We have heard of the pride of Moab, that he is very proud; even of his arrogance, his pride, and his wrath. His boastings are nothing.
Parallel Translations
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We have heard of the pride of Moab, that he is very proud; even of his arrogance, his pride, and his wrath. His boastings are nothing.
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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.
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We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud; even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his arrogancy, his ill-founded boastings.
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Isaiah 16:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Amos 2:1 Yahweh says: “For three transgressions of Moab, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime;
- Jeremiah 48:29-30 “We have heard of the pride of Moab. He is very proud in his loftiness, his pride, his arrogance, and the arrogance of his heart. I know his wrath,” says Yahweh, “that it is nothing; his boastings have done nothing.
- Obadiah 1:3-4 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, who says in his heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’ Though you mount on high as the eagle, and though your nest is set among the stars, I will bring you down from there,” says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 48:26 “Make him drunken; for he magnified himself against Yahweh. Moab will wallow in his vomit, and he also will be in derision.
- Jeremiah 48:42 Moab will be destroyed from being a people, because he has magnified himself against Yahweh.
- Zephaniah 2:8-10 I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the insults of the children of Ammon, with which they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border. Therefore as I live, says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, surely Moab will be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of nettles, and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation. The remnant of my people will plunder them, and the survivors of my nation will inherit them. This they will have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of Yahweh of Armies.
- Isaiah 2:11 The lofty looks of man will be brought low, the arrogance of men will be bowed down, and Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day.
- Isaiah 28:15 “Because you have said, ‘We have made a covenant with death, and we are in agreement with Sheol. When the overflowing scourge passes through, it won’t come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves under falsehood.’ ”
- Isaiah 28:18 Your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge passes through, then you will be trampled down by it.
- Isaiah 44:25 who frustrates the signs of the liars, and makes diviners mad; who turns wise men backward, and makes their knowledge foolish;
- Jeremiah 50:36 A sword is on the boasters, and they will become fools. A sword is on her mighty men, and they will be dismayed.
- 1 Peter 5:5 Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Their vain confidence, and proud brags shall deceive them,…
Their vain confidence, and proud brags shall deceive them, Jer. 48:2.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 16:6 We have heard of the pride of…
Isa 16:6 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.
Ver. 6. We have heard of the pride of Moab.] His harsh and haughty carriage toward God’s poor people, though he were advised the contrary. {Isa 16:1; Isa 16:3-4} Good counsel is but cast away upon a proud person. Now the Moabites were as much noted then for their pride as now the Spaniards are; and their pride appeared by their brags and threats. But
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His lies shall not be so.] Or, His indignation is more than his strength, as Jerome rendereth it. His boastings and blusters shall come to nothing; his pride shall be his bane and break his neck.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The prophet, having spoken to the Moabites, and acquainted…
The prophet, having spoken to the Moabites, and acquainted them with their duty and interest, now he turneth his speech to God’s people, whom he armeth and comforteth against their approaching misery. The scope and sense of the prophet in this verse is this, I do not expect that my counsels will have any good effect upon Moab, they will still carry themselves insolently and outrageously towards you, and they promise themselves that they shall now effect what they have long desired, even satisfy their malice in your total and final destruction; but they shall be disappointed of their hopes. It is well known to me, and you, and all their neighbours, that they are a haughty and furious people; and therefore they will scorn my advice, and doubt not to stand upon their own legs.
