Chapter 21

     This particular chapter of Isaiah appears to have suffered the
ravages of time as there are some notable differences between the
Masoretic texts and the Qumran Isaiah scroll.  Unfortunately it
does not appear in the Book of Mormon.  Fortunately though, the
differences between the two do not alter the meaning of the
passages they appear in significantly.

     If I were given license to redivide the chapters, I would have
verses 1-10 separate from 11-17 as I would interpret them
independently of each other.  However, there could be an argument
developed to keep the two sections together which will be addressed
below.

v1-10  Here, Isaiah sets an interesting setting where his
prophecies of doom upon Babylon are independent of him and are very
powerful in bringing about what they will.  Isaiah portrays his
prophecies as a desolating wind from the desert that is terrible
and harsh.  Isaiah then tells us of Babylon's response to this
harsh prophecy against it.  He then explores the role of a prophet
of the Lord and discusses the surety of the fulfillment of the
Lord's word.

v1-2  Isaiah compares the prophecies against Babylon that he has
spoken to a harsh blasting desert windstorm.  Babylon's acts of
corruption turn against it as neighboring countries (probably
former allies) sack it (for Media compare 13:17, for Elam compare
22:6).  As a result, Babylon's merriment will be put to an end.

v3-5  General consensus among many commentators is that this
passage is referring to Isaiah's extreme lamentation over the
visions of desolation he has seen for Babylon.  However, I do not
agree with this reading.

     I would consider this passage to be Babylon's response to
Isaiah's prophecy, first in ridicule and mocking and then in truth. 
The language used here is quite extreme and emphatic.  No other
single passage in Isaiah combines all of these rhetorical images
the way this one does.  When considering Babylon's response to a
prophecy against it, it seems quite unlikely given Isaiah's
characterization that Babylon would turn and immediately repent. 
It seems much more likely that Babylon would mock the prophet in
the most merciless manner possible.  Thus, I would interpret this
section as Babylon's mocking of the Lord's prophet where they use
emphatic language to berate him by showing that they are not in
that condition at all.  But, at the time of the fulfillment of the
prophecy, they truly will be in extreme anguish.  Not only would
the irony of their mocking be manifested but the day of repentance
would be passed as destruction would be at the door.  This kind of
mocking and derision and hardheartedness is attested to among
apostate Israel in the ministries of Jeremiah and Ezekiel (not to
mention various BofM prophets like Alma and Amulek in Alma 11).

     To support the assertion that this is Babylon speaking and not
Isaiah, consider verses 4c-5d (JPS): 

     My night of pleasure
     He has turned to terror:
     "Set the table!"
     To "Let the watchman watch!"
     "Eat and drink!"
     To "Up, officers! grease the shields!"

Here Isaiah describes someone who has their night of pleasure
disrupted and rather than issuing festive calls of "Set the table!"
and "Eat, drink and be merry!" they are calling "Set out watchman!"
and "Gather the officers and grab your weapons!"  Isaiah previously
describes the drunken debauchery of Babylon in 5:11-12 and 14:11 as
well as their ultimate destiny to be sacked by neighboring nations
(of course this assumes an eschatological "Babylon" is being
referenced). The person speaking in this passage also announces
that "he" has turned the night of pleasure into terror.  As it is
Isaiah who is announcing the calamities upon Babylon by the "harsh
prophecy" in v. 2 then this character must be someone besides him. 
That it is Babylon is established by verse 9.

v6-10 recounts the role of a prophet of the Lord, including the
role of Isaiah in particular.  Isaiah presents a quote from the
Lord that contains a prediction of events yet to occur and a
command for the watchman who sees the events to testify of what he
sees (v. 6-7).  When the watchman assumes the post he then sees
what the Lord told him he would see and announces it to the people,
namely the sack of Babylon (v. 8-9).  He then addresses Israel and
informs it that he has done fulfilled his calling (v. 10).  This
passage contains similar symbolism as that of Ezekiel 33, where the
Lord's prophet is a watchman who is to warn Israel.

v8  The description of the watchman's post as being all day and all
night contrasts the role of a physical military watchman who stands
shifts to the spiritual prophetic watchman who's job is a
persistent one.  It has eternal consequences, whereas the militia's
watchman has only temporal responsibilities.  Also note the 1QIsa
reading on this verse as noted in the JPS footnotes.

v9  This verse quoted in Rev. 14:8.

