This is the burden against Dumah: One calls to me from Seir, “Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?”
Parallel translations
- WEB The burden of Dumah. One calls to me out of Seir, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?”
- KJV The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?
- NKJV The burden against Dumah. He calls to me out of Seir, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?”
- NASB The pronouncement concerning Edom: One keeps calling to me from Seir, “Watchman, how far gone is the night? Watchman, how far gone is the night?”
- NLT This message came to me concerning Edom: Someone from Edom keeps calling to me, “Watchman, how much longer until morning? When will the night be over?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
An oracle concerning Edom, with a voice asking the watchman about the night. It matters because it portrays a people anxiously seeking word about their fate.
Overview
The 'burden of Dumah' concerns Edom (Seir), whose people call out, 'Watchman, what of the night?' The question expresses anxious longing to know whether their dark trial will end. It captures the universal human craving for assurance about the future. The brief oracle shows even distant nations falling under the scope of God's word through Isaiah.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Gen 25:14Mishma, Dumah, Massa,
- Obad 1:1–16This is the vision of Obadiah: This is what the Lord GOD says about Edom—We have heard a message from the LORD; an envoy has been sent among the nations to say, “Rise up, and let us go to battle against her!”—
- Amos 1:6This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Gaza, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they exiled a whole population, delivering them up to Edom.
- Joel 3:19Egypt will become desolate, and Edom a desert wasteland, because of the violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood.
- Deut 2:5Do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as his possession.
- Ezek 35:1–15Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
- 1 Chr 1:30Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema,
- Isa 34:1–17Come near, O nations, to listen; pay attention, O peoples. Let the earth hear, and all that fills it, the world and all that springs from it.
- Jer 49:7–22Concerning Edom, this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed?
- Jer 37:17Later, King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and received him in his palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there a word from the LORD?” “There is,” Jeremiah replied. “You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.”
- Ps 137:7Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”
- Num 24:18Edom will become a possession, as will Seir, his enemy; but Israel will perform with valor.
- Isa 21:6For this is what the Lord says to me: “Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees.
- Mal 1:2–4“I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you ask, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet Jacob I have loved,
- Gen 32:3Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
- Isa 63:1–6Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah with crimson-stained garments? Who is this robed in splendor, marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I, proclaiming vindication, mighty to save.”
- Amos 1:11–12This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Edom, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and stifled all compassion; his anger raged continually, and his fury flamed incessantly.
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 21:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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