Isaiah 16:11

So my heart constantly sighs for Moab, like the strumming of a harp, ¹  my inner being sighs ²  for Kir Hareseth. ³ 

Isa 15:5; Isa 16:7; Isa 63:15; Jer 4:19; Jer 31:20; Jer 48:36; Ho 11:8; Php 2:1

¹ 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.

² tn The verb is supplied in the translation; “sighs” in the preceding line does double duty in the parallel structure.

³ tn Heb “Kir Heres” (so ASV, NRSV, TEV, CEV), a variant name for “Kir Hareseth” (see v. 7).