His lies shall not be so; his vain imaginations, and false and crafty counsel, shall not take effect. But the words are and may be otherwise rendered, but his strength (as this word is rendered, Job 18:13; Heb. bars, which are the strength of gates or doors) is not so; not equal to his pride or fury. Or thus, exactly according to the words and order of the Hebrew text, not so lies. A concise speech, such as are very common in this and other prophets. And these words may possibly be brought in as the words of the Moabites, making this short reply to the prophet’s counsels and threatenings, directed to them in the foregoing verses of this chapter: It is not or shall not be so as thou sayest; thy words are but lies, we fear not thy threats against us. But this I propose with submission.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here we have, I. The sins with which Moab…
Here we have, I. The sins with which Moab is charged, Isa 16:6. The prophet seems to check himself for going about to give good counsel to the Moabites, concluding they would not take the advice he gave them. He told them their duty (whether they would hear or whether they would forbear), but despairs of working any good upon them; he would have healed them, but they would not be healed. Those that will not be counselled cannot be helped. Their sins were, 1. Pride. This is most insisted upon; for perhaps there are more precious souls ruined by pride than by any one lust whatsoever. The Moabites were notorious for this: "We have heard in both ears of the pride of Moab; it is what all their neighbours cry out shame upon them for. He is very proud; the body of the nation is so, forgetting the baseness of their origin and the brand of infamy fastened upon them by that law of God which forbade a Moabite to enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever, Deu 23:3. We have heard of his haughtiness and his pride. It is not the rash and rigid censure of one of two concerning them, but it is the character which all that know them will give of them. They are a proud people, and therefore they will not take good counsel when it is given them. They think themselves too wise to be advised; therefore they will not take example by Hezekiah to do justly and love mercy. They scorn to make him their pattern, for they think themselves able to teach him. They are proud, and therefore will not be subject to God himself nor regard the warnings he gives them. The wicked, in the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God. They are proud, and therefore will not entertain and protect God's outcasts; they scorn to have any thing to do with them." But this is not all: - 2. "We have heard of his wrath too (for those that are very proud are commonly very passionate), particularly his wrath against the people of God, whom therefore he will rather persecute than protect. 3. It is with his lies that he gains the gratifications of his pride and his passion; but his lies shall not be so; he shall not compass his proud and angry projects as he hoped he should." Some read it, His haughtiness, his pride, and his wrath, are greater than his strength. "We know that, if we lay at his mercy, we should find no mercy with him, but he has not power equal to his malice. His pride draws down ruin upon him; for it is the preface to destruction, and he has not strength to ward it off."
II. The sorrows with which Moab is threatened (Isa 16:7): Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab. All the inhabitants shall bitterly lament the ruin of their country. They shall complain one to another: Every one shall howl in despair, and not one shall either see any cause or have any heart to encourage his friend. Observe,
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1. The causes of this sorrow. (1.) The destruction of their cities: For the foundations of Kir-haraseth shall you mourn. That great and strong city, which had held out against a mighty force (Kg2 3:25), should now be levelled with the ground, either burnt or broken down, and its foundations stricken, bruised and broken (so the word signifies); they shall howl when they see their splendid cities turned into ruinous heaps. (2.) The desolation of their country. Moab was famous for its fields and vineyards; but those shall all be laid waste by the invading army, Isa 16:8, Isa 16:10. See, [1.] What a fruitful pleasant country they had, as the garden of the Lord, Gen 13:10. It was planted with choice and noble vines, with principal plants, which reached even to Jazer, a city in the tribe of Gad. The luxuriant branches of their vines wandered, and wound themselves along the ranges on which they were spread, even through the wilderness of Moab. There were vineyards there. Nay, they were stretched out, and went even to the sea, the Dead Sea: the best grapes grew in their hedge-rows. [2.] How merry and pleasant they had been in it. Many a time they had shouted for their summer fruits, and for their harvest, as the country people sometimes do with us when they have cut down all their corn. They had had joy and gladness in their fields and vineyards, singing and shouting at the treading of their grapes. Nothing is said of their praising God for their abundance, and giving him the glory of it. If they had made it the matter of their thanksgiving, they might still have had it the food and fuel of their lusts; see therefore, [3.] How they should be stripped of all. "The fields shall languish, all the fruits of them being carried away or trodden down; they cannot now enrich their owners as they have done, and therefore they languish. The soldiers, called here the lords of the heathen, shall break down all the plants, though they were principal plants, the choicest that could be got. Now the shouting for the enjoyment of the summer fruits has fallen, and is turned into howling for the loss of them. The joy of harvest has ceased; there is no more singing, no more shouting, for the treading out of wine. They have not what they have had to rejoice in, nor have they a disposition to rejoice; the ruin of their country has marred their mirth." Note, First, God can easily change the note of those that are most addicted to mirth and pleasure, can soon turn their laughter into mourning and their joy into heaviness. Secondly, Joy in God is, upon this account, far better than the joy of harvest, that it is what we cannot be robbed of, Psa 4:6, Psa 4:7. Destroy the vines and the fig-trees, and you make all the mirth of a carnal heart to cease, Hos 2:11, Hos 2:12. But a gracious soul can rejoice in the Lord as the God of its salvation even when the fig-tree does not blossom and there is no fruit in the vine, Hab 3:17, Hab 3:18. In God therefore let us always rejoice with a holy triumph, and in other things let us always rejoice with a holy trembling, rejoice as though we rejoiced not.
2. The concurrence of the prophet with them in this sorrow: "I will with weeping bewail Jazer, and the vine of Sibmah, and look with a compassionate concern upon the desolations of such a pleasant country. I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon! and mingle them with thy tears;" nay (Isa 16:11), it appears to be an inward grief: My bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab; it should make such an impression upon him that he should feel an inward trembling, like that of the strings of a harp when it is played upon. It well becomes God's prophets to acquaint themselves with grief; the great prophet did so. The afflictions of the world, as well as those of the church, should be afflictions to us. See Isa 15:5.
III. In the close of the chapter we have, 1. The insufficiency of the gods of Moab, the false gods, to help them, Isa 16:12. "Moab shall be soon weary of the high place. He shall spend his spirits and strength in vain in praying to his idols; they cannot help him, and he shall be convinced that they cannot." It is seen that it is to no purpose to expect any relief from the high places on earth; it must come from above the hills. Men are generally so stupid that they will not believe, till they are made to see, the vanity of idols and of all creature-confidences, nor will come off from them till they are made weary of them. But, when he is weary of his high places, he will not go, as he should, to God's sanctuary, but to his sanctuary, to the temple of Chemosh, the principal idol of Moab (so it is generally understood); and he shall pray there to as little purpose, and as little to his own case and satisfaction, as he did in his high places; for, whatever honours idolaters give to their idols, they do not thereby make them at all the better able to help them. Whether they are the dii majorum gentium - gods of the higher order, or minorum - of the lower order, they are alike the creatures of men's fancy and the work of men's hands. Perhaps it may be meant of their coming to God's sanctuary. When they found they could have no succours from their own high places some of them would come to the temple of God at Jerusalem, to pray there, but in vain; he will justly send them back to the gods whom they have served, Jdg 10:14. 2. The sufficiency of the God of Israel, the only true God, to make good what he had spoken against them. (1.) The thing itself was long since determined (Isa 16:13): This is the word, this is the thing, that the Lord has spoken concerning Moab, since the time that he began to be so proud, and insolent, and abusive to God's people. The country was long ago doomed to ruin; this was enough to give an assurance of it that it is the word which the Lord has spoken; and, as he will never unsay what he has spoken, so all the power of hell and earth cannot gainsay it, or obstruct the execution of it. (2.) Now it was made known when it should be done. The time was before fixed in the counsel of God, but now it was revealed: The Lord has spoken that it shall be within three years, Isa 16:14. It is not for us to know, or covet to know, the times and the seasons, any further than God has thought fit to make them known, and so far we may and must take notice of them. See how God makes known his mind by degrees; the light of divine revelation shone more and more, and so does the light of divine grace in the heart. Observe, [1.] The sentence passed upon Moab: The glory of Moab shall be contemned, that is, it shall be contemptible, when all those things they have gloried in shall come to nothing. Such is the glory of this world, so fading and uncertain, admired awhile, but soon slighted. Let that therefore which will soon be contemptible in the eyes of others be always contemptible in our eyes in comparison with the far more exceeding weight of glory. It was the glory of Moab that their country was very populous and their forces were courageous; but where is her glory when all that great multitude is in a manner swept away, some by one judgment and some by another, and the little remnant that is left shall be very small and feeble, not able to bear up under their own griefs, much less to make head against their enemies' insults? Let not therefore the strong glory in their strength nor the many in their numbers. [2.] The time fixed for the execution of this sentence: Within three years, as the years of a hireling, that is, at the three years' end exactly, for a servant that is hired for a certain term keeps account to a day. Let Moab know that her ruin is very near, and prepare accordingly. Fair warning is given, and with it space to repent, which if they had improved, as Nineveh did, we have reason to think the judgments threatened would have been prevented.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain We have heard of the pride of Moab,.... These…
We have heard of the pride of Moab,.... These are the words of the prophet, either in the name of the Lord, or in the person of the Jews, or of other nations, who had heard very frequently, and from many persons, and from every quarter, of the excessive pride of this people, and had many instances of it related to them, which foretold their ruin; for pride comes before a fall:
(he is very proud): though his original was so base and infamous; and therefore there is little reason to hope or expect that he would take the advice above given him, or do the good offices for the Jews he was exhorted to; his pride was such, that he would despise the counsel of God, and would never stoop to do any favour for his people:
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even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath; of his contempt of the people of God, and his wrath against them:
but his lies shall not be so; or, "his strength" shall "not be so" (b); as his wrath: he shall not be able to do what in his pride and wrath he said he would do; all his wicked thoughts and devices, all his haughty and wrathful expressions, will signify nothing; they will all be of no effect, for God resisteth the proud, see Jer 48:30. It may be rendered, "not right", that of "his diviners" (c); their words and works, what they say or do; so the word is used in Isa 44:25.
(b) "non sicut, fortitudo ejus"; so some in Vatablus. (c) "non rectum divinorum ejus", Vitringa.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain We - The prophet having spoken to the Moabites,…
We - The prophet having spoken to the Moabites, now turns his speech to God's people. The sense is, I do not expect that my counsels will have any good effect upon Moab; they will still carry themselves insolently and outrageously. His lies - His vain imaginations, and false and crafty counsels, shall not take effect.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. We have heard of the pride of…
Verse 6. We have heard of the pride of Moab - "We have heard the pride of Moab"] For גא ge, read גאה geah; two MSS., one ancient, and Jer 48:29. Zephaniah, Zep 2:8-10, in his prophecy against Moab, the subject of which is the same with that of Jeremiah in his forty-eighth chapter, (See Clarke on Isa 15:1,) enlarges much on the pride of Moab, and their insolent behaviour towards the Jews: -
"I have heard the reproach of Moab;
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And the revilings of the sons of Ammon:
Who have reproached my people;
And have magnified themselves against their borders.
Therefore, as I live, saith JEHOVAH God of hosts,
the God of Israel:
Surely Moab shall be as Sodom,
And the sons of Ammon as Gomorrah:
A possession of nettles, and pits of salt,
And a desolation for ever.
The residue of my people shall spoil them,
And the remnant of my nation shall dispossess them:
This shall they have for their pride;
Because they have raised a reproach, and have magnified
themselves
Against the people of JEHOVAH God of hosts."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Isa 16:6-7. We have heard of the pride of…
Isa 16:6-7. We have heard of the pride of Moab, &c. — The prophet, having spoken to the Moabites, now turns his speech to God’s people. The sense is, I do not expect that my counsels will have any good effect upon Moab; they will still carry themselves insolently and outrageously. His lies shall not be so — His vain imaginations, and false and crafty counsels, shall not take effect. Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab — One Moabite shall howl or lament to or for another; for the foundations of Kir-hareseth — An ancient and eminent city of Moab, called Kir, Isa 15:1, and Kir-haresh, Isa 16:11, which was preserved when their other cities were ruined, and therefore the destruction of it was more lamented. Surely they are stricken — Or broken, overthrown or destroyed.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain We have heard of the pride of Moab -…
We have heard of the pride of Moab - We Jews; we have “all” heard of it; that is, we “know” that he is proud. The evident design of the prophet here is, to say that Moab was so proud, and was well known to be so haughty, that he would “reject” this counsel. He would neither send the usual tribute to the land of Judea Isa 16:1, thus acknowledging his dependence on them; nor would he give protection to the exiled Jews as they should wander through his land, and “thus” endeavor to conciliate their favor, and secure their friendship. As a consequence of this, the prophet proceeds to state that heavy judgments would come upon Moab as a nation.
