Isaiah 16:6

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

⁶We have heard of Moab's pride, his exceeding pride and conceit, his overflowing arrogance. But his boasting is empty.⁷Therefore let Moab wail; let them wail together for Moab. Mourn for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth, you who are utterly stricken. ⁸For the fields of Heshbon have withered, along with the grapevines of Sibmah. The rulers of the nations have trampled its choicest vines that reached as far as Jazer and spread toward the desert. Their shoots spread out and reached the sea. ⁹So I weep with Jazer for the vines of Sibmah; I drench Heshbon and Elealeh with my tears. Triumphant shouts have fallen silent over your summer fruit and your harvest. ¹⁰Joy and gladness are removed from the orchard; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards. No one tramples the grapes in the winepresses; I have put an end to the cheering. ¹¹Therefore my heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir-hareseth. ¹²When Moab appears on the high place, when he wearies himself and enters his sanctuary to pray, it will do him no good. ¹³This is the message that the LORD spoke earlier concerning Moab. ¹⁴And now the LORD says, "In three years, as a hired worker counts the years, Moab's splendor will become an object of contempt, with all her many people. And those who are left will be few and feeble."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

have: Isaiah 2:11, Jeremiah 48:26, Jeremiah 48:29, Jeremiah 48:30, Jeremiah 48:42, Amos 2:1, Obadiah 1:3, Obadiah 1:4, Zephaniah 2:9, Zephaniah 2:10, 1 Peter 5:5

but: Isaiah 28:15, Isaiah 28:18, Isaiah 44:25, Jeremiah 50:36

Reciprocal: 2 Chronicles 20:1 - the children of Moab Isaiah 25:11 - he shall bring Jeremiah 13:9 - the great Jeremiah 48:11 - emptied Jeremiah 48:14 - We Ezekiel 16:49 - pride Habakkuk 2:5 - a proud man James 4:6 - God

Cross-References

Genesis 16:8
"Hagar, servant of Sarai," He said, "where have you come from, and where are you going?" "I am running away from my mistress Sarai," she replied.

Genesis 16:9
So the Angel of the LORD told her, "Return to your mistress and submit to her authority."

Genesis 24:10
Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed with all manner of good things from his master in hand. And he set out for Nahor's hometown in Mesopotamia.

Exodus 2:15
When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, where he sat down beside a well.

Job 2:6
"Very well," said the LORD to Satan. "He is in your hands, but you must spare his life."

Proverbs 14:29
A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man promotes folly.

Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 27:8
Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who wanders from his home.

Proverbs 29:19
A servant cannot be corrected by words alone; though he understands, he will not respond.

Ecclesiastes 10:4
If the ruler's temper flares against you, do not abandon your post, for calmness lays great offenses to rest.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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:

[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 Jeremiah 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 Isaiah 44:25.

b לא כן בדיו "non sicut, fortitudo ejus"; so some in Vatablus. c לא-כן בדיו "non rectum divinorum ejus", Vitringa.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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 Isaiah 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 Jeremiah 48:29 (compare Isaiah 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.

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 Isaiah 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 Isaiah 25:8; and that he was disposed to give vent to his pride by reproaching the people of God, is apparent from Zechariah 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.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 16:6. 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 Jeremiah 48:29. Zephaniah, Zephaniah 2:8-10, in his prophecy against Moab, the subject of which is the same with that of Jeremiah in his forty-eighth chapter, (Isaiah 15:1,) enlarges much on the pride of Moab, and their insolent behaviour towards the Jews: -

"I have heard the reproach of Moab;

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."