Isaiah 16:2

Isaiah 16:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.
• New International Version (NIV)Like fluttering birds pushed from the nest, so are the women of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Like fleeing birds, like a scattered nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For it shall be as a wandering bird thrown out of the nest; So shall be the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.

Context of Isaiah 16:2

1We must send sheep as gifts to the ruler of our land. Send them from Sela across the desert. Send them to Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Moab's women are standing at the shore of Arnon river. They want to go across. They are like birds that people have chased out of their nests. 3The Moabites say, ‘Tell us what we should do! Help us in our troubles! Give us some shade in the middle of the day! Hide the people who are escaping! Our enemies are chasing us. Do not let them find us. 4Let us escape from Moab and come to live among you. Our enemy wants to destroy us. Please keep us safe!’ Yes, one day, the cruel enemy will have gone. He will no longer attack the land and destroy it.

Isaiah 16:2 word by word

וְהָיָ֥ה כְעוֹף־נוֹדֵ֖ד קֵ֣ן מְשֻׁלָּ֑ח תִּֽהְיֶ֙ינָה֙ בְּנ֣וֹת מוֹאָ֔ב מַעְבָּרֹ֖ת לְאַרְנֽוֹן׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• as a wanderingנָדַדnâdad · to wanderH5074
• birdעוֹף‛ôph · birdH5775
• cast outשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: departH7971
• of the nestקֵןqên · nestH7064
• the daughtersבַּתbath · daughterH1323
• of Moabמוֹאָבmô'âb · MoabH4124
• shall be at the fordsמַעֲבָרָהma‛ăbâr ma‛ăbârâh · fordH4569
• of Arnonאַרְנוֹן'arnôn 'arnôn · ArnonH769

Cross-references for Isaiah 16:2

• Isaiah 13:14Everyone will try to run away and escape. They will run anywhere, like a deer that runs away from a hunter. They will be like sheep with no shepherd to lead them. They will return to their own countries and homes.
• Proverbs 27:8A person who travels away from his home is like a bird that flies away from its nest.
• Numbers 21:13Then they left there and they put up their tents on the north side of the River Arnon. The River Arnon is the border between the Moabites and the Amorites.
• Deuteronomy 2:36The Lord our God gave us all their towns. That included Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon valley, the city in the valley and other towns all the way to Gilead. No town was too strong for us to take.
• Deuteronomy 3:8So, at that time, we took power over all the land that the two Amorite kings, Og and Bashan, had ruled. Their land was east of the Jordan River, from the Arnon valley to Mount Hermon.
• Joshua 13:16He gave them the land from Aroer by the edge of the Arnon valley and the town in the middle of the valley.
• Judges 11:18Next, the Israelites went through the desert, around the edge of Edom and Moab. They arrived on the east side of Moab's land. They put up their tents on the other side of the Arnon river, which was the border of Moab's land. They did not go into Moab.

Commentaries on Isaiah 16:2

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2For 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…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-4Moab is making a request to Judah for asylum (protection in another country).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. cast out of ... nest--rather, "as a brood cast out" (in apposition with "a wandering bird," or rather, wandering birds), namely, a brood just fledged and expelled from the nest in which they were hatched [Horsley]. Compare Is 10:14; De 32:11. daughters of Moab--that is, the inhabitants of Moab. So 2Ki 19:21; Psa 48:11; Jr 46:11; La 4:22 [Maurer]. at the fords--trying to cross the boundary river of Moab, in order to escape out of the land. Ewald and…Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 16:2

• Arnon
• Birds

In the dictionaries

• Moab
• Moab; Moabites
• Moab, Moabite
• Ford
• Grind
• Outcast
• Treader
• Arnon
• Canon of the Old Testament
• Esther, the Rest of

Commentaries on Isaiah 16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings