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Isaiah 16:1

in Isaiah 16

Send the tribute lambs to the ruler of the land, from Sela in the desert to the mount of Daughter Zion.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Send ye the lambs for the ruler of the land from Selah to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.

KJV

Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.

This verse in Isaiah 16

Commentary

9 notes on this verse
Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land,.... Or tribute, as the Targum rightly interprets it.

This site's exposition

Send the tribute lambs

on Isaiah 16:1-2

The appeal "Send the tribute lambs to the ruler of the land" continues the burden of Moab. The toll of lambs is the kind recorded at 2 Kings 3:4, here sent from Sela to the mount of Daughter Zion. Moab's daughters wait like birds pushed out of the nest.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 420.

proposed

(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. […]

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 420.

proposed

(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.

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 1274.

proposed

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 …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

"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, "

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Send ye the lamb - Lowth renders this, ‘I will send forth the son from the ruler of the land;’ meaning, as he supposes, that under the Assyrian invasion, even the young prince of Moab would be obliged to flee for his life through the desert, that he might escape to Judea; and “that” thus God says that “he” would send him.
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Type of the need of submitting to Messiah (Ps 2:10-12; Ro 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-Petræa; the dwellings are mostly hewn out of the rock.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

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 2Ki 3:4, 2Ki 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.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

Send lambs of the ruler of the land Be not proud. Do you not know that the ruler of your land, Mesha, king of Moab, (II Kings:4) was a sheepman; and he would repeatedly pay tribute to the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Isaiah 16:1:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
They shall bring tributes to the Messiah of Israel, who shall prevail over those who are in the wilderness, unto the mountain of the congregation of Zion.
Targum · Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 16:1, via Sefaria, London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

10 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • שִׁלְחוּ־send

    shilchu-H7971 →845 times

  • כַ֥רa lamb

    kharH3733 →16 times

  • מֹשֵֽׁל־[the] ruler of

    moshel-H4910 →81 times

  • אֶ֖רֶץ[the] land

    ʾeretzH776 →2504 times

  • מִסֶּ֣לַעfrom Sela

    misela'H5554 →

  • מִדְבָּ֑רָה[the] wilderness towards

    midbarahH4057 →270 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הַ֖ר[the] mountain of

    harH2022 →546 times

  • בַּת־[the] daughter of

    bat-H1323 →588 times

  • צִיּֽוֹן׃Zion

    tziyonH6726 →154 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    2 Samuel 8:2

    David also defeated the Moabites, made them lie down on the ground, and measured them off with a cord. He measured off with two lengths those to be put to death, and with one…

    it leads to

    • Psalms 60:8

      Moab is My washbasin; upon Edom I toss My sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Numbers 24:17

      I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come forth from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab and…

  • Through

    Isaiah 42:11

    Let the desert and its cities raise their voices; let the villages of Kedar cry aloud. Let the people of Sela sing for joy; let them cry out from the mountaintops.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 32:16

      Then justice will inhabit the wilderness, and righteousness will dwell in the fertile field.

    • Isaiah 60:7

      All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered to you; the rams of Nebaioth will serve you and go up on My altar with acceptance; I will adorn My glorious house.

    • Psalms 72:8–10

      May he rule from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.

  • Through

    Isaiah 10:32

    Yet today they will halt at Nob, shaking a fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 21:1

      Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And when Ahimelech met David, he trembled and asked him, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”

  • Through

    2 Kings 14:7

    Amaziah struck down 10,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He took Sela in battle and called it Joktheel, which is its name to this very day.

    it leads to

    • 2 Samuel 8:13

      And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

    • Joshua 15:38

      Dilan, Mizpeh, Joktheel,

About Isaiah

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.