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1 The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land. 2 A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease. 3 Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it. 4 My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me. 5 Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield. 6 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth. 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: 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: 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. 10 O my threshing, and the corn of my floor: that which I have heard of the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you. 11 The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? 12 The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will inquire, inquire ye: return, come. 13 The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim. 14 The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled. 15 For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war. 16 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail: 17 And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the LORD God of Israel hath spoken it.
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[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 21:1
(Chapter 21, Verse 1) The burden of the desert of the sea. Unless I were to read the following in the subsequent part of this chapter: Babylon has become a beloved wonder to me. And again: Babylon has fallen, has fallen, and all the carved images of her gods are shattered on the ground. And above: Go up, O Elam, lay siege, O Media: I would doubt that this weight, which is imposed on the deserted sea, is what is meant. Therefore, it is clear that the deserted sea is called Babylon, as Jeremiah says on behalf of God: I will make her sea a desert, and I will dry up her land, and Babylon will become heaps of sand (Jeremiah 51:36, 37). But the sea is called such because of the multitude of creatures living in it. Therefore, above, the multitude of Egypt is compared to the sea. The Lord will make the sea of Egypt a desert. And as for the Medes and Persians warring against Babylon, and overthrowing it, we read in the aforementioned Jeremiah: Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers. The Lord will raise up the spirit of the kings of the Medes against Babylon, and his thoughts will be against her, to destroy her, for it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his Temple. Raise a banner on the walls of Babylon, increase the guard, elevate the watchmen, prepare ambushes; for the Lord has planned and done what he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon. And again: Raise a signal on the earth, blow the trumpet among the nations, consecrate the nations against her, announce to the kings of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; summon against her the kings of Media, bring up horses like bristling locusts. Sanctify against her the nations, the kings of Media, their leaders and all their officials, and the whole land under their dominion. The earth will quake and tremble, for the Lord has a plan against Babylon to make it a desolation, a place where no one lives (Jeremiah 51:11, following).

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 21:1-2
(Verse 1, Line 2) Just as whirlwinds come from the South, it comes from the desert, from a dreadful land. A harsh vision has been announced to me. The voice of the Babylonian people is introduced, fearing that it, or rather Babylon itself, may hear that the Medes and the Elamites are preparing an army against them and are coming from the wilderness, and it sets forth an example of comparison. Just as, he says, a violent storm usually comes from the South wind: so to me comes desolation from the wilderness, from a dreadful land, of which I cannot even hear the name without fear. A harsh vision has been announced to me: for what is harder than present captivity?

Whoever is unbelieving, acts unfaithfully; and whoever is a destroyer, devastates. It can be read in Hebrew as follows: If you kill, kill; and if you devastate, devastate, so that the prophecy of Elamite and Median, encouraging him to fulfill what he has begun, may be directed to him, daring to ascend without fear, to besiege the most powerful city. But if it is read as we have translated, as if it is said from a third person perspective, "Whoever is unbelieving, acts unfaithfully; and whoever is a destroyer, devastates," it must be connected with the previous statements, in which Babylon declares a harsh vision revealed to her.


Rise up, O Elam, besiege the Medes: I have caused all their groaning to cease. Do not be afraid, says the Persian and the Mede, of the multitude of Babylon, nor be in awe of its former power: I have caused all their groaning and the weight with which it used to press you to cease: either because no one now laments and grieves under the power of Babylon, or because Babylon itself is so oppressed by such great evils that it does not even have free groaning.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 21:1-3
(Chapter 21—Verse 1 and following) The burden of the desert of the sea. As hurricanes come from the south, it comes from the desert, from a fearful land. A harsh vision has been revealed to me: he who is unbelieving acts unfaithfully, and he who is a plunderer lays waste. Rise up, Elam, besiege Media: I have caused all their groaning to cease. Therefore my loins are filled with pain: distress has gripped me, like the distress of a woman in labor. 70: Vision of the desert of the sea. Just as a storm passes through the desert, coming from the desert. A vision of horror has been announced to me from the land of distress: the transgressor transgresses, and the unjust acts unjustly. The Elamites are against me, and the messengers of Persia come: now I groan and console myself: therefore my loins are filled with anguish, sorrows have seized me, like a woman in labor. What seems to us according to History we have said briefly: now let us grasp the summary of tropologies. A vision, or a burden against this world, is seen as the sea: and it is seen by the Prophet, how great temptations this world is full of. However, as to why the sea is called a world (not to mention many other things), I am content with one testimony from the Psalms: Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, they have seen the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep (Psalm 107:23). For those who work in this world do the work of God, and with the Prophet they say: Come into the deep sea, they themselves see his wonders in the deep; and having been delivered from temptations and distress, they say they have heard a terrible and harsh vision. But this very storm comes from the desert, in which the Lord was tempted (Matthew IV), and Israel suffered from the bites of serpents and the stings of scorpions (Numbers XXI). And when it comes, it passes through and goes by; and then he who endures understands that only the transgressor transgresses and only the wicked acts wickedly. Therefore, if we are overwhelmed by the waves of the sea and if a fierce storm overtakes us, it is because of our own vice, for we were transgressors and wicked before the storm. And what he says is this: Against me the Elamites and the ambassadors of the Persians come, here the meaning is: the Elamites interpret with contempt, the Persians try. Therefore, let those come who are accustomed to despise, to scorn, and to try; but I will lament, and my groaning will be my consolation. But even my loins are filled with distress, and I have been seized by pains like a woman in labor, so that I may conceive and give birth from the fear of the Lord, and make his spirit of salvation come upon the earth. But according to the Hebrew, the whirlwinds and storms come from the desert and from the dreadful land, where there is no inhabitant, God is not present, and everything is earthly. And whoever is unbelieving acts in accordance with his unbelief, and the devastator lays waste. Therefore, he speaks boldly against his adversaries, saying, 'Ascend, Elam; lay siege to the Medes!' I have caused every groaning of the desert sea and the dreadful land, and the harshest vision that was announced to cease. Because my loins are filled with repentance, not with pleasure as before, but with sorrow, and I will say no more: My loins are filled with illusions. (Ps. XXXVII, 7). For anguish and tribulation have taken hold of me, as it is wont to hold a woman in labor. The Vulgate edition and the Hebrew text differ greatly in this place; therefore, we will briefly examine both, lest we leave ourselves an opportunity for captious fault-finding.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 390] Gregory of Nazianzus on Isaiah 21:2
We receive the Son’s light from the Father’s light in the light of the Spirit: that is what we ourselves have seen and what we now proclaim—it is the plain and simple explanation of the Trinity. Let the treacherous deal treacherously, let the transgressor transgress—we shall preach what we know. We shall climb a lofty mountain and shout it out, if we are not given a hearing below. We shall extol the Spirit; we shall not be afraid. If we do have fear, it will be of silence, not of preaching.

