Isaiah 16:2

2 Like fluttering birds, like scattered nestlings, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.

Isaiah 16:2 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 16:2

For it shall be
Or, "otherwise it shall be" F26; if ye do not pay this tribute: [that] as a wandering bird cast out of the nest:
or, "as a wandering bird, the nest sent out": that is, as a bird that has forsaken its nest, and wanders about, and its young ones are turned out of the nest, scarcely fledged, and unable to shift for themselves, but flutter about here and there, trembling and frightened, see ( Proverbs 26:2 ) : [so] the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon:
turned out of their houses, wandering up and down, not knowing where to go; unable to help themselves, and in the utmost fright and consternation, fleeing to the very borders of their land, as the fords of Arnon were, see ( Numbers 21:13 Numbers 21:14 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F26 (hyhw) "alioqui", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Isaiah 16:2 In-Context

1 They have sent lambs to the ruler of the land, from Sela, by way of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Zion.
2 Like fluttering birds, like scattered nestlings, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.
3 "Give counsel, grant justice; make your shade like night at the height of noon; hide the outcasts, betray not the fugitive;
4 let the outcasts of Moab sojourn among you; be a refuge to them from the destroyer. When the oppressor is no more, and destruction has ceased, and he who tramples under foot 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."
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.