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This chapter continues and concludes the burden of Moab. In it, I. The prophet gives good counsel to the Moabites, to reform what was amiss among them, and particularly to be kind to God's people, as the likeliest way to prevent the judgments before threatened (Isa 16:1-5). II. Fearing they would not take this counsel (they were so proud), he goes on to foretel the lamentable devastation of their country, and the confusion they should be brought to, and this within three years (Isa 16:6-14).

God has made it to appear that he delights not in the ruin of sinners by telling them what they may do to prevent the ruin; so he does here to Moab. I. He advises them to be just to the house of David, and to pay the tribute they had formerly covenanted to pay to the kings of his line (Isa 16:1): Send you the lamb to the ruler of the land. David made the Moabites tributaries to him, Sa2 8:2. They became his servants, and brought gifts. Afterwards they paid their tribute to the kings of Israel (Kg2 3:4), and paid it in lambs. Now the prophet requires them to pay it to Hezekiah. Let it be raised and levied from all parts of the country, from Selah, a frontier city of Moab on the one side, to the wilderness, a boundary of the kingdom on the other side: and let it be sent, where it should be sent, to the mount of the daughter of Zion, the city of David. Some take it as an advice to send a lamb for a sacrifice to God, the ruler of the earth (so it may be read), the Lord of the whole earth, ruler of all lands, the land of Moab as well as the land of Israel, "Send it to the temple built on Mount Zion." And some think it is in this sense spoken ironically, upbraiding the Moabites with their folly in delaying to repent and make their peace with God. "Now you would be glad to send a lamb to Mount Zion, to make the God of Israel your friend; but it is too late: the decree has gone forth, the consumption is determined, and the daughters of Moab shall be cast out as a wandering bird," Isa 16:2. I rather take it as good advice seriously given, like that of Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar when he was reading him his doom, Dan 4:27. Break off thy sins by righteousness, if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity. And it is applicable to the great gospel duty of submission to Christ, as the ruler of the land, and our ruler: "Send him the lamb, the best you have, yourselves a living sacrifice. When you come to God, the great ruler, come in the name of the Lamb, the Lamb of God. For else it shall be" (so we may read it) "that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be. If you will not pay your quit-rent, your just tribute to the king of Judah, you shall be turned out of your houses: The daughters of Moab (the country villages, or the women of your country) shall flutter about the fords of Arnon, attempting that way to make their escape to some other land, like a wandering bird thrown out of the nest half-fledged." Those that will not submit to Christ, nor be gathered under the shadow of his wings, shall be as a bird that wanders from her nest, that shall either be snatched up by the next bird of prey or shall wander endlessly in continual frights. Those that will not yield to the fear of God shall be made to yield to the fear of every thing else. II. He advises them to be kind to the seed of Israel (Isa 16:3): "Take counsel, call a convention, and consult among yourselves what is fit to be done in the present critical juncture; and you will find it your best way to execute judgment, to reverse all the unrighteous decrees you have made, by which you have put hardships upon the people of God, and, in token of your repentance for them, study now how to oblige them, and this shall be accepted of God more than all burnt-offering and sacrifice." 