Source: ON THE HOLY SPIRIT, THEOLOGICAL ORATION 5 (31).3
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 21:3-4
(Verse 3, 4.) Therefore my loins are filled with pain: anguish has taken hold of me, like the anguish of a woman in labor: I am bowed down when I hear it, I am troubled when I see it. My heart is faint, darkness has overwhelmed me. Babylon, my beloved, has become a wonder to me. The prophets are therefore obscured, because many individuals are changed in them. Therefore now the voice of Isaiah is introduced mourning for Babylon in a prophetic spirit, because such great evils are about to come upon her, that the one who narrates, overcome by fear, is unable to burst forth into words, seeing the bloodshed of such a multitude: and moved by the affection of mercy (for indeed he speaks of humans), he grieves no less than a woman wailing in childbirth; but he is troubled and fearful, and falling to the ground, with dim eyes he knows not what he is saying. But for the name that we translate as Babylon, in Hebrew it is read Neseph Esci (); and it is the very word that we placed at the beginning of the Babylonian Oneris, on the dark mountain: for it is written Neseph for dark or gloomy. And this city is specifically called thus, because of its height and the erect summit of pride reaching up to heaven.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 21:4-5
[Daniel 5:30-31] "On that same night Belshazzar, King of the Chaldeans, was slain, and Darius the Mede succeeded to his kingdom at the age of sixty-two." Josephus writes in his tenth book of the Jewish Antiquities that when Babylon had been laid under siege by the Medes and Persians, that is, by Darius and Cyrus, Belshazzar, King of Babylon, fell into such forgetfulness of his own situation as to put on his celebrated banquet and drink from the vessels of the Temple, and even while he was besieged he found leisure for banqueting. From this circumstance the historical account could arise, that he was captured and slaughtered on the same night, while everyone was either terrified by fear of the vision and its interpretation, or else taken up with festivity and drunken banqueting. As for the fact that while Cyrus, King of the Persians, was the victor, and Darius was only King of the Medes, it was Darius who was recorded to have succeeded to the throne of Babylon, this was an arrangement occasioned by factors of age, family relationship, and the territory ruled over. By this I mean that Darius was sixty-two years old, and that, according to what we read, the kingdom of the Medes was more sizable than that of the Persians, and being Cyrus's uncle, he naturally had a prior claim, and ought to have been accounted as successor to the rule of Babylon. Therefore also in a vision of Isaiah which was recited against Babylon, after many other matters too lengthy to mention, an account is given of these things which are to take place: "Behold I Myself will rouse up against them the Medes, a people who do not seek after silver nor desire gold, but who slay the very children with their arrows and have no compassion upon women who suckle their young" (Isaiah 13:17-18). And Jeremiah says: "Sanctify nations against her, even the kings of Media, and the governors thereof and all the magistrates thereof and all the land under the power thereof" (Jeremiah 51:28). Then follow the words: "The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor during the time of its treading; yet a little while, and the time of its harvesting will come" (Jeremiah 51:33). And in testimony of the fact that Babylon was captured during a banquet, Isaiah clearly exhorts her to battle when he writes: "Babylon, my beloved, has become a strange spectacle unto me: set thou the table and behold in the mirrors those who eat and drink; rise up, ye princes, and snatch up your shields!" (Isaiah 21:4-5).

