Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 15

The burden of Moab - (see the note at Isaiah 13:1). This is the title of the prophecy. The Chaldee renders this, ‘The burden of the cup of curse which is to come upon Moab.’

Because in the night - The fact that this was to be done in the night denotes the suddenness with which the calamity would come upon them. Thus the expression is used in Job to denote the suddenness and surprise with which calamities come:

Terrors take hold on him as waters,
A tempest stealeth him away in the night. (Job 27:20)

So a thief is represented as coming in the night - in a sudden and unexpected manner (Job 24:14):

The murderer in the night is as a thief.

See also Matthew 24:43; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 3:3; Revelation 16:15.

Ar of Moab - This was the capital of Moab. It was situated on the south of the river Arnon. It was sometimes called “Rabbath Moab.” Isaiah (Isaiah 16:7–11) calls it the city ‘with walls of burnt brick.’ Under the name of Areopolis it occurs in Eusebius and Stephen of Byzantium, and in the acts of many Synods of the fifth and sixth centuries, when it was the seat of a bishop (Reland’s “Palestine,” pp. 577, 578). Abulfeda says that in his time it was a small town. Jerome says that the city was destroyed by an earthquake when he was young, probably about 315 A.D.

Burckhardt found a place called Rabba about twenty miles south of the river Arnon, which he supposed to be the ancient Ar. Seetsen found there ruins of considerable compass; especially the ruins of an old palace or temple, of which portions of the wall and some pillars are still standing. Legh says, ‘There are no traces of fortifications to be seen; but, upon an eminence, were a dilapidated Roman temple and some tanks.’

Is laid waste - That is, is about to be laid waste. This passed before the mind of Isaiah in a vision, and he represents it as it appeared to him, as already a scene of desolation.

And brought to silence - Margin, ‘Cut off.’ The word may mean either. The sense is, that the city was to be destroyed, for so the word דמה dâmâh often means (Hosea 4:5–6; Hosea 10:7; Hosea 10:15; Jeremiah 6:2; Jeremiah 47:5; Zephaniah 1:11).

Kir of Moab - Probably this city was the modern Kerek or Karak. The Chaldee renders it by the name כרכא kerakā'—or ‘fortress,’ hence, the name Kerek or Karak. According to Burckhardt, it lies about three hours, and according to Abulfeda twelve Arabic miles, south of Ar Moab, upon a very high and steep rocky hill, from which the prospect extends even to Jerusalem, and which, formed by nature for a fortress, overlooks the whole surrounding country.

In the wars of the Maccabees it is mentioned under the name of Κάρακα Karaka—and it is now known by the name of “Kerek” or “Karak.” In the time of the crusades, a pagan prince built there under king Fulco (in the year 1131) a very important castle, which was very serviceable to the Franks, and in 1183 it held out successfully against a formidable siege of a month by Saladin. Abulfeda speaks of it as so strong a fortress that one must abandon even the wish to take it.

It has been visited in modern times by Seetsen, Burckhardt, and the company of English travelers referred to above. The place has still a castle, into which the whole surrounding country brings its grain for safe keeping. The small and poor town is built upon the remains of once important edifices, and is inhabited by Moslems and Christians. It is the seat of a bishop, though the bishop resides at Jerusalem (see Gesenius, “Commentary in loc.”).

He is gone up - That is, the inhabitants of Moab in consternation have fled from their ruined cities and have gone up to other places to weep.

To Bajith, and to Dibon - Lowth supposes that these two words should be joined together and that one place is denoted. The Chaldee renders it, ‘Ascend into the houses of Dibon.’ Kimchi supposes that the word (בית bayith) denotes a temple. It usually means “house,” and hence, may mean a temple of the gods; that is, the principal “house” in the land. This interpretation is adopted by Gesenius and Noyes. Vitringa supposes it to mean Beth-Meon (Jeremiah 48:24), or Beth-Baal-Meon (Joshua 13:17), north of the Arnon, now “Macin.” I have adopted the translation proposed by Kimchi as better expressing the sense in my view than that which makes it a proper name.

