Isaiah 15:5

5 cor meum ad Moab clamabit vectes eius usque ad Segor vitulam conternantem per ascensum enim Luith flens ascendet et in via Oronaim clamorem contritionis levabunt

Isaiah 15:5 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 15:5

My heart shall cry out for Moab
These seem to be the words of the prophet, pitying them as they were fellow creatures, though enemies; which shows humanity in him, and signifies that their calamities were very great, that a stranger should be concerned for them, and such to whom they had been troublesome; so Jarchi understands it, who observes the difference between the true and false prophet, particularly between Isaiah and Balaam; but others, as Kimchi, interpret it of the Moabites themselves, everyone expressing their concern for the desolation of their country; and so the Targum,

``the Moabites shall say in their hearts:''

his fugitives [shall flee] unto Zoar;
a city where Lot fled to, when he came out of Sodom, to which it is thought the allusion is, see ( Genesis 19:20 Genesis 19:22 ) the meaning seems to be, that those that escaped out of the above cities, when taken and destroyed, should flee hither for safety: the words may be supplied thus, "his fugitives" shall cry out "unto Zoar"; that is, those that flee from other places shall cry so loud as they go along, that their cry shall be heard unto Zoar, ( Jeremiah 48:34 ) : an heifer of three years old;
which is not to be understood of Zoar in particular, or of the country of Moab in general, comparable to such an heifer for fatness, strength, beauty, and lasciviousness; but of the cry of the fugitives, that should be very loud and clamorous, like the lowing of an ox, or an heifer in its full strength, which is heard a great way; see ( 1 Samuel 6:9 1 Samuel 6:12 ) ( Jeremiah 48:34 ) . Dr. Lightfoot ^F3 conjectures that "Eglath Shelishiah", translated an heifer of three years old, is the proper name of a place; and observes, that there was another place in this country called Eneglaim, ( Ezekiel 47:10 ) which being of the dual number, shows that there were two Egels, in reference to which this may be called the "third" Eglath; and so the words may be rendered, "his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, unto the third Eglath"; and he further conjectures, that this may be the Necla of Ptolemy ^F4, mentioned by him in Arabia Petraea, along with Zoara; and also to be the Agella of Josephus ^F5, reckoned with Zoara and Oronai, and other cities of Moab: for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up;
which seems to have been a very high place, and the ascent to it very great; and as the Moabites went up it, whither they might go for safety, they should weep greatly, thinking of their houses and riches they had left to the plunder of the enemy, and the danger of their lives they were still in. This place is thought by some to be the same with the Lysa of Ptolemy ^F6; Josephus ^F7 calls it Lyssa; Jerom ^F8 says in his time it was a village between Areopolis and Zoara, and went by the name of Luitha; it is mentioned in ( Jeremiah 48:5 ) : for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction;
of Moab, and the several cities of it; or "of breaking", of breaking down of walls and of houses. The Targum is,

``the cry of the broken (or conquered) in battle;''

whose bones are broken, or however their strength, so that they are obliged to surrender; or a "broken cry", such as is made when there is a multitude of people together, and in great distress. The word Horonaim is of the dual number, and signifies two Horons, the upper and the lower, as say Kimchi and Ben Melech; which is true of Bethhoron, if that was the same place with this, ( Joshua 16:3 Joshua 16:5 ) . By Josephus ^F9 it is called Oronas and Oronae; it is taken by some to be the Avara of Ptolemy ^F11; it seems, by the Targum, that as Luhith was a very high place, this lay low, since it renders it,

``in the descent of Horonaim;''

to which its name agrees, which signifies caverns; and mention is made of Bethhoron in the valley, along with Bethnimrah ^F12.

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 See his Works, vol. 2. p. 502.
F4 Geograph. l. 5. c. 17.
F5 Antiqu. l. 1. c. 1. sect. 4.
F6 Geograph. l. 5. c. 17. p. 137.
F7 Antiqu. l. 14. c. 1. sect. 4.
F8 De locis Hebraicis, fol. 93. A.
F9 Antiqu. l. 13. c. 15. sect. 4. & l. 14. c. 1. sect. 4.
F11 Geograph. l. 5. c. 17. p. 137.
F12 T. Hieros. Sheviith, fol. 38. 4.

Isaiah 15:5 In-Context

3 in triviis eius accincti sunt sacco super tecta eius et in plateis eius omnis ululat descendit in fletum

4 clamavit Esebon et Eleale usque Iasa audita est vox eorum super hoc expediti Moab ululabunt anima eius ululabit sibi

5 cor meum ad Moab clamabit vectes eius usque ad Segor vitulam conternantem per ascensum enim Luith flens ascendet et in via Oronaim clamorem contritionis levabunt

6 aquae enim Nemrim desertae erunt quia aruit herba defecit germen viror omnis interiit

7 secundum magnitudinem operis et visitatio eorum ad torrentem salicum ducent eos