Isaiah 15:1

The burden of Moab,.... A heavy, grievous prophecy, concerning the destruction of Moab.

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; Lowth thinks it was delivered in the

ISAIAH CHAPTER 15 The destruction of Moab. The burden of Moab; a prophecy of the destruction of the Moabites, the inveterate and implacable enemies of the Jews, begun by the Assyrian, and finished by the Babylonian emperors. In the night; or, in a night; suddenly and unexpectedly; for men sleep securely in the night, and therefore the evils which then overtake them are most terrible to them. Ar; the chief city of Moab, . Brought to silence; or rather, is cut off, as the word oft signifies, as ,15, and elsewhere. Kir; another eminent city of Moab, called more largely and fully Kir-heres, and Kir-hareseth, ,11 Jer 48:31,36.

Isaiah 15:1 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;Ver. 1. The burden of Moab.] A "burden," saith Jerome, ever betokeneth sad things to follow. A "vision" doth joyful, at last howsoever. The Chaldee paraphraseth thus: The burden of a cup of cursing for Moab to drink off. Moab was the brat of an incestuous birth, as his name also, De Patre, declareth. There is now no such nation; their very name is rooted out, ever since they were destroyed, first by Shalmaneser, as is here forethreatened, and then by Nebuchadnezzar - where we meet with many like passages as here - so that they live but by fame only, as they are mentioned in Holy Scripture, but never for any good. Their destruction is foretold for a comfort to the poor afflicted Jews, to whom they were near allied, but very ill-affected. Because in the night.] Nocte intempesta, the night is dark and dreadful; or in the night, i.e., subito, derepente, praeter opinionem, suddenly, unexpectedly. These Moabites dwelt in a fruitful country, near to those five cities of the plain, and giving themselves up to loose and luxurious living, saith Jerome, they worshipped Chemosh or Bacchus; as they had been incestuously begotten by Lot in his drink, so they proved accordingly. Ebrius te Pater genuit, said one to a desperate drunkard. Some think they are threatened with wasting in the night, in allusion to that dismal night work, and that deed of darkness, the begetting of their father and founder Moab. Whence other nations were wont to reproach the Moabites as children of the night, saith Jerome. Piscat. Plutarch.

XV. (1) The burden of Moab.—The oracle which fills the next two chapters deals with the coming history of Moab. The comparative obscurity of that history, the names of towns and villages which it is difficult to identify, present a striking contrast to the evolution of the great world-drama which is brought before us in the “burden” of Babylon. What light can be thrown on that obscurity must be gathered from what we can learn of the contemporary history of Moab and its relation to Israel. This we know partly from the record of 2 Kings 3, partly from the inscription of the Moabite stone found at Diban, in 1860, by Mr. Klein, and translated by Dr. Ginsburg in Records of the Past, xi. 163. Combining the information from these two sources, we find that Omri and Ahab had subdued Moab when that nation was governed by Chemosh-Gad of Dibon, and had compelled him to pay a sheep tribute reckoned by hundreds of thousands. When Jehoram succeeded Ahab, Mesha, the son of Chemosh-Gad, revolted, and the Moabite inscription records the successful issue of the campaign. Jehoram entered into an alliance with Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom. The Moabites were defeated. Their trees were cut down, their wells stopped, and their land made barren. The king of Moab in his despair offered up his son as a sacrifice to Chemosh in the sight of both armies. With that sacrifice apparently the tide of victory turned. Mesha, in his inscription, records how he took Nebo from Israel and slew seven thousand men, and built or restored fortified towns, and offered the vessels of Jehovah, taken probably from the sanctuaries of the “high places” of Nebo. Exulting in the memory of this victory, Moab became “exceeding proud” (Isaiah 16:6), and in a psalm, probably contemporary with Isaiah (see the mention of Assur, or Assyria, in Psalms 83:8), they are named as among the enemies of Judah, joined with the Philistines and Assyrians. It is probable enough that, having been kept in check-by the prosperous rule of Uzziah, they took advantage of the weakness of Ahaz to renew hostilities, and were looking, half with dread, half with hope, to the Assyrian power. It may be noted here that the following cities named in these chapters—Dibon, Medeba, Nebo, Horonaim—occur also in the Moabite stone, which thus renders a striking testimony to their antiquity, and, so far, to their authenticity. (Comp. Jeremiah 48, which is, to a large extent, a reproduction of Isaiah’s language.) Ar of Moab is laid waste.—This was apparently the older capital (Numbers 21:28; Deuteronomy 2:9), sometimes known as Rabbath Moab. In Jerome’s time it was known as Areopolis, the Greeks catching, probably, at the resemblance between the name Ar and that of their god, Ares. Probably Ar was a Moabite form of the Hebrew Ir, a city. One of the names survives in the modern Rabba; but the ruins are comparatively insignificant. The prophet begins with words of threatening.

CHAPTER XV Prediction of very heavy calamities about to fall upon the Moabites, 1-9. This and the following chapter, taken together, make one entire prophecy, very improperly divided into two parts. The time of its delivery, and consequently of its accomplishment, which was to be in three years from that time, is uncertain; the former not being marked in the prophecy itself, nor the latter recorded in history. But the most probable account is, that it was delivered soon after the foregoing, in the first year of Hezekiah; and that it was accomplished in his fourth year, when Shalmaneser invaded the kingdom of Israel. He might probably march through Moab; and to secure every thing behind him, possess himself of the whole country, by taking their principal strong places Ar and Kirhares. - L. The authorized Version which we have followed in the margin, places the prophecy in this chapter fourteen years earlier than that contained in the two preceding, Jeremiah has happily introduced much of this prophecy of Isaiah into his own larger prophecy against the same people in his forty-eighth chapter, denouncing God's judgment on Moab, subsequent to the calamity here foretold, and to be executed by Nebuchadnezzar; by which means several mistakes of transcribers in the present text of both prophets may be rectified. NOTES ON CHAP. XV Verse 1. Because in the night] בליל beleil. That both these cities should be taken in the night is a circumstance somewhat unusual; but not so material as to deserve to be so strongly insisted upon. Vitringa, by his remark on this word, shows that he was dissatisfied with it in its plain and obvious meaning, and is forced to have recourse to a very hard metaphorical interpretation of it. Noctu vel nocturno impetu; vel metaphorice, repente, subito, inexpectata destructione: placet posterius. Calmet conjectures, and I think it probable, that the true reading is כליל keleil, as the night. There are many mistakes in the Hebrew text arising from the very great similitude of the letters ב beth, and כ caph, which in many MSS., and some printed editions, are hardly distinguishable. Admitting this reading, the translation will be, - "Because Ar is utterly destroyed, Moab is undone! Because Kir is utterly destroyed, Moab is undone!"

1. The verse stands somewhat apart from the sequel of the poem. It announces the catastrophe which has placed the entire country at the mercy of the invaders, viz. the fall of the two chief cities of Moab. What follows is a description, not of the further progress of the campaign, but first of the universal mourning caused by this sudden blow, and second, of the flight of the inhabitants. The opening word because seems to have the force of an interjection, equivalent to “yea” or “surely.” in the night] may be meant literally (by a night attack), or we may render “in a night,” i.e. “suddenly.” Ar] the capital of Moab, lay on the Arnon (Numbers 21:15; Numbers 21:28). It is not to be confounded (as is sometimes done) with the later capital Rabba, which lies about 10 miles further south. Kir of Moab is the modern Kerak, some 17 miles S. of the Arnon. It is perhaps identical with Kir-hareseth or Kir Heres (ch. Isaiah 16:7; Isaiah 16:11; 2 Kings 3:25); its situation has always been considered well-nigh impregnable. These two cities were both S. of the Arnon and therefore within the proper territory of Moab. Those mentioned in Isaiah 15:2-4 on the other hand were in the fertile district to the north (now called El-Belka), which Israel claimed for the tribes of Reuben and Gad. The possession of this coveted tract of country was one great motive of the interminable wars between the two nations. Mesha’s inscription on the Moabite Stone is really an account of the reconquest of this region from Ahab. At the time of the prophecy Moab must have long held undisputed possession of these lands.

The burden of Moab - (see the note at Isaiah 13:1). This is the title of the prophecy.

1. The burden of Moab — “Burden,” here, may indicate “prophecy,” at first orally uttered, afterward written up. If an old prophecy has been a basis of utterance, it is now modified and adopted as Isaiah’s.