He is very proud - The same thing is stated in the parallel place in Jer 48:29 (compare Isa 16:11). Moab was at ease; he was confident in his security; he feared nothing; he sought “no” means, therefore, of securing the friendship of the Jews.
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And his wrath - As the result of pride and haughtiness. Wrath or indignation is excited in a proud man when he is opposed, and when the interests of others are not made to give way to his.
But his lies shall not be so - The Hebrew phrase (לא־כן lo' kên) - ‘not so’ here seems to be used in the sense of ‘not right;’ ‘not firm, or established;’ that is, his vain boasting, his false pretensions, his “lies” shall not be confirmed, or established; or they shall be vain and impotent. In the parallel place in Jeremiah, it is, ‘But it shall not be so; his lies shall not effect it.’ The word rendered ‘his lies’ here (בדיו badāyv), means his boasting, or vain and confident speaking. In Isa 44:25, it is connected with the vain and confident responses of diviners and soothsayers. Here it means that Moab boasted of his strength and security, and did not feel his need of the friendship of the Jews; but that his security was false, and that it should not result according to his expectations. That Moab was proud, is also stated in Isa 25:8; and that he was disposed to give vent to his pride by reproaching the people of God, is apparent from Zec 2:8 :
I have heard the reproach of Moab,
And the revilings of the children of Ammon,
Whereby they have reproached my people,
And boasted themselves upon their border.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain We--Jews. We reject Moab's supplication for his pride.
We--Jews. We reject Moab's supplication for his pride.
lies--false boasts.
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not be so--rather, "not right"; shall prove vain (Isa 25:10; Jer 48:29-30; Zep 2:8). "It shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 6. Whether Moab or Israel, or both, were intended…
6. Whether Moab or Israel, or both, were intended in the promise, Moab will give no heed to it.
We — Probably Jews.
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Have heard of the pride of Moab — We all have heard of and know his “pride;” he is so very proud that he will reject both counsel and promise. See the parallel in Jer_48:20; Jer_48:29.
His lies… not… so — Shall not be confirmed or established. Impotent and vain shall they be.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 6. (Jer_48:29-30.) The prayer is rejected. The writer, speaking…
6. (Jer_48:29-30.) The prayer is rejected. The writer, speaking in the name of his countrymen, exposes the hollowness of Moab’s professions of allegiance and submission, as altogether opposed to the arrogant spirit for which the nation was notorious. On the pride of Moab cf. (besides Jer_48:29) ch. Isa_25:11; Zep_2:8. The national spirit has found an enduring monument in the inscription of the Moabite Stone.
but his lies shall not be so] Better: the unreality of his pratings (a contemptuous word, cf. ch. Isa_44:25). R.V. “his boastings are nought.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (6) We have heard of the pride of Moab…
(6) We have heard of the pride of Moab . . .—The hopes of the prophet are clouded by the remembrance of the characteristic sin of Moab. Of this the Moabite Inscription gives sufficient evidence. (See Notes on Isaiah 15) Isaiah’s language finds an echo in Jer_48:29.
