Isa 21:1 | JFB | STEP | 1. desert —the champaign between Babylon and Persia; it was once a desert, and it was to become so again. of the sea —The plain was covered with the water of the Euphrates like a "sea" ( ; so , the Nile), until Semiramis raised great dams against it. Cyrus removed these dykes, and so converted the whole country again into a vast desert marsh. whirlwinds in the south — ( ). The south wind comes upon Babylon from the deserts of Arabia, and its violence is the greater from its course being unbroken along the plain ( ). desert —the plain between Babylon and Persia. terrible land —Media; to guard against which was the object of Nitocris' great works [HERODOTUS , 1.185]. Compare as to "terrible" applied to a wilderness, as being full of unknown dangers, .

Isaiah 21:1

1. desert—the champaign between Babylon and Persia; it was once a desert, and it was to become so again.

of the sea—The plain was covered with the water of the Euphrates like a "sea" (Jer 51:13, 36; so Isa 11:15, the Nile), until Semiramis raised great dams against it. Cyrus removed these dykes, and so converted the whole country again into a vast desert marsh.

whirlwinds in the south— (Job 37:9; Zec 9:14). The south wind comes upon Babylon from the deserts of Arabia, and its violence is the greater from its course being unbroken along the plain (Job 1:19).

desert—the plain between Babylon and Persia.

terrible land—Media; to guard against which was the object of Nitocris' great works [HERODOTUS, 1.185]. Compare as to "terrible" applied to a wilderness, as being full of unknown dangers, De 1:29.