Chapter 16 – FAMILIA MUNDIAL
1 [2] The Arnon: principal river of Moab.
2 [3-5] Directed to Jerusalem, which should receive the suffering Moabites with mercy, as befits the city of David’s family, who were partly descended from Ruth the Moabite.
3 [7-14] Moab had been prosperous; now it has become a desert.
4 [7] Raisin cakes: masses of dried compressed grapes used as food (cf ⇒ 2 Sam 6:19; ⇒ 1 Chron 16:3; ⇒ Song 2:5), and also in pagan cult (⇒ Hosea 3:1).
5 [8] Desert: to the east. Sea: the Dead Sea.
6 [12] In vain do the Moabites appeal to their god Chemosh.
7 [13-14] A prose application of the preceding poetic oracle against Moab (⇒ Isaiah 15:1-⇒ 16:12); cf ⇒ Jeremiah 4:8. Like those of a hireling: who fulfills his period of service according to the shortest manner of reckoning; cf ⇒ Isaiah 21:16.