But his lies shall not be so.—Better, “his lies, or boasts, are of no worth,” are “not so” as they seem to be.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain We have heard of the pride of Moab. A…
We have heard of the pride of Moab. A new section commences. Moab has not accepted the offer of mercy made in vers. 1-5, and is therefore denounced afresh. Her "pride" prevented her from renewing her subjection to the house of David, and therefore it is her pride which is specially condemned. His lies shall not be so; rather, of no worth are his boast-tags. The result will not correspond with them.
Vers. 6-11. Guilty arrogance and commendable compassion.
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I THE GUILT OF ARROGANCE. (Ver. 6.) Moab was proud, haughty, insolent, boastful; she lifted up herself in contemptuous defiance of Judah, of the city of God; and the prophet of Jehovah speaks of her arrogance as a very great offence in "the eyes of the supreme Disposer. There is nothing which is more emphatically, or more repeatedly condemned in Scripture than haughtiness of heart or spiritual pride; it is a very rank offence in the estimation of the Holy One. And well may it be so; for what can be more pitifully wrong, more utterly unbecoming, than that such puny, ignorant, dependent creatures as we are should assert ourselves against the God from whom we came and in whom we live? It should be remembered that there is not only the arrogance of an idolatrous defiance, like that of Moab, but also, as too often found amongst ourselves,
(1) the arrogance of unbelief the product of intellectual pride;
(2) the arrogance of impiety the daring determination of the soul to live without God, to delay all attention to his sovereign claims until a late hour of life;
(3) the arrogance of vice the reckless resolution to snatch forbidden and unholy pleasure, whatever Divine laws may be broken, whatever human hearts may be embittered and human lives despoiled, whatever penal consequences may be entailed.
II THE DEPTH OF ITS DISCOMFITURE.
1. This is seen in the sadness of the circumstances of Moab. Its inhabitants were stricken" (ver. 7) with a crushing blow (see Isaiah 5.; also ver. 8). Perhaps the culminating feature is seen in the shouting of the harvest home being exchanged for the shouting of the enemy"s soldiery taking possession of the spoil (ver. 9).
2. It is also seen in, the signs of prevailing misery. "Moab shall howl for Moab; every one shall howl (ver. 7). Each one for himself and all for one another; "the people to the city, the city to the provinces." The land should be full of weeping. "Pride cometh before a fall; that exalteth himself shall be abased." These are specimen-passages, representing a large number and a great variety of Divine declarations that arrogance will have a disastrous end. Of course, the special form which the sin takes will usually determine the particular punishment which will ensue. But there will surely come defeat, humiliation, distress; and of this distress the most intolerable element will probably be a lacerating remorse, in which the soul will smite itself because it yielded not, as it might have done, in the day of opportunity.
III THE COMPASSION OF THE RIGHTEOUS. (Vers. 9-11.) The prophet is so impressed with the deplorableness of Moab"s condition that his heart is powerfully touched on its behalf. He "bewails" for it; his heart "sounds like a harp" for it. Human indignation against sin does well to pass into pity for the sorrow and the ruin which sin entails. This is truly God-like, Christian. "God so loved," with the love of an infinite compassion, this sin-ruined world, "that he gave his only begotten Son." Jesus Christ, when lie beheld the doomed city of David, moved with a tender compassion for its coming woes, "wept over it." Let the holy grace of indignation have its due share in the Christian character; the soul that has it not is seriously wanting: but let it by no means exclude from the chambers of the heart that heavenly guest Christ-like compassion. Let us have a large and generous pity for the fallen, for the guilty, for those who are suffering the bitter pangs of self-reproach; and let sympathetic sorrow pass speedily into a wise and kind helpfulness, which will lead back from the "far country" of sin and shame to the Father"s home of righteousness and joy. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Moab’s Pride and Ruin.
Moab’s Pride and Ruin.
The Lord’s invitation was issued to Moab also, for He wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. The appeal, however, was unavailing, and therefore the prophecy of punishment is once more resumed.
