About Isaiah

Isaiah proclaims both judgment and salvation, containing the most detailed messianic prophecies in the Old Testament.

Author: IsaiahWritten: c. 740-680 BCReading time: ~2 minVerses: 14
HolinessJudgmentSalvationMessiahServantRestoration

King James Version

Isaiah 16

14 verses with commentary

Moab's Devastation

Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion. Sela: or, Petra: Heb. A rock

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KJV Study Commentary

The plea to "send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land" represents Moab's tribute offering to Judah, seeking political protection and refuge. The Hebrew <em>kar</em> (lamb) likely refers to the required tribute—Moab's economy centered on sheep-rearing (2 Kings 3:4 mentions Moab's king rendering 100,000 lambs annually). "From Sela to the wilderness unto the mount of the daughter of Zion" traces the...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

XVI. (1) **Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land.**—In the days of Ahab, Mesha, the then king of Moab, had paid a tribute of sheep and lambs to the king of Israel (2Kings 3:4). On his revolt (as recorded in the *Moabite Inscription*) 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 ...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

3-9. Succinct but solemn warnings against vices to which kings are peculiarly tempted, as carnal pleasures and oppressive and unrighteous government are used to sustain sensual indulgence. **strength--**mental and bodily resources for health and comfort. **thy ways--**or course of life. **to that ... kings--**literally, "to the destroying of kings," avoid destructive pleasures (compare Pr 5:...
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Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Chapter 16 Moab is exhorted to yield obedience. (Is. 16:1-5) The pride and the judgments of Moab. (Is. 16:6-14) **Verses 1-5** God tells sinners what they may do to prevent ruin; so he does to Moab. Let them send the tribute they formerly engaged to pay to Judah. Take it as good advice. Break off thy sins by righteousness, it may lengthen thy quiet. And this may be applied to the great gospe...
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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. cast: or, a nest forsaken

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KJV Study Commentary

The simile of "a wandering bird cast out of the nest" vividly captures refugees' vulnerability and disorientation. Birds displaced from nests are exposed to predators, lacking shelter and security—precisely Moab's daughters' (women representing the vulnerable population) state at Arnon's fords (Moab's northern border with Israel). The Hebrew <em>nodad</em> (wandering) suggests aimless movement dri...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(2) **As a wandering bird cast out of the nest.**—Better as in the margin, *a forsaken nest. *The “daughters of Moab” either literally, the women driven from their homes, or figuratively (as in Isaiah 16:1) the whole population of its towns and villages, are represented as fluttering in terror, like birds whose nests are spoiled (comp. Isaiah 10:14), like the fledglings in the nest, on the fords o...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

3-9. Succinct but solemn warnings against vices to which kings are peculiarly tempted, as carnal pleasures and oppressive and unrighteous government are used to sustain sensual indulgence. **strength--**mental and bodily resources for health and comfort. **thy ways--**or course of life. **to that ... kings--**literally, "to the destroying of kings," avoid destructive pleasures (compare Pr 5:...
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Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Chapter 16 Moab is exhorted to yield obedience. (Is. 16:1-5) The pride and the judgments of Moab. (Is. 16:6-14) **Verses 1-5** God tells sinners what they may do to prevent ruin; so he does to Moab. Let them send the tribute they formerly engaged to pay to Judah. Take it as good advice. Break off thy sins by righteousness, it may lengthen thy quiet. And this may be applied to the great gospe...
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Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth. Take: Heb. Bring

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KJV Study Commentary

Moab pleads: "Execute judgment, make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts, bewray not him that wandereth." This appeal to Judah shows remarkable role reversal—the proud Moabites now desperately seeking shelter. The phrase "make thy shadow as the night" requests complete concealment, shade so dense it resembles nighttime darkness even at noon. Shadow imagery repres...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(3) **Make thy shadow as the night . . .**—The whole verse is addressed, as the context shows, not by *the *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” (Isaiah 32:2), black as night whilst the hot sun glares all around. Some critics, however, hold that the...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

3-9. Succinct but solemn warnings against vices to which kings are peculiarly tempted, as carnal pleasures and oppressive and unrighteous government are used to sustain sensual indulgence. **strength--**mental and bodily resources for health and comfort. **thy ways--**or course of life. **to that ... kings--**literally, "to the destroying of kings," avoid destructive pleasures (compare Pr 5:...
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Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Chapter 16 Moab is exhorted to yield obedience. (Is. 16:1-5) The pride and the judgments of Moab. (Is. 16:6-14) **Verses 1-5** God tells sinners what they may do to prevent ruin; so he does to Moab. Let them send the tribute they formerly engaged to pay to Judah. Take it as good advice. Break off thy sins by righteousness, it may lengthen thy quiet. And this may be applied to the great gospe...
Read full commentary →

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. extortioner: Heb. wringer the oppressors: Heb. the treaders down

