Isaiah 16 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Isaiah 16

16:1   Send the lamb to the ruler of the land,
  from Sela, 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 the fords of the Arnon.
3   “Give counsel;
    grant justice;
  make your shade like night
    at the height of noon;
  shelter the outcasts;
    do not reveal the fugitive;
4   let the outcasts of Moab
    sojourn among you;
  be a shelter to them¹
    from the destroyer.
  When the oppressor is no more,
    and destruction has ceased,
  and he who tramples underfoot 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.”
6   We have heard of the pride of Moab—
    how proud he is!—
  of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;
    in his idle boasting he is not right.
7   Therefore let Moab wail for Moab,
    let everyone wail.
  Mourn, utterly stricken,
    for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.
8   For the fields of Heshbon languish,
    and the 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.
9   Therefore I weep with the weeping of Jazer
    for the vine of Sibmah;
  I drench you with my tears,
    O Heshbon and Elealeh;
  for over your summer fruit and your harvest
    the shout has ceased.
10   And joy and gladness are taken away from the fruitful field,
  and in the vineyards no songs are sung,
    no cheers are raised;
  no treader treads out wine in the presses;
    I have put an end to the shouting.
11   Therefore my inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab,
    and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth.

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.

13 This is the word that the LORD spoke concerning Moab in the past. 14 But now the LORD has spoken, saying, “In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, in spite of all his great multitude, and those who remain will be very few and feeble.”

Footnotes

[1] 16:4 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac; Masoretic Text let my outcasts sojourn among you; as for Moab, be a shelter to them

Commentary

v1-2: From 15.9, fugitives from Moab fleeing to Judah. Moab is described as a young bird pushed from its nest.

v3-4: The outcasts (refugees) from Moab, finding refuge in Judah, indicating God's compassion even on the Moabites. The oppressor, or aggressor, who had invaded and destroyed their land, probably Assyria, would be defeated.

v5: All prophecy centres on Jesus Christ; He will sit on the throne, a secure rule, and a rule of truth. The second emphasis of prophecy is Israel, and there is a reference to David's house, or tent.

Christ loves justice and righteousness; but mankind naturally has little of either.

v6: In contrast are the lies and pride of Moab. Ruth, although a Moabite, was an exception to this.

v7: As in 15.2,8; sorrow for self, not for others.

v8-11: See 15.6-7, fruitfulness replaced by barrenness. Moab was a well-watered land, surrounded by desert, Gen 13.10; 19.37. It fell victim to other nations, trampling down its choicest vines. It seems that God's heart is full of sorrow for Moab. The nation came from the line of Lot; the Lord God is still the owner of this vineyard.

v12: Moab followed a religion of idolatry, but this was to prove useless.

v13-14: The judgment already described would be deferred no longer.