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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0;"/><title>Isaiah 16 Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/expositors/isaiah/16.htm" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; 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On his revolt (as recorded in the <span class= "ital">Moabite Inscription</span>) that tribute had ceased. The prophet now calls on the Moabites to renew it, not to the northern kingdom, which was on the point of extinction, but to the king of Judah as the true “ruler of the land.” The name Sela (“a rock”) may refer either to the city so-called (better known by its Greek name of Petra), <a href="/2_kings/14-7.htm" title="He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel to this day.">2Kings 14:7</a>, or to the rock-district of Edom and the confines of Moab generally. In either case the special direction implies that the presence of the invaders described in Isaiah 15 would make it impossible to send the tribute across the fords of the Jordan, and that it must accordingly be sent by the southern route, which passed through Sela and the desert country to the south of the Dead Sea (Cheyne). Possibly the words are a summons to Edom, which had attacked Judah in the reign of Ahaz (<a href="/2_chronicles/28-17.htm" title="For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives.">2Chronicles 28:17</a>), to join in a like submission.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/16-2.htm">Isaiah 16:2</a></div><div class="verse">For it shall be, <i>that</i>, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, <i>so</i> the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.</div>(2) <span class= "bld">As a wandering bird cast out of the nest.</span>—Better as in the margin, <span class= "ital">a forsaken nest. </span>The “daughters of Moab” either literally, the women driven from their homes, or figuratively (as in <a href="/isaiah/16-1.htm" title="Send you the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, to the mount of the daughter of Zion.">Isaiah 16:1</a>) the whole population of its towns and villages, are represented as fluttering in terror, like birds whose nests are spoiled (comp. <a href="/isaiah/10-14.htm" title="And my hand has found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathers eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.">Isaiah 10:14</a>), like the fledglings in the nest, on the fords of Arnon, uncertain whether to return to their old homes or to cross into a strange land. The imagery reminds us of <a href="/psalms/11-1.htm" title="In the LORD put I my trust: how say you to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?">Psalm 11:1</a>, <a href="/proverbs/27-8.htm" title="As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man that wanders from his place.">Proverbs 27:8</a>, so also of Æsch. <span class= "ital">Agam. </span>49-52.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/16-3.htm">Isaiah 16:3</a></div><div class="verse">Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth.</div>(3) <span class= "bld">Make thy shadow as the night . . .</span>—The whole verse is addressed, as the context shows, not by <span class= "ital">the </span>prophet to Moab, but by Moab to the rulers of Judah. The fugitives call on those rulers to plead for them and act as umpires, to be to them “as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land” (<a href="/isaiah/32-2.htm" title="And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.">Isaiah 32:2</a>), black as night whilst the hot sun glares all around. Some critics, however, hold that the prophet still speaks to the Moabites and calls on them to protect the fugitives from Judah as they had done of old (<a href="/ruth/1-2.htm" title="And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.">Ruth 1:2</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/22-3.htm" title="And David went there to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said to the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray you, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me.">1Samuel 22:3</a>), and so to secure a return of like protection (Kay).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/16-4.htm">Isaiah 16:4</a></div><div class="verse">Let 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.</div>(4) <span class= "bld">Let mine outcasts dwell with thee . . .</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">let the outcasts of Moab dwell with thee. </span>Judah, as being herself in safety, is once more appealed to to show mercy to the Moabite fugitives. The “oppressors” are, literally, <span class= "ital">they that trample under foot.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/16-5.htm">Isaiah 16:5</a></div><div class="verse">And 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.</div>(5) <span class= "bld">And in mercy shall the throne . . .</span>—Better, less definitely, <span class= "ital">in mercy shall a throne be established, and one shall sit upon it in truth. </span>The prophet has in mind the ideal king of <a href="/context/isaiah/9-4.htm" title="For you have broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.">Isaiah 9:4-7</a>; <a href="/context/isaiah/11-1.htm" title="And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:">Isaiah 11:1-5</a> (of whom Hezekiah was a partial type and representative), whom he expected after the downfall of the Assyrian oppressor. For the “tabernacle of David,” comp. <a href="/amos/9-11.htm" title="In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:">Amos 9:11</a>.<span class= "bld"><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/16-6.htm">Isaiah 16:6</a></div><div class="verse">We have heard of the pride of Moab; <i>he is</i> very proud: <i>even</i> of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: <i>but</i> his lies <i>shall</i> not <i>be</i> so.</div>(6) <span class= "bld">We have heard of the pride of Moab . . .</span>—The hopes of the prophet are clouded by the remembrance of the characteristic sin of Moab. Of this the <span class= "ital">Moabite Inscription </span>gives sufficient evidence. (See Notes on Isaiah 15) Isaiah’s language finds an echo in <a href="/jeremiah/48-29.htm" title="We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogance, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart.">Jeremiah 48:29</a>.<p><span class= "bld">But his lies shall not be so.</span>—Better, “<span class= "ital">his lies, </span>or <span class= "ital">boasts, are of no worth,” </span>are “not so” as they seem to be.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/16-7.htm">Isaiah 16:7</a></div><div class="verse">Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely <i>they are</i> stricken.</div>(7) <span class= "bld">Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab.</span>—Either the whole nation wailing for its downfall, or the survivors wailing for the fallen.<p><span class= "bld">The foundations of Kir-hareseth.</span>—The name has been commonly explained as the “brick fortress,” (<span class= "ital">city of pottery</span>)<span class= "ital">. </span>Others, with a different derivation, make it “city of the sun.” Others, again (E. H. Palmer, in the <span class= "ital">Athenæum </span>of August 19, 1871), connect it with <span class= "ital">háreith, </span>the modern Moabite name for the hillocks on which the rock fortresses were built. The word for <span class= "ital">foundations </span>occurs in <a href="/hosea/3-1.htm" title="Then said the LORD to me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.">Hosea 3:1</a>, for <span class= "ital">raisin-cakes </span>(“flagons of wine” in the Authorised version (comp. <a href="/2_samuel/6-19.htm" title="And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one a cake of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. So all the people departed every one to his house.">2Samuel 6:19</a>, Song <a href="/songs/2-5.htm" title="Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.">Song of Solomon 2:5</a>), and has been supposed to refer to this as the main product of Kir-hareseth, the traffic in which she lost through the destruction of the vineyards, mentioned in the next verse. <span class= "ital">Ruins </span>would, in any case, be better than “foundations.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/16-8.htm">Isaiah 16:8</a></div><div class="verse">For the fields of Heshbon languish, <i>and</i> the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are come <i>even</i> unto Jazer, they wandered <i>through</i> the wilderness: her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea.</div>(8) <span class= "bld">The fields of Heshbon languish . . .</span>—For Heshbon see Note on <a href="/isaiah/15-4.htm" title="And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh: their voice shall be heard even to Jahaz: therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his life shall be grievous to him.">Isaiah 15:4</a>. Sibmah appears as assigned to the tribe of Reuben, in <a href="/numbers/32-38.htm" title="And Nebo, and Baalmeon, (their names being changed,) and Shibmah: and gave other names to the cities which they built.">Numbers 32:38</a>, <a href="/joshua/13-19.htm" title="And Kirjathaim, and Sibmah, and Zarethshahar in the mount of the valley,">Joshua 13:19</a>, and in <a href="/jeremiah/48-32.htm" title="O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for you with the weeping of Jazer: your plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen on your summer fruits and on your vintage.">Jeremiah 48:32</a> as famous for its vines. Jerome (<span class= "ital">Comm. in Esai. </span>5) speaks of it as about half a Roman mile from Heshbon, and as one of the strongest fortresses of Moab. It has not been identified by recent travellers. The names of the chief Moabite cities are brought together by Milton with a singular rhythmical majesty in <span class= "ital">Par. Lost, </span>1, 406-411.<p><span class= "bld">The lords of the heathen . . .</span>—The words admit of this rendering; but another version, equally admissible grammatically, is preferred by most recent critics. <span class= "ital">Its branches smote down the lords of the nations, </span>i.e., the wine of Sibmah was so strong that it “overcame” the princes who drank of it (<a href="/isaiah/28-1.htm" title="Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!">Isaiah 28:1</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/23-9.htm" title="My heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine has overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.">Jeremiah 23:9</a>). In the word for “lords” (<span class= "ital">baalim</span>)<span class= "ital">, </span>we have a parallel to the “lords of the high places of Arnon,” in <a href="/numbers/21-28.htm" title="For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it has consumed Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon.">Numbers 21:28</a>.<p><span class= "bld">They are come even unto Jazer.</span>—The pronoun may be referred either to the “branches of the vine,” or to the “lords of the heathen,” as destroyers. Adopting the former construction, we find in the words a description of the extent of the culture of the Sibmah vine. Northward it spread to Jazer on the Gilead frontier (<a href="/numbers/32-1.htm" title="Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle;">Numbers 32:1</a>; <a href="/numbers/32-3.htm" title="Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,">Numbers 32:3</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/26-31.htm" title="Among the Hebronites was Jerijah the chief, even among the Hebronites, according to the generations of his fathers. In the fortieth year of the reign of David they were sought for, and there were found among them mighty men of valor at Jazer of Gilead.">1Chronicles 26:31</a>), rebuilt by the Gadites (<a href="/numbers/32-35.htm" title="And Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah,">Numbers 32:35</a>), eastward to the wilderness, westward it crossed the Dead Sea, and re-appeared in the vine-clad slopes of Engedi (<a href="/songs/1-14.htm" title="My beloved is to me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.">Song of Solomon 1:14</a>). In <a href="/jeremiah/48-32.htm" title="O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for you with the weeping of Jazer: your plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen on your summer fruits and on your vintage.">Jeremiah 48:32</a>, we have “the sea of Jazer.” See Note there.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/16-9.htm">Isaiah 16:9</a></div><div class="verse">Therefore 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.</div>(9) <span class= "bld">Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer . . .</span>—The prophet, in his sympathy with the sufferings of Moab (see <a href="/isaiah/15-5.htm" title="My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee to Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction.">Isaiah 15:5</a>), declares that he will weep with tears as genuine as those of Jazer itself over the desolation of its vineyards.<p><span class= "bld">The shouting for thy summer fruits . . .</span>—Better, as in the margin, <span class= "ital">on thy summer-fruits, and on thy harvest a shout is fallen, i.e., </span>not the song of the vintage gatherers and the reapers, but the cry of the enemy as they trample on the fields and vineyards. The force of the contrast is emphasised, as in <a href="/jeremiah/48-33.htm" title="And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab, and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting.">Jeremiah 48:33</a> (“a cheer which is no cheer,” Cheyne), by the use of the same word (<span class= "ital">hedad</span>) as that which in the next verse is employed for the song of those that tread the grapes. (Comp. <a href="/jeremiah/25-30.htm" title="Therefore prophesy you against them all these words, and say to them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar on his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.">Jeremiah 25:30</a>.) Possibly the word for “harvest” is used generically as including the vintage.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/16-10.htm">Isaiah 16:10</a></div><div class="verse">And 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 <i>their</i> presses; I have made <i>their vintage</i> shouting to cease.</div>(10) <span class= "bld">Out of the plentiful field.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">out of the Carmel, </span>one of Isaiah’s favourite words, as in <a href="/isaiah/10-18.htm" title="And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standard-bearer faints.">Isaiah 10:18</a>; <a href="/isaiah/29-17.htm" title="Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?">Isaiah 29:17</a>. The word for “shouting” is the <span class= "ital">hedad </span>of the previous verse. In the words, “I have made <span class= "bld">. . .</span>” Jehovah speaks as declaring that the work of desolation, though wrought by human hands, is yet His. The prophet, while he weeps in true human pity, is taught not to forget that the desolation is a righteous punishment.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/16-11.htm">Isaiah 16:11</a></div><div class="verse">Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kirharesh.