Isaiah 16:1-4

16:1 Send rams as tribute to the ruler of the land, ¹ 

from Sela in the desert ² 

to the hill of Daughter Zion.

16:2 At the fords of the Arnon ³ 

the Moabite women are like a bird

that flies about when forced from its nest. ⁴ 

16:3 “Bring a plan, make a decision! ⁵ 

Provide some shade in the middle of the day! ⁶ 

Hide the fugitives! Do not betray ⁷  the one who tries to escape!

16:4 Please let the Moabite fugitives live ⁸  among you.

Hide them ⁹  from the destroyer!”

Certainly ¹⁰  the one who applies pressure will cease, ¹¹ 

the destroyer will come to an end,

those who trample will disappear ¹²  from the earth.

[16:1]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “Send [a plural imperatival form is used] a ram [to] the ruler of the land.” The term כַּר (kar, “ram”) should be emended to the plural כָּרִים (karim). The singular form in the text is probably the result of haplography; note that the next word begins with a mem (מ).

[16:1]  ² tn The Hebrew text has “toward [across?] the desert.”

[16:2]  ³ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[16:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “like a bird fleeing, thrust away [from] a nest, the daughters of Moab are [at] the fords of Arnon.”

[16:3]  ⁵ sn It is unclear who is being addressed in this verse. Perhaps the prophet, playing the role of a panic stricken Moabite refugee, requests the leaders of Judah (the imperatives are plural) to take pity on the fugitives.

[16:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “Make your shade like night in the midst of noonday.” “Shade” here symbolizes shelter, while the heat of noonday represents the intense suffering of the Moabites. By comparing the desired shade to night, the speaker visualizes a huge dark shadow cast by a large tree that would provide relief from the sun’s heat.

[16:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “disclose, uncover.”

[16:4]  ⁸ tn That is, “live as resident foreigners.”

[16:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “Be a hiding place for them.”

[16:4]  ¹⁰ tn The present translation understands כִּי (ki) as asseverative, but one could take it as explanatory (“for,” KJV, NASB) or temporal (“when,” NAB, NRSV). In the latter case, v. 4b would be logically connected to v. 5.

[16:4]  ¹¹ tn A perfect verbal form is used here and in the next two lines for rhetorical effect; the demise of the oppressor(s) is described as if it had already occurred.

[16:4]  ¹² tc The Hebrew text has, “they will be finished, the one who tramples, from the earth.” The plural verb form תַּמּוּ, (tammu, “disappear”) could be emended to agree with the singular subject רֹמֵס (romes, “the one who tramples”) or the participle can be emended to a plural (רֹמֵסִם, romesim) to agree with the verb. The translation assumes the latter. Haplography of mem (ם) seems likely; note that the word after רֹמֵס begins with a mem.