Isaiah 15:1

Oracle of Judgment on Moab

1 An oracle of Moab: Because Ar is devastated in a night, Moab is destroyed; because Kir of Moab is devastated in a night, it is destroyed.

Isaiah 15:1 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 15:1

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 2:9 Deuteronomy 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 48:19 Jeremiah 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 16:7 Isaiah 16:11 ) and so Kirheres in ( Jeremiah 48:31 Jeremiah 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) .

Isaiah 15:1 In-Context

1 An oracle of Moab: Because Ar is devastated in a night, Moab is destroyed; because Kir of Moab is devastated in a night, it is destroyed.

2 It has gone up [to] the house, and Dibon [to] the high places for weeping over Nebo, and Moab wails over Medeba. {Every head is bald}, every beard [is] shaved.

3 They gird themselves [with] sackcloth in its streets; on its roofs and public squares everyone wails, going down in weeping.

4 And Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, their voice is heard as far as Jahaz; therefore the armed ones of Moab cry out; its soul quivers for him.

5 My heart cries out for Moab; its fugitives [flee] up to Zoar, to Eglath-shelishiyah. For [at] the ascent of Luhith it goes up it with weeping; for [on] the road of Horonaim they raise up a cry of destruction.