Source: St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER FIVE
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 21:4-5
(Vers. 4, 5.) I fell down when I heard, I was troubled when I saw: my heart grew faint, darkness overwhelmed me: Babylon, my beloved, has become a wonder to me. Set the table, watch those who eat and drink: rise up, princes, take the shield. LXX: I acted unjustly so that I would not hear, I hastened so that I would not see, my heart went astray: iniquity has flooded over me; my soul is filled with fear. Set the table, watch the watchtower: eat, drink: rise up, princes, prepare the shields. Before hearing and seeing the harshest things that the Prophet foresaw about the desert sea, he says that he fell and was troubled, and with almost blinded eyes and a bewildered mind, he did not know what he was seeing. For that Babylon (about which Aquila and Theodotius interpreted as darkness, to signify this world, which is in the evil (1 John 5), and whose rulers are according to the Apostle Paul (Ephesians 6), the rulers of these darkness), which once was either loved by the Prophets or by God, has become marvelous in its downfall. Where the Prophets are commanded that, partaking of the table of the Lord and being satisfied with His food, they may more diligently contemplate the things that are to come to the world; and through him it is said to all believers that, by partaking of and drinking the body and blood of the Lord, they may become princes of the Church, etc., and listen to the Apostles when they say, “Arise; take up the shield of faith from the armor of the Apostle Paul” (Ephesians 6), in which they can extinguish the fiery darts of the devil. According to the Hebrew, and the interpretation begun on the world. Let us move on to the Septuagint edition, which differs greatly from the previous ones. The Prophet corrects himself, or rather confesses the error of others under his own person, who following the literal letter, despise the life-giving spirit; and he says that he has acted unjustly, so as not to hear the law spiritually: but on the contrary, he hastened not to perceive the sacraments of God, nor did he say with David: Open my eyes, and I will consider the wonders of your law (Ps. 118:18). Therefore, his heart wanders and is filled with Jewish superstition, not remaining in the love of God, but in fear, so that he may have a spirit of slavery in fear, and not the spirit of adoption, in which we cry out, Abba Father (Rom. VIII). Therefore, it is commanded to him to approach the table of spiritual food, and all who follow his example shall eat from it and drink. And with the old error despised, let them rise up in the spirit which lay in the letter, and let them become princes, and let them say with the Prophet: O Lord, you have crowned us with the shield of your goodwill (Ps. V, 15).

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 21:5
And in testimony of the fact that Babylon was captured during a banquet, Isaiah clearly exhorts it to battle when he writes, “Babylon, my beloved, has become a strange spectacle to me: set the table and behold in the mirrors those who eat and drink; rise up, you princes, and snatch up your shields!”

Source: COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 2:5.31
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 21:5
(Verse 5.) Set the table, observe those who are eating and drinking: arise, leaders, take up the shield. This place is understood in two ways: o Medes and Elamites, of whom I spoke above: ascend, O Elam, besiege the Medes, take food, prepare yourselves for the coming battle, lest weariness hold you back once the time of conflict has arrived. And when you have eaten and drunk, arise, seize your weapons, wage war against Babylon. And what he says, observe those who are eating and drinking, is read in this sense: look carefully at what is to come. It can also be understood like this: O Babylon, prepare a feast for your son Belshazzar, the grandson of your son Evil-Merodach and the descendant of your grandson Nebuchadnezzar. See what happens after the meal, in which you will drink from the vessels of the Lord with prostitutes and concubines. O princes, who sit with the king, but signify the Medes and Persians, rise up and seize weapons to kill the king. We learn more about this in the book of Daniel (Chapter 5).

