Isaiah 15:1

A Prophecy Against Moab

1 A prophecy against Moab: Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night!

Isaiah 15:1 in Other Translations

1 The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence;

1 An oracle concerning Moab. Because Ar of Moab is laid waste in a night, Moab is undone; because Kir of Moab is laid waste in a night, Moab is undone.

1 This message came to me concerning Moab: In one night the town of Ar will be leveled, and the city of Kir will be destroyed.

1 A Message concerning Moab: Village Ar of Moab is in ruins, destroyed in a night raid. Village Kir of Moab is in ruins, destroyed in a night raid.

1 The burden of Moab. For in a night Ar of Moab is laid waste, [and] brought to nought; for in a night Kir of Moab is laid waste, [and] brought to nought.

1 This is the divine revelation about Moab. In a single night Ar in Moab is laid waste and destroyed! In a single night Kir in Moab is laid waste and destroyed!

1 An oracle against Moab: Ar in Moab is devastated, destroyed in a night. Kir in Moab is devastated, destroyed in a night.

1 Here is a message the LORD gave me about Moab. The city of Ar in Moab is destroyed. It happened in a single night. Kir in Moab is also destroyed. It happened in a single night.

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 A prophecy against Moab: Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night!

2 Dibon goes up to its temple, to its high places to weep; Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Every head is shaved and every beard cut off.

3 In the streets they wear sackcloth; on the roofs and in the public squares they all wail, prostrate with weeping.

4 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz. Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out, and their hearts are faint.

5 My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath Shelishiyah. They go up the hill to Luhith, weeping as they go; on the road to Horonaim they lament their destruction.

Cross References

• 1. S Isaiah 13:1
• 2. Numbers 22:3-6; S Deuteronomy 23:6; S Isaiah 11:14
• 3. S Numbers 21:15
• 4. S Numbers 17:12; Isaiah 25:12; Isaiah 26:5; Jeremiah 48:24,41; Jeremiah 51:58
• 5. S 2 Kings 3:25