Discovery BoxIsaiah 16:7
Context16:7 So Moab wails over its demise 1 –
they all wail!
Completely devastated, they moan
about what has happened to the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth. 2
Isaiah 59:10
Context59:10 We grope along the wall like the blind,
we grope like those who cannot see; 3
we stumble at noontime as if it were evening.
Though others are strong, we are like dead men. 4
Isaiah 15:1
Context15:1 Here is a message about Moab:
Indeed, in a night it is devastated,
Ar of Moab is destroyed!
Indeed, in a night it is devastated,
Kir of Moab is destroyed!
Isaiah 25:4
Context25:4 For you are a protector for the poor,
a protector for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the rainstorm,
a shade from the heat.
Though the breath of tyrants 5 is like a winter rainstorm, 6
[16:7] 1 tn Heb “So Moab wails for Moab.”
[16:7] 2 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.”
[59:10] 3 tn Heb “like there are no eyes.”
[59:10] 4 tn Heb among the strong, like dead men.”
[25:4] 5 tn Or perhaps, “the violent”; NIV, NRSV “the ruthless.”
[25:4] 6 tc The Hebrew text has, “like a rainstorm of a wall,” which might be interpreted to mean, “like a rainstorm battering against a wall.” The translation assumes an emendation of קִיר (qir, “wall”) to קֹר (qor, “cold, winter”; cf. Gen 8:22). See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:457, n. 6, for discussion.
