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.
• 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.
• 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 lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela, across the desert, to the mount of Daughter Zion. Like fluttering birds pushed from the nest, so are the women of Moab at the fords of the Arnon. 3“Make up your mind,” Moab says. “Render a decision. Make your shadow like night— at high noon. Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees. 4Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer.” The oppressor will come to an end, and destruction will cease; the aggressor will vanish from the land.

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 13:14Like a hunted gazelle, like sheep without a shepherd, they will all return to their own people, they will flee to their native land.
• Proverbs 27:8Like a bird that flees its nest is anyone who flees from home.
• Numbers 21:13They set out from there and camped alongside the Arnon, which is in the wilderness extending into Amorite territory. The Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
• Deuteronomy 2:36From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the gorge, even as far as Gilead, not one town was too strong for us. The Lord our God gave us all of them.
• Deuteronomy 3:8So at that time we took from these two kings of the Amorites the territory east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Gorge as far as Mount Hermon.
• Joshua 13:16The territory from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the middle of the gorge, and the whole plateau past Medeba
• Judges 11:18“Next they traveled through the wilderness, skirted the lands of Edom and Moab, passed along the eastern side of the country of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon. They did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was its 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