Isaiah 16 KJV
Moab's Plea for Help
Isaiah Chapter 16: Moab's Plea for Help
The opening command to 'send ye the lamb' (v.1) reverses Moab's historical tribute to Israel under Mesha (2 Kings 3:4), now redirecting it to Judah's king as an implicit acknowledgment that only the Davidic throne can offer asylum amid Assyrian threat.
1end ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.
2 For 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.
3 Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth.
4 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.
5 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.
6 We 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.
7 Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken.
8 For 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.
9 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.
10 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.
11 Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kirharesh.
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.
13 This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning Moab since that time.
14 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 shall be very small and feeble.
โ โ arrow keys to navigate chapters ยท spacebar to play/pause audio
Did You Know?
The opening command to 'send ye the lamb' (v.1) reverses Moab's historical tribute to Israel under Mesha (2 Kings 3:4), now redirecting it to Judah's king as an implicit acknowledgment that only the Davidic throne can offer asylum amid Assyrian threat.
Verse 5's portrayal of a throne 'established in mercy' and occupied by one who 'judgeth...in righteousness' functions as an embedded messianic hinge, contrasting Moab's arrogant refusal of refuge with the future king's character that alone can shelter fugitives.
The geographical plea at 'the fords of Arnon' (v.2) and 'Sela' (v.1) maps Moab's flight onto Edomite terrain, revealing how the oracle collapses neighboring nations' borders into a single desperate movement toward Zion rather than their traditional alliances.
Isaiah reuses vineyard imagery from chapter 5 by depicting Moab's 'principal plants' and 'vines of Sibmah' (vv.8-9) as objects of weeping, transforming the earlier song of Israel's unfruitfulness into a lament over a foreign nation's destroyed abundance as collateral judgment.
The precise three-year limit on Moab's glory (v.14) anchors the prophecy to a verifiable horizon of Assyrian campaigns, underscoring that divine timelines intersect ordinary political history without requiring Israel's military involvement.
Commentary & Study Notes Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871) ยท Public Domain lamb โ advice of the prophet to the Moabites who had fled southwards to Idumea, to send to the king of Judah the tribute of lambs, which they had formerly paid to Israel, but whichโฆ
Classic verse-by-verse commentary on Isaiah 16 from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871). Covers: Continuation of the prophecy as to moab.
- 1
- lamb โ advice of the prophet to the Moabites who had fled southwards to Idumea, to send to the king of Judah the tribute of lambs, which they had formerly paid to Israel, but which they had given up (2Ki 3:4, 5). David probably imposed this tribute before the severance of Judah and Israel (2Sa 8:2). Therefore Moab is recommended to gain the favor and protection of Judah, by paying it to the Jewish king. Type of the need of submitting to Messiah (Ps 2:10-12; Ro 12:1). from Sela to โ rather, "from Petra through (literally, 'towards') the wilderness" [MAURER]. "Sela" means "a rock," Petra in Greek; the capital of Idumea and Arabia-Petrรฆa; the dwellings are mostly hewn out of the rock. The country around was a vast common ("wilderness") or open pasturage, to which the Moabites had fled on the invasion from the west (Isa 15:7). ruler of the land โ namely, of Idumea, that is, the king of Judah; Amaziah had become master of Idumea and Sela (2Ki 14:7).
- 2
- cast out of... nest โ rather, "as a brood cast out" (in apposition with "a wandering bird," or rather, wandering birds), namely, a brood just fledged and expelled from the nest in which they were hatched [HORSLEY]. Compare Isa 10:14; De 32:11. daughters of Moab โ that is, the inhabitants of Moab. So 2Ki 19:21; Ps 48:11; Jer 46:11; La 4:22 [MAURER]. at the fords โ trying to cross the boundary river of Moab, in order to escape out of the land. EWALD and MAURER make "fords" a poetical expression for "the dwellers on Arnon," answering to the parallel clause of the same sense, "daughters of Moab."
Read all 14 notes on Isaiah 16 โ