John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 15:5

"My heart crieth out for Moab; her nobles [flee] unto Zoar, to Eglath-shelishi-yah: for by the ascent of Luhith with weeping they go up; for in the way of Horonaim they raise up a cry of destruction." — Isaiah 15:5 (ASV)

My heart shall cry out for Moab. At last, he assumes the character of a mourner. But it may be thought strange and inconsistent for him to bewail the calamity of the Moabites, for he should rather have lamented the destruction of the Church and rejoiced at the ruin of her enemies.

However, it is customary for the prophets to assume in this way the character of those whose calamities they foretell. By this means, they exhibit their condition, as it were, on a stage, which produces a stronger impression than if they delivered their instruction directly. Yet, there can be no doubt that the prophets shuddered at God's judgments, even against the wicked, although the meaning I have stated is simpler and more appropriate and can easily be inferred from frequent usage.

His fugitives to Zoar, a heifer of three years old. He calls those who will escape from it fugitives; for he means that those who will escape from Moab will come even to Zoar. Now, he compares Zoar to a heifer of three years old, which is in full vigor and has not felt the pangs of birth, or toil, or the yoke, but revels in the buoyancy of mirth and wantonness.

When people are hard-pressed by an invading army, they flee to cities that have not been attacked and that appear to be the farthest removed from danger. Such was Zoar, for it had never been attacked by enemies. Yet, if it is thought better to view it as applying to the whole country, I have no objection, for Jeremiah appears to speak in general terms, although he borrows many statements from Isaiah (Jeremiah 48:34). But perhaps in that passage, he also names both Zoar and Horonaim, or rather the whole of the country between them.

If you extend it to the whole nation, the meaning will be: “The Moabites have enjoyed the highest luxury and every kind of abundance, and until now have suffered no distress. From this has arisen their stubbornness, and, in order to subdue them, they must be banished and driven even to Zoar.” Now Zoar was a town very far removed from the Moabites; and, therefore, he means that they cannot ensure their safety except by fleeing to a distance.

Here, all those with whom the Lord deals tenderly are taught not to exalt themselves or to provoke God by their wantonness, but to be modest even amidst the highest prosperity, and also to be prepared for every change, when the Lord is pleased to cast them down from their prosperity.

By the going up of Luhith. He describes other parts of the country of Moab and portrays the flight and mourning of the kind that will spread throughout the whole land.

By the way of Horonaim they shall raise the cry of sorrow. The words that we have translated as they shall raise up a cry, some render as they shall bruise or break themselves by crying, thinking that there is a transposition of the letters and that ע (ain) is doubled; thus the root of the verb would be רעה (ragnah). But as it made little difference to the meaning of the passage, I have adhered to the commonly accepted opinion that יעערו (yegnogneru) is derived from the verb עור (gnur). If it is thought better to make the verb signify break, the meaning will be: “There will be a shaking and, as it were, a breaking of the members of the body, when arm is dashed against arm.”