John Gill Commentary Isaiah 15:1

"The burden of Moab. For in a night Ar of Moab is laid waste, [and] brought to nought; for in a night Kir of Moab is laid waste, [and] brought to nought." — Isaiah 15:1 (ASV)

The burden of Moab
A heavy, grievous prophecy, concerning the destruction of Moab. The Targum is,``the burden of the cup of cursing, to give Moab to drink.'' This seems to respect the destruction of it by Nebuchadnezzar, which is prophesied of in (Jeremiah 48:1–22) for that which was to be within three years, (Isaiah 16:14) looks like another and distinct prophecy from this; though some think this was accomplished before the times of Nebuchadnezzar, either by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, some time before the captivity of the ten tribes, as Vitringa and others; or by Sennacherib, after the invasion of Judea, so Jarchi.

Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, [and] brought to
silence ;
this was a chief city in Moab, perhaps the metropolis of it; see (Numbers 21:28) (Deuteronomy 2:9Deuteronomy 2:18) . Kimchi conjectures it to be the same with Aroer, which was by the brink of the river Arnon, (Deuteronomy 2:36) (Deuteronomy 3:12) and is mentioned with Dibon, as this, in (Numbers 32:34) of which notice is taken, and not of Ar, in (Jeremiah 48:19Jeremiah 48:20) . Some versions take Ar to signify a "city", and render it, "the city of Moab", without naming what city it was; and the Targum calls it by another name, Lahajath; but, be it what city it will, it was destroyed in the night; in such a night, as Kimchi interprets it; in the space of a night, very suddenly, when the inhabitants of it were asleep and secure, and had no notice of danger; and so the Targum adds, ``and they were asleep.'' Some have thought this circumstance is mentioned with a view to the night work, that work of darkness of Lot and his daughter, which gave rise to Moab; however, in a night this city became desolate, being taken and plundered, and its inhabitants put to the sword, and so reduced to silence; though the last word may as well be rendered "cut off" ^F14 , utterly destroyed, being burnt or pulled down; two words are made use of, to denote the utter destruction of it:

Because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, [and] brought to
silence ;
either in the same night, or rather in another. Kir, another city of Moab, met with the same fate as Ar. This is called Kirhareseth, and Kirharesh, in (Isaiah 16:7Isaiah 16:11) and so Kirheres in (Jeremiah 48:31Jeremiah 48:36) called Kir of Moab, to distinguish it from Kir in Assyria, (Amos 1:5) (2 Kings 16:9) and Kir in Media, (Isaiah 22:6) .

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FOOTNOTES:

• F14: (hmdn) "succisus", Pagninus, Montanus; "excisa", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. So Ben Melech interprets it by (trkn) .