7 Therefore the abundance H3502 they have gotten, H6213 and that which they have laid up, H6486 shall they carry away H5375 to the brook H5158 of the willows. H6155
Therefore mine heart H3820 shall sound H1993 for Moab H4124 like pipes, H2485 and mine heart H3820 shall sound H1993 like pipes H2485 for the men H582 of Kirheres: H7025 because the riches H3502 that he hath gotten H6213 are perished. H6
I will send H7971 him against an hypocritical H2611 nation, H1471 and against the people H5971 of my wrath H5678 will I give him a charge, H6680 to take H7997 the spoil, H7998 and to take H962 the prey, H957 and to tread them down H7760 H4823 like the mire H2563 of the streets. H2351
And my hand H3027 hath found H4672 as a nest H7064 the riches H2428 of the people: H5971 and as one gathereth H622 eggs H1000 that are left, H5800 have I gathered H622 all the earth; H776 and there was none that moved H5074 the wing, H3671 or opened H6475 the mouth, H6310 or peeped. H6850
The burden H4853 of the beasts H929 of the south: H5045 into the land H776 of trouble H6869 and anguish, H6695 from whence come the young H3833 and old lion, H3918 the viper H660 and fiery H8314 flying H5774 serpent, H8314 they will carry H5375 their riches H2428 upon the shoulders H3802 of young asses, H5895 and their treasures H214 upon the bunches H1707 of camels, H1581 to a people H5971 that shall not profit H3276 them.
The lion H738 did tear in pieces H2963 enough H1767 for his whelps, H1484 and strangled H2614 for his lionesses, H3833 and filled H4390 his holes H2356 with prey, H2964 and his dens H4585 with ravin. H2966 Behold, I am against thee, saith H5002 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 and I will burn H1197 her chariots H7393 in the smoke, H6227 and the sword H2719 shall devour H398 thy young lions: H3715 and I will cut off H3772 thy prey H2964 from the earth, H776 and the voice H6963 of thy messengers H4397 shall no more be heard. H8085
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.