Isaiah 15:2

2 Dibon has gone up to the temple, to the shrines to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and over Medeba. Every head is shaved, every beard cut off.

Isaiah 15:2 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 15:2

He is gone up to Bajith
That is, Moab; the king or people of Moab, particularly the inhabitants of the above cities. Bajith signifies house; and here a house of idolatry, as Kimchi interprets it; it was an idol's temple, very likely the temple of their god Chemosh, the same which is called Bethbaalmeon, ( Joshua 13:17 ) "the house of Baal's habitation", and is mentioned with Dibon and Bamoth, as here; hither the Moabites went in their distress, to lament their case, ask advice, make supplication, and offer sacrifice: and to Dibon, the high places, to weep;
Dibon was another city of Moab, ( Numbers 21:30 ) where probably were high places for idolatrous worship, and from whence it might have the name of Dibonhabbamoth, as it may be here called; or since there was such a place in Moab as Bamoth, here rendered "high places", it may be taken for a proper name of a place, ( Numbers 21:20 ) and the rather, since mention is made of Bamothbaal along with Dibon, and as distinct from it, ( Joshua 13:17 ) and Jarchi interprets the words thus,

``and the men of Dibon went up to Bamoth to weep.''

Kimchi takes all three to be places of idolatrous worship, and which is not unlikely. Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba;
two cities in the land of Moab, now taken, plundered, and destroyed; the former of these, Nebo, had its name either from the Hebrew word (abn) , "naba", to prophesy, because of the prophecies or oracles which is thought were delivered here from the Heathen priests, as from their deities; and among the Chaldeans there was a god of this name, ( Isaiah 46:1 ) or from the Arabic word "naba" ^F15, to be eminent, and so had its name from its height; near to it was a mountain of the same name, where Moses had a view of the land of Canaan, and died, ( Deuteronomy 32:49 Deuteronomy 32:50 ) ( 34:1 ) of this city see ( Numbers 32:3 Numbers 32:38 ) ( Jeremiah 48:1 Jeremiah 48:22 ) . Jerom says ^F16, that in his time a desert place called Naba was showed, eight miles distant from the city Esbus (Heshbon, ( Isaiah 15:4 ) ) to the south. The latter of these, Medeba, is mentioned in ( Numbers 21:30 ) ( Joshua 13:16 ) this city is by Ptolemy

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 called Medava. Josephus ^F18 speaks of it as a city of Moab, in the times of Alexander and Hyrcanus; so that if it was now destroyed, it was built again: and Jerom ^F19 says of it, that in his days it was a city of Arabia, retaining its ancient name, near Esebon, or Heshbon. On all their heads [shall be] baldness;
that is, on the heads of the Moabites, especially the inhabitants of these cities that survived the destruction, who through sorrow and distress, and as a token of mourning, tore off the hair of their heads, which caused baldness, or else shaved it: [and] every beard cut off;
with a razor, which makes it probable that the hair of the head was tore off; both these used to be done as signs of mourning and lamentation, even shaving of the head and beard, ( Job 1:20 ) ( Jeremiah 7:29 ) ( Ezekiel 7:18 ) ( Leviticus 21:5 ) .
F15 <arabic> "editus, elatus fuit", Golius, col. 2287. Castel. col. 2182.
F16 De locis Hebraicis, fol. 93. H.
F17 Geograph. l. 5. c. 17. P. 137.
F18 Antiqu. l. 13. c. 15. sect. 4. & l. 14. c. 1. sect. 4.
F19 De locis Hebraicis, fol. 93. D.

Isaiah 15:2 In-Context

1 An oracle about Moab. Ar was devastated in a night; Moab is ruined! Kir was devastated in a night; Moab is ruined!

2 Dibon has gone up to the temple, to the shrines to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and over Medeba. Every head is shaved, every beard cut off.

3 In its streets they wear mourning clothes; on its rooftops and in its plazas, everyone wails and falls down weeping.

4 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out; as far as Jahaz their voice is heard. The armed men of Moab shout, spirits trembling.

5 My heart cries out for Moab. Its fugitives flee to Zoar, to Eglath-shelishiyah. At the ascent of Luhith, each will go up with weeping. On the road to Horonaim, they will raise a piercing cry.

Footnotes

• [a]. Heb uncertain