Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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.
8. the fields ] means here as in Deu 32:32 “vineyards.”
the vine of Sibmah ] Sibmah, in the vicinity of Heshbon, must have been famous for a choice variety of vines, which are here described by a title resembling that used in ch. Isa 5:2 for the “choicest vine” of Jehovah’s vineyard.
the lords of the heathen thereof ] Better: whose choice grapes struck down (i.e. intoxicated) the lords of the nations. For the figure see ch. Isa 28:1. The wine of Sibmah was found on the tables of princes far and near, and its potent effects were well known.
The remainder of the verse celebrates the extensive cultivation of this variety of the vine on the east of the Jordan. The writer is not thinking of anything so prosaic as the export trade in the wine of Sibmah; he represents the whole vine culture of the district under the image of a single vine, which reached to Jazer in the north, strayed to the desert on the east, and passed to the (Dead) Sea on the west.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For the fields of Heshbon – (See the note at Isa 15:4.)
Languish – They are parched up with drought. The fields here evidently mean vineyards, for so the parallelism demands. So in Deu 32:32 :
Their vine is of the vine of Sodom,
And of the fields of Gomorrah.
And the vine of Sibmah – Sibmah, or Shibmah, was a city of Reuben Num 32:38; Jos 13:19. Jeremiah, in the parallel place Jer 48:32 speaks of the vine of Sibmah also. He also says that the enemies of Moab had taken Sibmah, and that the vine and wine had been destroyed Jer 48:33. There was no more certain mode of producing desolation in a land where grapes were extensively cultivated than to cut down the vines. The Turks constantly practice that in regard to their enemies, and the result is, that wide desolation comes upon the countries which they invade. At this time it is probable that Sibmah belonged to the Moabites. It is mentioned here as being distinguished for the luxuriant production of the grape. Seetzen still found the vine cultivated in that region. Jerome says, that between Sibmah and Heshbon there was scarcely a distance of five hundred paces, half a Roman mile.
The lords of the heathen – The princes of the pagan nations that had come to invade Moab. The words have broken down ( halemu) may be taken in either of two senses, either to beat, strike, or break down, as in our version; or to be beaten, or smitten with wine – that is, to become intoxicated – like the Greek oinoplex – smitten with wine. The former is doubtless the sense here.
The principal plants thereof – The chose vines of it – her sorek ( s’eruqeha). (See the notes at Isa 5:2.)
They are come – That is, the vines of Sibmah had spread or extended themselves even to Jazer, indicating their great luxuriance and fertility. Jazer was a city at the foot of the mountains of Gilead which was given to Gad, and afterward to the Levites Jos 21:39. Jerome says it was about fifteen miles from Heshbon. Seetzen found the ruins of a city called Szar, and another place called Szir, from which a small stream (Nahar Szir) flows into the Jordan (Gesenius). That the shoots of the vine of Sibmah reached unto Jazer and the desert, is a beautiful poetic expression for the extensive spread and luxuriance of the vine in that region.
They wandered – The vines wandered in the desert. They found no twig or tree to which they could attach themselves, and they spread around in wild luxuriancy.
Through the wilderness – The wilderness or desert of Arabia, which encompassed Moab.
Her branches are stretched out – Are extended far, or are very luxuriant.
They are gone over the sea – Called in the parallel place in Jer 48:32, the Sea of Jazer; probably some lake that had that name near the city of Jazer. It may possibly mean the Dead Sea, but that name is not elsewhere given to the Dead Sea in the Scriptures. It has been objected by some to this statement that modern travelers have not found any such place as the Sea of Jazer; or any lake in the vicinity of Jazer. But we may observe –
(1) that Seetzen found a stream flowing into the Jordan near Jazer; and
(2) that it is possible that a pond or lake may have once there existed which may have been since, in the course of ages, filled with sand.
It is known, for example, that in the vicinity of Suez the ancient narrow gulf there, and the large inland sea made by the Bitter lakes, have been choked up by the sand of the desert. Seetzen also says that he saw some pools near the source of the stream called Nahar Szir (river Szir). Prof. Stuart. Bib. Rep. vol. vii. p. 158. The whole description of the vines of Sibmah is poetic; designed, not to be literally understood, but to denote their remarkable luxuriance and fertility. A similar description of a vine – though there used to denote the Jewish people – occurs in Psa 80:8-11 :
Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt;
Thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it;
Thou preparedst room before it,
And didst cause it to take deep root,
And it filled the land.
