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This is the burden against Arabia: In the thickets of Arabia you must lodge, O caravans of Dedanites.
Isaiah 21:13 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB The burden on Arabia. In the forest in Arabia you will lodge, you caravans of Dedanites.
  • KJV The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim.
  • NKJV The burden against Arabia. In the forest in Arabia you will lodge, O you traveling companies of Dedanites.
  • NASB The pronouncement about Arabia: In the thickets of Arabia you must spend the night, You caravans of Dedanites.
  • NLT This message came to me concerning Arabia: O caravans from Dedan, hide in the deserts of Arabia.

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 Arabia pictures caravans driven to lodge in the wilderness. It matters because it foretells disruption and danger coming upon the Arabian trade routes.

Overview

The 'burden on Arabia' addresses the Dedanite caravans forced to take refuge in the desert thickets. The image suggests flight and insecurity rather than the safety of established routes. Even the prosperous trading peoples of Arabia fall within God's announced judgments. It signals that the coming upheaval will reach far and wide.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • Jer 25:23–24Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair;
  • 1 Chr 1:32The sons born to Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan.
  • Ezek 27:15The men of Dedan were your clients; many coastlands were your market; they paid you with ivory tusks and ebony.
  • Gen 25:3Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites, and the Leummites.
  • Gal 4:25Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present-day Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.
  • Isa 13:1This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:
  • 1 Kgs 10:15not including the revenue from the merchants, traders, and all the Arabian kings and governors of the land.
  • Ezek 27:20–21Dedan was your merchant in saddlecloths for riding.
  • 1 Chr 1:9The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.
  • Jer 49:28–33Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated, this is what the LORD says: “Rise up, advance against Kedar, and destroy the people of the east!
  • Isa 13:20She will never be inhabited or settled from generation to generation; no nomad will pitch his tent there, no shepherd will rest his flock there.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 21:13YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 21:13 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.