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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" - lylb 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 lylk keleil, as the night. There are many mistakes in the Hebrew text arising from the very great similitude of the letters b beth, and k 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!"

Verse 2. "He is gone to Bajith, and to Dibon" - tybh hl[ alah habbayith, should be rendered, he is gone to the HOUSE, i.e., to their chief temple, where they practiced idolatry. Dibon was the name of a tower where also was an idolatrous temple; thither they went to weep and pray before their idols, that they might interpose and save them from their calamities. So R. D. Kimchi. Me is gone to Bajith and to Dibon: but Bishop Lowth reads Beth Dibon; this is the name of one place; and the two words are to be joined together, without the w vau intervening. So the Chaldee and Syriac. This reading is not supported by any MS. or Version: but some MSS., instead of r[ ar, have ry[ ir, a city, others have d[ ad, unto, and some editions have l[ al, upon. But all these help little, though they show that the place puzzled both the scribes and the editors.

"On all their heads shall be baldness, &c."On every head there is baldness," &c." - Herodotus, ii. 36, speaks of it as a general practice among all men, except the Egyptians, to cut off their hair as a token of mourning.

"Cut off thy hair, and cast it away," says Jeremiah, vii. 29, "and take up a lamentation." touto nu kai gerav oion oizuroiosi brotoisi keirasqai te komhn, baleein tĆ apo dakru pareiwn. Hom. Odyss. iv. 197.

"The rites of wo Are all, alas! the living can bestow; O'er the congenial dust enjoined to shear The graceful curl, and drop the tender tear." POPE.

On every head. - For wyŤar roshaiv, read Ťar rosh. So the parallel place, Jer. xlviii. 37, and so three MSS., one ancient. An ancient MS. reads Ťar lk [l al col rosh. Five read Ťar lkb bechol rosh, on every head, with the Septuagint and Arabic. AND every head. The w vau, and, is found in thirty MSS., in three editions, and in the Syriac, Vulgate, and Chaldee.

Cut off "Shorn."] The printed editions, as well as the MSS., are divided on the reading of this word. Some have h[wdg geduah, shorn, others h[rg geruah, diminished. The similitude of the letters d daleth and r resh has likewise occasioned many mistakes. In the present case, the sense is pretty much the same with either reading. The text of Jer. xlviii. 37 has the latter, diminished. The former reading is found in twelve of Dr. Zennicott's MSS., forty of De Rossi's, and two of my own. A great number of editions have the same reading.

Verse 3. "With sackcloth" - qŤ sak. The word is in the plural µyqŤ sakkim, sacks, in one of De Rossi's MSS.

Verse 4. "The armed soldiers "The very loins"" - So the Septuagint, h osfuv, and the Syriac. They cry out violently, with their utmost force.

Verse 5. "My heart shall cry out for Moab "The heart of Moab crieth within her"" - For ybl libbi, my heart, the Septuagint reads wbl libbo, his heart, or bl leb; the Chaldee, wbl libbo. For hyjyrb bericheyha, the Syriac reads hjwrb berocheh; and so likewise the Septuagint, rendering it en auth, Edit. Vat: or en eauth, Edit. Alex. and MSS. I., D. II.

"A heifer of three years old "A young heifer."" - Hebrew, a heifer three years old, in full strength; as Horace uses equa trima, for a young mare just coming to her prime. Bochart observes, from Aristotle, Hist. Animal. lib.

iv. that in this kind of animals alone the voice of the female is deeper than that of the male; therefore the lowing of the heifer, rather than of the bullock, is chosen by the prophet, as the more proper image to express the mourning of Moab. But I must add that the expression here is very short and obscure; and the opinions of interpreters are various in regard to the meaning. Compare Jer. xlviii. 34.

"Shall they go it up "They shall ascend"" - For hl[y yaaleh, the Septuagint and a MS. read in the plural, wl[y yaalu. And from this passage the parallel place in Jer. xlviii. 5 must be corrected; where, for ykb hl[y yaaleh bechi, which gives no good sense, read wb hl[y yaaleh bo.

Verse 7. ""Shall perish"" - wdba abadu or hdba abadeh. This word seems to have been lost out of the text: it is supplied by the parallel place, Jer. xlviii. 36. The Syriac expresses it by rb[ aber, praeteriit, "he hath passed;" and the Chaldee by wzzbty yithbazezun, diripientur.

"To the brook of the willows "To the valley of willows"" - That is, to Babylon. Hieron. and Jarchi in loc., both referring to Psa. cxxxvii. 2. So likewise Prideaux, Le Clerc, &c.

Verse 9. "The waters of Dimon" - Some have Dibon, others have Ribon and Rimon. St. Jerome observes that the same town was called both Dibon and Dimon. The reading is therefore indifferent.

"Upon him that escapeth of Moab, &c. "Upon the escaped of Moab, and Ariel, and the remnant of Admah."" - The Septuagint for hyr[ aryeh read layra ariel. Ar Moab was called also Ariel or Areopolis, Hieron.

and Theodouret. See Cellarius. They make hmda Admah also a proper name. Michaelis thinks that the Moabites might be called the remnant of Admah, as sprung from Lot and his daughters, escaped from the destruction of that and the other cities; or, metaphorically, as the Jews are called princes of Sodom, and people of Gomorrah, chap. i. 10.