Thomas Aquinas Commentary Isaiah 15:1-9

"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. They are gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep: Moab waileth over Nebo, and over Medeba; on all their heads is baldness, every beard is cut off. In their streets they gird themselves with sackcloth; on their housetops, and in their broad places, every one waileth, weeping abundantly. And Heshbon crieth out, and Elealeh; their voice is heard even unto Jahaz: therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud; his soul trembleth within him. 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. For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate; for the grass is withered away, the tender grass faileth, there is no green thing. Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away over the brook of the willows. For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the wailing thereof unto Eglaim, and the wailing thereof unto Beer-elim. For the waters of Dimon are full of blood; for I will bring yet more upon Dimon, a lion upon them of Moab that escape, and upon the remnant of the land." — Isaiah 15:1-9 (ASV)

1. The burden of Moab. In this part, the prophet issues a threat against the Moabites, who were descended from Moab, the firstborn of Lot (Genesis 19:37). They are threatened because they rejoiced in the destruction of the sons of Israel by the Assyrians and Chaldeans, by whom they themselves were nevertheless destroyed later. This is divided into two parts:

1. He threatens their destruction.
2. He sets out the condition of their destruction: send forth the lamb (Isaiah 16).

The first of these is divided in two:

1. He threatens destruction by the Assyrians.
2. He threatens destruction by the Babylonians: they shall lead them to the torrent (Isaiah 15:7).

The first of these is divided in three:

1. He indicates the magnitude of the punishment from their sorrow.
2. He indicates the manner and order of the punishment: the bars thereof (Isaiah 15:5).
3. He indicates the reckoning of the magnitude of the punishment: according to the greatness of their work (Isaiah 15:7).

2. He shows the magnitude of their sorrow in three ways:

• Through the silence of stupor.
• Through the tears of sorrow: the house is gone up (Isaiah 15:2).
• Through the compassion of enemies: my heart shall cry to Moab (Isaiah 15:5).

Stupor occurs from the loss of the things in which someone trusts. The Moabites trusted in their royal city, from which they hoped to receive help, and in their fortifications. Therefore, the prophet says, the burden of Moab, which is the vision of the burden against Moab, the province of the Moabites. It is silent from its stupor, because Ar, the royal city, is laid waste in the night—literally, because of severe tribulation. And because the wall of fortification is laid waste in the night, Moab is silent, as it is written, if thieves had gone in (Obadiah 1:5).

3. The house is gone up. Here he shows the magnitude of their punishment from the magnitude of their weeping, and he sets out three things.

First, he foretells their weeping, both regarding those who weep—the house, namely, the royal house, and Dibon, a noble city—and regarding the place: it is gone up to mourn, that is, to weep, to the high places where they offered sacrifices to idols, seeking help in their mourning. He also foretells the reason for their weeping: Moab, the entire province, has howled over Nabo and over Medaba, which were cities that had been destroyed. As it says, make you mourning as for an only son (Joel 2).(Compare to Jeremiah 6:26. Perhaps St. Thomas was referring to Joel 2:1: “howl on my holy mountain.”)

4. Second, he describes the manner of their mourning according to the custom of the ancients, who grew their beards and hair in times of joy and cut them in times of sadness, as it says in Job 1:20: having shaved his head, he fell down upon the ground. On all their heads shall be baldness, and as stated above: and instead of curled hair, baldness (Isaiah 3:24).

5. Third, he shows there is no limit to their weeping, both regarding the diversity of place—for every howling shall be on the tops of their houses, which had flat areas for sitting, and in their streets shall come down weeping from the high places to which they had ascended, so that there was weeping in the mountains and in the valleys. He also shows this regarding the diversity of those who weep: Hesebon shall cry, weeping, and Eleale, which were cities in the land of the kingdom of Moab; their voice is heard even to Jasa, which is another city of Moab. And regarding this evil, not just the old men, but the well appointed men—those well-equipped for fighting—shall cry out. The soul cries out for the nation and also to itself, when it stands alone. His soul cries, for mourning proceeds from the innermost part of the heart: upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof general mourning (Jeremiah 48:38).