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KJV Study Commentary

"Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler." The word "covert" (seter) means hiding place, secret shelter. Protection "from the face of the spoiler" acknowledges a common enemy threatening both nations. The prophecy continues: "the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed"—demonstrating God's multi-level justice...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(4) **Let mine outcasts dwell with thee . . .**—Better, *let the outcasts of Moab dwell with thee. *Judah, as being herself in safety, is once more appealed to to show mercy to the Moabite fugitives. The “oppressors” are, literally, *they that trample under foot.*

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

3-9. Succinct but solemn warnings against vices to which kings are peculiarly tempted, as carnal pleasures and oppressive and unrighteous government are used to sustain sensual indulgence. **strength--**mental and bodily resources for health and comfort. **thy ways--**or course of life. **to that ... kings--**literally, "to the destroying of kings," avoid destructive pleasures (compare Pr 5:...
Read full commentary →

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Chapter 16 Moab is exhorted to yield obedience. (Is. 16:1-5) The pride and the judgments of Moab. (Is. 16:6-14) **Verses 1-5** God tells sinners what they may do to prevent ruin; so he does to Moab. Let them send the tribute they formerly engaged to pay to Judah. Take it as good advice. Break off thy sins by righteousness, it may lengthen thy quiet. And this may be applied to the great gospe...
Read full commentary →

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. established: or, prepared

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KJV Study Commentary

"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." This Messianic prophecy interrupts the Moab oracle with hope. The Davidic throne will be established "in mercy" (chesed—covenant love) and "in truth" (emet—faithfulness). The ruler's reign manifests judging (righteous governance), seeki...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(5) **And in mercy shall the throne . . .**—Better, less definitely, *in mercy shall a throne be established, and one shall sit upon it in truth. *The prophet has in mind the ideal king of Isaiah 9:4-7; Isaiah 11:1-5 (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. Amos 9:11.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

3-9. Succinct but solemn warnings against vices to which kings are peculiarly tempted, as carnal pleasures and oppressive and unrighteous government are used to sustain sensual indulgence. **strength--**mental and bodily resources for health and comfort. **thy ways--**or course of life. **to that ... kings--**literally, "to the destroying of kings," avoid destructive pleasures (compare Pr 5:...
Read full commentary →

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Chapter 16 Moab is exhorted to yield obedience. (Is. 16:1-5) The pride and the judgments of Moab. (Is. 16:6-14) **Verses 1-5** God tells sinners what they may do to prevent ruin; so he does to Moab. Let them send the tribute they formerly engaged to pay to Judah. Take it as good advice. Break off thy sins by righteousness, it may lengthen thy quiet. And this may be applied to the great gospe...
Read full commentary →

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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KJV Study Commentary

"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." The fivefold emphasis on pride hammers home Moab's fundamental sin. Not just proud, but "very proud," characterized by haughtiness, arrogance, and wrathful insolence. "His lies shall not be so" indicates Moab's boasts are empty—claims to power, security, self...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(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 Jeremiah 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.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10-31. This exquisite picture of a truly lovely wife is conceived and drawn in accordance with the customs of Eastern nations, but its moral teachings suit all climes. In Hebrew the verses begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order (compare Introduction to Poetical Books). **Who ... woman--**The question implies that such are rare, though not entirely wanting (compare Pr 18:22; 19:14...
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Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

**Verses 6-14** Those who will not be counselled, cannot be helped. More souls are ruined by pride than by any other sin whatever. Also, the very proud are commonly very passionate. With lies many seek to gain the gratification of pride and passion, but they shall not compass proud and angry projects. Moab was famous for fields and vineyards; but they shall be laid waste by the invading army. God ...
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Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken. mourn: or, mutter

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KJV Study Commentary

"Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken." Universal lamentation replaces pride. Kir-hareseth (modern Kerak), a major fortress, represents Moab's strength. Mourning for "foundations" suggests complete overthrow—not surface damage but structural destruction. "Surely they are stricken" (ak-nekei) means utte...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(7) **Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab.**—Either the whole nation wailing for its downfall, or the survivors wailing for the fallen. **The foundations of Kir-hareseth.**—The name has been commonly explained as the “brick fortress,” (*city of pottery*)*. *Others, with a different derivation, make it “city of the sun.” Others, again (E. H. Palmer, in the *Athenæum *of August 19, 1871), connect it ...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10-31. This exquisite picture of a truly lovely wife is conceived and drawn in accordance with the customs of Eastern nations, but its moral teachings suit all climes. In Hebrew the verses begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order (compare Introduction to Poetical Books). **Who ... woman--**The question implies that such are rare, though not entirely wanting (compare Pr 18:22; 19:14...
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Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