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 21:6-7
(Vers. 6, 7.) For the Lord said to me: Go and set a watchman, and whatever he sees, let him announce. And he saw a chariot of two horsemen, a rider on a donkey, and a rider on a camel, and he examined carefully with great attention, and the lion roared. LXX: For thus says the Lord to me: Go and set a watchman for yourself, and whatever you see, announce. And I saw two horsemen riding, a rider on a donkey, and a rider on a camel: I heard a great sound, and I called Uriah to the watchtower. The Prophet is commanded to place in his heart a lookout and to look more closely at what is to come to the world. And he saw two horsemen, one riding on a donkey and the other riding on a camel. Some have interpreted this as the rider on the donkey representing Christ according to the Gospel reading (Matt. XXI) and the prophecy of Zechariah (Zech. IX), and, on the contrary, the rider on the camel representing contrary strength because of the ugliness of the twisted animal. But others refer the two ascending letters and spirit to the two Testaments. And that which is said in Hebrew Arie (), for which Aquila and Symmachus have interpreted lion and lioness, the Seventy, I know not what, have put οὐρίαν, which some think to be interpreted as the light of the Lord, while with other letters it is the light of the Lord, which is not here, and with others it is written lion, which is here read. And he wishes this beholder, whom the Prophet is commanded to place in his heart, to be called Uriah, and through the interpretation of the name, refers it to the understanding of Christ, so that with him dwelling in us, we may perceive what is to come. Indeed, Jacob (Gen. XLIX) and Balaam (Num. XXIII and II) are named under the mystery of Christ, and can be compared to the lion.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 21:6-10
(Verse 6 and following) For the Lord spoke these words to me: Go and set a watchman, and whatever he sees, let him announce. And he saw a chariot with two horsemen, a rider on a donkey, and a rider on a camel. And he looked closely with much attention, and the lion cried out: I am standing continually on the watchtower of the Lord, both day and night. Behold, here comes a rider of a chariot with horsemen, and he answered and said: Babylon is fallen, is fallen, and all the carved images of its gods are shattered on the ground. Crush my people, O threshing floor of mine, which I heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have declared to you. The reasons for the previous fear are given, why distress has taken hold of him like a woman in labor, and he has fallen down, hearing and trembling, and being surrounded by dark horror. This, the Lord said to me: go and set a watchman, so that he may foretell to you the future with a prophetic spirit; when I placed him on the watchtower, he saw a chariot coming with two horses, and a charioteer high above, and an ass and a camel drawing the chariot. But it signifies Cyrus, the king of the Persians and Medes, coming with little and great authority. For the Persians were formerly unknown before Cyrus and held no place among the nations; the Medes, however, were always very powerful. Therefore, this one, supported by the army of two nations, came against Babylon. And that lookout who was positioned to see what was coming cried out like a lion, or rather, he is called a lion himself as a prophet. And because there was doubt about the identity of the lookout who had seen Cyrus ascending, he explains more explicitly and says: \"I am standing on the lookout of the Lord constantly throughout the day, declaring himself to be the lookout of the Lord, who is always stationed in the prophetic office, and who, in the days and nights of the Lord's command, speaks whatever He orders.\ Therefore, what did the lion call out? Behold, that man comes, the ascender of the chariot of the horsemen; no doubt, Cyrus is indicated. And he answered and said, the lion himself who had called out before: Babylon has fallen, fallen, and all the sculptures of its gods are shattered on the ground. For with the devastating ascender of the chariot, Babylon is destroyed forever, and the temple of Bel and all the idols are laid to the ground. And what follows, 'My threshing, and the son of my floor,' it makes an apostrophe to Jerusalem, and to the Temple which is situated in the area of Orna, and it says to it: 'O Jerusalem, and people, sons of my Temple, do not think it unbelievable what I have said; for they are not my words, but the words of the Lord, and through my mouth, his words resounded.' Some people mistakenly think that this is not said about Jerusalem, but about Babylon, from which my beloved above Babylon is placed for me as a miracle; and the meaning is: what you have broken, you will also be broken, not in my words, but in the power of the Lord, which foretells these things to you. However, what the LXX translators meant in this place, to translate 'lion', which is called in Hebrew 'Aria' (), as 'uriah', I do not quite understand, especially since the aforementioned priest Uriah, who is called as a witness, is written in other letters.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 21:7
[Daniel 5:1] "Belshazzar the king made a great feast for his one thousand nobles; and each one drank in the order of his age." It should be known that this man was not the son of Nebuchadnezzar, as readers commonly imagine; but according to Berosus, who wrote the history of the Chaldeans, and also Josephus, who follows Berosus, after Nebuchadnezzar's reign of forty-three years, a son named Evilmerodach succeeded to his throne. It was concerning this king that Jeremiah wrote that in the first year of his reign he raised the head of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, and took him out of his prison (Jeremiah 52:31). Josephus likewise reports that after the death of Evilmerodach, his son Neriglissar succeeded to his father's throne; after whom in turn came his son Labosordach. Upon the latter's death, his son, Belshazzar, obtained the kingdom, and it is of him that the Scripture now makes mention. After he had been killed by Darius, King of the Medes, who was the maternal uncle of Cyrus, King of the Persians, the empire of the Chaldeans was destroyed by Cyrus the Persian. It was these two kingdoms which Isaiah in chap. 21 (Isaiah 21:7) addresses as a charioteer of a vehicle drawn by a camel and an ass. Indeed Xenophon also writes the same thing in connection with the childhood of Cyrus the Great; likewise Pompeius Trogus and many others who have written up the history of the barbarians. Some authorities think that this Darius was the Astyages mentioned in the Greek writings, while others think it was Astyages' son, and that he was called by the other name among the barbarians. "And each one of the princes who had been invited drank in the order of his own age." Or else, as other translators have rendered it: "The king himself was drinking in the presence of all the princes whom he had invited."

