Isaiah 16

8. fields--vine-fields ( Deuteronomy 32:32 ).
vine of Sibmah--near Heshbon: namely, languishes.
lords of . . . heathen--The heathen princes, the Assyrians, &c., who invaded Moab, destroyed his vines. So Jeremiah in the parallel place ( Jeremiah 48:32 Jeremiah 48:33 ). MAURER thinks the following words require rather the rendering, "Its (the vine of Sibmah) shoots (the wines got from them) overpowered (by its generous flavor and potency) the lords of the nations" ( Genesis 49:11 Genesis 49:12 Genesis 49:22 ).
come . . . Jazer--They (the vine shoots) reached even to Jazer, fifteen miles from Heshbon.
wandered--They overran in wild luxuriance the wilderness of Arabia, encompassing Moab.
the sea--the Dead Sea; or else some lake near Jazer now dry; in Jeremiah 48:32 called "the sea of Jazer"; but ( Psalms 80:8-11 ).

9. I--will bewail for its desolation, though I belong to another
with . . . weeping of Jazer--as Jazer weeps.
shouting for . . . fallen--rather, "Upon thy summer fruits and upon thy luxuriant vines the shouting (the battle shout, instead of the joyous shout of the grape-gatherers, usual at the vintage) is fallen" ( Isaiah 16:10 , Jeremiah 25:30 , 51:14 ). In the parallel passage ( Jeremiah 48:32 ) the words substantially express the same sense. "The spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits."

10. gladness--such as is felt in gathering a rich harvest. There shall be no harvest or vintage owing to the desolation; therefore no "gladness."

11. bowels--in Scripture the seat of yearning compassion. It means the inward seat of emotion, the heart, &c. ( Isaiah 63:15 ; compare Isaiah 15:5 , Jeremiah 48:36 ).
sound . . . harp--as its strings vibrate when beaten with the plectrum or hand.

12. when it is seen that--rather, "When Moab shall have appeared (before his gods; compare Exodus 23:15 ), when he is weary (that is, when he shall have fatigued himself with observing burdensome rites 1 Kings 18:26 , &c.), on the high place (compare Isaiah 15:2 ), and shall come to his sanctuary (of the idol Chemosh on Mount N ebo) to pray, he shall not prevail"; he shall effect nothing by his prayers [MAURER].

13. since that time--rather, "respecting that time" [HORSLEY]. BARNES translates it, "formerly" in contrast to "but now" ( Isaiah 16:14 ): heretofore former prophecies ( Exodus 15:15 , Numbers 21:29 ) have been given as to Moab, of which Isaiah has given the substance: but now a definite and steady time also is fixed.

14. three years . . . hireling--Just as a hireling has his fixed term of engagement, which neither he nor his master will allow to be added to or to be taken from, so the limit within which Moab is to fall is unalterably fixed ( Isaiah 21:16 ). Fulfilled about the time when the Assyrians led Israel into captivity. The ruins of Elealeh, Heshbon, Medeba, Dibon, &c., still exist to confirm the inspiration of Scripture. The accurate particularity of specification of the places three thousand years ago, confirmed by modern research, is a strong testimony to the truth of prophecy.