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Isaías 16

ARC · Chapter 16/66

1Enviae o cordeiro ao dominador da terra desde Sela, ao deserto, até ao monte da filha de Sião.

2D'outro modo succederá que serão as filhas de Moab junto aos váos de Arnon como o passaro vagueante, lançado do ninho.

3Toma conselho, faze juizo, põe a tua sombra no pino do meio-dia como a noite; esconde os desterrados, e não descubras os vagueantes.

4Habitem entre ti os meus desterrados, ó Moab: serve-lhes de refugio perante a face do destruidor; porque o oppressor tem fim; a destruição é desfeita, e os atropelladores já são consumidos sobre a terra

5Porque o throno se confirmará em benignidade, e sobre elle no tabernaculo de David em verdade se assentará um que julgue, e busque o juizo, e se apresse á justiça.

6Já ouvimos a soberba de Moab, que é soberbissimo: a sua altivez, e a sua soberba, e o seu furor; os seus ferrolhos não são tão seguros.

7Portanto Moab uivará por Moab; todos uivarão: gemereis pelos fundamentos de Kir-hareseth, pois já estão quebrados.

8Porque já os campos d'Hesbon enfraqueceram, como tambem a vide de Sibma; já os senhores das nações atropellaram as suas melhores plantas; vão chegando a Jazer; andam vagueando pelo deserto: os seus renovos se estenderam e já passaram além do mar

9Pelo que prantearei, com o pranto de Jazer, a vide de Sibma; regar-te-hei com as minhas lagrimas, ó Hesbon e Eleale; porque já o jubilo dos teus fructos de verão e da tua sega caiu.

10Assim que já se tirou o folguedo e a alegria do fertil campo, e já nas vinhas se não canta, nem jubilo algum se faz: já o pisador não pisará as uvas nos lagares; já fiz cessar o jubilo

11Pelo que minhas entranhas fazem ruido por Moab como harpa, e o meu interior por Kirheres.

12E será que, quando virem que já Moab está cançado nos altos, então entrará no seu sanctuario a orar, porém nada alcançará.

13Esta é a palavra que fallou o Senhor desde então contra Moab.

14Porém agora fallou o Senhor, dizendo: Dentro em tres annos (taes quaes os annos de jornaleiros), então se virá a envilecer a gloria de Moab, com toda a sua grande multidão; e o residuo será pouco, pequeno e impotente.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The lament over Moab continues: the prophet asks for refuge for Moabite fugitives in Judah and mourns the destruction of its vineyards and cities. At the end, a specific deadline is given: in three years Moab's glory will be almost entirely wiped out.

Explanation

The chapter directly continues the subject of the previous one, with Isaiah suggesting that Moab should seek protection under David's throne ('the tabernacle of David') instead of trusting in its own pride, cited as a defining trait of the Moabite people. The mention of the vineyards of Sibmah and Jazer shows that wine agriculture was the region's economic pride, and its destruction meant the total collapse of the local economy. The deadline of 'three years, as the years of a hired worker' (an exact count, not rounded) demonstrates the precision of Isaiah's prophecies, fulfilled when Assyria invaded the region. Today's application is that pride often keeps us from accepting help or refuge even when it is available.

Fun facts

  • The expression 'years of a hired worker' refers to the precise count a contracted laborer kept of his time of service — used here to emphasize that the prophetic deadline would be exact, not approximate.
  • The vineyards of Sibmah and Heshbon were famous in the region for producing high-quality wine, and archaeologists have found evidence of ancient wine presses in the area that today corresponds to Jordan.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Isaías 16:1Sending lambs was the standard way a vassal kingdom paid tribute to its overlord. Here Moab is advised to send this tribute to Judah in search of protection, a common political custom among small kingdoms of the time.
  2. Isaías 16:2Describes Moabite refugees crossing the fords of the Arnon River like startled birds pushed out of the nest — an image of a people in flight, disoriented, seeking shelter after losing their own home.
  3. Isaías 16:3A request directed at Moab: to give shelter and protection to the refugees, like shade at noonday, hiding the fugitives instead of handing them over to danger.
  4. Isaías 16:4Continues the request for refuge: that Judah’s outcasts may live in Moab as a temporary shelter until the oppressor, probably Assyria, is gone and the destruction passes — a plea for solidarity between neighboring peoples.
  5. Isaías 16:5In the middle of the lament over Moab, the text briefly shifts subject and projects hope onto David’s throne. The idea of a just king coming from that line appears as a contrast to the chaos in the rest of the chapter.
  6. Isaías 16:6Changes tone: Moab’s extreme pride is already well known, its arrogance and fury — but the text warns that this excessive confidence will not hold up against the destruction to come.
  7. Isaías 16:7As a result of this pride, all of Moab will weep for itself, mourning the already-destroyed foundations of the city of Kirhareseth — pride turns into mourning.
  8. Isaías 16:8Describes the agricultural devastation: the fields of Heshbon and the vines of Sibmah, famous in the region, are destroyed by invaders, and their branches, which once spread far away, now lie only in ruin.
  9. Isaías 16:9The narrator himself is moved by this loss, promising to weep along with Jazer over the vine of Sibmah, because the joy of the summer harvest has disappeared.
  10. Isaías 16:10Continues the mourning over the lost harvest: there is no more feasting or singing in the vineyards, no one treads the grapes in the winepresses — all of Moab’s agricultural joy has been silenced.
  11. Isaías 16:11An expression of deep, personal sorrow: the “bowels,” the seat of emotion in Hebrew language, sound like a harp with sadness over Moab.
  12. Isaías 16:12Describes the futility of Moab’s religion: when the exhausted people go to pray at their high places and their sanctuary, they will not get any real help — the Moabite gods cannot save them.
  13. Isaías 16:13A transition sentence: this was the word the LORD had already spoken about Moab before, preparing the more specific announcement in the next verse about a three-year deadline.
  14. Isaías 16:14Counting time in “the years of an hireling” meant using the precision of a labor contract, since a hired worker had a fixed term and would not stay a single extra day. The verse is saying that the timing of Moab’s fall is exact, not a vague forecast.

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