For they have fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the press of battle.
15. For they flee from the face of the swords. {Bogus footnote} He means that the calamity will be dreadful, and that the Arabians will have good reason for betaking themselves to flight, because the enemies will pursue them with arms and with swords, so that they will have no other way of providing for their safety than by flight.
Arabia was a large country, that lay eastward and southward of the land of Canaan. Much of it was possessed by the posterity of Abraham. The Dedanim, here mentioned (Isa 21:13), descended from Dedan, Abraham's son by Keturah; the inhabitants of Tema and Kedar descended from Ishmael, Gen 25:3, Gen 25:13, Gen 25:15.
Commenting on Isaiah 21:13-17
For they fled from the swords,.... Of their enemy, whom they could not withstand; perhaps the Assyrian army: from the drawn sword; just ready to be sheathed in them: and from the bent bow; just going to let the arrow fly at them: and from the grievousness of war: too heavy for them to bear.