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Revised Isaiah Chapter 16

Canonical Text

¹ Send lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela, across the desert, to the mount of the Daughter of Zion.
² Like fluttering birds pushed from the nest, so are the women of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.
³ "Give us counsel, render a decision. Make your shadow like night—at high noon. Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees.
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.
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.
⁶ We have heard of Moab's pride—her overweening pride and conceit, her pride and her insolence—but her boasts are empty.
⁷ Therefore the Moabites wail, they wail together for Moab. Lament and grieve for the men of Kir Hareseth.
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.
⁹ So I weep, as Jazer weeps, for the vines of Sibmah. O Heshbon, O Elealeh, I drench you with tears! The shouts of joy over your ripened fruit and over your harvests have been stilled.
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.
¹¹ My heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir Hareseth.
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.
¹³ This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab.
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."

Synopsis

The story of Moab spans two chapters. This is not unusual, so did the account of the Lord's displeasure with Judah and Jerusalem, the Lord's testing of King Ahaz and the berating of Babylon.

The entire canonical chapter is devoted to Moab with the exception of one verse which is also exportable.

Outgoing Verses

1-4. Send lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela, across the desert, to the mount of the Daughter of Zion. ² Like fluttering birds pushed from the nest, so are the women of Moab at the fords of the Arnon. ³ "Give us counsel, render a decision." Make your shadow like night—at high noon. Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees. 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.

Analysis: Verse 1 tags Moab, but it does not form part of the oracle started on Chapter 15. The "oppressor" and the "aggressor" (v 4) is not the "ruler of the land" who dwells "in the mount of the Daughter of Zion" (v 1). Judging by the many similarities between the oracle and chapter Jeremiah:48, the aggressor will be Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the days of Jeremiah. Isaiah 22:6 posits another aggressor, Elam, the precursor of Babylon, perhaps used by Isaiah as an alias of Babylon.

Note: I have pulled the closing quotation mark back from "destroyer" (v 4) to "decision" (v 3) because the desperate women of Moab would not have inclined to poetic similes.

Destination: Obviously Revised Chapter 15, "Moab."

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.

Analysis: This verse can not possibly be related to Moab. The "aggressor" who came against Moab (v 4) was not vanquished by a king from the house of David, much less one who "in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness." Only the administration of the Branch of the Lord can live up to the four cited requisites: love, faithfulness, justice and righteousness.

Destination: Revised Chapter 4, "The Branch of The Lord."

6-14. We have heard of Moab's pride—her overweening pride and conceit, her pride and her insolence—but her boasts are empty. ⁷ Therefore the Moabites wail, they wail together for Moab. Lament and grieve for the men of Kir Hareseth. 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. ⁹ So I weep, as Jazer weeps, for the vines of Sibmah. O Heshbon, O Elealeh, I drench you with tears! The shouts of joy over your ripened fruit and over your harvests have been stilled. 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. ¹¹ My heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir Hareseth. 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. ¹³ This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab. 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."

Destination: Obviously Revised Chapter 15, "Moab."

Revised Chapter 16

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