8 For gone round hath the cry the border of Moab, Unto Eglaim `is' its howling, And to Beer-Elim `is' its howling.
He hath gone up to Bajith and Dibon, The high places -- to weep, On Nebo and on Medeba Moab howleth, On all its heads `is' baldness, every beard cut off. In its out-places they girded on sackcloth, On its pinnacles, and in its broad places, Every one howleth -- going down with weeping. And cry doth Heshbon and Elealeh, Unto Jahaz heard hath been their voice, Therefore the armed ones of Moab do shout, His life hath been grievous to him. My heart `is' toward Moab, Cry do her fugitives unto Zoar, a heifer of the third `year', For -- the ascent of Luhith -- With weeping he goeth up in it, For, in the way of Horonaim, A cry of destruction they wake up.
Put to shame hath been Moab, For it hath been broken down, Howl and cry, declare ye in Arnon, For spoiled is Moab, And judgment hath come in unto the land of the plain -- unto Holon, And unto Jahazah, and on Mephaath, And on Dibon, and on Nebo, And on Beth-Diblathaim, and on Kirathaim, And on Beth-Gamul, and on Beth-Meon, And on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, And on all cities of the land of Moab, The far off and the near.
Therefore for Moab I howl, even for Moab -- all of it, I cry for men of Kir-Heres, it doth mourn, With the weeping of Jazer, I weep for thee, O vine of Sibmah, Thy branches have passed over a sea, Unto the sea of Jazer they have come, On thy summer fruits, and on thy harvest, A spoiler hath fallen. And removed hath been joy and gladness From the fruitful field, Even from the land of Moab, And wine from wine-presses I have caused to cease, Shouting doth not proceed, The shouting `is' no shouting! Because of the cry of Heshbon unto Elealeh, Unto Jahaz they have given their voice, From Zoar unto Horonaim, A heifer of the third `year', For even waters of Nimrim become desolations.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Isaiah 15
Commentary on Isaiah 15 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 15
Isa 15:1-9. The Fifteenth and Sixteenth Chapters Form One Prophecy on Moab.
Lowth thinks it was delivered in the first years of Hezekiah's reign and fulfilled in the fourth when Shalmaneser, on his way to invade Israel, may have seized on the strongholds of Moab. Moab probably had made common cause with Israel and Syria in a league against Assyria. Hence it incurred the vengeance of Assyria. Jeremiah has introduced much of this prophecy into his forty-eighth chapter.
1. Because—rather, "Surely"; literally, "(I affirm) that" [Maurer].
night—the time best suited for a hostile incursion (Isa 21:4; Jer 39:4).
Ar—meaning in Hebrew, "the city"; the metropolis of Moab, on the south of the river Arnon.
Kir—literally, "a citadel"; not far from Ar, towards the south.
He—Moab personified.
Bajith—rather, "to the temple" [Maurer]; answering to the "sanctuary" (Isa 16:12), in a similar context.
to Dibon—Rather, as Dibon was in a plain north of the Arnon, "Dibon (is gone up) to the high places," the usual places of sacrifice in the East. Same town as Dimon (Isa 15:9).
to weep—at the sudden calamity.
over Nebo—rather "in Nebo"; not "on account of" Nebo (compare Isa 15:3) [Maurer]. The town Nebo was adjacent to the mountain, not far from the northern shore of the Dead Sea. There it was that Chemosh, the idol of Moab, was worshipped (compare De 34:1).
Medeba—south of Heshbon, on a hill east of Jordan.
baldness … beard cut off—The Orientals regarded the beard with peculiar veneration. To cut one's beard off is the greatest mark of sorrow and mortification (compare Jer 48:37).
3. tops of … houses—flat; places of resort for prayer, &c., in the East (Ac 10:9).
weeping abundantly—"melting away in tears." Horsley prefers "descending to weep." Thus there is a "parallelism by alternate construction" [Lowth], or chiasmus; "howl" refers to "tops of houses." "Descending to weep" to "streets" or squares, whither they descend from the housetops.
4. Heshbon—an Amorite city, twenty miles east of Jordan; taken by Moab after the carrying away of Israel (compare Jer 48:1-47).
Elealeh—near Heshbon, in Reuben.
Jahaz—east of Jordan, in Reuben. Near it Moses defeated Sihon.
therefore—because of the sudden overthrow of their cities. Even the armed men, instead of fighting in defense of their land, shall join in the general cry.
life, &c.—rather, "his soul is grieved" (1Sa 1:8) [Maurer].
5. My—The prophet himself is moved with pity for Moab. Ministers, in denouncing the wrath of God against sinners, should do it with tender sorrow, not with exultation.
fugitives—fleeing from Moab, wander as far as to Zoar, on the extreme boundary south of the Dead Sea. Horsley translates, "her nobility," or "rulers" (Ho 4:18).
heifer, &c.—that is, raising their voices "like a heifer" (compare Jer 48:34, 36). The expression "three years old," implies one at its full vigor (Ge 15:9), as yet not brought under the yoke; as Moab heretofore unsubdued, but now about to be broken. So Jer 31:18; Ho 4:13. Maurer translates, "Eglath" (in English Version, "a heifer") Shelishijah (that is, the third, to distinguish it from two others of the same name).
by the mounting up—up the ascent.
Luhith—a mountain in Moab.
Horonaim—a town of Moab not far from Zoar (Jer 48:5). It means "the two poles," being near caves.
cry of destruction—a cry appropriate to the destruction which visits their country.
6. For—the cause of their flight southwards (2Ki 3:19, 25). "For" the northern regions and even the city Nimrim (the very name of which means "limpid waters," in Gilead near Jordan) are without water or herbage.
7. Therefore—because of the devastation of the land.
abundance—literally, "that which is over and above" the necessaries of life.
brook of … willows—The fugitives flee from Nimrim, where the waters have failed, to places better watered. Margin has "valley of Arabians"; that is, to the valley on the boundary between them and Arabia-Petræa; now Wady-el Arabah. "Arabia" means a "desert."
8. Eglaim—(Eze 47:10), En-eglaim. Not the Agalum of Eusebius, eight miles from Areopolis towards the south; the context requires a town on the very borders of Moab or beyond them.
Beer-elim—literally, "the well of the Princes"—(so Nu 21:16-18). Beyond the east borders of Moab.
9. Dimon—same as Dibon (Isa 15:2). Its waters are the Arnon.
full of blood—The slain of Moab shall be so many.
bring more—fresh calamities, namely, the "lions" afterwards mentioned (2Ki 17:25; Jer 5:6; 15:3). Vitringa understands Nebuchadnezzar as meant by "the lion"; but it is plural, "lions." The "more," or in Hebrew, "additions," he explains of the addition made to the waters of Dimon by the streams of blood of the slain.