For the fields of Heshbon languish
Through drought; or because of the forage of the enemy, and their
treading upon them; or because there were no men left to till and
manure them. Of Heshbon (See Gill on Isaiah
15:4). It seems to have been a place famous for fields
and pastures, and to have been a very fruitful and well watered
place; hence we read of the fish pools in Heshbon, ( Song of
Solomon 7:4 ) though Aben Ezra and Kimchi think the word
signifies vines, as they suppose it does in ( Deuteronomy
32:32 ) : [and] the vine of Sibmah;
called Shebam and Shibmah, in ( Numbers 32:3
Numbers
32:38 ) thought to be the Seba of Ptolemy F5; and
seems to have been famous for vines and vineyards: the
lords of the Heathen have broken down the principal
plants
thereof;
that is, the Chaldeans and their army, and commanders and
principal officers of it, dealing with them as the Turks do with
vines, wherever they meet with them, destroy them; though Jarchi
and Kimchi interpret all this figuratively, both here and in the
above clauses, of the inhabitants of these places, the multitude
of the common people, and their princes, some being killed, and
others carried captive; to which sense the Targum,
``because the armies of Heshbon are spoiled, the multitude of Sebama are killed, the kings of the people have killed their rulers:''they are come [even] unto Jazer;