Source: St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER FIVE
[AD 450] Peter Chrysologus on Isaiah 21:7-9
[In the Gospels it is said,] “And he began to send them forth two by two.” He sent them two by two that no one of them, being abandoned and alone, might fall into a denial, like Peter, or flee, like John. Human frailty quickly falls if it proudly relies on itself, despises companions and is unwilling to have a colleague. As Scripture says, “Woe to him that is alone, for when he falls, he has none to lift him up.” The same Scripture testifies how much one is strengthened by another’s aid, when it states, “A brother that is helped by his brother is like a strong city.”… This was done also to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah, who testified that he had seen a rider of a two-horse chariot, when he heard it said to him, “What do you see?” And he replied, “I see a rider of a two-horse chariot.” Because of this he cried out right away that Babylon had fallen, and all its graven gods.
Who doubts, brothers, that by this two-horse chariot Christ was riding upon his saving journeys, since he sees that through the apostles’ preaching temples have fallen, idols have perished, the bleating of herds has ceased and the victims, along with even the very altars with their perfume of incense, have already disappeared through all the centuries.

Source: SERMON 170
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 21:8-10
(Verses 8-10.) I am a watchman of the Lord, standing continuously during the day, and I am a guard of my duty, standing all through the night. Behold, here comes a chariot rider, a man riding in a pair of horses, and he answered and said: Babylon has fallen, has fallen, and all the idols of its gods are shattered on the ground. My threshing floor and my sons of the barn, what I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have declared to you. LXX: The Lord said: I have stood throughout the day, and I have stood over the camp throughout the night. And behold, here comes a chariot rider, and answering he said: Babylon has fallen, has fallen, and all its idols, and its manufactured things, are shattered on the ground. Listen, you who have been forsaken, and mourn: listen to what I heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who has announced to us. The Prophet stands on the lookout of the Lord, and in his light, he sees what is to come. He has this responsibility, and this task assigned to him, to see what is to come in the darkness of this age. Behold, he says, he is coming, indicating that he has seen this, the Lord Savior coming seated on a chariot, and joining together two animals, a donkey and a camel. The Prophet responded and said: Babylon has fallen, the confusion of the whole world has fallen. And in my coming, in which I took on a human body, it will completely collapse at the end of the world. And all its sculptures have been crushed on the ground. For this reason, the seventy idols and artifacts have been interpreted, signifying the Scriptures of the heretics and the various errors of heresies, who are the fabricators of idols and worship what they have imagined in their own hearts. And what follows from the person of the Prophet saying: My thrashing, and the son of my threshing-floor, which I heard from the Lord God of Hosts, I have announced to you; according to the Hebrew, it has this meaning: O people, who are to be stored in my barns, whom I have thus trampled in various hardships, so that I might separate the chaff from him, and pure wheat might be stored in my barns, which I heard from the Lord God of Hosts would come to the whole world, I have announced to you who are in the world, all of you. But others say that the superior person is indeed the Lord Savior, because He Himself spoke to the Apostles: 'What I have heard from the Father, I have made known to you' (John 15:15). And because it is written in the Septuagint, 'Listen, you who have been left behind and feel sorrow' (Isaiah 5:9), the sense of their interpretation seems to me to be: 'O Apostles, of whom Isaiah writes: 'Unless the Lord had left us a remnant, we would have become like Sodom, and would have been like Gomorrah' (Romans 9), whose remnants the Apostle teaches to be saved. You who have been left from the people of the Jews in order to be saved; and you feel sorrow over the ruin of your nation, about which we also read elsewhere: 'I am filled with sorrow and continuous pain for my brethren, who are Israelites according to the flesh' (Romans 9:2-3): I announce to you the things that I have heard from God the Father, which God of Israel predicts will come to you.'

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on Isaiah 21:10
Notice how in this passage he does not call those of the circumcision to hear the un-speakable words, but only those whom he calls “forsaken and tortured.” These were those of the time of the apostles who regretted and lamented the evil of humanity.

Source: PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 2:3
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 21:11-12
(Verse 11, 12.) Oracle concerning Dumah. One calls to me from Seir: 'Watchman, what time of the night? Watchman, what time of the night?' The watchman says: 'Morning comes, and also the night. Seek if you will, inquire if you will, come.' For Dumah they set seventy idols, not over the entire Idumean province, but in a certain region that extends towards the south and is twenty miles distant from the city of Palestine, which is now called Eleutheropolis. Near it are the mountains of Seir, taking their name from Seir, the hairy and shaggy one, that is, Esau. In Abdia the prophet, it was disputed more fully about this people by us: in which it was necessary to go over the old history and to bring forth the same Visions of Ezekiel and Jeremiah as a testimony, and especially the prophecy against Mount Seir (Ezek. 25 and 35, Jer. 49). And that from the Psalms: I will stretch out my shoe upon Edom. And elsewhere: The tabernacles of the Edomites and Ishmaelites, Moab, and the Agarenians, Gebal and Ammon, and Amalek (Ps. 59, 10; Ps. 82, 7, 8). Amos also said: On account of three crimes of Edom, and on account of four I will not turn away from him, because he pursued his brother with the sword and violated his compassion (Amos 1:11), or, as Symmachus translated, his bowels, because he dared to fight against his kindred peoples and to dissent with hostile hate. The region ((Al. regia)) of Esau was in the region of Edom, that is, in the mountains of Seir. We believe that this city, as the capital according to the order of the previous Visions, was captured by the Assyrians, or by Nebuchadnezzar, and, remembering their ancient lineage, which was descended from Abraham and Isaac, they implored the help of God and, by necessity compelling them, begged for his mercy. Therefore, the Lord now narrates: he who is besieged in Seir and surrounded by enemies, calls upon my help and says: O guardian of Israel, who protect your people with eternal vigilance, and like a watchman in the night, you keep watch so that the enemy does not break in; why do you not protect us who are of his lineage with a similar mercy? To whom, as a guardian and watchman, I respond, as it is written: He who keeps Israel does not slumber or sleep (Ps. 121:4). He came in the morning to my people, and at night to the people of Edom; I will give them light, and leave you in darkness. Or rather this is the case: light comes after the night has passed; if you invoke my help and you are from the line of my servant Abraham, do not seek only me in times of need, but turn your whole heart to me. Come, and I will receive those who repent. This is said according to history: moreover, because the letters Res and Daleth are similar and differ only slightly, some Hebrews read 'Rome' instead of 'Duma,' wanting to direct the prophecy against the Roman kingdom, with a frivolous persuasion by which they always think that the Romans are indicated by the name 'Idumea': but 'Duma' means 'silence.'