Dibon, perhaps the same place as Dimon in (Isaiah 15:9), was a city given by Moses to Gad, and afterward yielded to Reuben (Numbers 32:3, 32:33-34; Joshua 13:9). It was again occupied by the Moabites (Jeremiah 48:18, 48:2). Eusebius says it was a large town on the north of the river Arnon. Seetzen found ruins there under the name of Diban in a magnificent plain. Hence, “Dibon” is here appropriately described as “going up” from a plain to weep; and the passage may be rendered, ‘Dibon is weeping upon the high places.’

To weep - Over the sudden desolation which has come upon the principal cities.

Moab shall howl over Nebo - Nebo was one of the mountains on the east of the Jordan. It was so high that from it an extended view could be taken of the land of Canaan opposite. It was distinguished as being the place where Moses died (Deuteronomy 32:49; Deuteronomy 34:1). The meaning of this is that on Mount Nebo, Moab should lift up the voice of wailing.

Jerome says that the idol Chamos, the principal idol of Moab, was on Mount Nebo, and that this was the place of its worship. This mountain was near the northern extremity of the Dead Sea. Mount Nebo was completely barren when Burckhardt passed over it, and the site of the ancient city had not been ascertained (“Travels in Syria,” p. 370). On its summit, says Burckhardt, was a heap of stones overshadowed by a very large wild pistacia tree. At a short distance below, to the southwest, is the ruined place called Kereyat.

And over Medeba - This was a city east of the Jordan in the southern part of the territory allotted to Reuben. It was taken from the Reubenites by the Moabites. Burckhardt describes the ruins of this town, which still bears the same name. He says of it, it is ‘built upon a round hill; but there is no river near it. It is at least half an hour in circumference. I observed many remains of private houses, constructed with blocks of silex; but not a single edifice is standing. There is a large birket, tank, or cistern, which, as there is no spring at Medeba, might still be of use to the Bedouins, were the surrounding ground cleared of the rubbish to allow the water to flow into it; but such an undertaking is far beyond the views of the wandering Arabs. On the west side of the town are the foundations of a temple built with large stones, and apparently of great antiquity. A part of its eastern wall remains, constructed in the same style as the castle wall at Ammon. At the entrance to one of the courts stand two columns of the Doric order. In the center of one of the courts is a large well.’ (“Travels in Syria,” pp. 366, 367.)

On all their heads shall be baldness ... - To cut off the hair of the head and the beard was expressive of great grief. It is well known that people in the East regard the beard with great sacredness and veneration, and that they usually dress it with great care. Great grief was usually expressed by striking external acts. Hence, they lifted up the voice in wailing; they hired persons to howl over the dead; they rent their garments; and for the same reason, in times of great calamity or grief, they cut off the hair, and even the beard.

Herodotus (ii. 36) speaks of it as a custom among all nations, except the Egyptians, to cut off the hair as a token of mourning. So also Homer says, that on the death of Patroclus they cut off the hair as expressive of grief (Iliad, xxiii. 46, 47):
Next these a melancholy band appear,
Amidst lay dead Patroclus on a bier;
O’er all the course their scattered locks they threw.
— Pope

See also Odyssey iv. 197. This was also the custom with the Romans (Ovid, Amores 3, 5, 12); the Egyptians (Diodorus i. 84); the Scythians (Herodotus iv. 71); and the modern Cretans. The principle on which this is done is that, in this way, they are deprived of what is esteemed the most beautiful ornament of the body—an idea that lies at the foundation of mourning in all countries and ages.

The loss of the beard, also, was the highest calamity and would be expressive of the deepest grief. ‘It is,’ says D’Arvieux, who has devoted a chapter to the exposition of the sentiments of the Arabs in regard to the beard, ‘a greater mark of infamy in Arabia to cut a man’s beard off, than it is for us to publicly flog someone or brand them. Many people in that country would far rather die than incur that punishment.

I saw an Arab who had received a musket shot in the jaw and was determined to perish rather than allow the surgeon to cut off his beard to dress his wound. His resolution was at length overcome, but not until the wound was beginning to gangrene. He never allowed himself to be seen while his beard was off; and when at last he appeared in public, he always went with his face covered with a black veil, so that he might not be seen without a beard. This he did until his beard had grown again to a considerable length.’ (“Pic. Bib.,” vol. ii. p. 100.)