</div>(11) <span class= "bld">My bowels shall sound like an harp . . .</span>—The context leaves it uncertain whether the speaker is the prophet as in <a href="/isaiah/16-9.htm" title="Therefore I will mourn with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water you with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for your summer fruits and for your harvest is fallen.">Isaiah 16:9</a>, or Jehovah as in <a href="/isaiah/16-10.htm" title="And 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.">Isaiah 16:10</a>. The former seems, perhaps, the most natural. On the other hand, the very phrase is used of the compassion of Jehovah in <a href="/isaiah/63-15.htm" title="Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of your holiness and of your glory: where is your zeal and your strength, the sounding of your bowels and of your mercies toward me? are they restrained?">Isaiah 63:15</a>. The “bowels,” as in modern language the “heart,” were looked on as the seat of the emotions, and as such they vibrate, like the chords of the harp or lyre (<span class= "ital">kinnûr</span>) used at funerals, with the thrills of pity.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/16-12.htm">Isaiah 16:12</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div>(12) <span class= "bld">When it is seen . . .</span>—Better thus: When Moab <span class= "ital">appeareth </span>(<span class= "ital">sc., </span>as a worshipper), <span class= "ital">when he wearies himself on the high place </span>(the scene of Chemosh-worship), <span class= "ital">though he enter into the sanctuary to pray, yet shall he not prevail. </span>The prophet draws a picture of the unavailing litanies which Moab, like the priests of Baal in <a href="/1_kings/18-26.htm" title="And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped on the altar which was made.">1Kings 18:26</a>, shall offer to his gods.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/16-13.htm">Isaiah 16:13</a></div><div class="verse">This <i>is</i> the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning Moab since that time.</div>(13) <span class= "bld">Since that time.</span>—The phrase is used of an indefinite past, like our “of yore,” or “of old time.” It is variously translated by “hitherto” (<a href="/2_samuel/15-34.htm" title="But if you return to the city, and say to Absalom, I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father's servant till now, so will I now also be your servant: then may you for me defeat the counsel of Ahithophel.">2Samuel 15:34</a>), “from the beginning” (<a href="/isaiah/48-3.htm" title="I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.">Isaiah 48:3</a>; <a href="/isaiah/48-5.htm" title="I have even from the beginning declared it to you; before it came to pass I showed it you: lest you should say, My idol has done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, has commanded them.">Isaiah 48:5</a>; <a href="/isaiah/48-7.htm" title="They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when you heard them not; lest you should say, Behold, I knew them.">Isaiah 48:7</a>). It seems to imply that thus far Isaiah had been in part reproducing the “burden” of an older prophet, or of one given to him to deliver at an earlier date.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/16-14.htm">Isaiah 16:14</a></div><div class="verse">But 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 <i>shall be</i> very small <i>and</i> feeble.</div>(14) <span class= "bld">But now the Lord hath spoken . . .</span>—The point of contrast seems to lie in the vaguer character of what had gone before, and the specific defined prediction that follows. “Within three years,” measured with the exactness of the hired labourer, who will not give more than he has contracted for, and of the employer, who will not take less. The same phrase meets us in <a href="/isaiah/21-16.htm" title="For thus has the LORD said to me, Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail:">Isaiah 21:16</a>.<span class= "bld"><p>The glory of Moab shall be contemned.</span>—We may infer from the fact that the prophecy was recorded when the writings of Isaiah were collected. whether by himself or another, that men looked on it as an instance of his prevision. History is, indeed, silent as to the manner of its fulfilment. It was probable, however, that the armies of Salmaneser or Sargon swept, as those of Pul and Tiglath-pileser had done (<a href="/1_chronicles/5-26.htm" title="And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, to this day.">1Chronicles 5:26</a>), over the region east of the Jordan, and so invaded Moab. (See Note on <a href="/isaiah/17-1.htm" title="The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.">Isaiah 17:1</a>.) We note that here also there was to be a “remnant,” but not like that of Israel, the germ of a renewed strength.<p><span class= "bld"><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers<br /><br />Text Courtesy of <a href="//biblesupport.com" target="_top">BibleSupport.com</a>. 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