1. The prophet foresaw some storm coming upon the people of God, perhaps the good people of the ten tribes, or of the two and a half on the other side Jordan, whose country joined to that of Moab, and who, by the merciful providence of God, escaped the fury of the Assyrian army, had their lives given them for a prey, and were reserved for better times, but were put to the utmost extremity to shift for their own safety. The danger and trouble they were in were like the scorching heat at noon; the face of the spoiler was very fierce upon them and the oppressor and extortioner were ready to swallow them up after stripping them of what they had. 2. He bespeaks a shelter for them in the land of Moab, when their own land was made too hot for them. This judgment they must execute; thus wisely must they do for themselves, and thus kindly must they deal with the people of God. If they would themselves continue in their habitations, let them now open their doors to the distressed dispersed members of God's church, and be to them like a cool shade to those that bear the burden and heat of the day. Let them not discover those that absconded among them, nor deliver them up to the pursuers that made search for them: "Betray not him that wandereth, nor deliver him up" (as the Edomites did, Oba 1:13, Oba 1:14), "but hide the outcasts." This was that good work by which Rahab's faith was justified, and proved to be sincere, Heb 11:31. "Nay, do not only hide them for a time, but, if there be occasion, let them be naturalized: Let my outcasts dwell with thee, Moab (Isa 16:4); find a lodging for them and be thou a covert to them. Let them be taken under the protection of the government, though they are but poor, and likely to be a charge to thee." Note, (1.) It is often the lot even of those who are Israelites indeed to be outcasts, driven out of house and harbour by persecution or war, Heb 11:37. (2.) God owns them when men reject and disown them. They are outcasts, but they are my outcasts. The Lord knows those that are his wherever he finds them, even where no one else knows them. (3.) God will find a rest and shelter for his outcasts; for, though they are persecuted, they are not forsaken. He will himself be their dwelling-place if they have no other, and in him they shall be at home. (4.) God can, when he pleases, raise up friends for his people even among Moabites, when they can find none in all the land of Israel that can and dare shelter them. The earth often helps the woman, Rev 12:16. (5.) Those that expect to find favour when they are in trouble themselves must show favour to those that are in trouble; and what service is done to God's outcasts shall no doubt be recompensed one way or other. 3. He assures them of the mercy God had in store for his people. (1.) That they should not long need their kindness, or be troublesome to them: For the extortioner is almost at an end already, and the spoiler ceases. God's people shall not be long outcasts; they shall have tribulation ten days (Rev 2:10), and that is all. The spoiler would never cease spoiling if he might have his will; but God has him in a chain. Hitherto he shall go, but no further. (2.) That they should, ere long, be in a capacity to return their kindness (Isa 16:5): "Though the throne of the ten tribes be sunk and overturned, yet the throne of David shall be established in mercy, by the mercy they receive from God and the mercy they show to others; and by the same methods may your throne be established if you please." It would engage great men to be kind to the people of God if they would but observe, as they easily might, how often such conduct brings the blessing of God upon kingdoms and families. "Make Hezekiah your friend, for you will find it your interest to do so upon the account both of the grace of God in him and the presence of God with him. He shall sit upon the throne in truth, and then he does indeed sit in honour and sit firmly. Then he shall sit judging, and will then be a protector to those that have been a shelter to the people of God." And see in him the character of a good magistrate. [1.] He shall seek judgment; that is, he shall seek occasions of doing right to those that are wronged, and shall punish the injurious even before they are complained of: or he shall diligently search into every cause brought before him, that he may find where the right lies. [2.] He shall hasten righteousness, and not delay to do justice, nor keep those long waiting that make application to him for the redress of their grievances. Though he seeks judgment, and deliberates upon it, yet he does not, under pretence of deliberation, stay the progress of the streams of justice. Let the Moabites take example by this, and then assure themselves that their state shall be established.

