad? 8 Turn and flee! Take up refuge in remote places, you people who live in Dedan. For I will bring disaster on the descendants of Esau. I have decided it is time for me to punish them. 9 If grape pickers came to pick your grapes, would they not leave a few grapes behind? If robbers came at night, would they not pillage only what they needed? 10 But I will strip everything away from Esau’s descendants. I will uncover their hiding places so they cannot hide. Their children, relatives, and neighbors will all be destroyed. Not one of them will be left! 11 Leave your orphans behind and I will keep them alive. Your widows too can depend on me.” 12 For the LORD says,“If even those who did not deserve to drink from the cup of my wrath must drink from it, do you think you will go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but must certainly drink from the cup of my wrath. 13 For I solemnly swear,” says the LORD,“that Bozrah will become a pile of ruins. It will become an object of horror and ridicule, an example to be used in curses. All the towns around it will lie in ruins forever.” 14 I said,“I have heard a message from the LORD. A messenger has been sent among the nations to say,‘Gather your armies and march out against her! Prepare to do battle with her!’” 15 The LORD says to Edom,“I will certainly make you small among nations. I will make you despised by all humankind. 16 The terror you inspire in others and the arrogance of your heart have deceived you. You may make your home in the clefts of the rocks; you may occupy the highest places in the hills. But even if you made your home where the eagles nest, I would bring you down from there,” says the LORD. 17 “Edom will become an object of horror. All who pass by it will be filled with horror; they will hiss out their scorn because of all the disasters that have happened to it. 18 Edom will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns that were around them. No one will live there. No human being will settle in it,” says the LORD. 19 “A lion coming up from the thick undergrowth along the Jordan scatters the sheep in the pastureland around it. So too I will chase the Edomites off their land. Then I will appoint over it whomever I choose. For there is no one like me, and there is no one who can call me to account. There is no ruler who can stand up against me. 20 So listen to what I, the LORD, have planned against Edom, what I intend to do to the people who live in Teman. Their little ones will be dragged off. I will completely destroy their land because of what they have done. 21 The people of the earth will quake when they hear of their downfall. Their cries of anguish will be heard all the way to the Gulf of Aqaba. 22 Look! Like an eagle with outspread wings, a nation will soar up and swoop down on Bozrah. At that time the soldiers of Edom will be as fearful as a woman in labor.”
• Ezek 35:1-9 : 1 Prophecy Against Mount Seir The LORD’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, turn toward Mount Seir, and prophesy against it. 3 Say to it,‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says:“‘Look, I am against you, Mount Seir; I will stretch out my hand against you and turn you into a desolate ruin. 4 I will lay waste your cities; and you will become desolate. Then you will know that I am the LORD! 5 “‘You have shown unrelenting hostility and poured the people of Israel onto the blades of a sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment. 6 Therefore, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I will subject you to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you. 7 I will turn Mount Seir into a desolate ruin; I will cut off from it the one who passes through or returns. 8 I will fill its mountains with its dead; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines, those killed by the sword will fall. 9 I will turn you into a perpetual desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 10 “‘You said,“These two nations, these two lands will be mine, and we will possess them,”– although the LORD was there– 11 therefore, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I will deal with you according to your anger, and according to your envy, by which you acted spitefully against them. I will reveal myself to them when I judge you. 12 Then you will know that I, the LORD, have heard all the insults you spoke against the mountains of Israel, saying,“They are desolate, they have been given to us for food.” 13 You exalted yourselves against me with your speech and hurled many insults against me– I have heard them all! 14 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: While the whole earth rejoices, I will turn you into a desolation. 15 As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so will I deal with you– you will be desolate, Mount Seir, and all of Edom– all of it! Then they will know that I am the LORD.’”
• Joel 3:19 : 19 Egypt will be desolate and Edom will be a desolate wilderness, because of the violence they did to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood.
• Amos 1:6 : 6 This is what the LORD says:“Because Gaza has committed three crimes– make that four!– I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They deported a whole community and sold them to Edom.
• Amos 1:11-12 : 11 This is what the LORD says:“Because Edom has committed three crimes– make that four!– I will not revoke my decree of judgment. He chased his brother with a sword; he wiped out his allies. In his anger he tore them apart without stopping to rest; in his fury he relentlessly attacked them. 12 So I will set Teman on fire; fire will consume Bozrah’s fortresses.”
• Obad 1:1-9 : 1 ¶ God’s Judgment on Edom The vision that Obadiah saw. The Sovereign LORD says this concerning Edom: Edom’s Approaching Destruction We have heard a report from the LORD. An envoy was sent among the nations, saying,“Arise! Let us make war against Edom!” 2 The LORD says,“Look! I will make you a weak nation; you will be greatly despised! 3 Your presumptuous heart has deceived you– you who reside in the safety of the rocky cliffs, whose home is high in the mountains. You think to yourself,‘No one can bring me down to the ground!’ 4 Even if you were to soar high like an eagle, even if you were to make your nest among the stars, I can bring you down even from there!” says the LORD. 5 “If thieves came to rob you during the night, they would steal only as much as they wanted! If grape pickers came to harvest your vineyards, they would leave some behind for the poor! But you will be totally destroyed! 6 How the people of Esau will be thoroughly plundered! Their hidden valuables will be ransacked! 7 All your allies will force you from your homeland! Your treaty partners will deceive you and overpower you. Your trusted friends will set an ambush for you that will take you by surprise! 8 At that time,” the LORD says,“I will destroy the wise sages of Edom, the advisers from Esau’s mountain! 9 Your warriors will be shattered, O Teman, so that everyone will be destroyed from Esau’s mountain! 10 Edom’s Treachery Against Judah“Because you violently slaughtered your relatives, the people of Jacob, shame will cover you, and you will be destroyed forever. 11 You stood aloof while strangers took his army captive, and foreigners advanced to his gates. When they cast lots over Jerusalem, you behaved as though you were in league with them. 12 You should not have gloated when your relatives suffered calamity. You should not have rejoiced over the people of Judah when they were destroyed. You should not have boasted when they suffered adversity. 13 You should not have entered the city of my people when they experienced distress. You should not have joined in gloating over their misfortune when they suffered distress. You should not have looted their wealth when they endured distress. 14 You should not have stood at the fork in the road to slaughter those trying to escape. You should not have captured their refugees when they suffered adversity. 15 The Coming Day of the Lord“For the day of the LORD is approaching for all the nations! Just as you have done, so it will be done to you. You will get exactly what your deeds deserve. 16 For just as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so all the nations will drink continually. They will drink, and they will gulp down; they will be as though they had never been.
• Mal 1:2-4 : 2 “I have shown love to you,” says the LORD, but you say,“How have you shown love to us?”“Esau was Jacob’s brother,” the LORD explains,“yet I chose Jacob 3 and rejected Esau. I turned Esau’s mountains into a deserted wasteland and gave his territory to the wild jackals.” 4 Edom says,“Though we are devastated, we will once again build the ruined places.” So the LORD of Heaven’s Armies responds,“They indeed may build, but I will overthrow. They will be known as the land of evil, the people with whom the LORD is permanently displeased.
• Gen 32:3 : 3 Jacob sent messengers on ahead to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the region of Edom.
• Num 24:18 : 18 Edom will be a possession, Seir, his enemies, will also be a possession; but Israel will act valiantly.
• Deut 2:5 : 5 Do not be hostile toward them, because I am not giving you any of their land, not even a footprint, for I have given Mount Seir as an inheritance for Esau.