Burckhardt also remarks that the Arabs who have, from any cause, had the misfortune to lose their beards invariably conceal themselves from view until their beards are grown again (Isaiah 22:12; Jeremiah 41:5; Micah 1:16). The idea is that the Moabites would be greatly afflicted.

Jeremiah has stated the same thing of Moab (Jeremiah 48:37):
For every head shall be bald, and every beard be clipt;
And upon all hands shall be cuttings,
And upon the loins sackcloth.

In their streets - Publicly. Everywhere there will be lamentation and grief. Some will go into the streets, and some on the tops of the houses.

They shall gird themselves with sackcloth - The common token of mourning; and also worn usually in times of humiliation and fasting. It was one of the outward acts by which they expressed deep sorrow (Genesis 37:34; 2 Samuel 3:31; 1 Kings 21:27; 2 Kings 19:1; Job 16:15; the note at Isaiah 3:24).

On the tops of the houses - The roofs of the houses in the East were, and still are, made flat, and were places of resort for prayer, for promenade, etc. The prophet here says that all the usual places of resort would be filled with weeping and mourning. In the streets, and on the roofs of the houses, they would utter the voice of lamentation.

Shall howl - It is known that, in times of calamity in the East, it is common to raise an unnatural and forced howl, or long-continued shriek. Persons are often hired for this purpose (Jeremiah 9:17).

Weeping abundantly - Hebrew, ‘Descending into weeping;’ “that is,” going, as we would say, “deep into it,” or weeping much; immersed as it were in tears (Jeremiah 14:17).

And Heshbon shall cry - This was a celebrated city of the Amorites, twenty miles east of the Jordan (Joshua 13:17). It was formerly conquered from the Moabites by Sihon, and became his capital, and was taken by the Israelites a little before the death of Moses (Numbers 21:25). After the ten tribes were carried away, it was recovered by the Moabites. Jeremiah (Jeremiah 48:2) calls it the pride of Moab. The town still exists under the same name, and is described by Burckhardt. He says, it is situated on a hill, southwest from El Aal (Elealeh). ‘Here are the ruins of an ancient town, together with the remains of some edifices built with small stones; a few broken shafts of columns are still standing, a number of deep wells cut in the rock, and a large reservoir of water for the summer supply of the inhabitants.’ (“Travels in Syria,” p. 365.)

And Elealeh - This was a town of Reuben about a mile from Heshbon (Numbers 32:37). Burckhardt visited this place. Its present name is El Aal. ‘It stands on the summit of a hill, and takes its name from its situation - Aal, meaning “the high.” It commands the whole plain, and the view from the top of the hill is very extensive, comprehending the whole of the southern Belka. El Aal was surrounded by a well-built wall, of which some parts yet remain. Among the ruins are a number of large cisterns, fragments of walls, and the foundations of houses, but nothing worthy of notice. The plain around it is alternately chalk and flint.’ (“Travels in Syria,” p. 365.)

Even unto Jahaz - This was a city east of Jordan, near to which Moses defeated Sihon. It was given to Reuben (Deuteronomy 2:32), and was situated a short distance north of Ar, the capital of Moab.

The armed soldiers of Moab - The consternation shall reach the very army. They shall lose their courage, and instead of defending the nation, they shall join in the general weeping and lamentation.

His life shall be grievous - As we say of a person who is overwhelmed with calamities, that his life is wearisome, so, says the prophet, shall it be with the whole nation of Moab.

My heart shall cry out for Moab - This is expressive of deep compassion and is proof that, in the prophet's view, the calamities that were coming upon it were exceedingly heavy. The same sentiment is expressed more fully in Isaiah 16:11; see also Jeremiah 48:36: My heart shall sound for Moab like pipes. The phrase denotes great inward pain and anguish in view of the calamities of others and is an expression of the fact that we feel ourselves oppressed and borne down by sympathy on account of their sufferings (see the note at Isaiah 21:3). It is worthy of remark that the Septuagint reads this as if it were his heart—referring to the Moabites, the heart of Moab shall cry out. So the Chaldee; and so Lowth, Michaelis, and others read it.

But there is no authority for this change in the Hebrew text, nor is it needful. In the parallel place in Jeremiah 48:36, there is no doubt that the prophet's heart is intended; and here, the phrase is designed to denote the deep compassion that a holy man of God would have, even when predicting the ills that should come upon others. How much compassion, how much deep and tender feeling should ministers of the gospel have when they are describing the final ruin—the unutterable woes of impenitent sinners under the awful wrath of God in the world of woe!