6. Note on the words, the wall is destroyed in the night (Isaiah 15:1), that night has darkness:

1. The darkness of the original stain: let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said: a man child is conceived (Job 3:3).
2. The darkness of actual sin: they that sleep, sleep in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:7).
3. The darkness of the unbeliever’s ignorance: the night is passed, and the day is at hand (Romans 13:12).

7. Second, night has dread:

1. The dread of oppressing despair: a tempest shall oppress him in the night (Job 27:20).
2. The dread of present affliction: her lamp shall not be put out in the night (Proverbs 31:18).
3. The dread of eternal damnation: they themselves being fettered with the bonds of darkness, and a long night . . . were pleasing to the eternal providence(Perpetuae providentiae placuerunt. Vulgate: fugitivi perpetuae providentiae jacuerunt. Douay-Rheims: “lay there exiled from the eternal providence.”) .

8. Third, night has the quiet of contemplation, in which there is:

1. The desire of fervent love, as stated below: my soul has desired you in the night (Isaiah 26:9).
2. The sacrifice of confession of sin: I rose at midnight to confess to you(Ad confitendum. Douay-Rheims: “give praise.”) (Psalms 119:62).
3. The silence of divine consolation: for while all things were in quiet silence, and the night was in the midst of her course, your Almighty word came leaping down from heaven from your royal throne .

9. My heart. Here he shows the magnitude of their punishment from the compassion of their enemies, for the prophet himself suffers with them to Moab, that is, for the affliction of Moab: I will watch over you(Super te evigilabo. Vulgate: Super Moab ejulabo. Douay-Rheims: “I will lament over Moab.”) (Jeremiah 48:31).

The bars. Here he describes the manner and order of their punishment, and he sets out three things.

1. The destruction of their land. The bars, that is, the strength or the borders, thereof, of Moab, are deserted unto Zoar, one of the five cities that was destroyed (Genesis 10),(Rather, Genesis 14:2 and 19:22.) which was in the land of Moab. Moab is called a heifer of three years old because of its lust, for this is an age when animals are in their full strength and passion; or of three years old because it fell by the third tremor of the earthquake, after Lot had left: Egypt is like a fair and beautiful heifer (Jeremiah 46:20).
2. The captivity of their men: for by the ascent of Luith, a certain slope or village from which they were led captive, they shall go up to Moab, led captive. And in the way of Oronaim, a city of Moab through which they crossed, they shall lift up a cry of contrition: the soldier is led away captive (Nahum 2:7).
3. The barrenness of their fields. For the waters, that is, the land of Moab will be so barren it will be like the territory around the town of Nemrim, which is by the sea, because its waters are salty and bitter. This is not because of the waters, but by the judgment of God. The grass, already grown, is withered away; the spring growth has failed; and the greenness of the trees is gone: he has turned rivers into a desert(Desertum. Douay-Rheims: “wilderness.”) (Psalms 107:33).

10. According to the greatness. Here the reckoning of the magnitude of their punishment is set out: it is according to their work of sin, and their visitation means vengeance: according to the measure of the sin shall the measure also of the stripes be (Deuteronomy 25:2).

11. They shall lead them to the torrent. Here he threatens destruction by the Babylonians. Some were held captive, and regarding this he says: the Chaldeans shall lead them, Moab, to the torrent of the willows, the Euphrates, beside Babylon, where willows thrive: upon the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept (Psalms 137:1). Some of them were killed, and regarding this he says: for the cry is gone round about, the cry of those who weep, or of the Chaldean warriors. For the waters of Dibon, the name of a city where they practiced their lusts because of the pleasantness of the place: the Moabites ran into the waters of Dibon (2 Kings 3).(Compare to 2 Kings 3:20–27.) Some remained, afflicted by various persecutions: for I will bring more punishments upon Dibon, to which the Jews had fled; upon them that shall flee of Moab from the Assyrians, and upon the remnant of the land, whom the Assyrians sent away. He will bring the lion: literally, beasts that were killing them, or a raging enemy, namely the Chaldeans. As stated above: for all this his indignation is not turned away (Isaiah 9:12).