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

1Send lambs to the ruler of the land. Send lambs from Sela through the desert to my people at Mount Zion. Moab’s daughters are like fluttering birds, like scattered nestlings, at the shallow crossings of the Arnon River. 3Give us advice. Make a decision. At high noon make your shadow as dark as night. Hide the fugitives. Don’t betray the refugees. 4Let the fugitives from Moab stay with you a while. Be their refuge from the destroyer. Ruthless people will come to an end. The destruction will end. The one who tramples others will be gone.

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 13:14They’ll be like hunted gazelle and like sheep with no one to gather them. Everyone will return to his own people and flee to his own land.
• Proverbs 27:8Like a bird wandering from its nest, so is a husband wandering from his home.
• Numbers 21:13They moved from there and set up camp on the other side of the Arnon Valley in the desert that extends into Amorite territory. (The Arnon Valley is the border between Moab and the Amorites.)
• Deuteronomy 2:36From Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley and the city in that valley as far as Gilead, no city had walls that could keep us out. The Lord our God gave us all of them.
• Deuteronomy 3:8We took the land of the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, from the Arnon Valley to Mount Hermon.
• Joshua 13:16Their territory extended from Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley, including the city in the middle of the valley and the whole plateau near Medeba.
• Judges 11:18“Then they went through the desert, by-passing Edom and Moab. They camped east of Moab—east of the Arnon River. They did not cross the Arnon River because it was Moab’s border.

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