Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 16

Send ye the lamb - Lowth renders this, ‘I will send forth the son from the ruler of the land;’ meaning, as he supposes, that under the Assyrian invasion, even the young prince of Moab would be obliged to flee for his life through the desert, so that he might escape to Judea; and “that” thus God says that “He” would send him. The only authority for this, however, is that the Septuagint reads the word ‘send’ in the future tense (ἀποστελῶ apostelō) instead of the imperative, and that the Syriac reads בר bar instead of כר kar—‘a lamb.’ But surely this is too slight an authority for making an alteration in the Hebrew text. This is one of the many instances in which Lowth has ventured to suggest a change in the text of Isaiah without sufficient authority.

The Septuagint reads this: ‘I will send reptiles (ἐρπετὰ herpeta) upon the land. Is not the mountain of the daughter of Zion a desolate rock?’ The Chaldee renders it, ‘Bear you tribute to the Messiah, the anointed of Israel, who is powerful over you who were in the desert, to Mount Zion.’ And this, understanding by the Messiah the anointed king of Israel, is probably the true rendering.

The word ‘lamb’ (כר kar) denotes, properly, a pasture lamb, a fat lamb, and is usually applied to the lamb which was slain in sacrifice. Here it probably means a lamb, or “lambs” collectively, as a tribute, or acknowledgment of subjection to Judah.

Lambs were used in the daily sacrifice in the temple and in the other sacrifices of the Jews. Large numbers of them would, therefore, be needed, and it is not improbable that the “tribute” of the nations subject to them was often required to be paid in animals for burnt-offering. Perhaps there might have been this additional reason for that: that the sending of such animals would be a sort of incidental acknowledgment of the truth of the Jewish religion and an offering to the God of the Hebrews.

At all events, the word here seems to be one that designates “tribute;” and the counsel of the prophet is that they should send their “tribute” to the Jews.

To the ruler of the land - To the king of Judah. This is proved by the addition at the close of the verse, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion. It is evident from 2 Samuel 8:2 that David subdued the Moabites and laid them under tribute, so that the Moabites became David’s servants, and brought gifts.

That “lambs” were the specific kind of tribute which the Moabites were to render to the Jews as a token of their subjection is clearly proved in 2 Kings 3:4: And Mesha, king of Moab, was a sheep-master, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand rams, with the wool. This was in the time of Ahab. But the Moabites after his death revolted from them and rebelled (2 Kings 3:5).

It is probable that as this tribute was laid by “David” before the separation of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, and as the kings of Judah claimed to be the true successors of David and Solomon, they demanded that the tribute should be rendered to “them,” and not to the kings of Israel; and this is the claim which Isaiah enforces in the passage before us. The command of the prophet is to regain the lost favor of Israel by the payment of the tribute that was due.

The territory of Moab was in early times, and is still, rich in flocks of sheep. Seetzen made his journey with some inhabitants of Hebron and Jerusalem who had purchased sheep in that region. Lambs and sheep were often demanded in tribute. The Persians received fifty thousand sheep as a tribute annually from the Cappadocians, and one hundred thousand from the Medes (Strabo, ii. 362).

From Sela in the wilderness - The word ‘Sela’ (סלע sela') means “a rock;” and by it here there can be no doubt that the city of that name is intended, which was the capital of “Arabia Petrea.” The city was situated within the bounds of Arabia or Idumea but was probably at this time in the possession of the Moabites. It was, therefore, the remotest part of their territory, and the sense may be, ‘Send tribute even from the remotest part of your land;’ or it may be that the region around that city was particularly favorable to pasturage and for keeping flocks.

To this place they had fled with their flocks on the invasion from the north (see the note at Isaiah 15:7). Vitringa says that that desert around Petra was regarded as a vast common, on which the Moabites and Arabians promiscuously fed their flocks. The situation of the city of Sela, or Petra (πέτρα petra), meaning the same as Sela, a rock, was for a long time unknown, but it has lately been discovered.

It lies about a journey of a day and a half southeast of the southern extremity of the Dead Sea. It derived its name from the fact that it was situated in a vast hollow in a rocky mountain and consisted almost entirely of dwellings hewn out of the rock. It was the capital of the Edomites (2 Kings 14:7) but might have been at this time in the possession of the Moabites. Strabo describes it as the capital of the Nabatheans, and as situated in a vale well watered, but encompassed by insurmountable rocks (xvi. 4), at a distance of three or four days’ journey from Jericho.

Diodorus (19, 55) mentions it as a place of trade, with caves for dwellings, and strongly fortified by nature. Pliny, in the first century, says, ‘The Nabatheans inhabit the city called Petra, in a valley less than two (Roman) miles in amplitude, surrounded by inaccessible mountains, with a stream flowing through it’ (“Nat. Hist.” vi. 28).

Adrian, the successor of Trajan, granted important privileges to that city, which led the inhabitants to give his name to it upon coins. Several of these are still extant. In the fourth century, Petra is several times mentioned by Eusebius and Jerome, and in the fifth and sixth centuries appears as the metropolitan see of the Third Palestine (see the article “Petra” in Reland’s “Palestine”).

From that time, Petra disappeared from the pages of history, and the metropolitan see was transferred to Rabbah. In what way Petra was destroyed is unknown. Whether it was by Muslim conquerors or by the incursions of the hordes of the desert, it is impossible now to ascertain. All Arabian writers of that period are silent as to Petra.

The name became changed to that which it bears at present—Wady Musa—and it was not until the travels of Seetzen, in 1807, that it attracted the attention of the world. During his excursion from Hebron to the hill Madurah, his Arab guide described the place, exclaiming, ‘Ah! how I weep when I behold the ruins of Wady Musa.’ Seetzen did not visit it, but Burckhardt passed a short time there and described it.

Since his time it has been repeatedly visited (see Robinson’s “Bib. Researches,” vol. ii. pp. 573-580).

This city was formerly celebrated as a place of great commercial importance, due to its central position and its being so securely defended. Dr. Vincent (in his “Commerce of the Ancients,” vol. xi. p. 263, quoted in Laborde’s “Journey to Arabia Petrea,” p. 17) describes Petra as the capital of Edom or Sin, the Idumea or Arabia Petrea of the Greeks, the Nabatea considered both by geographers, historians, and poets as the source of all the precious commodities of the East.

The caravans in all ages, from Minea in the interior of Arabia, from Gerrha on the Persian Gulf, from Hadhramaut on the ocean, and some even from Saba in Yemen, appear to have pointed to Petra as a common center. From Petra, the trade seems to have branched out in every direction—to Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, through Arsinoe, Gaza, Tyre, Jerusalem, Damascus, and a variety of intermediate roads that all terminated on the Mediterranean. Strabo relates that the merchandise of India and Arabia was transported on camels from Leuke Kome to Petra, and from there to Rhinocolura and other places (xvi. 4, 18, 23, 24).

Under the Romans, the trade was still more prosperous. The country was rendered more accessible, and the passage of merchants facilitated by military ways and by the establishment of military posts to keep in check the predatory hordes of the neighboring deserts. One great road, of which traces still remain, went from Petra to Damascus; another went off from this road west of the Dead Sea to Jerusalem, Askelon, and other parts of the Mediterranean (Laborde, p. 213; Burckhardt, 374, 419).

At a period subsequent to the Christian era, there always reigned at Petra, according to Strabo, a king of the royal lineage, with whom a prince was associated in the government (Strabo, p. 779). The very situation of this city, once so celebrated, as has been remarked above, was long unknown.

Burckhardt, under the assumed name of Sheikh Ibrahim, in the year 1811, made an attempt to reach Petra under the pretext that he had made a vow to sacrifice a goat in honor of Aaron on the summit of Mount Hor near Petra. He was permitted to enter the city, to remain there a short time, and to “look” upon the wonders of that remarkable place, but was permitted to make no notes or drawings on the spot.

