Isaiah 21 · Verse 7

Isaiah 21:7

And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed:

Isaiah 21:7, King James Version

Isaiah 21:7 in other translations

BSB	When he sees chariots with teams of horsemen, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, he must be alert, fully alert.”
WEB	When he sees a troop, horsemen in pairs, a troop of donkeys, a troop of camels, he shall listen diligently with great attentiveness.”
ASV	and when he seeth a troop, horsemen in pairs, a troop of asses, a troop of camels, he shall hearken diligently with much heed.
YLT	And he hath seen a chariot--a couple of horsemen, The rider of an ass, the rider of a camel, And he hath given attention--He hath increased attention!
DARBY	And he saw chariots, horsemen by pairs, a chariot with asses, a chariot with camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed.
BBE	And when he sees war-carriages, horsemen by twos, war-carriages with asses, war-carriages with camels, let him give special attention.
Webster	And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed:

What does Isaiah 21:7 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

7. chariot, &c.--rather, "a body of riders," namely, some riding in pairs on horses (literally, "pairs of horsemen," that is, two abreast), others on asses, others on camels (compare Is 21:9; Is 22:6). "Chariot" is not appropriate to be joined, as English Version translates, with "asses"; the Hebrew means plainly in Is 21:7, as in Is 21:9, "a body of men riding." The Persians used asses and camels for war [Maurer]. Horsley translates, "One drawn in a car, with a pair of riders, drawn by an ass, drawn by a camel"; Cyrus is the man; the car drawn by a camel and ass yoked together and driven by two postilions, one on each, is the joint army of Medes and Persians under their respective leaders. He thinks the more ancient military cars were driven by men riding on the beasts that drew them; Is 21:9 favors this.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 7 And he saw a chariot, etc. "And he saw a chariot with two riders; a rider on an ass, a rider on a camel" - This passage is extremely obscure from the ambiguity of the term רכב recheb, which is used three times, and which signifies a chariot, or any other vehicle, or the rider in it; or a rider on a horse, or any other animal; or a company of chariots, or riders. The prophet may possibly mean a cavalry in two parts, with two sorts of riders; riders on asses or mules, and riders on camels; or led on by two riders, one on an ass, and one on a camel. However, so far it is pretty clear, that Darius and Cyrus, the Medes and the Persians, are intended to be distinguished by the two riders on the two sorts of cattle. It appears from Herodotus, 1:80, that the baggage of Cyrus' army was carried on camels. In his engagement with Croesus, he took off the baggage from the camels, and mounted his horsemen upon them; the enemy's horses, offended with the smell of the camels, turned back and fled. - L.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 21:1-10

The taking of Babylon. (Is. 21:1-10) Of the Edomites. (Is. 21:11,12) Of the Arabs. (Is. 21:13-17) Verses 1-10 Babylon was a flat country, abundantly watered. The destruction of Babylon, so often prophesied of by Isaiah, was typical of the destruction of the great foe of the New Testament church, foretold in the Revelation. To the poor oppressed captives it would be welcome news; to the proud oppressors it would be…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 21:1-10 →

Isaiah 21:7 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְרָ֣אָהve.Ra.'ahand he will seeH7200

רֶ֗כֶבRe.kheva riderH7393

צֶ֚מֶדTze.meda pair ofH6776

פָּֽרָשִׁ֔יםpa.ra.ShimhorsesH6571

רֶ֥כֶבRe.kheva rider ofH7393

חֲמ֖וֹרcha.Mora donkeyH2543

רֶ֣כֶבRe.kheva rider ofH7393

גָּמָ֑לga.Mala camelH1581

וְהִקְשִׁ֥יבve.hik.Shivand he will pay attentionH7181

קֶ֖שֶׁבKe.shevattentivenessH7182

רַב\־rav-greatness ofH7227

קָֽשֶׁב\׃Ka.shevattentivenessH7182

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 21:7

Isaiah 21:9
And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.
Hebrews 2:1
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
Isaiah 37:24
By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

And he saw.
9; 37:24
he hearkened.
Heb 2:1

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Isaiah 21:6
For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.
Isaiah 21:7
And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed:
Isaiah 21:8
And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights:

Read all of Isaiah 21

Isaiah 21:7 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y vió un carro de un par de caballeros, un carro de asno, y un carro de camello. Luego miró muy más atentamente.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et elle vit un char, une paire de cavaliers, un char attelé d’ânes, un char attelé de chameaux. Et elle écouta diligemment, avec grande attention;
German Elberfelder 1871	Und er sah einen Reiterzug: Reiter bei Paaren; einen Zug Esel, einen Zug Kamele. Und er horchte gespannt, mit großer Aufmerksamkeit;
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Et vidit currum duorum equitum, ascensorem asini, et ascensorem cameli; et contemplatus est diligenter multo intuitu.