The burden of Moab - (see the note at Isaiah 13:1). This is the title of the prophecy. The Chaldee renders this, 'The burden of the cup of malediction which is to come upon Moab.'

Because in the night - The fact that this was to be done in the night denotes the suddenness with which the calamity would come upon them. Thus the expression is used in Job to denote the suddenness and surprise with which calamities come:

Terrors take hold on him as waters,

A tempest stealeth him away in the night.

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!"

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 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. 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. 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" (n), 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 and so Kirheres in Jeremiah 48:31 called Kir of Moab, to distinguish it from Kir in Assyria, Amos 1:5 and Kir in Media, Isaiah 22:6.

(n) "succisus", Pagninus, Montanus; "excisa", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. So Ben Melech interprets it by

There is no other prophecy in the book of Isaiah in which the heart of the prophet is so painfully affected by what his mind sees, and his mouth is obliged to prophesy. All that he predicts evokes his deepest sympathy, just as if he himself belonged to the unfortunate nation to which he is called to be a messenger of woe. He commences with an utterance of amazement. "Oracle concerning Moab! for in a night 'Ar-Moab is laid waste, destroyed; for in a night Kir-Moab is laid waste, destroyed." The ci (for) is explanatory in both instances, and not simply affirmative, or, as Knobel maintains, recitative, and therefore unmeaning. The prophet justifies the peculiar heading to his prophecy from the horrible vision given him to see, and takes us at once into the very heart of the vision, as in Isaiah 17:1; Isaiah 23:1. 'Ar Moab (in which 'Ar is Moabitish for 'Ir; cf., Jeremiah 49:3, where we find 'Ai written instead of 'Ar, which we should naturally expect) is the name of the capital of Moab (Grecized, Areopolis), which was situated to the south of the Arnon, at present a large field of ruins, with a village of the name of Rabba. Kir Moab (in which Kir is the Moabitish for Kiryah) was the chief fortress of Joab, which was situated to the south-east of Ar, the present Kerek, where there is still a town with a fortification upon a rock, which can be seen from Jerusalem with a telescope on a clear day, and forms so thoroughly one mass with the rock, that in 1834, when Ibrahim Pasha resolved to pull it down, he was obliged to relinquish the project. The identity of Kir and Kerek is unquestionable, but that of Ar and Rabba has been disputed; and on the ground of Numbers 22:36, where it seems to be placed nearer the Arnon, it has been transposed to the ruins on the pasture land at the confluence of the Lejm and Mujib ( equals "the city that is by the river" in Deuteronomy 2:36 and Joshua 13:9, Joshua 13:16 : see Comm. on Numbers 21:15) - a conjecture which has this against it, that the name Areopolis, which has been formed from Ar, is attached to the "metropolis civitas Ar," which was called Rabba as the metropolis, and of which Jerome relates (on the passage before us), as an event associated with his own childhood, that it was then destroyed by an earthquake (probably in 342). The two names of the cities are used as masculine here, like Dammesek in Isaiah 17:1, and Tzor in Isaiah 23:1, though it cannot therefore be said, as at Micah 5:1, that the city stands for the inhabitants (Ges. Lehrgebude, p. 469). "In a night" (ליל absolute, as in Isaiah 21:11, not construct, which would give an illogical assertion, as shuddad and nidmâh are almost coincident, so far as the sense is concerned) the two pillars of the strength of Moab are overthrown. In the space of a night, and therefore very suddenly (Isaiah 17:14), Moab is destroyed. The prophet repeats twice what it would have been quite sufficient to say once, just as if he had been condemned to keep his eye fixed upon the awful spectacle (on the asyndeton, see at Isaiah 33:9; and on the anadiplosis, Isaiah 15:8; Isaiah 8:9; Isaiah 21:11; Isaiah 17:12-13). His first sensation is that of horror.

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

(a) Read Geneva Isa 13:1

(b) The chief city by which the whole country was meant.

15:1 The burden - A prophecy of the destruction of the Moabites, the inveterate enemies of the Jews, begun by the Assyrian, and finished by the Babylonian emperors. In a night - Suddenly and unexpectedly. Ar - The chief city of Moab. Kir - Another eminent city of Moab.

brought...: or, cut off

[2] Moab

This "burden" had a precursive fulfilment in Sennacherib's invasion, B.C. 704, three years after the prediction Isa 16:14 but the words have a breadth of meaning which includes also the final world-battle. (See Scofield Note: "Rev 19:17", Isa 16:1-5 which is a continuation of this "burden," shows the "tabernacle of David" set up, the next event in order after the destruction of the Beast and his armies. Cf. the order in Isa 10:28-34 11:1-10 Acts 15:14-17 Rev 19:17-21 20:1-4.

Margin burden

See note 1; See Scofield Note: "Isa 13:1".

CHAPTER 15

Isa 15:1-9. The Fifteenth and Sixteenth Chapters Form One Prophecy on Moab.

Lowth thinks it was delivered in the first years of Hezekiah's reign and fulfilled in the fourth when Shalmaneser, on his way to invade Israel, may have seized on the strongholds of Moab. Moab probably had made common cause with Israel and Syria in a league against Assyria. Hence it incurred the vengeance of Assyria. Jeremiah has introduced much of this prophecy into his forty-eighth chapter.

1. Because-rather, "Surely"; literally, "(I affirm) that" [Maurer].

night-the time best suited for a hostile incursion (Isa 21:4; Jer 39:4).

Ar-meaning in Hebrew, "the city"; the metropolis of Moab, on the south of the river Arnon.

Kir-literally, "a citadel"; not far from Ar, towards the south.

He-Moab personified.

Bajith-rather, "to the temple" [Maurer]; answering to the "sanctuary" (Isa 16:12), in a similar context.

to Dibon-Rather, as Dibon was in a plain north of the Arnon, "Dibon (is gone up) to the high places," the usual places of sacrifice in the East. Same town as Dimon (Isa 15:9).

to weep-at the sudden calamity.

over Nebo-rather "in Nebo"; not "on account of" Nebo (compare Isa 15:3) [Maurer]. The town Nebo was adjacent to the mountain, not far from the northern shore of the Dead Sea. There it was that Chemosh, the idol of Moab, was worshipped (compare De 34:1).

Medeba-south of Heshbon, on a hill east of Jordan.

baldness . beard cut off-The Orientals regarded the beard with peculiar veneration. To cut one's beard off is the greatest mark of sorrow and mortification (compare Jer 48:37).

15:1-9 The Divine judgments about to come upon the Moabites. - This prophecy coming to pass within three years, would confirm the prophet's mission, and the belief in all his other prophecies. Concerning Moab it is foretold, 1. That their chief cities should be surprised by the enemy. Great changes, and very dismal ones, may be made in a very little time. 2. The Moabites would have recourse to their idols for relief. Ungodly men, when in trouble, have no comforter. But they are seldom brought by their terrors to approach our forgiving God with true sorrow and believing prayer. 3. There should be the cries of grief through the land. It is poor relief to have many fellow-sufferers, fellow-mourners. 4. The courage of their soldiers should fail. God can easily deprive a nation of that on which it most depended for strength and defence. 5. These calamities should cause grief in the neighbouring parts. Though enemies to Israel, yet as our fellow-creatures, it should be grievous to see them in such distress. In ver. 6-9, the prophet describes the woful lamentations heard through the country of Moab, when it became a prey to the Assyrian army. The country should be plundered. And famine is usually the sad effect of war. Those who are eager to get abundance of this world, and to lay up what they have gotten, little consider how soon it may be all taken from them. While we warn our enemies to escape from ruin, let us pray for them, that they may seek and find forgiveness of their sins.