Isaiah 16:8

For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness: her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
fields	שַׁדְמוֹת֩ shad.mOt	H7709	a cultivated field · noun, common feminine plural construct
Heshbon	חֶשְׁבּ֨וֹן chesh.Bon	H2809	Cheshbon · proper noun, a place name
languish	אֻמְלָ֜ל 'um.Lal	H535	to droop · verb, pual perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
vine	גֶּ֣פֶן Ge.fen	H1612	a vine (as twining) · noun, common both genders singular construct
Sibmah	שִׂבְמָ֗ה siv.Mah	H7643	Sebam or Sibmah · proper noun, a place name
lords	בַּעֲלֵ֤י ba.'a.Lei	H1167	a master · noun, common masculine plural construct
heathen	גוֹיִם֙ go.Yim	H1471	a foreign nation · noun, common masculine plural absolute
down	הָלְמ֣וּ hal.Mu	H1986	to strike down · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
plants	שְׂרוּקֶּ֔יהָ se.ru.Kei.ha	H8291	a grapevine · adjective, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
come	נָגָ֖עוּ na.Ga.'u	H5060	properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
Jazer	יַעְזֵ֥ר ya'.Zer	H3270	Jaazer or Jazer · proper noun, a place name
wandered	תָּ֣עוּ Ta.'u	H8582	to vacillate · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
wilderness	מִדְבָּ֑ר mid.Bar	H4057	a pasture (i.e. open field · noun, common masculine singular absolute
branches	שְׁלֻ֣חוֹתֶ֔יהָ she.Lu.cho.Tei.ha	H7976	a shoot · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
out	נִטְּשׁ֖וּ ni.te.Shu	H5203	properly · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person common plural
over	עָ֥בְרוּ 'A.ve.ru	H5674	to cross over · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
sea	יָֽם Yam	H3220	a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Numbers 32:38 And Nebo, and Baal-meon, (their names being changed,) and Shibmah: and gave other names unto the cities which they builded.
Isaiah 15:4 And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh: their voice shall be heard even unto Jahaz: therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his life…
Numbers 32:3 Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,
Joshua 13:19 And Kirjathaim, and Sibmah, and Zareth-shahar in the mount of the valley,
Joshua 13:25 And their coast was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon, unto Aroer that is before Rabbah;
2 Samuel 1:21 Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain, upon you, nor fields of offerings: for there the shield of the might…
Isaiah 10:7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.
Isaiah 16:9 Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shout…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 16:6–end

Here we have, I. The sins with which Moab is charged, Isa 16:6. The prophet seems to check himself for going about to give good counsel to the Moabites, concluding they would not take the advice he gave them. He told them their duty (whether they would hear or whether they would forbear), but despairs of working any good upon them; he would have healed them, but they would not be healed. Those that will not be counselled cannot be helped. Their sins were, 1. Pride. This is most insisted upon; for perhaps there are more precious souls ruined by pride than by any one lust whatsoever. The Moabites were notorious for this: "We have heard in both ears of the pride of Moab; it is what all their ne…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 16:8

fields--vine-fields (Deu 32:32). vine of Sibmah--near Heshbon: namely, languishes. lords of . . . heathen--The heathen princes, the Assyrians, &c., who invaded Moab, destroyed his vines. So Jeremiah in the parallel place (Jer 48:32-33). MAURER thinks the following words require rather the rendering, "Its (the vine of Sibmah) shoots (the wines got from them) overpowered (by its generous flavor and potency) the lords of the nations" (Gen 49:11-12, Gen 49:22). come . . . Jazer--They (the vine shoots) reached even to Jazer, fifteen miles from Heshbon. wandered--They overran in wild luxuriance the wilderness of Arabia, encompassing Moab. the sea--the Dead Sea; or else some lake near Jaz…

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John Gill on Isaiah 16:8

For the fields of Heshbon languish,.... Through drought; or because of the forage of the enemy, and their treading upon them; or because there were no men left to till and manure them. Of Heshbon See Gill on Isaiah 15:4. It seems to have been a place famous for fields and pastures, and to have been a very fruitful and well watered place; hence we read of the fish pools in Heshbon, Sol 7:4 though Aben Ezra and Kimchi think the word signifies vines, as they suppose it does in Deuteronomy 32:32, and the vine of Sibmah; called Shebam and Shibmah, in Numbers 32:3 thought to be the Seba of Ptolemy (e); and seems to have been famous for vines and vineyards: the lords of the Heathen have broken do…

The Church Fathers

(Verse 8) For the suburbs of Heshbon are desolate, the vine of Sibmah. For all their thoughts, which Esebon signifies, do not pertain to the habitation of the Lord's city, of which it is written: The streams of the river make the city of God glad (Ps. 45:5); but they are suburban, so that they may be thought to pertain to the city of the Lord: these suburbs are deserted, without divine protection, or burned by divine fire, especially the vineyard of Sabama, which signifies raising up to a height, because it strives to rise up high and build its tower of pride up to heaven.
— Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah

(Verse 8.) Since the suburbs of Heshbon are deserted: a vineyard of Sibmah. Between Heshbon and Sibmah, there are barely five hundred steps, and by way of metaphor, the vineyard signifies the desolation of the entire province. The scourges of the Lord against the nations have fallen. He keeps the translation that he had begun, showing the kings of the nations who had devastated Moab, all the villages and castles laid waste. They came as far as Jazer: they wandered in the desert: its branches were left behind: they crossed the sea. Understand the scourge and branches of its people, the fugitives: and the crossing of the sea, the captivity in Babylon, of which we will read later, the burden of the desert sea.
— Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Jaazer — He (God) helps, a city of the Amorites on the east of Jordan, and assigned, with neighbouring places in Gilead, to Gad (Num. 32:1, 35; Josh. 13:25). It was allotted to the Merarite Levites (21:39).…
Shebam — (fragrance), one of the towns in the pastoral district on the east of Jordan; demanded by and finally ceded to the tribes of Reuben and Gad. (Numbers 32:3) It is probably the same as Shibmah,…
Vine — One of the most important products of Palestine. The first mention of it is in the history of Noah (Gen. 9:20). It is afterwards frequently noticed both in the Old and New Testaments, and in the…
Grape · .By the Amorites — .By the Amorites
Heshbon · Prophecy concerning — Prophecy concerning
Moabites · Prophesies respecting: Desolation and grief — Prophesies respecting: Desolation and grief
Sibmah · A city of the tribe of Reuben — A city of the tribe of Reuben
Vine, The · Places celebrated for: Sibmah — Places celebrated for: Sibmah
Wine · Places celebrated for: Moab — Places celebrated for: Moab

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Isaiah 16:8

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 16:6–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 16:8

John Gill on Isaiah 16:8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Isaiah 16:8

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 16:6–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 16:8

John Gill on Isaiah 16:8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Isaiah 16:8

Keil & Delitzsch on Isaiah 16:7-8

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Isaiah 16:8

Rashi on Isaiah 16:8