Bible Strands
Isaiah 21:16
For this is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a hired worker would count it, all the glory of Kedar will be gone.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The Lord directly addresses the prophet, delivering a judgment oracle against Kedar immediately after describing warriors fleeing drawn swords and bent bows.
The words — The Hebrew construction בְּעוֹד שָׁנָה כִּשְׁנֵי (be-'od sha.nah ki-she.nei) literally renders "in yet a year like the years of," anchoring the prophecy to a fixed, rapid timeline.
The thread — This identical temporal formula appears in Isaiah 16:14 regarding Moab’s collapse, while Kedar is elsewhere identified as a nomadic tent-dwelling group in Psalms 120:5 and Song of Solomon 1:5.
Why it lands — The text states that Kedar's glory will vanish within a strictly measured period before noting that the remaining warriors will be few, demanding recognition that divine judgment follows an unyielding schedule rather than human pacing.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail:
Cross-references
- Psalms 120:5 Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar!
- Song of Solomon 1:5 I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
- Isaiah 16:14 And now the LORD says, “In three years, as a hired worker counts the years, Moab’s splendor will become an object of contempt, with all her many people. And those who are left will be few and feeble.”
- Isaiah 60:7 All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered to you; the rams of Nebaioth will serve you and go up on My altar with acceptance; I will adorn My glorious house.
- Jeremiah 49:28 Concerning 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!
- Ezekiel 27:21 Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your customers, trading in lambs, rams, and goats.
- Genesis 25:13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
- Isaiah 42:11 Let the desert and its cities raise their voices; let the villages of Kedar cry aloud. Let the people of Sela sing for joy; let them cry out from the mountaintops.
- 1 Chronicles 1:29 These are their genealogies: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
- Job 7:1 “Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?