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 16 This chapter is a continuation of the prophecy against Moab; in which the prophet gives good advice, but in case of a haughty neglect of it, which he foresaw, threatens with ruin, and fixes a time for it. He advises the Moabites to pay their tribute to the king of Judah, or otherwise they should be turned out of their land, as a bird out of its nest, Isa 16:1 to protect, and not betray the people of the Jews that should flee to them, because of the Assyrian army, Isa 16:3 and for this end gives a great character of the king of Judah, and assures them of the stability of his kingdom, Isa 16:5 but for their pride, wrath, and lying, they are threatened with destruction, and are represented as howling under it, Isa 16:6 because of the spoil of their cities, vineyards, and fields, so that they have no harvest, nor vintage, nor gathering of summer fruits, or joy on these accounts, Isa 16:8 for which even the prophet expresses a concern, Isa 16:11 and after having observed the application of the Moabites to their gods without success, Isa 16:12 the chapter is closed with an assurance of the certain ruin of Moab, and of the time when it should be, Isa 16:13.

Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land,.... Or tribute, as the Targum rightly interprets it. The Moabites, being conquered by David, paid tribute to him, Sa2 8:2 and when the kingdom was divided in Rehoboam's time, the tribute was paid to the kings of Israel, which continued till the times of Ahab, when the Moabites rebelled, and refused to pay it, Kg2 3:4 and this tribute, as appears from the passage now referred to, was paid in lambs and rams; which now they are bid to pay to the king of Judah, David's lawful heir and successor in his kingdom; who is supposed to be meant by the ruler of the land, that is, of the land of Judah, whose reigning king at this time was Hezekiah; but rather by "the ruler of the land" is meant the king of Moab, for the words may be rendered, more agreeably to the language and the accents, "send ye the lamb" (or lambs, the singular for the plural), "O ruler of the land" (t); though others, "send ye the lamb of the ruler of the land" (u); that is either, O king of Moab send the tribute that is due; or ye people of the land send the tribute which your ruler owes to the king of Judah; so Jarchi understands it of the king of Moab: some indeed expound the ruler of the land of God himself, who is the Governor of the world; and take the sense to be, that the Moabites are bid to send a lamb, or lambs, for sacrifice, to the God of the whole earth, in order to appease him, and atone for their sins; which is said either seriously, as some think, this being to answer a good purpose, or ironically, as other's, it being now too late; but the sense given is the best: in the Talmud (w) it is applied to Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of the land, who came to the mount of the daughter of Zion, by the way of rocks and mountains. The Targum applies it to the Messiah, paraphrasing it thus, "they shall be bringing tributes to the Christ of Israel, who is strong over them.'' Jerom interprets it of Christ, the Lamb of God, the ruler of the world, or who was to be sacrificed to the ruler of the world; who descended from Ruth, the Moabitess, who he supposes is meant by the rock of the wilderness, as he renders the next clause: from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount the daughter of Zion: according to Kimchi, and others, Sela was the chief city of the kingdom of Moab. The word signifies a rock; it is the same with Petra (x), the chief city of Arabia, and from whence Arabia Petraea had its name. Some take it to be Selah, the chief city of Edom, afterwards called Joktheel, Kg2 14:7 it was a frontier city, and lay upon the borders of Moab and Edom to the south; as the wilderness of Jordan was on the border of Moab to the north, and is thought to be here meant; or, according to Vitringa, the plains of Jericho, the same with the wilderness of Judea, where John the Baptist came preaching; which lay in the way from Sela or Petra, the chief city in Moab, unto Jerusalem. Strabo (y) says of Petra, the metropolis of the Nabataeans, that it lies in a plain, surrounded with rocks and precipices, and within it fountains and gardens, and without it a large country, for the most part desert, especially towards Judea, and from hence it is a journey of three or four days to Jericho; and so the sense is, send the lambs, or the tribute, from Sela or Petra, the chief city of Moab; send them, I say, to the wilderness of Judea, or by the way of that, even to Mount Zion or Jerusalem, the metropolis of Judea, and the seat of the king of it. (t) "mittite agnum, dominator terrae", Montanus; so Luther; which is approved by Reinbeck de Accent. Heb. p. 395. (u) "Mittite agnum dominatoris terrae", Pagninus, Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. (w) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 96. 2. & Gloss. in ib. (x) Joseph. Antiqu. l. 4. c. 4. sect. 7. Ptolem. Geogr. l. 5. c. 17. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 28. (y) Geograph. l. 16. p. 536. Ed. Casaub.

(Chapter 16, Verse 1) Send forth the Lamb, the ruler of the earth, from the desert rock to the mountain of the daughter of Zion. This, we interpret, is not history, but prophecy. However, every prophecy is wrapped in riddles and, with interrupted sentences, while speaking of one thing, goes on to another: lest if it preserves the order of Scripture, it be not a prophecy, but a narrative. And the meaning is: O Moab, over whom the lion will rage, and from whom not even remnants will be able to be saved, take solace in this: The Immaculate Lamb will come forth from you, who will take away the sins of the world, who will rule over the whole earth. From the rock of the desert, that is, from Ruth, who, widowed by the death of her husband, bore Obed and from Obed, Jesse, and from Jesse, David, and from David, Christ. But by the mountain of the daughters of Zion, we shall interpret either the city itself, Jerusalem, or according to the sacred understanding, the Church, which is established on the summit of virtues.

