Isaiah 15:4-9

4 ¹Heshbon and Elealeh also cry out, Their voice is heard all the way to Jahaz; Therefore * the armed men of Moab cry aloud; His soul trembles within him.

5 My heart cries out for Moab; His fugitives are as far as ²Zoar and Eglath-shelishiyah *, For they go up the ³ascent of Luhith weeping; Surely on the road to Horonaim they raise a cry of distress ⁴over their ruin.

6 For the ⁵waters of Nimrim are desolate. Surely the grass is withered, the tender grass died out, There is ⁶no green thing.

7 Therefore * the ⁷abundance which they have acquired and stored up They carry off over the brook of Arabim.

8 For the cry of distress has gone around the territory of Moab, Its wail goes as far as Eglaim and its wailing even to Beer-elim.

9 For the waters of Dimon are full of blood; Surely I will bring added woes upon Dimon, A ⁸lion upon the fugitives of Moab and upon the remnant of the land.

Isaiah 15:4-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 15

This chapter is a prophecy of the destruction of the Moabites; two of their principal cities are mentioned as made desolate, Isa 15:1 the inhabitants in divers places are represented as weeping and mourning, and showing various signs of it, Isa 15:2,3 yea, not only the common people, but the armed soldiers also, Isa 15:4 nay, even the prophet himself, Isa 15:5 the reasons of which were the great drought, so that there were no grass, nor green thing, Isa 15:6 the carrying away of their good things, either by themselves or others, Isa 15:7 the flight and cry of the people to the very borders of the land, Isa 15:8 and the great effusion of blood, Isa 15:9.

Cross References

• 1. Numbers 21:28; Numbers 32:3; Jeremiah 48:34
• 2. Jeremiah 48:34
• 3. Jeremiah 48:5
• 4. Isaiah 59:7; Jeremiah 4:20
• 5. Isaiah 19:5-7; Jeremiah 48:34
• 6. Joel 1:10-12; Joel 2:3
• 7. Isaiah 30:6; Jeremiah 48:36
• 8. 2 Kings 17:25; Jeremiah 50:17

Footnotes

• [a] Another reading is "the loins of"
• [b] Lit "desolations"
• [c] Lit "come to an end"
• [d] Or "the poplars"
• [e] Heb "dam" (a wordplay)