His object was supposed to be to obtain treasures, which the Arabs believe to have been deposited there in great abundance, as all who visit the ruins of ancient cities and towns in that region are regarded as having come there solely for that purpose. If assured that they have no such design, and if the Arabs are reminded that they have no means to remove them, it is replied, ‘that, although they may not remove them in their presence, yet when they return to their own land, they will have the power of “commanding” the treasures to be conveyed to them, and it will be done by magic’ (Burckhardt’s “Travels in Syria,” pp. 428, 429).

Burckhardt’s description of this city, as it is brief, may be here given “verbatim”: ‘Two long days’ journey northeast from Aqaba (a town at the extremity of the Elanitic branch of the Red Sea, near the site of the ancient Ezion-geber), is a brook called Wady Musa, and a valley of the same name. This place is very remarkable for its antiquities, and the remains of an ancient city, which I take to be Petra, the capital of Arabia Petrea, a place which, so far as I know, no European traveler has ever explored. In the red sandstone of which the vale consists, there are found more than two hundred and fifty sepulchres, which are entirely hewn out of the rock, generally with architectural ornaments in the Grecian style. There is found there a mausoleum in the form of a temple (obviously the same which Legh and Laborde call the temple of victory) on a colossal scale, which is likewise hewn out of the rock, with all its apartments, portico, peristylum, etc.

It is an extremely fine monument of Grecian architecture, and in a fine state of preservation. In the same place there are yet other mausoleums with obelisks, apparently in the Egyptian style; a whole amphitheater hewn out of the solid rock, and the remains of a palace and many temples.’

Mr. Bankes, in company with Mr. Legh, and Captains Irby and Mangles, have the merit of being the first persons who, as Europeans, succeeded to any extent in making researches in Petra. Captains Irby and Mangles spent two days among its temples, tombs, and ruins, and have furnished a description of what they saw. But the most full and satisfactory investigation which has been made of these ruins, was made by M. de Laborde, who visited the city in 1829, and was permitted to remain there eight days and to examine it at leisure. An account of his journey, with splendid plates, was published in Paris in 1830, and a translation in London in 1836.

To this interesting account the reader must be referred. It can only be remarked here that Petra, or Sela, was a city entirely encompassed with lofty rocks, except in a single place, where there was a deep ravine between the rocks which constituted the principal entrance.

On the east and west it was enclosed with lofty rocks, from three to five hundred feet in height; on the north and south the ascent was gradual from the city to the adjacent hills. The stream which watered Petra runs along in the bottom of the ravine, going through the city, and descending through a ravine to the west (see Robinson’s “Bib. Researches,” vol. ii. 514, 538). The city is wholly uninhabited, except when the wandering Arab makes use of an excavated tomb or palace in which to pass the night, or a caravan pauses there.

The rock which encompasses it is a soft freestone. The tombs, with which almost the entire city was encompassed, are cut in the solid rock and are adorned in the various modes of Grecian and Egyptian architecture.

The surface of the solid rock was first made smooth, and then a plan of the tomb or temple was drawn on the smoothed surface, and the workmen began at the top and cut the various pillars, entablatures, and capitals. The tomb was then excavated from the rock and was usually entered by a single door.

Burckhardt counted two hundred and fifty of these tombs, and Laborde has described minutely a large number of them. For a description of these splendid monuments, the reader must be referred to the work of Laborde, pp. 152-193, London Ed.

There can be no doubt that this is the Sela referred to here; and the discovery of this place is only one of the many instances in which the researches of oriental travelers contribute to throw light on the geography of the Scriptures or otherwise illustrate them. For a description of this city, see Stephen’s “Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia Petrea, and the Holy Land,” vol. ii. ch. iv. p. 65 and following; the work of Laborde referred to above; and Robinson’s “Bib. Researches,” vol. ii. pp. 573-580, 653-659.

To the mount of the daughter of Zion - To Mount Zion; that is, to Jerusalem (note, Isaiah 1:8). The meaning of this verse, therefore, is: ‘Pay the accustomed tribute to the Jews. Continue to seek their protection and acknowledge your subjection to them, and you shall be safe. They will yield you protection, and these threatened judgments will not come upon you. But refuse, or withhold this, and you will be overthrown.’