(Chapter XVI—Verse 1) Send forth the lamb, the ruler of the earth, from the rock of the desert, to the mountain of the daughter of Zion. And it shall be like a flying bird, and the chicks flying from the nest. So shall the daughters of Moab be in the crossing of the Arnon. Plan a counsel, gather a counsel, place your shadow like the night at midday. Hide the fugitives, and do not betray the wanderers. My outcasts shall dwell with you, Moab shall be their shelter from the face of the devastator. For the dust is ended, the wretched one is consumed, the one who trampled the earth has ceased. And a throne will be established in mercy: and he will sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David: judging and seeking judgment; and quickly rendering what is just. This is what we have interpreted from the Hebrew: send forth the lamb, the ruler of the earth, it can be read as follows: send forth the lamb to the ruler of the earth, in which case the lamb himself is not the ruler of the earth, as we have interpreted according to the history, but the lamb is to be sacrificed to the ruler of the earth. Therefore, this lamb, who either is the ruler of the earth or is sacrificed to the ruler of the earth, is from the nation of the Moabites, and from those who fled from Moab, and deserve to have the Prince be a lion. But Ruth, from whom Christ is born (Matt. 1:5), signifies the rock of the desert, because according to God's command, the Moabites and Ammonites do not enter the Church of God until the tenth generation, and not forever (Deut. 1). But whoever flees from the desert of Moab, so that we may return from prophecy to anagoge, and having disregarded falsehood, stands on the mountain of truth, will be like a flying bird; and like young birds flying from the nest, lest they be devoured by Moabite serpents. Thus, he says, all the daughters, that is, the Moabite souls, will be in the crossing of the Arnon, which is interpreted as their enlightenment: when they have abandoned errors and transcended to the knowledge of truth. Therefore, it is said to Moab itself, or to one who has escaped from Moab: Do nothing without counsel (Prov. XIII): Do not be carried about by every wind of doctrine, but follow him who is the great counselor Angel (Ephes. IV): And gather a council, so that out of the wanderers and strays you may make the Church of God. But your shadow and tent, in which you used to believe you found rest, which was of the night and darkness, put in the midday, that is, in the brightest light, in which you should hide those who flee from error, and not reveal the wanderers anymore. O Moab, my fugitive ones, who abandoned me, who had left the Church, and rejecting the teaching of the Holy Spirit, followed their own understanding; or those who had dwelt among you, when the devouring devil began to persecute them, you offer them refuge turned toward the fear of the Lord with your whole heart: and know that after the coming of the Lamb, who arose from the rock of the desert, the ruler of the whole earth; and He came to the mountain of the daughter of Zion, all the power of the devil, which is compared to dust, will come to an end. And the wretched one who made many wretched has been consumed, and the one who trampled on all the earth has fallen, those who became worldly. But with him consumed and reduced to nothingness, and completely depleted, a throne and eternal kingdom will be prepared. First in mercy (for we are all under sin: and we need the grace of God); and he will sit in the tabernacle of David, which had fallen and was raised up, who will judge after mercy, and seek justice, and render to each according to their works. Let us consider at the beginning either the burden or the discourse of Moab, in which it is said: 'In the night Ar Moab is laid waste' and so on until this place; and we will see how, by gradual steps and in order of repentance, the Moabites become Israelites: and they will flee like birds and fly like fledglings from the nest, to go beyond the Arnon and dwell on the mountain of the daughter of Zion: and with every power of the devil or Antichrist crushed, Christ will reign in them, and may He establish His throne for those who are saved by mercy and justice. For the Father does not judge anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son (John 5).

Here he describes the condition of their punishment, and he sets out two conditions: first, equity on the part of the one who judges; second, deception on the part of the one who suffers the punishment: and it shall come to pass, when it is seen (Isa 16:12). Now equity of punishment is disposed from the preceding fault, and therefore it orders the fault. And he sets out a double fault: first, against the contempt of the benefit they were promised; second, against the contempt of wholesome counsel they were given: take counsel (Isa 16:3). Concerning the first, he does two things. In the first, he promises the benefit of Christ to be born from their people, that they might receive some comfort. For Ruth the Moabitess married Booz, by whom she conceived Obed the father of Jesse, the father of David, from whom Christ was born, as it is said in Ruth 4:17. And therefore, he says: O Lord, the Father, the lamb, Christ (John 1:29); from the rock of the desert, from Ruth the gentile, whose people were of stone, worshipping gods of stone, and because of this, deserted by God; to the mount, Jerusalem, in which Christ was killed and rose again, or the Church; the ruler: to him that sits on the throne (Rev 4:9). Others wish, though it is tortured, to explain this literally of the tribute of lambs, which the king of Moab took from the king of Israel, as it says in 2 Kings 3:4, which the prophet foretells will be restored to the king of Jerusalem: the ruler, as a sign of its lord; from Petra of the desert, the place in which sheep are raised. Note that Christ is called a lamb first, because of the purity of his life: it shall be a lamb without blemish, a male, of one year (Exod 12:5); second, because of the meekness of his death, below: as a lamb before his shearer, and he shall not open his mouth (Isa 53:7); third, because of his expiation of sin: behold the Lamb of God. Behold him who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Note that the Blessed Virgin is called a rock first, because of the firmness of grace: as everlasting foundations upon a solid rock (Sir 26:24); second, because of the coolness of continence, below: as the shadow of a rock that stands out in a desert land (Isa 32:2); third, because of the fruit of her womb: the rock poured me out rivers of oil (Job 29:6). And note that this rock alone was of the desert, because she was before all others, as to the first: you are all fair, O my love (Song 4:7); second, because she was first, as to the second: we will run to the odor of your ointments (Song 1:3); she was a virgin, as to the third, above: behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son (Isa 7:14). Note on the words, send forth, namely, you, Father, send the Son, first, as the sun sends a ray: the sun three times as much, burns the mountains (Sir 43:4); second, as a spring sends a stream: I, like a channel of a river (Sir 24:41); third, as a father sends a son: God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son (John 3:16).