v10  The JPS renders the first line of this verse "My threshing,
the product of my threshing floor" based on the Masoretic text. 
But, the 1QIsa reading is "To you who know me, who are of my fold"
(translation by Gileadi).  The JPS/Masoretic reading seems obscure,
but cross reference with similar statements in Isaiah and elsewhere
shows that those who are "threshed out" are the righteous remnant
of Israel (cf. 27:12, 41:16, 3 Ne.20:18).  So, this agrees with the
1QIsa reading that identifies those being addressed as those who
are of the same fold as Isaiah.  Regardless of which is the one
that Isaiah penned (assuming one of them is the one he actually
penned) the meaning is the same.  Isaiah tells the attentive among
Israel what the Lord has told him by the spirit of prophecy.

v11-16 is a return to Isaiah's woe oracles and picks up from the
woes pronounced upon Egypt in chapters 20 and 21 and the other
nations that preceded it.  As such it does not appear to be well
connected to verses 1-10 of this chapter except that it deals with
desert dwellers and v. 2 compares Isaiah's prophecies to a
scorching desert wind.  This seems a rather tenuous connection
though.  But, a better connection could be established if v. 11-12
referred to Edom and v. 13-17 referred to Kedar.  And this is
precisely what most commentators do (the LDS edition Bible
footnotes provides this interpretation as does the Interpreter's
Bible).  By referring to Edom and Kedar as nations the images of
Esau (Esau's lands of inheritance named "Edom") and Ishmael (Kedar
is Ishmael's most prosperous son) are evoked, both of whom are the
firstborn sons who are rejected in favor of the latter-born son. 
Thus the "first shall be last..." symbolism is invoked in concert
with Isaiah's pronouncements in v. 1-10 against "Babylon" or
apostate Israel who would be represented by Edom and Kedar.  And
the righteous remnant would be represented by Jacob and Isaac.  The
problem here is that commentators ignore the first line of verse 11
where it addresses the group as "Dumah" in favor of the second line
which references Seir.  As Mount Seir is frequently equated with
Edom in the scriptures (but nowhere in Isaiah does this occur) the
assumption is made that these two verses are in reference to Edom
rather than Dumah.  This is a rather faulty assumption as the
mountain range Seir forms the northwestern border of Dumah's
territory, the border that is closest to Jerusalem.  So, if Dumah
was to call out to Isaiah, assuming he is the watchman in v. 11-12,
they would do so from the border closest to Jerusalem, which is
Seir.  Frankly, I wish it said "Edom" instead of "Dumah" because
the symbolism is so good, but it does not, so we cannot fairly
label it so.  However, we can still use a similar interpretation
based on an Ishmael versus Isaac scenario, its just not as robust
as it would have been given two references to similar
circumstances.

     Aside form the figurative spiritual interpretations, a more
straightforward interpretation would be that Isaiah is informing
the reader that all of nations of the land will be judged on the
Day of the Lord, even remote small nations like those of the
lineage of Ishmael.

     All of the names referenced in these verses (Dumah, Kedar,
Dedan, those of the land of Tema) are sons of Ishmael (modern day
Arabs are considered to be of the lineage of Ishmael) who inhabit
the various regions of the arabian peninsula southeast of
Jerusalem.

v11-12 repeats the pattern of v. 3-10.  Verse 11c-d (repeats v. 3-
5) is a panicked pleading for the end of the night.  The watchman
is in no position to end the night as he is just as powerless to
prevent the prophecies from being fulfilled.  The time to repent is
at the time of warning not the time of judgement.  In verse 12a-c
(repeats v. 6-9) the watchman replies saying that the inevitable
has occurred and just as morning and night come so will the
prophecies of the lord come to pass.  So, if you have to ask, go
ahead and ask, but I already told you what was going to happen. 
Then the watchman in v. 12d (repeats v. 10) tells them that by
"Com[ing] back again" they can survive the threshing (the JPS
translation of this verse does not lend itself well to this
reading, but the Hebrew does allow for it using a
repent/return/come back theme in conjunction with v. 10).

v13-17 pronounces another woe oracle, this time upon the steppe of
Arabia where the tribe of Kedar dwells.  Kedar's neighbors, who are
brothers by lineage, are informed that they are to make ready to
receive refugees fleeing from war.  As Kedar is the leading nation
among the descendants of Ishmael, the other brothers being informed
that they are to receive their strongest brother's refugees
indicates that all of Arabia has been effectively smitten.

v16  The Interpreter's Bible (IB) identifies a 1QIsa difference
from the Masoretic text.  Where the Masoretic text gives a reading
of "In another year..." the Qumran scroll gives "In three
years...".
The Qumran reading is most likely the correct reading as this would
bring the text into close harmony with a similar injunction against
Moab in 16:14.

v17  For the origin of the "archers" reference see Gen. 21:20.