**Verses 6-14** Those who will not be counselled, cannot be helped. More souls are ruined by pride than by any other sin whatever. Also, the very proud are commonly very passionate. With lies many seek to gain the gratification of pride and passion, but they shall not compass proud and angry projects. Moab was famous for fields and vineyards; but they shall be laid waste by the invading army. God ...
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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. stretched: or, plucked up

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KJV Study Commentary

Agricultural devastation extends to Heshbon and Sibmah's famous vineyards. Fields languish, choice vines are destroyed, vines that reached Jazer and wandered through wilderness are broken down. "Lords of the heathen" (foreign rulers) breaking vines indicates systematic destruction of economic infrastructure. Ancient warfare targeted agriculture to create famine and prevent recovery. Spiritually, t...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(8) **The fields of Heshbon languish . . .**—For Heshbon see Note on Isaiah 15:4. Sibmah appears as assigned to the tribe of Reuben, in Numbers 32:38, Joshua 13:19, and in Jeremiah 48:32 as famous for its vines. Jerome (*Comm. in Esai. *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...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10-31. This exquisite picture of a truly lovely wife is conceived and drawn in accordance with the customs of Eastern nations, but its moral teachings suit all climes. In Hebrew the verses begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order (compare Introduction to Poetical Books). **Who ... woman--**The question implies that such are rare, though not entirely wanting (compare Pr 18:22; 19:14...
Read full commentary →

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

**Verses 6-14** Those who will not be counselled, cannot be helped. More souls are ruined by pride than by any other sin whatever. Also, the very proud are commonly very passionate. With lies many seek to gain the gratification of pride and passion, but they shall not compass proud and angry projects. Moab was famous for fields and vineyards; but they shall be laid waste by the invading army. God ...
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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. the shouting: or, the alarm is fallen upon, etc

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KJV Study Commentary

"I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh." Despite Moab's enmity, Isaiah mourns their devastation—true prophetic compassion. "I will water thee with my tears" uses irrigation imagery ironically—tears water ruins instead of nourishing vines. Battle cries falling upon harvest indicate war destroying abundance. The prophet we...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(9) **Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer . . .**—The prophet, in his sympathy with the sufferings of Moab (see Isaiah 15:5), declares that he will weep with tears as genuine as those of Jazer itself over the desolation of its vineyards. **The shouting for thy summer fruits . . .**—Better, as in the margin, *on thy summer-fruits, and on thy harvest a shout is fallen, i.e., *not the s...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10-31. This exquisite picture of a truly lovely wife is conceived and drawn in accordance with the customs of Eastern nations, but its moral teachings suit all climes. In Hebrew the verses begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order (compare Introduction to Poetical Books). **Who ... woman--**The question implies that such are rare, though not entirely wanting (compare Pr 18:22; 19:14...
Read full commentary →

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

**Verses 6-14** Those who will not be counselled, cannot be helped. More souls are ruined by pride than by any other sin whatever. Also, the very proud are commonly very passionate. With lies many seek to gain the gratification of pride and passion, but they shall not compass proud and angry projects. Moab was famous for fields and vineyards; but they shall be laid waste by the invading army. God ...
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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.

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KJV Study Commentary

Joy and gladness are removed from fruitful fields; no singing in vineyards; no treaders tread out wine—all celebration ceases. The Hebrew simchah (joy) and giyel (gladness) indicate exuberant harvest celebrations. God declares "I have made their vintage shouting to cease"—divine agency removing joy. This illustrates all human joy ultimately derives from divine blessing; judgment removes that bless...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(10) **Out of the plentiful field.**—Literally, *out of the Carmel, *one of Isaiah’s favourite words, as in Isaiah 10:18; Isaiah 29:17. The word for “shouting” is the *hedad *of the previous verse. In the words, “I have made **. . .**” 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...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10-31. This exquisite picture of a truly lovely wife is conceived and drawn in accordance with the customs of Eastern nations, but its moral teachings suit all climes. In Hebrew the verses begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order (compare Introduction to Poetical Books). **Who ... woman--**The question implies that such are rare, though not entirely wanting (compare Pr 18:22; 19:14...
Read full commentary →

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

**Verses 6-14** Those who will not be counselled, cannot be helped. More souls are ruined by pride than by any other sin whatever. Also, the very proud are commonly very passionate. With lies many seek to gain the gratification of pride and passion, but they shall not compass proud and angry projects. Moab was famous for fields and vineyards; but they shall be laid waste by the invading army. God ...
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Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kirharesh.