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 21:11-12
(Verse 11, 12.) The burden of Dumah: he calls to me out of Seir: Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning comes, and also the night: if you will inquire, inquire: turn back, and come. Vision of Edom, he calls to me out of Seir: Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning comes, and also the night: if you will inquire, inquire: and dwell with me. The Hebrew word for Elai (), which all have interpreted for me, if you wish to read Eli, it means my God, or my strong one. And what we have said, he cries out, or calls, that is, καλεῖ, according to the ambiguity of the Hebrew and Greek language, can be called either 'cry out' or 'call'; and the meaning is: God, who is my guardian, calls me day and night to repentance, so that, leaving Seir, which means 'rough and hairy', I may return and dwell with Him. It sounds like thunder or a likeness, or silence. But Edom turns into earth. Therefore, the Lord speaks to the choir of the Apostles and commands him: Call to me those who are from Seir, so that the multitude of the Gentiles may serve me, which, in the likeness of Esau, has nothing soft, light, and shining in itself, but is rough, wild, and untamed. And you, Apostles, after you have called the nations from Seir to me, guard the fortifications of the Church, so that the enemy may not easily break in: let not the roaring and prowling lion, who seeks an entrance by which he may enter, tear apart and scatter the flock enclosed in the Church. And the multitude of the Church responded: not only in prosperity, but also in adversity, that is, both in day and in night, I will keep your commandments, O God. To whom God speaks: If you truly seek me, show by your actions how you seek me; and let it not suffice that you have sought me once; but whoever you find, always search; and in order to hold more perfectly, forget your people and the house of your father, and leaving behind the error of the Gentiles, dwell with me in the Church. According to the Septuagint, we have said that those who represent the vision of Edom, that is, earthly things, are placed in the title to show that they are called those who previously served earthly works. Moreover, according to Aquila, who put 'Duma,' that is, silence, or likeness, we can understand it in this way: that the multitude of the Gentiles is provoked to the likeness of the people of Israel, and where there was previously silence of the law of God, there let there be the cry of confession; and let the wild olive tree be grafted onto the good olive. We also read in the parable of the Gospel about the servants who were sent to call the good and the bad and to fill the banquet of the master of the house, because the first ones did not want to come (Matthew 22). The Church can also narrate that the Lord from Seir, that is, from earthly places, calls out to himself and challenges him to salvation, and says to him: O guardian, why do you wander in darkness when you rise at night? Why are you a sinner without sin in the flesh? For what reason did you want to assume a human body? The guardian, that is, the Samaritan, who carried the wounded on his shoulders to the inn in the Gospel (Luke 9) replied: 'Day and night come. And the meaning is this: the sun of righteousness rose for the multitude of the Gentiles, and darkness came to the Jews. As it is said by the Lord: 'I have come into this world for judgment, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind' (John 9:39). And the guardian himself who had said, 'He comes morning and night,' speaks to the multitude of nations: If you seek me, seek more diligently. Turn to me, O converted children, and I will heal your brokenness, and come to me. The places are difficult, and since they are not widely known according to history, we are forced to follow various opinions according to interpretation.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Isaiah 21:11
Again he says, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, ‘The morning comes, and also the night.’ ” For “the watchman came by night,” in that the guardian of the human race even showed himself manifest in the flesh, and yet Judea, being close pressed by the darkness of its faithlessness, never knew him. Where it is well added in the voice of the watchman, “The morning comes, and also the night.” For by his presence has a new light shone out upon the world, and yet the former darkness remained in the hearts of unbelievers. And it is well said, “They shall grope in the noonday as in the night,” for we search out by groping that which we do not see with our eyes. Now the Jews had seen his undisguised miracles, and yet they still went on seeking him, as it were groping for him, when they said, “How long do you make us to doubt? If you be the Christ, tell us plainly.” See, the light of miracles was before their eyes, yet stumbling in the darkness of their own hearts, they continued to grope in seeking for him.”

