Yesaya 16:9-11

16:9 So I weep along with Jazer ¹ 

over the vines of Sibmah.

I will saturate you ²  with my tears, Heshbon and Elealeh,

for the conquering invaders shout triumphantly

over your fruit and crops. ³ 

16:10 Joy and happiness disappear from the orchards,

and in the vineyards no one rejoices or shouts;

no one treads out juice in the wine vats ⁴  –

I have brought the joyful shouts to an end. ⁵ 

16:11 So my heart constantly sighs for Moab, like the strumming of a harp, ⁶ 

my inner being sighs ⁷  for Kir Hareseth. ⁸ 

[16:9]  ¹ tn Heb “So I weep with the weeping of Jazer.” Once more the speaker (the Lord? – see v. 10b) plays the role of a mourner (see 15:5).

[16:9]  ² tc The form אֲרַיָּוֶךְ (’arayyavekh) should be emended to אֲרַוָּיֶךְ (’aravvayekh; the vav [ו] and yod [י] have been accidentally transposed) from רָוָה (ravah, “be saturated”).

[16:9]  ³ tn Heb “for over your fruit and over your harvest shouting has fallen.” The translation assumes that the shouting is that of the conqueror (Jer 51:14). Another possibility is that the shouting is that of the harvesters (see v. 10b, as well as Jer 25:30), in which case one might translate, “for the joyful shouting over the fruit and crops has fallen silent.”

[16:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “wine in the vats the treader does not tread.”

[16:10]  ⁵ sn The Lord appears to be the speaker here. See 15:9.

[16:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “so my intestines sigh for Moab like a harp.” The word מֵעַי (me’ay, “intestines”) is used here of the seat of the emotions. English idiom requires the word “heart.” The point of the comparison to a harp is not entirely clear. Perhaps his sighs of mourning resemble a harp in sound, or his constant sighing is like the repetitive strumming of a harp.

[16:11]  ⁷ tn The verb is supplied in the translation; “sighs” in the preceding line does double duty in the parallel structure.

[16:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “Kir Heres” (so ASV, NRSV, TEV, CEV), a variant name for “Kir Hareseth” (see v. 7).