Isaiah 21:8

Then the lookout shouted: “Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; night after night I stay at my post.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The lookout addresses his lord while stationed at the watchtower, reporting his continuous vigilance as he monitors the approaching military forces described in the preceding verse.

The words — עֹמֵד ('o.Med) = standing and תָּמִיד (ta.Mid) = continually, which ground the lookout’s declaration in unbroken physical presence rather than intermittent observation.

The thread — The motif of persistent watchfulness recurs in Habakkuk 2:1, where the prophet stations himself on the ramparts, and Psalms 63:6, which recalls remembrance through the night watches.

Why it lands — The text demands unwavering attention to divine timing and a commitment to report what is seen without personal interpretation or fatigue.

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

וַיִּקְרָ֖אva/i.yik.Ra'and/ he called out אַרְיֵ֑ה'ar.Yeha lion עַל־'al-on מִצְפֶּ֣ה׀mitz.Peha watchtower אֲדֹנָ֗י'a.do.NaiO Lord אָנֹכִ֞י'a.no.KhiI עֹמֵ֤ד'o.Med[am] standing תָּמִיד֙ta.Midcontinually יוֹמָ֔םyo.Mamby day וְעַל־ve./'al-and/ at מִ֨שְׁמַרְתִּ֔יmish.mar.T/ipost/ my אָנֹכִ֥י'a.no.KhiI נִצָּ֖בni.Tzav[am] stationed כָּל־kol-all הַלֵּילֽוֹת׃ha./lei.Lotthe/ nights

King James Version

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:

Cross-references

Habakkuk 2:1 I will stand at my guard post and station myself on the ramparts. I will watch to see what He will say to me, and how I should answer when corrected.
Psalms 63:6 When I remember You on my bed, I think of You through the watches of the night.
Psalms 127:1 A song of ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain.
Isaiah 5:29 Their roaring is like that of a lion; they roar like young lions. They growl and seize their prey; they carry it away, and no one can rescue it.
Isaiah 56:10 Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber.
Isaiah 62:6 On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD shall take no rest for yourselves,
Jeremiah 4:7 A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to lay waste your land. Your cities will be reduced to ruins and lie uninhabited.
Jeremiah 25:38 He has left His den like a lion, for their land has been made a desolation by the sword of the oppressor, and because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
Jeremiah 49:19 Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered pasture. For in an instant I will chase Edom from her land. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? For who is like Me, and who can challenge Me? What shepherd can stand against Me?”
Jeremiah 50:44 Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered pasture. For in an instant I will chase Babylon from her land. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? For who is like Me, and who can challenge Me? What shepherd can stand against Me?”