Isaiah 16:1-8

1 ¹Send the lamb to the ruler of the land, from ²Sela, by way of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Zion.

2 Like fleeing birds, like a scattered nest, so are the daughters of Moab at ³the fords of the Arnon.

3 "Give counsel; grant justice; ⁴make your shade like night at the height of noon; shelter the outcasts; do not reveal the fugitive;

4 let ⁵the outcasts of Moab sojourn among you; be a shelter to them^[a] from the destroyer. When the oppressor is no more, and destruction has ceased, and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land,

5 ⁶then 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 ⁷We have heard of the pride of Moab-- how proud he is!-- ⁸of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence; in his idle boasting he is not right.

7 Therefore let Moab wail for Moab, ⁹let everyone wail. Mourn, utterly stricken, for the ¹⁰raisin cakes of ¹¹Kir-hareseth.

8 For the fields of Heshbon languish, and ¹²the 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.

Isaiah 16:1-8 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 16

This chapter is a continuation of the prophecy against Moab; in which the prophet gives good advice, but in case of a haughty neglect of it, which he foresaw, threatens with ruin, and fixes a time for it. He advises the Moabites to pay their tribute to the king of Judah, or otherwise they should be turned out of their land, as a bird out of its nest, Isa 16:1,2 to protect, and not betray the people of the Jews that should flee to them, because of the Assyrian army, Isa 16:3,4 and for this end gives a great character of the king of Judah, and assures them of the stability of his kingdom, Isa 16:5 but for their pride, wrath, and lying, they are threatened with destruction, and are represented as howling under it, Isa 16:6,7 because of the spoil of their cities, vineyards, and fields, so that they have no harvest, nor vintage, nor gathering of summer fruits, or joy on these accounts, Isa 16:8-10 for which even the prophet expresses a concern, Isa 16:11 and after having observed the application of the Moabites to their gods without success, Isa 16:12 the chapter is closed with an assurance of the certain ruin of Moab, and of the time when it should be, Isa 16:13,14.

Cross References

• 1. 2 Kings 3:4
• 2. Isaiah 42:11; 2 Kings 14:7
• 3. Judges 11:18
• 4. [1 Kings 18:4]
• 5. 1 Samuel 22:3
• 6. Isaiah 32:1, 2; Daniel 7:14, 27; Micah 4:7; Luke 1:33
• 7. Jeremiah 48:29; Zephaniah 2:10
• 8. Judges 3:14; 2 Kings 13:20; [2 Chronicles 20:1]
• 9. Isaiah 15:3
• 10. 2 Samuel 6:19; [ver. 9]
• 11. 2 Kings 3:25; [Isaiah 15:1]
• 12. Jeremiah 48:32

Footnotes

• [a]. Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac; Masoretic Text let my outcasts sojourn among you; as for Moab, be a shelter to them