Isaiah 21:8

WEB

He cried like a lion: "Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime, and every night I stay at my post.

KJV

And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights:

Commentary

And he cried, a lion,.... That is, the watchman cried, a lion, or that he saw a lion; not Uriah the priest, as the Septuagint; nor Habakkuk, as some Jewish writers; but Cyrus, at the head of the Persian and Med ian armies, compared to a lion for his fierceness, courage, and strength; see Ti2 4:17 a type of Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, by whom antichrist, or mystical Babylon, will be destroyed, Rev 5:5 . The Targum is, "the prophet said, the voice of armies, coming with coats of mail, as a lion.'' Aben Ezra interprets it, the watchman cried as a lion, with a great voice; upon sight of the chariots and horsemen, he lifted up his voice, and roared like a lion, to express the terror he was in, and the greatness of the calamity that was coming upon the city. I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime: so that nothing could escape his notice: and I am set in my ward whole nights: which expresses his diligence, vigilance, and constancy, in the discharge of his duty; and therefore what he said he saw might be depended on.