The hills were covered with the shadow of it,
And the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.
She sent out her boughs unto the sea,
And her branches unto the river.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 8. Languish – “Are put to shame”] Here the text of Jeremiah leaves us much at a loss, in a place that seems to be greatly corrupted. The Septuagint join the two last words of this verse with the beginning of the following. Their rendering is: , . For ach they must have read al; otherwise, how came they by the negative, which seems not to belong to this place? Neither is it easy to make sense of the rest without a small alteration, by reading, instead of , . In a word, the Arabic version taken from the Septuagint, plainly authorizes this reading of the Septuagint, and without the negative; and it is fully confirmed by MSS. Pachom. and I. D. II., which have both of them , without the negative; which makes an excellent sense, and, I think, gives us the true reading of the Hebrew text; ak nichlemu shadmoth cheshbon. They frequently render the verb nichlam by . And nichlemu answers perfectly well to umlal, the parallel word in the next line. The MSS. vary in expressing the word nechaim, which gives no tolerable sense in this place; one reads nochaim; two others bechaim; in another the caph is upon a rasure of two letters; and the Vulgate instead of it reads mecotham, plagas suas. – L.
For the men of Kirhares ye shall make a moan. For the fields of Heshbon are put to shame. This is Bp. Lowth’s sense of the passage.
Her branches are stretched out – “Her branches extended themselves.”] For nitteshu, a MS. has niggeshu; which may perhaps be right. Compare Jer 48:32, which has in this part of the sentence the synonymous word nagau.
The meaning of this verse is, that the wines of Sibmah and Heshbon were greatly celebrated, and in high repute with all the great men and princes of that and the neighbouring countries; who indulged themselves even to intemperance in the use of them. So that their vines were so much in request as not only to be propagated all over the country of Moab to the sea of Sodom, but to have scions of them sent even beyond the sea into foreign countries.
halemu, knocked down, demolished; that is overpowered, intoxicated. The drunkards of Ephraim are called by the prophet, Isa 28:1, halumey yayin, drinkers of wine. See Schultens on Pr 23:25. Grotius, speaking of the Mareotic wine, says of it,
Pharios quae fregit noxia reges. CYNEG. 312.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The fields of Heshbon languish; either for want of rain, as Isa 15:6, or because there are no men left to till and manure them.
The lords of the heathen; the Assyrians or Chaldeans, the great rulers of the Eastern nations.
The principal plants; the choicest vines; under which one particular he seems to understand not only all other fruits and goods, but even their persons and choicest people.
They are come even unto Jazer; either,
1. The lords of the heathen are come as far as Jazer, which is the utmost border of Moab; or,
2. The people of Moab are going into captivity, and part of them are already gone as far as Jazer. Some understand this and the following clauses of the vines, which are here commended, to aggravate the loss and ruin of them, and render the words, which reached even unto Jazer, which vineyards were planted for many miles together, even as far as Jazer.
They wandered through the wilderness; others of the Moabites fled away for their lives, and wandered hither and thither in the wilderness of Moab; of which see Num 21:11; Deu 2:8.
Her branches, i.e. her people, called plants before. Are stretched out; or, are spread abroad, as this word signifies, Num 11:32; Jdg 15:9; 1Sa 30:16; are driven from their own homes, and dispersed into several countries.
Over the sea; over the Dead Sea, which was the border of Moab. They were forced to flee out of their own country to save their lives.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. fieldsvine-fields (De32:32).
vine of SibmahnearHeshbon: namely, languishes.
lords of . . . heathenTheheathen princes, the Assyrians, c., who invaded Moab, destroyed hisvines. So Jeremiah in the parallel place (Jer 48:32Jer 48:33). MAURERthinks the following words require rather the rendering, “Its(the vine of Sibmah) shoots (the wines got from them) overpowered (byits generous flavor and potency) the lords of the nations”(Gen 49:11; Gen 49:12;Gen 49:22).
come . . . JazerThey(the vine shoots) reached even to Jazer, fifteen miles from Heshbon.
wanderedThey overranin wild luxuriance the wilderness of Arabia, encompassing Moab.