For it will be – It will happen in the time of the calamity that will come upon Moab.

As a wandering bird – . 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 Moab would be when the inhabitants were driven from their dwellings.

The reason 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 will 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 will be driven from their homes, and will wander about, and attempt to flee from the invasion that has come upon the land. Therefore, with the fear 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 attempt 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 valley 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 referred to here; indeed, permanent bridges among the ancients were almost unknown. Hence, they selected the places where the streams were most shallow and gentle as the usual places of crossing.

Take counsel – Hebrew, ‘Bring counsel;’ or cause it to come (הבאו hâbı̂'ı̂û — or as it is in the keri הביאי). The Vulgate renders this in the singular number; the keri also presents it this way, as do many manuscripts. J. D. Michaelis, Lowth, Eichhorn, Gesenius, and Noyes regard (Isaiah 16:3–5) as a supplicatory address of the fugitive Moabites to the Jews to take them under their protection, and as imploring a blessing on the Jewish people if they would do it; and (Isaiah 16:6) as the negative answer of the Jews, or as a refusal to protect them on account of their pride.

But most commentators regard it as addressed to the Moabites by the prophet, or by the Jews, calling upon the Moabites to afford such protection to the Jews who might be driven from their homes as to secure their favor, and confirm the alliance between them; and (Isaiah 16:6) as an intimation of the prophet, that the pride of Moab is such that there is no reason to suppose the advice will be followed. It makes no difference in the sense here, whether the verb ‘give counsel’ is in the singular or the plural number.

If singular, it may be understood as addressed to “Moab” itself; if plural, to the “inhabitants” of Moab. Vitringa supposes that this is an additional advice given to the Moabites by the prophet, or by a chorus of the Jews, to exercise the offices of kindness and humanity toward the Jews, that thus they might avoid the calamities which were impending. The “first” counsel was (Isaiah 16:1), to pay the proper tribute to the Jewish nation; “this” is (Isaiah 16:3–5) to show to those Jews who might be driven from their land kindness and protection, and thus preserve the friendship of the Jewish nation.

This is probably the correct interpretation, as if he had said: ‘Take counsel; seek advice in your circumstances. Do not be hasty, rash, impetuous, or unwise. Do not cast off the friendship of the Jews. Do not deal unkindly with those who may seek refuge in your land and thus provoke the nation to enmity. Instead, let your land be an asylum, and in this way conciliate and secure the friendship of the Jewish nation; then mercy will be reciprocated and shown to you by him who will occupy the throne of David’ (Isaiah 16:5).

The “design” is, to induce the Moabites to show kindness to the fugitive Jews who might seek refuge there, that thus, in turn, the Jews might show them kindness. But the prophet foresaw (Isaiah 16:6) that Moab was so proud that he would neither pay the accustomed tribute to the Jews, nor afford them protection; and, therefore, the judgment is threatened against them which is finally to overthrow them.

Execute judgment – That is, do that which is equitable and right; which you would desire to be done in like circumstances.

Make your shadow – A “shadow or shade,” is often in the Scriptures an emblem of protection from the burning heat of the sun, and consequently, of these burning, consuming judgments, which are represented by the intense heat of the sun (see note on Isaiah 4:6; compare to Isaiah 25:4, Isaiah 32:2, and Lamentations 4:20).

As the night – That is, a deep, dense shade, such as the night is, compared with the intense heat of noon. This idea was one that was very striking in the East. Nothing, to travelers crossing the burning deserts, could be more refreshing than the shade of a far-projecting rock, or of a grove, or of the night. Thus Isaiah counsels the Moabites to be to the Jews – to furnish protection to them which may be like the grateful shade furnished to the traveler by the rock in the desert. The figure used here is common in the East.

Thus it is said in praise of a nobleman: ‘Like the sun, he warmed in the cold; and when Sirius shone, then was he coolness and shade.’ In the “Sunna” it is said: ‘Seven classes of people will the Lord overshadow with his shade, when no shade will be like his; the upright Imam, the youth,’ etc.