His fugitives - Margin, Or to the borders of it, even as a heifer (בריחיה b e rı̂ychehā). Jerome and the Vulgate render this her bars, and it has been explained as meaning that the prophet's voice, lamenting Moab's calamity, could be heard as far as the bars, or gates, of Zoar; or that the word bars means princes, that is, protectors, a figure similar to shields of the land (Psalms 47:10; Hosea 4:18).

The Septuagint renders it, Ἐν αὐτὴ en autē—The voice of Moab in her is heard to Zoar. But the more correct rendering is undoubtedly that of our translation, referring to the fugitives who would attempt to make their escape from Moab when the calamities would come upon her.

Unto Zoar - Zoar was a small town in the southern extremity of the Dead Sea, to which Lot fled when Sodom was overthrown (Genesis 19:23). Abulfeda writes the name Zoghar and speaks of it as existing in his day. The city of Zoar was near Sodom, so as to be exposed to the danger of being overthrown in the same manner that Sodom was, Zoar being exempted from destruction by the angel at Lot's solicitation (Genesis 19:21).

That the town lay on the east side of the Dead Sea is apparent from several considerations. Lot ascended from it to the mountain where his daughters each bore a son, who became the ancestors of the Moabites and the Ammonites. But these nations both dwelt on the east side of the Dead Sea.

Furthermore, Josephus, speaking of this place, calls it Ζοάρων τῆς Ἀραβίας Zoarōn tēs Arabias—Zoar of Arabia (Bell. Jud. iv. 8, 4). But the Arabia of Josephus was on the east of the Dead Sea. So the crusaders, in the expedition of King Baldwin in 1100 A.D., after marching from Hebron, proceeded around the lake and eventually came to a place called Segor, doubtless the Zoghar of Abulfeda. The probability, therefore, is that it was near the southern end of the sea, but on the eastern side.

The exact place is now unknown. In the time of Eusebius and Jerome, it is described as having many inhabitants and a Roman garrison. In the time of the crusaders, it is mentioned as a place pleasantly situated, with many palm trees. But the palm trees have disappeared, and the city's site can be only a matter of conjecture (see Robinson’s “Bib. Researches,” vol. ii. pp. 648-651).

A heifer of three years old - That is, their fugitives flying to Zoar shall lift up the voice like a heifer, for so Jeremiah in the parallel place explains it (Jeremiah 48:34). Many interpreters, however, have referred this to Zoar as an appellation of that city, denoting its flourishing condition.

Bochart refers it to Isaiah and supposes that he designed to say that he lifted his voice like a heifer. But the more obvious interpretation is that given above, which is also found in Jeremiah. The expression, however, is very obscure. See the various senses it may bear, examined in Rosenmuller and Gesenius in loc.

Gesenius renders it, To Eglath the third; and supposes, in accordance with many interpreters, that it denotes a place called Eglath, called the third in distinction from two other places of the same name. However, he also suggests that the common explanation—that it refers to a heifer three years old—may be defended.

In the third year, he says, the heifer was most vigorous and, hence, was used for an offering (Genesis 15:9). Until that age, she was accustomed to go unbroken and bore no yoke (Pliny, 8, 4, 5). If this refers to Moab, therefore, it may mean that until now it was vigorous, unsubdued, and active; but that now, like the heifer, it was to be broken and brought under the yoke by chastisement. The expression is very difficult, and it is perhaps impossible to determine the true sense.

By the mounting up of Luhith - The ascent of Luhith. It is evident from Jeremiah 48:5 that it was a mountain, but its location is not clearly ascertained. Eusebius supposes it was a place between Areopolis and Zoar (see Reland’s “Palestine,” pp. 577-579). The whole region there is mountainous.

In the way of Horonaim - This was doubtless a town of Moab, but where it was situated is uncertain. The word means two holes. The region abounds to this day with caves, which are used for dwellings (Seetzen). The place probably lay on a declivity from which one descended from Luhith.

A cry of destruction - Hebrew, Breaking. A cry appropriate to the great calamity that would come upon Moab.