Bible Dictionary
WATCH-TOUR
A watch-tour or watchtower refers to a lookout place or a guiding station from which a person watches or directs travelers. The term is connected with watchposts and towers in prophetic passages.
Definition
A watch-tour or watchtower is a lookout place, watchpost, or guiding station from which a person observes or directs travelers. The expression may refer to a tower or elevated marker associated with watching.
Biblical Usage
The term is connected with watchposts and towers in passages concerning Jerusalem’s imagery and desolation. A marginal translation of Isaiah 2:16 offers pleasant watchtowers for a difficult expression.
Historical Background
The relevant Hebrew words are associated with a lookout or place of observation. Translators differ between pleasant pictures, pleasant imagery, and pleasant watchtowers.
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>woch'-tou-er (mitspeh (Isa 21:8; 2Ch 20:24); bachan (Isa 32:14 the Revised Version (British and American))): In Isa 2:16 the words sekhiyoth ha-chemdah have puzzled the translators. the King James Version gives "pleasant pictures," the Revised Version (British and American) "pleasant imagery," while the Revised Version margin has "pleasant watchtowers." Guthe in Kautzsch's Bible translates Schaustucke, which practically agrees with the Revised Version (British and American).</p><p>See MIZPEH; TOWER.</p>