the seathe Dead Sea;or else some lake near Jazer now dry; in Jer48:32 called “the sea of Jazer”; but see on Jer48:32 (Ps 80:8-11).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 comments on Isa 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, So 7:4 though Aben Ezra and Kimchi think the word signifies vines, as they suppose it does in De 32:32:
[and] the vine of Sibmah; called Shebam and Shibmah, in
Nu 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 down the principal plants thereof; that is, the Chaldeans and their army, and commanders and principal officers of it, dealing with them as the Turks do with vines, wherever they meet with them, destroy them; though Jarchi and Kimchi interpret all this figuratively, both here and in the above clauses, of the inhabitants of these places, the multitude of the common people, and their princes, some being killed, and others carried captive; to which sense the Targum,
“because the armies of Heshbon are spoiled, the multitude of Sebama are killed, the kings of the people have killed their rulers:”
they are come [even] unto Jazer; meaning either the Chaldean army, or the Moabites, who had fled hither; or rather this is to be understood of the vines of Sibmah, expressing the excellency and large spread of them, which reached even to Jazer; which, as Jerom says f, was fifteen miles from Heshbon, called Jaazer, Nu 21:32:
they wandered [through] the wilderness; the wilderness of Moab, De 2:8 not the lords of the Heathen, nor the Moabites, but the vines and their branches, which crept along, and winded to and fro, as men wander about:
her branches are stretched out; that is, the branches of the vine Sibmah:
they are gone over the sea; the Dead Sea, called the sea of Jazer,
Jer 48:32 or rather a lake near that city.
e Geograph. l. 5. c. 19. f De locis Hebraicis, fol. 92. G.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
8. For the vines of Heshbon have been cut down. (262) Here the Prophet describes allegorically the desolation of the whole country. There is reason to believe that it abounded in the choicest vines, (263) as may readily be inferred from this and the parallel passage. (Jer 48:32.) When Prophets threaten destruction to countries, they usually delineate their more remarkable features. For instance, were we to speak of Picardy, we certainly would say nothing about vines, as if we had been speaking about Orleans or Burgundy. Now, the cities mentioned by the Prophet were the chief cities of Moab.
The lords of the nations have trodden down his choicest shoots or branches. (264) The Prophet says that the most valuable branches of their vineyards were torn out by the lords of the nations, that is, by the conquerors, who, having subdued the nations in war, held extensive dominion.
Which reached even to Jazer. (265) This serves to point out the extent of the devastation; for this city was situated on the confines of the land of the Moabites; as if he had said, “Not only shall a part of the vineyards be cut down, but the whole country shall be wasted far and wide.” Some refer this to the enemies themselves; but I would rather supply the relative אשר, ( asher,) which, and refer it to the vines, which were so extensive that they reached even to Jazer. Thus the meaning will be, “Though these vineyards reached even to Jazer, and covered a very large tract of country, yet thence to the wilderness they will all be trodden down by the lords of the nations. ” This agrees best with the scope of the passage; for it is immediately added that the vineyards reached to the wilderness, and even to the sea; by which he means that the country was exceedingly fertile, and especially that it abounded in vines. He says that they crossed the sea, (266) because, when the soil is productive, it is customary to protect by mounds what is contiguous to the sea, in order to extend the cultivation, and to oppose the violence of the waves by posts of wood and embankments, in order to obtain a large extent of available soil.
(262) Bogus footnote
(263) Bogus footnote
(264) Bogus footnote
(265) Bogus footnote
(266) Bogus footnote
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(8) The fields of Heshbon languish . . .For Heshbon see Note on Isa. 15:4. Sibmah appears as assigned to the tribe of Reuben, in Num. 32:38, Jos. 13:19, and in Jer. 48:32 as famous for its vines. Jerome (Comm. in Esai. 5) speaks of it as about half a Roman mile from Heshbon, and as one of the strongest fortresses of Moab. It has not been identified by recent travellers. The names of the chief Moabite cities are brought together by Milton with a singular rhythmical majesty in Par. Lost, 1, 406-411.
The lords of the heathen . . .The words admit of this rendering; but another version, equally admissible grammatically, is preferred by most recent critics. Its branches smote down the lords of the nations, i.e., the wine of Sibmah was so strong that it overcame the princes who drank of it (Isa. 28:1; Jer. 23:9). In the word for lords (baalim), we have a parallel to the lords of the high places of Arnon, in Num. 21:28.
They are come even unto Jazer.The pronoun may be referred either to the branches of the vine, or to the lords of the heathen, as destroyers. Adopting the former construction, we find in the words a description of the extent of the culture of the Sibmah vine. Northward it spread to Jazer on the Gilead frontier (Num. 32:1; Num. 32:3; 1Ch. 26:31), rebuilt by the Gadites (Num. 32:35), eastward to the wilderness, westward it crossed the Dead Sea, and re-appeared in the vine-clad slopes of Engedi (Son. 1:14). In Jer. 48:32, we have the sea of Jazer. See Note there.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. Fields of Heshbon The region around Heshbon on the north, noted for choice vineyards.
