Isaiah 21:2

“A grievous vision is declared unto me, &c.] The prophet; meaning the vision of Babylon’s destruction, which was “hard”, as the word signifies, and might seem harsh and cruel; not to him, nor to the Jews, but to the Chaldeans: the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth; that is, according to Jarchi, one treacherous dealer deals treacherously with another, and one spoiler spoils another; the Medes and Persians deal treacherously with and spoil the Babylonians, who had dealt treacherously with and spoiled other nations: and to this sense some read the words, “the treacherous dealer hath found a treacherous dealer, and the spoiler one that spoileth”f403: some take it…”

“dealeth treacherously--referring to the military stratagem employed by Cyrus in taking Babylon. It may be translated, "is repaid with treachery"; then the subject of the verb is Babylon. She is repaid in her own coin; Isa 33:1; Hab 2:8, favor this. Go up--Isaiah abruptly recites the order which he hears God giving to the Persians, the instruments of His vengeance (Isa 13:3, Isa 13:17). Elam--a province of Persia, the original place of their settlement (Gen 10:22), east of the Euphrates. The name "Persia" was not in use until the captivity; it means a "horseman"; Cyrus first trained the Persians in horsemanship. It is a mark of authenticity that the name is not found before Daniel and Ezekiel…”

“A grievous vision - Margin, as in Hebrew ‘Hard.’ On the word ‘vision,’ see the note at Isaiah 1:1. The sense here is, that the vision which the prophet saw was one that indicated great calamity Isaiah 21:3-4. Is declared unto me - That is, is caused to pass before me, and its meaning is made known to me. The treacherous dealer - (חבוגד chabôgēd). The perfidious, unfaithful people. This is the usual signification of the word; but the connection here does not seem to require the signification of treachery or perfidy, but of “violence.” The word has this meaning in Habakkuk 2:5, and in Proverbs 11:3, Proverbs 11:6. It refers here to the Medes; and to the fact that oppression and violence were…”

“A vision - A vision or prophecy, containing dreadful calamities which were to fall upon Babylon. The spoiler - The Medes and Persians used treachery as well as force against Babylon. Elam - Persia, so called, because Elam was an eminent province of Persia, bordering upon the Medes. Besiege - Namely, Babylon, Isa 21:9. The sighing - The sighing and groaning of God's people, and other nations under the oppressions of that cruel empire. Isaiah 21:3”

“21:2 I see: The prophet personalized Babylon’s experience, which intensifies his poetry, as does the terse language and the repetition of similar sounds, such as the betrayer betraying (Hebrew habboged boged) and the destroyer destroying (Hebrew hashoded shoded; also in 33:1). • The Elamites lived to the northeast of Babylon. Along with the Medes, they were archrivals of the Babylonians. • I will make an end to all the groaning Babylon caused: Babylon had caused groaning by attacking and enslaving many nations. It is likely that the Elamites and Medes played a part in the overthrow of Babylon in 539 BC (21:9).”

“grievous: Heb. hard, Psa 60:3; Pro 13:15 the treacherous: Isa 24:16, Isa 33:1; Sa1 24:13; Jer 51:44, Jer 51:48, Jer 51:49, Jer 51:53; Rev 13:10 Go up: Isa 13:2-4, Isa 13:17, Isa 13:18; Jer 50:14, Jer 50:34, Jer 49:34, Jer 51:11, Jer 51:27, Jer 51:28; Dan 5:28, Dan 8:20 all the: Isa 14:1-3, Isa 35:10, Isa 47:6; Psa 12:5, Psa 79:11, Psa 137:1-3; Jer 31:11, Jer 31:12, Jer 31:20, Jer 31:25; Jer 45:3, Jer 51:3, Jer 51:4; Lam 1:22; Mic 7:8-10; Zac 1:15, Zac 1:16 Isaiah 21:3”