Isaiah 16:5-7 New English Translation

⁵Then a trustworthy king will be established;
he will rule in a reliable manner,
this one from David’s family.^[a]
He will be sure to make just decisions
and will be experienced in executing justice.^[b]
⁶We have heard about Moab’s pride—
their great arrogance—
their boasting, pride, and excess.^[c]
But their boastful claims are empty.^[d]
⁷So Moab wails over its demise^[e]—
they all wail!
Completely devastated, they moan
about what has happened to the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth.^[f]

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Footnotes

Isaiah 16:5 tn Heb “and a throne will be established in faithfulness, and he will sit on it in reliability, in the tent of David.”
Isaiah 16:5 tn Heb “one who judges and seeks justice, and one experienced in fairness.” Many understand מְהִר (m^ehir) 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.”
Isaiah 16:6 tn עֶבְרָה (ʿevrah) often means “anger, fury,” but here it appears to refer to boastful outbursts or excessive claims. See HALOT 782 s.v. עֶבְרָה.
Isaiah 16:6 tn Heb “not so his boasting.”
Isaiah 16:7 tn Heb “So Moab wails for Moab.”
Isaiah 16:7 tn The Hebrew text has, “for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth you [masculine plural] moan, surely destroyed.” The “raisin cakes” could have cultic significance (see Hos 3:1), but the next verse focuses on agricultural disaster, so here the raisin cakes are mentioned as an example of the fine foods that are no longer available (see 2 Sam 6:19; Song 2:5) because the vines have been destroyed by the invader (see v. 8). Some prefer to take אֲשִׁישֵׁי (ʾashishe, “raisin cakes of”) as “men of” (see HALOT 95 s.v. *אָשִׁישׁ; cf. NIV). The verb form תֶהְגּוּ (tehgu, “you moan”) is probably the result of dittography (note that the preceding word ends in tav [ת]) and should be emended to הגו (a perfect, third plural form), “they moan.”

New English Translation (NET)