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v. 6. We have heard of the pride of Moab, its conceit and foolish dependence upon its own strength, Jer 48:14-29; he is very proud; even of his haughtiness and his pride and his wrath, his senseless anger against Israel; but his lies shall not be so, his false boasts would soon be shown to be vain.
v. 7. Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, lamenting its own ruin; every one shall howl; for the foundations of Kir-hareseth, the ruins of its strongest fortress, shall ye mourn, for this citadel of brick would be razed, or its grape-cakes would no more be available; surely they are stricken, rather, the people of Moab, utterly stricken by this calamity, would lament.
v. 8. For the fields of Heshbon languish and the vine of Sibmah, their richest products being ruined by the invaders; the lords of the heathen have broken dawn the principal plants thereof, all the fine plants of the vine whose culture was so extensively carried on in this country; they, namely, the grape-vines, are come even unto Jazer, in the northern part of the country; they wandered through the wilderness, extending to the desert on the east; her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea, spreading out over the Dead Sea, to Engedi and Hebron. All these rich gifts of God’s goodness were appointed to destruction.
v. 9. Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah, the prophet’s tears joining in pity and in lament with those of the rich districts of Moab; I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh, weeping on account of the hardness of heart shown by the Moabites, which resulted in such a terrible punishment; for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen, rather, "for the vintage-shout (hedad) is fallen on thy fruits and on thy vintage," namely, the invader, whose shout of triumph accompanied his trampling the harvest of fruits and grapes into the ground.
v. 10. And gladness is taken away and joy out of the plentiful field, out of the garden-land; and in thy vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting, as when the harvest was gathered in times of peace; the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage-shouting to cease. The destruction wrought by the enemy has brought about the end of all happy harvesting; for what he does not destroy outright he plunders.
v. 11. Wherefore my bowels, his whole heart, shall sound like an harp for Moab, like the sounding-board of a stringed instrument, which vibrates with the depth of his emotion, and mine inward parts for Kir-haresh. But the most pitiful aspect of the entire situation is now given:
v. 12. And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, when its people have lamented themselves weary, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray, turning to the high place consecrated to his god Chemosh and tormenting himself to utter fatigue; but he shall not prevail, for the god in whom he foolishly trusts is nothing but a dead idol. Such is ever the result when men place their confidence in an idol of their own invention.
v. 13. This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning Moab since that time, that is, the prophecy recorded till now had been made some time before. The accurate time of its fulfilment is now added by the prophet:
v. 14. But now the Lord. hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling, very carefully measured, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, covered with shame, with all that great multitude, the whole mass of its inhabitants; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble, in no sense large, there would be but an insignificant remainder of the former mighty nation. The ruins of the places mentioned in this prophecy, whose names have been preserved even to this day, testify to both the inspiration of prophecy and the punitive justice of God.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
This continues the prophecy about the people of Moab. God describes events that will happen in the future as if it is happening in the present. (See: Isaiah 15:1-2)
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We have heard of Moab's pride, his arrogance, his boasting, and his anger
The words "Moab's" and "his" refer to the people of Moab. AT: "We have heard that the people of Moab are proud and arrogant, boastful and angry" (See: Metonymy)
We have heard
Possible meanings are that 1) Isaiah is speaking and "We" refers to him and the people of Judah, or 2) God is speaking and "We" refers to God.
But his boastings are empty words
"But what they say about themselves means nothing" or "But what they boast about is not true"
So Moab wails for Moab—they all wail
"Moab" represents the people of Moab. "So all the people of Moab will cry out loud over what has happened to their cities" (See: Metonymy)
for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth
"because there are no raisin cakes in Kir Hareseth"
raisin cakes
The Hebrew word used here means either "raisin cakes" or "men."
Kir Hareseth
"Kir Hareseth" is the name of a city. (See: How to Translate Names)
translationWords
Moab
proud
arrogant
boast
anger
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 16:6-11 The response to Moab’s request for asylum (16:1-4).
16:6-11 The response to Moab’s request for asylum (16:1-4).
16:6 The Moabites’ hardened state of pride and arrogance and rage and boasting prevented them from humbling themselves before God.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.