On account of the evils which threatened his country, the prophet is forbidden to encumber himself with a wife and family, or to bear any share in the little joys and sorrows of his neighbors, which were to be forgotten and absorbed in those public calamities, Jer 16:1-9, which their sins should draw on them, Jer 16:10-13. A future restoration however is intimated, Jer 16:14, Jer 16:15, after these calamities should be endured, Jer 16:16-18; and the conversion of the Gentiles is foretold, Jer 16:19-21.

Send ye the lamb, etc. "I will send forth the son, etc." - Both the reading and meaning of this verse are still more doubtful than those of the preceding. The Septuagint and Syriac read אשלח eshlach, I will send, in the first person singular, future tense: the Vulgate and Talmud Babylon, read שלח shelach, send, singular imperative: some read שלחו shilchu, send ye forth, or shalechu, they send forth. The Syriac, for כר car, a lamb, reads בר bar, a son, which is confirmed by five MSS. of Kennicott and De Rossi. The two first verses describe the distress of Moab on the Assyrian invasion in which even the son of the prince of the country is represented as forced to flee for his life through the desert, that he may escape to Judea; and the young women are driven forth like young birds cast out of the nest, and endeavoring to wade through the fords of the river Arnon. Perhaps there is not so much difficulty in this verse as appears at first view. "Send the lamb to the ruler of the land," may receive light from Kg2 3:4, Kg2 3:5 : "And Mesha, king of Moab, was a sheepmaster, and rendered unto the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs with their wool, and one hundred thousand rams: but when Ahab was dead, the king of Moab rebelled against Israel." Now the prophet exhorts them to begin paying the tribute as formerly, that their punishment might be averted or mitigated.

CONTINUATION OF THE PROPHECY AS TO MOAB. (Isa 16:1-14) lamb--advice of the prophet to the Moabites who had fled southwards to Idumea, to send to the king of Judah the tribute of lambs, which they had formerly paid to Israel, but which they had given up (Kg2 3:4-5). David probably imposed this tribute before the severance of Judah and Israel (Sa2 8:2). Therefore Moab is recommended to gain the favor and protection of Judah, by paying it to the Jewish king. Type of the need of submitting to Messiah (Psa 2:10-12; Rom 12:1). from Sela to--rather, "from Petra through (literally, 'towards') the wilderness" [MAURER]. "Sela" means "a rock," Petra in Greek; the capital of Idumea and Arabia-PetrÃ&brvbra; the dwellings are mostly hewn out of the rock. The country around was a vast common ("wilderness") or open pasturage, to which the Moabites had fled on the invasion from the west (Isa 15:7). ruler of the land--namely, of Idumea, that is, the king of Judah; Amaziah had become master of Idumea and Sela (Kg2 14:7).

But just because this lion is Judah and its government, the summons goes forth to the Moabites, who have fled to Edom, and even to Sela, i.e., Petra (Wady Musa), near Mount Hor in Arabia Petraea, to which it gave its name, to turn for protection to Jerusalem. "Send a land-ruler's tribute of lambs from Sela desert-wards to the mountain of the daughter of Zion." This v. is like a long-drawn trumpet-blast. The prophecy against Moab takes the same turn here as in Isa 14:32; Isa 18:7; Isa 19:16., Isa 23:18. The judgment first of all produces slavish fear; and this is afterwards refined into loving attachment. Submission to the house of David is Moab's only deliverance. This is what the prophet, weeping with those that weep, calls out to them in such long-drawn, vehement, and urgent tones, even into the farthest hiding-place in which they have concealed themselves, viz., the rocky city of the Edomites. The tribute of lambs which was due to the ruling prince is called briefly car mōshēl-'eretz. This tribute, which the holders of the pasture-land so rich in flocks have hitherto sent to Samaria (Kg2 3:4), they are now to send to Jerusalem, the "mountain of the daughter of Zion" (as in Isa 10:32, compared with Isa 18:7), the way to which lay through "the desert," i.e., first of all in a diagonal direction through the Arabah, which stretched downwards to Aelath.