Isaiah — Chapter 15
Synopsis: Oracle against Moab (continued in ch.16). Night devastation of Ar Moab and Kir Moab; universal mourning — baldness, sackcloth, weeping on rooftops; the fugitives cry out; waters of Nimrim dried up. Lapide notes the chapter was fulfilled by Nabuchodonosor's devastation of Moab.
Verse 1
The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, it is silent: because the night the wall of Moab is destroyed, it is silent. The double night-destruction of Ar and Kir (two chief cities of Moab) — sudden, complete, silent. Lapide: the night-attack typifies divine judgment that comes suddenly when sinners least expect it (Luke 12:20: 'this night thy soul shall be required').
Verse 2
The house is gone up, and Dibon to the high places to mourn over Nebo: and Medaba. Moab hath howled: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard shall be shaved. The Moabites run to their high places and idols in terror — but their gods cannot save them. The universal baldness and shaving of beards = the extreme of grief and humiliation among Eastern peoples.
Verse 5
My heart shall cry to Moab, its bars shall flee unto Segor a heifer of three years old. Isaiah compassionately laments for Moab even while prophesying her destruction — as Christ wept over Jerusalem while predicting its ruin. 'Bar' = bolts/fugitives; 'heifer of three years' = Moab in her prime suddenly driven to flight.