Isaiah 21:11

Isaiah 21:11 f. Oracle on Edom. This is probably not by Isaiah. Date and authorship are uncertain. It is best regarded as by the author of Isaiah 21:1. It might be objected to an exilic date that the prophecy, though not specially cordial, reveals none of the bitter hatred against Edom, called forth by the eagerness of the Edomites for the overthrow of Jerusalem. But the preceding prophecy similarly shows none of that hatred of Babylon which is expressed in contemporary writings, so that the absence of a violent attack on Edom need not be surprising from the same author at that date. One from Edom asks how long it will be ere the tedious night of their trouble is over. The watchman's reply is not clear. He invites them to consult him again, thinking apparently that he may learn more in another vision. Meanwhile he tells him that morning is coming and also night; apparently that there will be a respite from trouble, but the night of calamity will settle down again. The words may mean that there will be happiness for some but distress for others, or that he is uncertain which of the competing forces will gain the upper hand.

Isaiah 21:11. Dumah: i.e. silence, clearly a name for Edom, perhaps with a reference to the silence of desolation. Watchman: not the same word as that in Isaiah 21:6. There it meant one who looks out from his watch-tower, here it means one who keeps watch over things.