Source: MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 2:6.34
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 21:13
(Verse 13.) Burden in Arabia. This is not found in the edition of the Seventy Interpreters: but what follows is: In the evening you shall sleep in the paths of Dodanim, which is connected with the previous vision, so that it is read, if you seek, seek: and dwell with me in the woodland. In our language, Arabia means evening, which is the beginning of night and darkness, and everyone who has the beginning of sins is involved in the evening. But whoever comes to the highest point, stands in the middle of the night. And in Egypt the firstborn are killed in the middle of the night (Exod. 12). And the Apostle Peter, before the rooster crowed, denied the Lord three times, which is understood as the middle of the night (Mat. XXVI): But after the night had passed, and the day began to approach, having overcome the darkness of the middle of the night, and with the rooster, the messenger of light, resounding, he wept bitterly, and understood his sin, and at that time he could say: At evening weeping endures, and in the morning there is joy (Ps. XXIX, 6). Meanwhile, let's talk about the present place. However, the name Arabia, that is, the evening and the west, receives different interpretations in other passages of the Scriptures.

In the forest you will sleep until evening, on the paths of Dodanim. LXX: In the forest you will sleep until evening on the road to Dedan. Those who have begun in wickedness and enter the path of sin do not sleep, nor do they tarry in cultivated fields and fallow lands, nor in meadows and fields of grain, where the Savior teaches that they should be burning for harvesting, nor among fruit-bearing trees; but in barren forests, where there are brambles and thorns, and beasts dwell. We read in the book of Kings that the forests or woods devoured more people than were killed by the sword when Absalom, the enemy of his father, rebelled against him (1 Kings 18). And it is rightly said that evening is the beginning of evils, to dwell on the road and on the paths, and on the way of Dedan, which is interpreted as judgments. For as many kinds of sins as they have, so many sentences of judgments do they deserve. Moreover, Dedan can be interpreted as a great judgment.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 21:13-17
(Verse 13 onwards) Burden in Arabia. In the evening you will sleep in the thicket, in the paths of Dodanim. Bring water to the thirsty ones you encounter: you who live in the land of the South, offer bread to the ones fleeing. Because they have fled from the swords, from the menacing sword, from the drawn bow, from the severity of battle. For this is what the Lord says to me: In yet one year, like the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end, and the remaining number of archers, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will be few. For the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken. To me, who was searching and pondering for a long time about what Arabia was, to which the prophetic speech is directed, whether it should be understood as the Moabites, or the Ammonites, and the Edomites, and all the other regions which are now called Arabia, an opportunity is given in this Vision that follows: All the glory of Cedar will be taken away, and the remaining number of mighty archers from the sons of Cedar will be diminished (Isaiah 21:16, 17), to be understood as the Ishmaelites. The book of Genesis teaches that Ishmael, Cedar, and the Hagarites, who are called Saracens by a perverse name, were born. They inhabit the whole wilderness, about whom I think even the poet says: 'And the wandering Barcaeans far and wide' (Virg. Aeneid. IV); and the aforementioned volume, 'He shall dwell against the face of all his brothers' (Gen. XVI, 12): because the very wide desert stretches from India to Mauritania, and the Atlantic Ocean, which I believe sounds the title of Jeremiah: 'Against Cedar and against the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck' (Jer. XLIX, 28); and immediately follows: 'Thus says the Lord, Arise, and ascend to Cedar, and devastate the sons of the East: their tents, and their flocks shall they take, their skins and all their vessels, and they shall take camels for themselves' (Ibid., 29); and again: 'For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has thought a thought against you, and has deliberated against you.' Arise and go up to a quiet and confidently dwelling nation, says the Lord: there are no gates, no bars for them: they dwell alone. And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil. And I will scatter them to every wind, them that are clipped on the sides: and I will bring destruction upon them from all their borders, says the Lord: and Achor shall be a habitation of dragons, desolate for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor son of man inhabit it. I have placed the entire prophecy and testimony of Jeremiah so that you may understand clearly what Cedar is. And consider how he specifically describes the people of the Ishmaelites, that they dwell in tents: they occupy the dwellings that night brings, they possess herds and flocks of camels: they do not have doors or bolts: for they do not live in cities, but dwell in the wilderness. And so, they were destroyed by the Babylonians, because they completely destroyed the city of Hazor, which was the metropolis of their people, even down to the ground: and yet, their herds of camels and flocks of sheep were captured, and their skins and tents were divided by lot: not all of their people were annihilated, for dromedary camels, numbering over a hundred thousand, are accustomed to flee through the vast wilderness in a single day. The glory of Cedar will be taken away, it says, and with the number of archers diminished, as they excel greatly in the art of war: the rest who have fled will remain. Because we have understood what Cedar is, and what Arabia is, and what Asor is, let us see what the prophet Isaiah says: 'You will sleep in the forest, at evening, on the paths of Dodanim.' The word Arab (), as we have often said, is used for evening, and Arabia, and raven, and plain, and the West. And because we translated it according to the LXX, 