Isaiah 15:1-9

1. Burden] see on Isaiah 13:1. Because.. night] RV ’For in a night.’ Ar of Moab] i.e. city of Moab. The capital (Numbers 22:36; Joshua 13:16) is doubtless meant. The places referred to in the chapter are in Moabite territory. Silence] RV ’nought.’ Kir] probably Kerak, a fortress on the Dead Sea.

2. He is gone, etc.] i.e. the Moabite people. Bajith] ’the house,’ i.e. the temple of the Moabite deity, Chemosh. Dibon] here the Moabite Stone, with inscription by king Mesha (2 Kings 3:4), was found in 1869. Nebo] not the mountain (Deuteronomy 34:1), but a Moabite city in its vicinity, thought to be called after the deity of the same name. Baldness, etc.] in token of mourning. Heshbon, Elealeh] neighbouring hill-towns of Moab.

4. His life, etc.] RV ’his soul trembleth within him.’

5. Fugitives] RV ’her nobles.’ An heifer of three years old] i.e. not broken in: implying that the place was hitherto impregnable. Places are thus sometimes compared to animals (Jeremiah 46:20; Hosea 4:16; Hosea 10:11). Most modern scholars, however, understand the words as a proper name ’to Eglath-shelishiyah ’(RV). Mounting up] RV ’ascent’: the prophet sees the ascent of Luhith crowded with weeping fugitives.

6. Shall be desolate] because they have been stopped at the source (2 Kings 3:19, 2 Kings 3:25). Hay.. grass] RV ’grass.. tender grass.’

7. The brook of the willows] Evidently mentioned as the boundary of the land and generally identified with the brook Zered (Numbers 21:2; Deuteronomy 2:13). The fugitives are pictured as carrying their possessions to the border for safety.

8. The cry] i.e. of destruction (Isaiah 15:5). No part of the land escapes.

9. The waters of Dimon] i.e. the Axnon. Dimon is probably a symbolical variation for Dibon, adopted because the sound of it suggests blood (dam). Lions] perhaps to be understood literally (2 Kings 17:25), or it may stand metaphorically for invading foes: Jeremiah 4:7; Jeremiah 5:6.