Yesaya 15:1--16:5
Konteks15:1 Here is a message about Moab:
Indeed, in a night it is devastated,
Ar of Moab is destroyed!
Indeed, in a night it is devastated,
Kir of Moab is destroyed!
15:2 They went up to the temple, 1
the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament. 2
Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba, 3 Moab wails.
Every head is shaved bare,
every beard is trimmed off. 4
15:3 In their streets they wear sackcloth;
on their roofs and in their town squares
all of them wail,
they fall down weeping.
15:4 The people of 5 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out,
their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz.
For this reason Moab’s soldiers shout in distress;
their courage wavers. 6
15:5 My heart cries out because of Moab’s plight, 7
and for the fugitives 8 stretched out 9 as far as Zoar and Eglath Shelishiyah.
For they weep as they make their way up the ascent of Luhith;
they loudly lament their demise on the road to Horonaim. 10
15:6 For the waters of Nimrim are gone; 11
the grass is dried up,
the vegetation has disappeared,
and there are no plants.
15:7 For this reason what they have made and stored up,
they carry over the Stream of the Poplars.
15:8 Indeed, the cries of distress echo throughout Moabite territory;
their wailing can be heard in Eglaim and Beer Elim. 12
15:9 Indeed, the waters of Dimon 13 are full of blood!
Indeed, I will heap even more trouble on Dimon. 14
A lion will attack 15 the Moabite fugitives
and the people left in the land.
16:1 Send rams as tribute to the ruler of the land, 16
from Sela in the desert 17
to the hill of Daughter Zion.
16:2 At the fords of the Arnon 18
the Moabite women are like a bird
that flies about when forced from its nest. 19
16:3 “Bring a plan, make a decision! 20
Provide some shade in the middle of the day! 21
Hide the fugitives! Do not betray 22 the one who tries to escape!
16:4 Please let the Moabite fugitives live 23 among you.
Hide them 24 from the destroyer!”
Certainly 25 the one who applies pressure will cease, 26
the destroyer will come to an end,
those who trample will disappear 27 from the earth.
16:5 Then a trustworthy king will be established;
he will rule in a reliable manner,
this one from David’s family. 28
He will be sure to make just decisions
and will be experienced in executing justice. 29
[15:2] 2 tn Heb “even Dibon [to] the high places to weep.” The verb “went up” does double duty in the parallel structure.
[15:2] 3 tn Heb “over [or “for”] Nebo and over [or “for”] Medeba.”
[15:2] 4 sn Shaving the head and beard were outward signs of mourning and grief.
[15:4] 5 tn The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[15:4] 6 tc The Hebrew text has, “For this reason the soldiers of Moab shout, his inner being quivers for him.” To achieve tighter parallelism, some emend the first line, changing חֲלֻצֵי (khalutse, “soldiers”) to חַלְצֵי (khaltse, “loins”) and יָרִיעוּ (yari’u, “they shout,” from רוּעַ, rua’) to יָרְעוּ (yor’u, “they quiver”), a verb from יָרַע (yara’), which also appears in the next line. One can then translate v. 4b as “For this reason the insides of the Moabites quiver, their whole body shakes” (cf. NAB, NRSV).
[15:5] 7 tn Heb “for Moab.” For rhetorical purposes the speaker (the Lord?, see v. 9) plays the role of a mourner.
[15:5] 8 tn The vocalization of the Hebrew text suggests “the bars of her gates,” but the form should be repointed to yield, “her fugitives.” See HALOT 156-57 s.v. בָּרִחַ, and BDB 138 s.v. בָּרִיהַ.
[15:5] 9 tn The words “are stretched out” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[15:5] 10 tn Heb “For the ascent of Luhith, with weeping they go up it; for [on] the road to Horonaim an outcry over shattering they raise up.”
[15:6] 11 tn Heb “are waste places”; cf. NRSV “are a desolation.”
[15:8] 12 tn Heb “to Eglaim [is] her wailing, and [to] Beer Elim [is] her wailing.”
[15:9] 13 tc The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa reads “Dibon” instead of “Dimon” in this verse.
[15:9] 14 tn Heb “Indeed I will place on Dimon added things.” Apparently the Lord is speaking.
[15:9] 15 tn The words “will attack” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[16:1] 16 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “Send [a plural imperatival form is used] a ram [to] the ruler of the land.” The term כַּר (kar, “ram”) should be emended to the plural כָּרִים (karim). The singular form in the text is probably the result of haplography; note that the next word begins with a mem (מ).
[16:1] 17 tn The Hebrew text has “toward [across?] the desert.”
[16:2] 18 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
[16:2] 19 tn Heb “like a bird fleeing, thrust away [from] a nest, the daughters of Moab are [at] the fords of Arnon.”
[16:3] 20 sn It is unclear who is being addressed in this verse. Perhaps the prophet, playing the role of a panic stricken Moabite refugee, requests the leaders of Judah (the imperatives are plural) to take pity on the fugitives.
[16:3] 21 tn Heb “Make your shade like night in the midst of noonday.” “Shade” here symbolizes shelter, while the heat of noonday represents the intense suffering of the Moabites. By comparing the desired shade to night, the speaker visualizes a huge dark shadow cast by a large tree that would provide relief from the sun’s heat.
[16:3] 22 tn Heb “disclose, uncover.”
[16:4] 23 tn That is, “live as resident foreigners.”
[16:4] 24 tn Heb “Be a hiding place for them.”
[16:4] 25 tn The present translation understands כִּי (ki) as asseverative, but one could take it as explanatory (“for,” KJV, NASB) or temporal (“when,” NAB, NRSV). In the latter case, v. 4b would be logically connected to v. 5.
[16:4] 26 tn A perfect verbal form is used here and in the next two lines for rhetorical effect; the demise of the oppressor(s) is described as if it had already occurred.
[16:4] 27 tc The Hebrew text has, “they will be finished, the one who tramples, from the earth.” The plural verb form תַּמּוּ, (tammu, “disappear”) could be emended to agree with the singular subject רֹמֵס (romes, “the one who tramples”) or the participle can be emended to a plural (רֹמֵסִם, romesim) to agree with the verb. The translation assumes the latter. Haplography of mem (ם) seems likely; note that the word after רֹמֵס begins with a mem.
[16:5] 28 tn Heb “and a throne will be established in faithfulness, and he will sit on it in reliability, in the tent of David.”
[16:5] 29 tn Heb “one who judges and seeks justice, and one experienced in fairness.” Many understand מְהִר (mÿhir) to mean “quick, prompt” (see BDB 555 s.v. מָהִיר), but HALOT 552 s.v. מָהִיר offers the meaning “skillful, experienced,” and translates the phrase in v. 5 “zealous for what is right.”