Hide the outcasts – The outcasts of Judah – those of the Jews who may be driven away from their own homes, and who may seek protection in your land. Moab is often represented as a place of refuge to the outcast Hebrews (see the analysis of Isaiah 15:1-9).

Do not reveal the wanderer – Reveal not (תגלי t^egalı̂y), do not show them to their pursuer; that is, give them concealment and protection.

Let my outcasts - This may be understood as the language of Judea, or of God. ‘My outcasts’ may mean the exiles of Judea, or God may call them “His.” The sense is essentially the same. It denotes those who were fugitives, wanderers, exiles from the land of Judea, and who took refuge in the land of Moab; and God claims protection for them.

Dwell with you - Not dwell permanently, but sojourn (יגוּרוּ yāgûrû); let them remain with you as exiles, or let them find a refuge in your land.

Be you a shelter to them - A refuge, a hiding-place, a place of “secrecy” (סתר sêther).

From the face of the spoiler - This refers to the conqueror from whose desolating career they would seek refuge in the land of Moab. Who this “spoiler” would be is not known. It would seem to be some invader who was carrying desolation through the land of Judea.

It may be observed, however, that Lowth, by setting the vowel points aside, supposes that this should be read, ‘Let the outcasts of Moab sojourn with you, O Zion.’ Noyes concurs with this reading. But this interpretation seems to me not to suit the connection and the design, which is to persuade the Moabites to conciliate the favor of the Jews by affording a hiding-place to their fugitives.

For the extortioner is at an end - Literally, ‘There is an end, or there will be an end of the oppressor; or he will be lacking.’ The Chaldee renders it, ‘The enemy is at an end.’

The idea here seems to be that the oppressor in the land of Judea would not continue there always. The exiles of the Jews might soon return, and Judea would then be able to return kindness to Moab. Judea did not ask that her exiles should permanently abide in Moab, but asked only for a temporary refuge, with the certainty that she would soon be delivered from her oppressions and would then be able to furnish aid to Moab in return.

The oppressors are consumed - Or, ‘the treader down,’ he who has trodden down the nations shall soon be removed, and then, in turn, Judea will be able to repay the kindness which is now asked of Moab, in permitting her exiles to remain in their land.

And in mercy—In benignity; kindness; benevolence.

Shall the throne be established—The throne of the king of Judah. That is, he who will sit upon the throne of David will be disposed to repay the kindness now sought from Moab, and will be able to do it.

And he shall sit upon it—The king of Israel.

In truth—In faithfulness; that is, he will be true and faithful. His character will be such that he will do justice, and will furnish protection and aid to the Moabites, if they now receive the fugitives of Israel.

In the tabernacle of David—In the dwelling place; the palace of David; for so the word “tabernacle, or tent” (אהל 'ôhel') seems to be used here. It means “temple” in (Ezekiel 41:1). It denotes a habitation, or dwelling place, in general, in (Proverbs 14:11), (Psalms 52:7), and (Psalms 91:10).

The palace, court, or “citadel” of David was on Mount Zion. The sense here is that the king to whom Israel refers would be a worthy successor of David—just, true, faithful, benevolent, and disposed to repay the favors now sought from Moab.

Seeking judgment—Anxious to do right, and seeking an opportunity to recompense those who had shown any favor to the people of the Jews. Moab, therefore, if she would now afford protection to the Jews, might be certain of a recompense.

And hasting righteousness—Not tardy and slow in doing what should be done; anxious to do justice to all. It is implied here also that a king who would be so just, and so anxious to do “right” to all, would not only be ready to show kindness to the Moabites if they protected the fugitives of Judea, but would also be disposed to do “right” if they refused that protection—that is, would be disposed to inflict “punishment” on them.

Therefore, by both the hope of the protection and favor of the king of the Jews and by the dread of punishment, the prophet endeavors to persuade Moab to now secure their favor by granting protection to their exiles.