Naravist

The Prophets · Old Testament

Isaiah 15

Isaiah 15: the burden of Moab, a night of ruin and weeping

General context

The burden of Moab begins with two cities laid waste in the night, Ar of Moab and Kir of Moab, both brought to silence. Moab goes up to Bajith and Dibon, the high places, to weep, and howls over Nebo and Medeba; every head is shaved and every beard cut off. In the streets and on the housetops people wear sackcloth and weep. Heshbon and Elealeh cry so that their voice reaches Jahaz, and even the armed soldiers of Moab cry out, their lives grievous to them. The speaker's own heart cries out for Moab as fugitives flee to Zoar, called an heifer of three years old, climbing Luhith with weeping and raising a cry of destruction on the way to Horonaim. The waters of Nimrim are desolate, the hay withered and no green thing left, so the people carry what they have gathered to the brook of the willows. The cry goes round the borders of Moab to Eglaim and Beer-elim. The waters of Dimon are full of blood, and the Lord says he will bring more on Dimon, lions on those of Moab who escape and on the remnant of the land.

Cited passages: Isaiah 15:1, Isaiah 15:2, Isaiah 15:3, Isaiah 15:4, Isaiah 15:5, Isaiah 15:6, Isaiah 15:7, Isaiah 15:8, Isaiah 15:9

Isaiah 15 (KJV)

1The 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;

2He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off.

3In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly.

4And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh: their voice shall be heard even unto Jahaz: therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his life shall be grievous unto him.

5My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction.

6For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing.

7Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows.

8For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the howling thereof unto Eglaim, and the howling thereof unto Beer-elim.

9For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood: for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The heading names the addressee, Moab, and nothing else: no seer's name is repeated here, no king, no year, and no attacker. The ruin happens in the night, but the chapter never says who lays Ar and Kir waste. It supplies a dense list of Moabite places, Ar, Kir, Bajith, Dibon, Nebo, Medeba, Heshbon, Elealeh, Jahaz, Zoar, Luhith, Horonaim, Nimrim, Eglaim, Beer-elim and Dimon, without locating them for the reader; the text treats them as known. Moab is spoken of as a single he who goes up to weep, and also as a people howling in streets. The speaker says My heart shall cry out for Moab, a first-person grief that the text does not attribute by name, and the closing I will bring more upon Dimon is the Lord's own threat, so two first-person voices appear without an explicit marker between them. The phrase an heifer of three years old is attached to Zoar without explanation. Baldness and cut beards and sackcloth are named as mourning acts. The chapter ends mid-burden; chapter sixteen continues it and closes with the note that this is the word the Lord spoke concerning Moab.

Cited passages: Isaiah 15:1, Isaiah 15:2, Isaiah 15:3, Isaiah 15:5, Isaiah 15:9, Isaiah 16:13

Literary context

The chapter is a map of grief. Verse after verse adds place names and sounds, weeping, howling, crying, until the cry has gone round about the borders of Moab, and the eighth verse says so in those words. The opening pair of clauses is exactly parallel, in the night, laid waste, brought to silence, said twice for two cities, so the burden starts with a rhythm of repeated loss. Height and direction mark the movement: Moab goes up to the high places, fugitives mount Luhith, and the cry travels outward to Jahaz, Eglaim and Beer-elim. Water turns from absence to blood: the waters of Nimrim are dry with no green thing, and the waters of Dimon are full of blood. The speaker's heart breaks in on the description, My heart shall cry out for Moab, so the oracle against a foreign people carries the speaker's own lament, which chapter sixteen continues with tears for Heshbon. The final verse turns from what has happened to what the Lord will add, lions on the escaped, closing the chapter on a threat rather than a resolution.

Cited passages: Isaiah 15:8, Isaiah 15:1, Isaiah 15:2, Isaiah 15:5, Isaiah 15:4, Isaiah 15:6, Isaiah 15:9, Isaiah 16:9

Key moments

  1. Ar and Kir in the night (Isaiah 15:1). Two cities of Moab are laid waste and silenced in a single night.
  2. Weeping on the high places (Isaiah 15:2). Moab goes up to Dibon to weep with shaved heads and cut beards.
  3. Soldiers cry out (Isaiah 15:4). The cries of Heshbon and Elealeh reach Jahaz and even armed men weep.
  4. My heart cries for Moab (Isaiah 15:5). The speaker grieves as fugitives flee to Zoar and climb Luhith weeping.
  5. Nimrim dry (Isaiah 15:6). The waters fail, the hay withers and nothing green is left.
  6. Dimon full of blood (Isaiah 15:9). The Lord promises lions on those who escape.

For reflection

The speaker says My heart shall cry out for Moab in the middle of announcing Moab's ruin. How does that line change the way the list of ruined places reads?