Isaiah 16

Send the lamb as payment to the ruler of the land. Send it from Sela, across the desert, to the mountain of the daughter of Zion.

1Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.

NoteSending lambs was how a smaller kingdom paid tribute to a larger one; 2 Kings 3:4 records Moab paying Israel's king in lambs and wool. Sela means "rock" in Hebrew and is the name of a fortress town south-east of the Dead Sea, sometimes identified with the site later called Petra. "The mountain of the daughter of Zion" is Mount Zion in Jerusalem: "daughter of Zion" is a standard Hebrew way of personifying a city and its people as a woman.

2For the women of Moab at the shallow crossings of the Arnon River will be like birds fluttering about after being pushed out of the nest.

2For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.

NoteThe Arnon was the river running into the Dead Sea that marked Moab's northern border; its fords were the shallow places where a river could be waded, so the natural crossing points for people fleeing. "Daughters of Moab" can mean the women of Moab, and can also be the ordinary Hebrew phrase for the outlying towns and villages of a country.

3They say, "Give us advice. Make a decision for us. At noon, spread your shade over us until it is as dark as night. Hide the people who have been driven from their homes. Do not hand over the one who is running away.

3Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth.

NoteVerses 3 and 4 are quoted speech, but the Hebrew does not say who is speaking to whom, and translators divide over it. It can be read as Moabite refugees begging Judah for asylum, or as a plea addressed to Moab to shelter others. The rendering keeps the words as a request; the addressee stays open. Deep shade at midday is an image of protection: in that climate the noon sun was dangerous, and shade was safety.

4Let my people who were driven out stay with you. Moab, be a hiding place for them from the one who destroys." For the one who robs by force is finished, the destroyer stops, and those who crush others are gone from the land.

4Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.

NoteThe Hebrew of the second half is not clearly past or future, so it may be a statement that the oppression is now over, or a "when the oppressor is finished..." clause running on into verse 5. Both readings are current. In verse 3 the King James "bewray" simply means betray or give away; it is not related to "betray" but means the same thing here.

5Then a throne will be set up in steady love. In the tent of David a man will sit on it faithfully, judging, looking for what is right, and quick to do justice.

5And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.

Note"The tent of David" (King James "tabernacle of David") means the royal household and dynasty descended from King David, not a literal tent. Calling a dynasty a house or a tent was ordinary Hebrew usage. In the ancient world a king was above all a judge, so "judging" and "seeking justice" describe the normal work of a ruler rather than a court appearance.

6We have heard about the pride of Moab, and how very proud he is. We have heard about his lofty airs, his pride, and his rage. But his boasting is empty talk.

6We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be so.

7So Moab will wail for Moab, and every person will wail. You will mourn for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth. They are completely crushed.

7Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken.

NoteKir-hareseth was Moab's chief fortress city, high on a hill east of the Dead Sea. The Hebrew word the King James renders "foundations" is spelled the same as the word for pressed raisin cakes, a prized product of Moab's vineyards; translators are split, so the verse may be mourning the ruined walls of the city or its lost produce.

8For the fields of Heshbon are drying up, and so are the grapevines of Sibmah. Rulers of the nations have broken down its finest vines. Those vines once reached Jazer and spread out into the desert. Their shoots spread wide and crossed the sea.

8For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness: her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea.

NoteHeshbon, Sibmah and Jazer were towns on the tableland north of Moab, a region famous for its vineyards. The picture is of a vine so vigorous its runners reached in every direction; "crossed the sea" most likely means the Dead Sea, or possibly refers to the trade in its wine shipped abroad. "Rulers of the nations" are foreign conquerors, who both destroyed the vines and drank their wine.

9So I will weep for the vines of Sibmah the way Jazer weeps. Heshbon and Elealeh, I will soak you with my tears. The glad shouting over your summer fruit and your harvest has fallen silent.

9Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen.

NoteElealeh was another town of the same wine-growing district, near Heshbon. The "shouting" is the traditional cry raised by workers treading grapes and gathering fruit, a noise loud enough that its absence marks a ruined harvest.

10Gladness and joy are taken away from the rich farmland. In the vineyards no one sings and no one shouts. No one tramples grapes in the winepresses. I have put an end to the shouting at grape harvest.

10And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease.

NoteA winepress was a shallow rock-cut basin where grapes were crushed underfoot, the juice draining into a lower vat. Treading was done in company to a rhythmic shout, so "no shouting" means the presses stand idle.

11So my insides moan like a harp for Moab, and my deepest feelings moan for Kir-heres.

11Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kirharesh.

NoteHebrew locates strong emotion in the inner organs, where English says the heart; the King James "bowels" carries no crude sense here. The harp image is of strings set vibrating: the speaker's insides throb the way a plucked string does. Kir-heres is a variant spelling of Kir-hareseth in verse 7, the same city.

12And this is what will happen. When Moab is seen wearing himself out at the hilltop worship place, and he goes into his temple to pray, it will do him no good.

12And 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.

NoteA "high place" was an open-air shrine, usually on a hilltop or raised platform, with an altar and standing stones; these were the ordinary local worship sites throughout the region, Moabite and Israelite alike. "Wearing himself out" describes the exhausting round of climbing, sacrificing and pleading.

13This is the message that the LORD spoke about Moab back then.

13This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning Moab since that time.

NoteThis verse and the next form a dated postscript, marking off everything above as an older message and adding a new one. "Back then" (King James "since that time") means the earlier oracle was already in circulation when this note was attached.

14But now the LORD has spoken. He says, "Within three years, counted the way a hired worker counts his years, the splendor of Moab will be treated with scorn, along with all her great crowd of people. Those who are left will be very few and weak."

14But now the LORD hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble.

NoteA hired worker was engaged for a fixed term and counted the days exactly, since his wages depended on it. "As the years of a hired worker" therefore means three years precisely, not three years roughly.