Discovery BoxIsaiah 16:6-7 
Context16:6 We have heard about Moab’s pride,
their great arrogance,
their boasting, pride, and excess. 1
But their boastful claims are empty! 2
16:7 So Moab wails over its demise 3 –
they all wail!
Completely devastated, they moan
about what has happened to the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth. 4
1 tn עֶבְרָה (’evrah) often means “anger, fury,” but here it appears to refer to boastful outbursts or excessive claims. See HALOT 782 s.v. עֶבְרָה.
2 tn Heb “not so his boasting.”
3 tn Heb “So Moab wails for Moab.”
4 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 (’ashishe, “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.”
