Isaiah 16:6

6 1We have heard of the pride of Moab-- how proud he is!-- 2of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence; in his idle boasting he is not right.

Isaiah 16:6 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 16:6

We have heard of the pride of Moab
These are the words of the prophet, either in the name of the Lord, or in the person of the Jews, or of other nations, who had heard very frequently, and from many persons, and from every quarter, of the excessive pride of this people, and had many instances of it related to them, which foretold their ruin; for pride comes before a fall: ([he] is very proud):
though his original was so base and infamous; and therefore there is little reason to hope or expect that he would take the advice above given him, or do the good offices for the Jews he was exhorted to; his pride was such, that he would despise the counsel of God, and would never stoop to do any favour for his people: [even] of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath;
of his contempt of the people of God, and his wrath against them: [but] his lies [shall] not be so;
or, "his strength" shall "not be so" F2; as his wrath: he shall not be able to do what in his pride and wrath he said he would do; all his wicked thoughts and devices, all his haughty and wrathful expressions, will signify nothing; they will all be of no effect, for God resisteth the proud, see ( Jeremiah 48:30 ) . It may be rendered, "not right", that of "his diviners" F3; their words and works, what they say or do; so the word is used in ( Isaiah 44:25 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F2 (wydb Nk al) "non sicut, fortitudo ejus"; so some in Vatablus.
F3 (wydb Nk-al) "non rectum divinorum ejus", Vitringa.

Isaiah 16:6 In-Context

4 let the outcasts of Moab sojourn among you; be a shelter to them from the destroyer. When the oppressor is no more, and destruction has ceased, and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land,
5 then a throne will be established in steadfast love, and on it will sit in faithfulness in the tent of David one who judges and seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness."
6 We have heard of the pride of Moab-- how proud he is!-- of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence; in his idle boasting he is not right.
7 Therefore let Moab wail for Moab, let everyone wail. Mourn, utterly stricken, for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.
8 For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah; the lords of the nations have struck down its branches, which reached to Jazer and strayed to the desert; its shoots spread abroad and passed over the sea.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Jeremiah 48:29; Zephaniah 2:10
  • 2. Judges 3:14; 2 Kings 13:20; [2 Chronicles 20:1]
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.