Isaiah 33:18

Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?

Thine heart shall meditate terror - shall meditate on the "terror" caused by the enemy, but now past.

Where (is) the scribe? - the language of the Jews exulting over their escape from danger.

Scribe - who enrolled the army (Maurer); or who prescribed the tribute to be paid (Rosenmuller); or who kept an account of the spoil. "The principal scribe of the host" (; ). The Assyrian records are free from the exaggerations of the Egyptian records. Two scribes are seen in every Assyrian bas-relief, writing down the various objects brought to them-the heads of the slain, prisoners, cattle, sheep, etc.

The receiver - margin, weigher. Layard mentions, among the Assyrian inscriptions, 'a pair of scales for weighing the spoils.'

He that counted the towers - he whose duty it was to reconnoitre and report the strength of the city to be besieged.