Languish Or, wither. The locality lies near to the former sites of Sodom and Gomorrah, on the plain north of the Dead Sea, not south as heretofore believed.
The vine of Sibmah This place has not been identified. Jerome speaks of it as only about half a Roman mile from Hesh-bon. The why the vineyards stand withered is, the lords of the nations have broken off, or down, the principal plants thereof. Either Moab’s own masters, princes, or Assyrian warriors, were wantonly making havoc in the land: the action is the perpetual present of prophecy proleptic.
They The vine plants.
Come even unto Jazer So luxuriant are they. The same wandered or trailed through the desert eastward.
They are gone over the sea Westward, to the sea or pools of Jazer, or even to the Dead Sea. The fruitful, extending vine is a favourite symbol with Old Testament poets for a populous and luxuriant nation.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 16:8. For the fields, &c. For the fields of Heshbon are put to shame; the vine of Sibmah languisheth, whose generous shoots overpowered the mighty lords of the nations: they reached unto Jazer; they strayed to the desert; her branches extended themselves, they passed over the sea. The literal meaning of the verse is, “This vine of Sibmah, famous for its fruits, had extended its branches so widely, that they had reached to the lake Jazer, nay, and had even crossed over that lake; i.e. filling its banks they had overshadowed part of it, as if they were about to cross over it.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Isa 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.
Ver. 8. For the fields of Heshbon languish. ] As being decayed and destroyed; hence so great mourning in Moab. Their father and founder was begotten in wine, and themselves were likely great wine bibbers. Historians say that some of their cities were built by Bacchus. Fitly therefore are these drunken Moabites bereft of their vines, as those gluttonous Sodomites were of their victuals. Gen 14:11 The drunkard’s motto is, Take away my liquor, and take away my life.
The lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the fields = [as to] the fields. Compare Deu 32:32. 2Ki 23:4. Jer 31:40 (feminine).
Heshbon. Compare Isa 15:4.
languish = he [Moab] hath enfeebled.
and = supply [as to] and omit the colon.
the vine of Sibmah = Sibmah’s vine.
lords. Probably plural of Majesty for “great lord of the nations”, a title claimed by the kings of Assyria.
heathen = nations.
Jazer. Probably Beit Zer’ah, on the east of Jordan (Num 32:1. Jos 13:25; Jos 21:39. 2Sa 24:5. 1Ch 6:81; 1Ch 26:31. Jer 48:32).
wandered through: or, strayed into.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the fields: Isa 15:4, Isa 24:7, 2Sa 1:21
the vine: Isa 16:9, Num 32:38
Sibmah: Jos 13:19
the lords: Isa 10:7, Jer 27:6, Jer 27:7
Jazer: Num 32:3, Jos 13:25
stretched out: or, plucked up
Reciprocal: Gen 21:14 – wandered Num 21:25 – in Heshbon Num 21:32 – Jaazer Num 32:1 – Jazer Jos 21:39 – Jazer 2Sa 24:5 – Jazer Jer 48:2 – Heshbon Jer 48:17 – bemoan Jer 48:32 – vine
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 16:8-10. The fields of Heshbon languish Either for want of rain, or, rather, because no men should be left to till and manure them. And the vine of Sibmah These vines and those of Heshbon were greatly celebrated, and held in high repute with all the great men and princes of that and the neighbouring countries, and were propagated from thence, not only over all the country of Moab, but to the sea of Sodom; yea, scions of them, as is signified in the last clause of this verse, were sent even beyond the sea into foreign countries: but the prophet here foretels, that the lords of the heathen That is, the Assyrians or Chaldeans, the great rulers of the eastern nations, would soon destroy them, and all other productions of the land; and then their shouting and singing for the vintage or harvest would utterly cease, as is expressed Isa 16:9-10.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
16:8 For the fields of Heshbon languish, [and] the vine of Sibmah: {h} the lords of the nations have broken down her principal plants, they have come [even] to {i} Jazer, they wandered [through] the wilderness: her branches are extended, they have gone over the sea.
(h) That is, the Assyrians and other enemies.
(i) Meaning that the country of Moab was now destroyed, and all the precious things of it were carried into the borders yea into other countries and over the sea.