Isa 16:1 Send lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela, across the desert, to the mount of Daughter Zion.
Isa 16:2 Like fluttering birds pushed from the nest, so are the women of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.
Isa 16:3 “Make up your mind,” Moab says. “Render a decision. Make your shadow like night— at high noon. Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees.
Isa 16:4 Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer.” The oppressor will come to an end, and destruction will cease; the aggressor will vanish from the land.
Isa 16:5 In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it— one from the house of David— one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness.
Isa 16:6 We have heard of Moab’s pride— how great is her arrogance!— of her conceit, her pride and her insolence; but her boasts are empty.
Isa 16:7 Therefore the Moabites wail, they wail together for Moab. Lament and grieve for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth.
Isa 16:8 The fields of Heshbon wither, the vines of Sibmah also. The rulers of the nations have trampled down the choicest vines, which once reached Jazer and spread toward the desert. Their shoots spread out and went as far as the sea.
Isa 16:9 So I weep, as Jazer weeps, for the vines of Sibmah. Heshbon and Elealeh, I drench you with tears! The shouts of joy over your ripened fruit and over your harvests have been stilled.
Isa 16:10 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.
Isa 16:11 My heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir Hareseth.
.Isa 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.
Isa 16:13 This is the word the LORD has already spoken concerning Moab.
Isa 16:14 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.”
Isa 16:1 Send lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela, across the desert, to the mount of Daughter Zion.
When Moab had been subdued by Omri and Ahab, tribute was paid to Israel in the form of lambs and rams (2 Kings 3:4). Now Moab was called upon to send a similar tribute to Judah.
Sela means “rock,” and is thought to have been the name of the capital of Edom. The people of Moab had been forced to leave their cities and flee to the wilderness and make their homes in the rocks. Now, in their desolate condition, they are called upon to acknowledge the supremacy of “the mount of the daughter of Zion” by the payment of tribute.
Isa 16:2 Like fluttering birds pushed from the nest, so are the women of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.
Like flutering. “A fleeing bird,” or “a stray bird,” a graphic illustration of the fugitives of Moab, who knew not which way to turn for safety.
Isa 16:3 “Make up your mind,” Moab says. “Render a decision. Make your shadow like night— at high noon. Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees.
Having brought judgment upon Moab, the Lord now counsels its stricken inhabitants as to the course they ought to pursue. Henceforth they should deal justly and practice mercy toward their neighbours. In the day of Judah’s calamity the people of Moab took delight in the tribulation that had overtaken God’s people (see Jer. 48:27; Zeph 2:8).
Now the Lord admonishes them to show kindness to Judah, and not to take advantage of exiles forced to seek refuge in Moab. As with the shadows of night, they were to hide the fleeing fugitives and not to betray (“bewray”) them to their pursuers.
Isa 16:4 Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer.” The oppressor will come to an end, and destruction will cease; the aggressor will vanish from the land.
Moab is admonished to permit the outcasts from Judah to find refuge in her midst and to hide them from those who would seek their destruction. This message was given to Moab a century before the Babylonians brought judgment upon Judah, when thousands of Jews sought refuge in Moab (Jer. 40:11).
At that time, however, this counsel was not heeded, and the Moabites took keen delight in the miseries that had come upon Judah (Jer. 48:26, 27). For this reason a terrible judgment was to fall upon Moab (Zeph. 2:8, 9).
Isa 16:5 In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it— one from the house of David— one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness.
The words of v. 4, an admonition to Moab, are also appropriate to the kingdom of Christ. The prophet seems to look forward to a time when a representative of the house of David, the Messiah (see on ch. 11:1), will govern Moab. It is mercy, not cruelty, that brings security, peace, and prosperity to the peoples of earth.
If Moab will be merciful, its throne will be established; if not, the nation is doomed. It was because the Lord “heard the reproach of Moab” against His people that He declared, “Surely Moab shall be as Sodom,” and announced that He would be “terrible unto them” (Zeph. 2:8, 9, 11).
Isa 16:6 We have heard of Moab’s pride— how great is her arrogance!— of her conceit, her pride and her insolence; but her boasts are empty.
Pride and arrogancy were outstanding weakness of Moab and primary reasons for its destruction (see Jer. 48:29; Zeph. 2:10). The boasts of Moab were false, and would be proved to be altogether in vain.
Isa 16:7 Therefore the Moabites wail, they wail together for Moab. Lament and grieve for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth.
Had Moab given heed to the counsel of the Lord, its throne would have been established in righteousness and mercy, but since it refused, the result would be woe and destruction. The whole nation would wail in agony at the arrival of the hour of doom.
Isa 16:8 The fields of Heshbon wither, the vines of Sibmah also. The rulers of the nations have trampled down the choicest vines, which once reached Jazer and spread toward the desert. Their shoots spread out and went as far as the sea.
Sibmah. This city was assigned to Reuben (Num. 32:37, 38; Joshua 13:15, 19) and was famous for its grapes (Jer. 48:32). The vines of this beautiful and prosperous country were destroyed by the cruel invaders.
The city of Sibmah was near Heshbon, its location uncertain. The figure of the branches of Moabite grapevines reaching out in various directions probably suggests the places to which the product of its vines was exported, in the form of raisin cakes.
Unto Jazer. That is, the branches of the flourishing vine of Heshbon and Sibmah reached northward even unto Jazer, a city on the northern frontier (west or northwest of Rabbath-ammon), originally in Gilead (Num. 32:1, 3, 35; 2 Sam. 24:5; 1 Chron. 26:31).
They stretched eastward into the Arabian Desert, and westward they crossed the Dead Sea to reappear on the slopes of En-gedi (S. of Sol. 1:14). The words of Isaiah picture the flourishing and extensive vineyards of Heshbon and Sibmah as constituting a single vine reaching out in all directions (see Jer. 48:32).
Isa 16:9 So I weep, as Jazer weeps, for the vines of Sibmah. Heshbon and Elealeh, I drench you with tears! The shouts of joy over your ripened fruit and over your harvests have been stilled.
Shouts of joy.
In times of peace and prosperity this would be the joyous shout of the harvesters, but in a time of war (see on v. 7) it would be the shout of the invader as he took possession of the harvest and destroyed the trees and vines. The Targums read, “a despoiler has fallen.” The prophet joins with the inhabitants of Moab in weeping over their miseries.
Isa 16:10 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.
Harvesttime in the fields and vineyards was a period of unrestrained joy and celebration. Instead, tears were to take the place of laughter.
Isa 16:11 My heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir Hareseth.
The prophet sympathizes with the people against whom he testifies.
Isa 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.
Chemosh will not answer her prayers.
Isa 16:13 This is the word the LORD has already spoken concerning Moab.
The meaning here is that Isaiah’s message is but a repetition of earlier messages that had been given
Isa 16:14 But now the LORD says: “Within three years, as a servant bound by contract would count them, Moab’s splendour and all her many people will be despised, and her survivors will be very few and feeble.”
A time has been set for that judgment, and judgment is not likely to be postponed.
Very few and feeble.
Moab was not to be destroyed. A remnant would be left, but that remnant would be small and weak.