Isaiah 16:12

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Isaiah

Isaiah 16

12 When Moab appears at her high place, she only wears herself out; when she goes to her shrine to pray, it is to no avail.

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Isaiah 16:12 in Other Translations

KJV

12 And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail.

ESV

12 And when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail.

NLT

12 The people of Moab will worship at their pagan shrines, but it will do them no good. They will cry to the gods in their temples, but no one will be able to save them.

MSG

12 When Moab trudges to the shrine to pray, he wastes both time and energy. Going to the sanctuary and praying for relief is useless. Nothing ever happens.

CSB

12 When Moab appears on the high place, when he tires himself out and comes to his sanctuary to pray, it will do him no good.

Isaiah 16:12 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 16:12

And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is
weary on the high place
With weeping there, ( Isaiah 15:2 ) or with frequent sacrifices, and going from one high place to another, as Balak king of Moab did; and by comparing places together, it looks as if this was the way of the Moabites in their distress, to offer up a multitude of sacrifices in different places; now, when it should be seen by others, and appear to themselves, that they wearied themselves in vain, and all their cries and sacrifices were to no purpose, they should then be ashamed of them, leave off, and betake themselves to some other method; though Jarchi interprets it of their being weary of fighting on the high places of their towers, which when observed, they would take another course, and apply to devotion: that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray;
to the temple of Chemosh, and to pray to that idol to help him, ( 1 Kings 11:7 ) : but he shall not prevail;
his prayers shall be ineffectual; his suit will be fruitless, and without success; or "he cannot", that is, his idol cannot help him. So Kimchi interprets his sanctuary of the house of his God; and the Targum, of the house of his idolatry; yet since the house or temple of an idol is never called a sanctuary, it may be understood of God's sanctuary, the temple at Jerusalem; and the sense be, that when Moab shall see that his praying and sacrificing to idols are in vain, and he has tired himself with his superstition and idolatry, without having any redress, he shall think and express his desire of going up to the temple of Jerusalem, and of praying to the God of Israel; but he shall not be able to do it, because of the enemy; and could he get thither, he would not prevail with God, for the decree was gone forth, which could not be frustrated, as follows. Ben Melech interprets it of the palace of the king.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Isaiah 16:12 In-Context

10 Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards; no one treads out wine at the presses, for I have put an end to the shouting.

11 My heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir Hareseth.

12 When Moab appears at her high place, she only wears herself out; when she goes to her shrine to pray, it is to no avail.

13 This is the word the LORD has already spoken concerning Moab.

14 But now the LORD says: “Within three years, as a servant bound by contract would count them, Moab’s splendor and all her many people will be despised, and her survivors will be very few and feeble.”