'you will sleep,' it can be interpreted as 'you will stay' or 'you will dwell,' which is called αὐλιθήσεσθε in Greek, and in Hebrew it is said 'Thalinu'. Moreover, he also turns to his close relatives and kinsmen. Thus, it is prophesied that now to the Jews, who were able to escape the siege of Babylon, they will cross over to the neighboring wilderness and settle in the solitude of Arabia on the journey that leads to their brothers. And again the conversation turns to the Ishmaelites, and he exhorts them to mercy: run, and bring water to your tired and endangered brothers, for they are thirsty with great fervor of the sun, and unless you help them, they will perish in the wilderness. And not only water, but also bring bread to the fugitives, so that your kindness may relieve those whom the siege has exhausted. At the same time, he explains the reason why he is giving these orders, saying: the Babylonians have fled, the bows of the Elamites have fled, a fierce battle has fled. Do not despise the unfortunate: your captivity will come quickly. For just as the year of a hired worker is swift and considers all labor to be short until he receives the desired wage, so all the glory of the sons of Cedar will be taken from you, and your arrows will be worn out, and only a small number of warriors will remain. Some people want to be taken from what is said, that even in one year, and every glory of Cedar will be taken away, not Babylonian captivity being proclaimed, about which Jeremiah also speaks, but of the Assyrians, who after one year of the devastation of Judah, have widely persecuted the Saracens. Moreover, that place which we have transferred: You who inhabit the land of the South, meet the fugitive with bread: and as if we read in the imperative mode on behalf of the Lord, they affirm that in Hebrew it can be read like this: You who inhabit the land of the South, met the fugitive with bread; just as when God said to them, when they met the thirsty, bring water, they would take away the bread with a hostile mind without water, in order to increase their thirst with food.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 21:14-15
(Verse 14, 15.) Bring water to the thirsty, O inhabitants of the land of the South; meet the one fleeing with bread. For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the severity of battle. LXX: Bring water to the thirsty, O inhabitants of the region of Theman; meet the fleeing ones with bread because of the multitude of the slain, because of the multitude of the wanderers, because of the multitude of the sword, and because of the multitude of the bows drawn, and because of the multitude of those falling in battle. You who are in Theman, which is interpreted as Auster and perfection, and you turn in that place of which it is written: God will come from the south wind (Habakkuk III, 4), and you who are consummated and perfected, and have within you the light of the knowledge of the Scriptures, when those fleeing from Arabia and the thicket come to you, meet them with water and bread, and do not wait until they come to you; but imitate the father in the Gospel parable, who reached out to his returning son. And indeed he gave a robe, and presented a ring (Luke XV): but you offer water and bread to the fleeing, so that those who are weary and exhausted may be sustained by your mercy, and quickly reach your seats. For they have fled the swords of heretics, the doctrine of the pagans, and the blasphemies of the Jews. And because they have seen many of them killed by spears and many fallen in battle, they themselves desire to be freed by your help. This place can properly be understood as being against those who surrender themselves to idleness and laziness, content with their own well-being, and do not reach out a helping hand to those who are repentant and converted.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Isaiah 21:14
Again, by bread is set forth the instruction of heavenly doctrine, as is said by the prophet, “You who dwell in the land of the south, meet with bread him that is flying away.” For they dwell in the land of the south who, placed within [the] holy church, are breathed upon by the love of the Spirit from on high. But he is flying who is wishing to escape from the evils of this world. He then who dwells in the land of the south should meet with bread him that is flying; that is, he who is already full of the Holy Spirit within the church should console with words of instruction the one who is endeavoring to escape from his evil ways.

Source: MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 5:23.49
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 21:16-17
(Verse 16, 17.) For thus saith the Lord to me: Within one year, as the years of a hireling, all the glory of Cedar shall be taken away, and the residue of the number of archers of the mighty men of the children of Cedar shall be diminished: for the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it. Therefore I said to you: Run ye to meet with water, and with bread, them that flee from the face of the battle. For thus saith the Lord: The whole glory of Cedar shall be taken away, and there shall be nothing left of the number of the very strong bowmen of the children of Cedar. For the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it. And it shall come to pass in that day, that every glory of Cedar shall be brought to nothing, and the bow long shall be made weaker. And the number of them that bow themselves down shall be diminished, and they that remain shall be diminished: because the Lord hath spoken it. And the men that shall be left in it, shall be as the biting of a flesh eating moth: and they shall be as a spark among the trees, and as dry stubble: And they that were shall be as a burning in lime: they shall be burnt and devoured together, and there shall be none that shall deliver them. Expect therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth: patiently bearing till he receive the early and latter rain. Be you therefore also patient, and strengthen your hearts: for the coming of the Lord is at hand. For the Lord of all has spoken these things, and specifically the God of Israel, that is, the God who is perceived by those who have understanding.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah