22:6 The Elamites picked up the quiver,
and came with chariots and horsemen; 1
the men of Kir 2 prepared 3 the shield. 4
16:7 So Moab wails over its demise 5 –
they all wail!
Completely devastated, they moan
about what has happened to the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth. 6
1 tn Heb “[with] the chariots of men, horsemen.”
2 sn A distant region in the direction of Mesopotamia; see Amos 1:5; 9:7.
3 tn Heb “Kir uncovers” (so NAB, NIV).
4 sn The Elamites and men of Kir may here symbolize a fierce army from a distant land. If this oracle anticipates a Babylonian conquest of the city (see 39:5-7), then the Elamites and men of Kir are perhaps viewed here as mercenaries in the Babylonian army. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:410.
5 tn Heb “So Moab wails for Moab.”
6 tn The Hebrew text has, “for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth you [masculine plural] moan, surely destroyed.” The “raisin cakes” could have cultic significance (see Hos 3:1), but the next verse focuses on agricultural disaster, so here the raisin cakes are mentioned as an example of the fine foods that are no longer available (see 2 Sam 6:19; Song 2:5) because the vines have been destroyed by the invader (see v. 8). Some prefer to take אֲשִׁישֵׁי (’ashishe, “raisin cakes of”) as “men of” (see HALOT 95 s.v. *אָשִׁישׁ; cf. NIV). The verb form תֶהְגּוּ (tehgu, “you moan”) is probably the result of dittography (note that the preceding word ends in tav [ת]) and should be emended to הגו (a perfect, third plural form), “they moan.”