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KJV Study Commentary

"My bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kirharesh." The prophet's internal organs "sound" with grief—visceral, physical sorrow. Harp imagery suggests plaintive mourning music. The Hebrew mei (bowels) represents emotion's seat in ancient physiology—deepest feelings. Isaiah's grief matches Moab's, demonstrating that proclaiming judgment and mourning its necessity aren...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(11) **My bowels shall sound like an harp . . .**—The context leaves it uncertain whether the speaker is the prophet as in Isaiah 16:9, or Jehovah as in Isaiah 16:10. The former seems, perhaps, the most natural. On the other hand, the very phrase is used of the compassion of Jehovah in Isaiah 63:15. The “bowels,” as in modern language the “heart,” were looked on as the seat of the emotions, and as...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10-31. This exquisite picture of a truly lovely wife is conceived and drawn in accordance with the customs of Eastern nations, but its moral teachings suit all climes. In Hebrew the verses begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order (compare Introduction to Poetical Books). **Who ... woman--**The question implies that such are rare, though not entirely wanting (compare Pr 18:22; 19:14...
Read full commentary →

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

**Verses 6-14** Those who will not be counselled, cannot be helped. More souls are ruined by pride than by any other sin whatever. Also, the very proud are commonly very passionate. With lies many seek to gain the gratification of pride and passion, but they shall not compass proud and angry projects. Moab was famous for fields and vineyards; but they shall be laid waste by the invading army. God ...
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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.

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KJV Study Commentary

When Moab appears at high places, exhausting themselves in prayer to false gods, it proves ineffective—"he shall not prevail." Desperate religious activity reveals idolatry's impotence. They go to sanctuary to pray but accomplish nothing. Religious zeal directed toward false gods is futile—sincerity doesn't validate falsehood. Reformed theology emphasizes only prayer directed to the true God throu...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(12) **When it is seen . . .**—Better thus: When Moab *appeareth *(*sc., *as a worshipper), *when he wearies himself on the high place *(the scene of Chemosh-worship), *though he enter into the sanctuary to pray, yet shall he not prevail. *The prophet draws a picture of the unavailing litanies which Moab, like the priests of Baal in 1Kings 18:26, shall offer to his gods.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10-31. This exquisite picture of a truly lovely wife is conceived and drawn in accordance with the customs of Eastern nations, but its moral teachings suit all climes. In Hebrew the verses begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order (compare Introduction to Poetical Books). **Who ... woman--**The question implies that such are rare, though not entirely wanting (compare Pr 18:22; 19:14...
Read full commentary →

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

**Verses 6-14** Those who will not be counselled, cannot be helped. More souls are ruined by pride than by any other sin whatever. Also, the very proud are commonly very passionate. With lies many seek to gain the gratification of pride and passion, but they shall not compass proud and angry projects. Moab was famous for fields and vineyards; but they shall be laid waste by the invading army. God ...
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This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning Moab since that time.

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KJV Study Commentary

"This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning Moab since that time." This distinguishes earlier prophecy from new revelation following. It establishes prophetic authority and timeline—previous oracles existed, now God adds specific timeframe. "The LORD hath spoken"—not human prediction but divine decree. This underscores prophecy's reliability and authority. Reformed theology upholds Scri...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(13) **Since that time.**—The phrase is used of an indefinite past, like our “of yore,” or “of old time.” It is variously translated by “hitherto” (2Samuel 15:34), “from the beginning” (Isaiah 48:3; Isaiah 48:5; Isaiah 48:7). 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.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10-31. This exquisite picture of a truly lovely wife is conceived and drawn in accordance with the customs of Eastern nations, but its moral teachings suit all climes. In Hebrew the verses begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order (compare Introduction to Poetical Books). **Who ... woman--**The question implies that such are rare, though not entirely wanting (compare Pr 18:22; 19:14...
Read full commentary →

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

**Verses 6-14** Those who will not be counselled, cannot be helped. More souls are ruined by pride than by any other sin whatever. Also, the very proud are commonly very passionate. With lies many seek to gain the gratification of pride and passion, but they shall not compass proud and angry projects. Moab was famous for fields and vineyards; but they shall be laid waste by the invading army. God ...
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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 . feeble: or, not many

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KJV Study Commentary

"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." God sets specific timeframe: three years precisely measured "as years of an hireling" (contracted laborer counting exactly). This specificity demonstrates sovereign control over history's details. Moab's "glory" will be "contemn...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(14) **But now the Lord hath spoken . . .**—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 Isaiah 21:16.** The glory...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10-31. This exquisite picture of a truly lovely wife is conceived and drawn in accordance with the customs of Eastern nations, but its moral teachings suit all climes. In Hebrew the verses begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order (compare Introduction to Poetical Books). **Who ... woman--**The question implies that such are rare, though not entirely wanting (compare Pr 18:22; 19:14...
Read full commentary →

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

**Verses 6-14** Those who will not be counselled, cannot be helped. More souls are ruined by pride than by any other sin whatever. Also, the very proud are commonly very passionate. With lies many seek to gain the gratification of pride and passion, but they shall not compass proud and angry projects. Moab was famous for fields and vineyards; but they shall be laid waste by the invading army. God ...
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