Isaiah 16 · Verse 2

Isaiah 16:2

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.
Isaiah 16:2, King James Version

Isaiah 16:2 in other translations

BSBLike fluttering birds pushed out of the nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon:
WEBFor it will be that as wandering birds, as a scattered nest, so will the daughters of Moab be at the fords of the Arnon.
ASVFor it shall be that, as wandering birds, as a scattered nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be at the fords of the Arnon.
YLTAnd it hath come to pass, As a wandering bird, a nest cast out, Are daughters of Moab, at fords of Arnon.
DARBYAnd it shall be that as a wandering bird, as a scattered nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be at the fords of the Arnon.
BBEFor the daughters of Moab will be like wandering birds, like a place from which the young birds have gone in flight, at the ways across the Arnon.
WebsterFor 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.

What does Isaiah 16:2 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
2. 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 Maurer make "fords" a poetical expression for "the dwellers on Arnon," answering to the parallel clause of the same sense, "daughters of Moab."

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 16:1-5

Moab is exhorted to yield obedience. (Is. 16:1-5) The pride and the judgments of Moab. (Is. 16:6-14) Verses 1-5 God tells sinners what they may do to prevent ruin; so he does to Moab. Let them send the tribute they formerly engaged to pay to Judah. Take it as good advice. Break off thy sins by righteousness, it may lengthen thy quiet. And this may be applied to the great gospel duty of submission to Christ. Send him…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 16:1-5 →

Isaiah 16:2 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְהָיָ֥הve.ha.Yahand it will beH1961
כְעוֹף\־khe.'of-like a birdH5775
נוֹדֵ֖דno.DedflutteringH5074
קֵ֣ןkena nestH7064
מְשֻׁלָּ֑חme.shu.Lachsent awayH7971
תִּֽהְיֶ֙ינָה֙tih.Yei.nahthey will beH1961
בְּנ֣וֹתbe.Not[the] daughters ofH1323
מוֹאָ֔בmo.'AvMoabH4124
מַעְבָּרֹ֖תma'.ba.Rot[the] fordsH4569
לְאַרְנֽוֹן\׃le.'ar.Nonof ArnonH769

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 16:2

  • Proverbs 27:8

    As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.

  • Judges 11:18

    Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.

  • Deuteronomy 3:8

    And we took at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites the land that was on this side Jordan, from the river of Arnon unto mount Hermon;

  • Isaiah 13:14

    And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.

  • Jeremiah 48:20

    Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled,

  • Numbers 21:13-15

    From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon, And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab.

  • Joshua 13:16

    And their coast was from Aroer, that is on the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the river, and all the plain by Medeba;

  • Deuteronomy 2:36

    From Aroer, which is by the brink of the river of Arnon, and from the city that is by the river, even unto Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us: the Lord our God delivered all unto us:

  • Deuteronomy 3:12

    And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
as.
13:14; Pr 27:8
cast out of the nest. or, a nest forsaken. the fords.
Nu 21:13-15; De 2:36; 3:8,12; Jos 13:16; Jud 11:18

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 16:1

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

  • Isaiah 16:2

    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.

  • Isaiah 16:3

    Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth.

Read all of Isaiah 16

Isaiah 16:2 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y será que cual ave espantada que se huye de su nido, así serán las hijas de Moab en los vados de Arnón.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et comme un oiseau fugitif, une nichée chassée, ainsi seront les filles de Moab, aux gués de l’Arnon.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und es geschieht, wie umherflatternde Vögel, wie ein aufgescheuchtes Nest sind die Töchter Moabs an den Übergängen des Arnon.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et erit: sicut avis fugiens, et pulli de nido avolantes, sic erunt filiæ Moab in transcensu Arnon.