English Standard Version
Isaiah 16:2
2Like fleeing birds, like a scattered nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.
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.
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)The women of Moab are left like homeless birds at the shallow crossings of the Arnon River.
Context of Isaiah 16:2
1Send the lamb to the ruler of the land, from Sela, by way of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Zion. Like fleeing birds, like a scattered nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon. 3"Give counsel; grant justice; make your shade like night at the height of noon; shelter the outcasts; do not reveal the fugitive; 4let the outcasts of Moab sojourn among you; be a shelter to them from the destroyer. When the oppressor is no more, and destruction has ceased, and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land,
Read all of Isaiah 16Isaiah 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 13:14And like a hunted gazelle, or like sheep with none to gather them, each will turn to his own people, and each will flee to his own land.
- Proverbs 27:8Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who strays from his home.
- Numbers 21:13From there they set out and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites, for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
- Deuteronomy 2:36From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. The Lord our God gave all into our hands.
- Deuteronomy 3:8So we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon
- Joshua 13:16So their territory was from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the tableland by Medeba;
- Judges 11:18"Then they journeyed through the wilderness and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and arrived on the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of 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
In the dictionaries
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries