Jesaja 16:2

Svenska Bibel

Och såsom flyktande fåglar, lika skrämda fågelungar komma Moabs döttrar till Arnons vadställen.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

as: Isaiah 13:14, Proverbs 27:8

cast out of the nest: or, a nest forsaken

the fords: Numbers 21:13-15, Deuteronomy 2:36, Deuteronomy 3:8, Deuteronomy 3:12, Joshua 13:16, Judges 11:18

Reciprocal: Numbers 22:36 - the border Joshua 12:1 - from the Psalms 109:10 - General Jeremiah 48:9 - wings Jeremiah 48:12 - wanderers Jeremiah 48:20 - Arnon Micah 1:11 - Pass

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For it shall be,.... Or, "otherwise it shall be" z; if ye do not pay this tribute:

[that] as a wandering bird cast out of the nest: or, "as a wandering bird, the nest sent out": that is, as a bird that has forsaken its nest, and wanders about, and its young ones are turned out of the nest, scarcely fledged, and unable to shift for themselves, but flutter about here and there, trembling and frightened, see Proverbs 26:2:

[so] the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon: turned out of their houses, wandering up and down, not knowing where to go; unable to help themselves, and in the utmost fright and consternation, fleeing to the very borders of their land, as the fords of Arnon were, see Numbers 21:13.

z והיה "alioqui", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For it shall be - It shall happen in the time of the calamity that shall come upon Moab.

As a wandering bird - (See Isaiah 10:14.) The same idea is presented in Proverbs 27:8 :

As a bird that wanders from her nest,

So is a man that wandereth from his place.

The idea here is that of a bird driven away from her nest, where the nest is destroyed, and the young fly about without any home or place of rest. So would Moab be when the inhabitants were driven from their dwellings. The reason why this is introduced seems to be, to enforce what the prophet had said in the previous verse - the duty of paying the usual tribute to the Jews, and seeking their protection. The time is coming, says the prophet, when the Moabites shall be driven from their homes, and when they will need that protection which they can obtain by paying the usual tribute to the Jews.

The daughters of Moab - The females shall be driven from their homes, and shall wander about, and endeavor to flee from the invasion which has come upon the land. By the apprehension, therefore, that their wives and daughters would be exposed to this danger, the prophet calls upon the Moabites to secure the protection of the king of Judah.

At the fords of Arnon - Arnon was the northern boundary of the land of Moab. They would endeavor to cross that river, and thus flee from the land, and escape the desolations that were coming upon it. The river Arnon, now called Mujeb, flows in a deep, frightfully wild, and rocky vale of the same name Numbers 21:15; Deuteronomy 2:24; Deuteronomy 3:9, in a narrow bed, and forms at this time the boundary between the provinces of Belka and Karrak (Seetzen). Bridges were not common in the times here referred to; and, indeed, permanent bridges among the ancients were things almost unknown. Hence, they selected the places where the streams were most shallow and gentle, as the usual places of crossing.