Isaiah 15 - Introduction

Analysis of Isaiah 15:1 and Isaiah 16:1

Section I - The Time of the Prophecy

This and the following chapter make one entire prophecy, and should not have been divided. At what time it was delivered is unknown. The only period which is designated is, that it was to be fulfilled in three years from the time when it was uttered Isaiah 16:14. Lowth supposes that it was delivered soon after the former, in the first years of the reign of Hezekiah, and that it was fulfilled in the fourth year of his reign, when Shalmanezer invaded the kingdom of Israel. He supposes that he might have marched through Moab, and secured its strong places on his way to Judea. Gesenius supposes that it was uttered by some contemporary of Isaiah, or by some earlier prophet, without the epilogue Isaiah 16:14, as a general denunciation against Moab; and that it was adopted by Isaiah and applied to the Moabites during his own time. This he argues because of the repetition of geographical names; the play upon those names; the roughness and harshness of the expressions; and many favorite phrases which, he, says, are foreign to ‘the genuine Isaiah.’ He supposes that it had its origin in the national animosity which subsisted between the Jews and the Moabites; and that it might have been composed on account of the tribute which had been witcheld, 896 b.c.; or on account of the corruption of the Moabites, 949 b.c.; or on the taking possession of the territory by Reuben and Gad. But this is evidently conjectural.

It is fair to presume that it is a production of Isaiah himself, unless it can be proved that he did not write it; and the argument from the style, to prove that it was written by some other person than Isaiah, does not seem to be sufficient. It may have been written by Isaiah at an early period of his life, and subsequently incorporated into his prophecies, and adapted by himself to a state of things existing in an advanced period of his prophetic life (see the note at Isaiah 16:14). Compare, however, the arguments of Gesenius in his Commentary, and in the “Bib. Rep.,” vol. vii. pp. 120, 121. It is certain that it was composed when the tribute was witcheld from Judah which was due from the Moabites (see Isaiah 16:1).

Section II - History of Moab

The land of Moab, so called from Moab the son of Lot, by his oldest daughter Genesis 19:31, was situated on the east side of the river Jordan, and adjacent to the Dead Sea, and on both sides of the river Arnon, although, strictly and properly speaking, the river Arnon was regarded as its northern boundary. Its capital city was on the river Arnon. The first residence of Lot, after fleeing from Sodom, was “Zoar” Genesis 19:30, on the southeast of the Dead Sea; from thence he removed into the mountainous region where his two sons were born Genesis 19:30. The country was originally occupied by race of giants called “Emim” Deuteronomy 2:10, whom the Moabites conquered and expelled. A considerable part of this country was subsequently conquered by Sihon, king of the Amorites, who made the Arnon the boundary of the land of Moab, and Heshbon his capital (Numbers 21:26; compare Numbers 21:13; Judges 11:18).

The Israelites passed by theft land in journeying to Canaan, without distressing or embarrassing them; because God had said that he had given ‘Ar to the children of Lot for a possession’ Deuteronomy 2:9. But the adjacent region in the possession of the Amorites, the Israelites took, after a signal victory, and gave to the tribes of Reuben and Gad Numbers 21:31. Thus the territory of the Jews, being bounded by the river Arnon, was adjacent to that of Moab. It is evident, however, though the Arnon was the proper boundary of Moab, yet that a considerable portion of country on the north of that river was usually regarded as lying in the land of Moab, though strictly within the limits of the territory formerly of the Amorites, and subsequently of the tribes of Reuben and Gad. Thus mount Nebo is said to be in the land of Moab Deuteronomy 32:49; Deuteronomy 34:1, though it was properly within the limits of the Amorites. And thus many of the places in the prophecy before us were on the north of that river, though specified as in the country of Moab. It is probable that the boundary was never regarded as permanently fixed, though the river Arnon was its natural and usual limit.

There was always a great antipathy between the Jews and the Moabites, and they were the natural and constant enemies of the Jewish nation. The foundation of the enmity was laid far back in their history. Balaam seduced the Israelites to sin by means of the daughters of Moab Numbers 25:1; and God ordered that this people should not enter into the congregation of his people, or be capable of office, to the tenth generation, because they had the inhumanity to refuse the children of Israel a passage through their land in their journey to Canaan Deuteronomy 23:3.

Eglon, king of the Moabites, was the first who oppressed Israel after the death of Joshua. Ehud killed him and subdued the Moabites Judges 3:21. Toward the end of this period, however, peace and friendship were restored, mutual honors were reciprocated, as the history of Ruth shows, and Moab appears to have been a place of refuge for outcasts and emigrant Hebrews Rth 1:1; 1 Samuel 22:3; Jeremiah 40:11; Isaiah 16:3. David subdued Moab and Ammon, and made them tributary 2 Samuel 8:2; 2 Samuel 23:20. The right to levy this tribute seems to have been transferred to Israel after the division of the kingdom, for after the death of Ahab, they refused to pay the customary tribute of 100,000 lambs and as many rams 2 Kings 1:1; 2 Kings 3:4; Isaiah 16:1. Soon after the death of Ahab they began to revolt 2 Kings 3:4. They were subsequently engaged in wars with the Jews. Amos (Amos 1:13 ff) denounced great calamities on them, which they probably suffered under Uzziah and Jotham, kings of Judah 2Ch 26:7-8; 2 Chronicles 27:5. Calmet supposes that they were carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar beyond the Euphrates, as the prophets had threatened Jeremiah 9:26; Jeremiah 12:14; Jeremiah 25:11; Jeremiah 48:47; Jeremiah 49:3, Jeremiah 49:6, Jeremiah 49:39; Jeremiah 50:16; and that they were restored by Cyrus to their land, as many other captive nations were. It is probable that, in the latter times, they were subject to the Asmonean kings, and finally to Herod the Great. (Robinson; Calmet.) It is remarkable that Jeremiah has introduced much of this chapter into his prophecy in his 48th chapter.

Section III - Comparison of Isaiah With Jeremiah

In order to see the resemblance between the two prophecies, I insert here a comparison of the corresponding parts, following the order of Isaiah.

Isaiah 15:2; Jeremiah 48:37. “every head bald ...”

Isaiah 15:3; Jeremiah 48:38. “everyone shall howl ...”

Isaiah 15:4; Jeremiah 48:34. “Heshbon shall cry ...”

Isaiah 15:5; Jeremiah 48:34; Jeremiah 48:3, Jeremiah 48:5. “from Zoar to Horonaim ...”

Isaiah 15:6; Jeremiah 48:34. “Nimrim shall be desolate.”

Isaiah 15:7; Jeremiah 48:36. “the riches ... is perished.”

(Isaiah 15:8; Isaiah 16:1, are missing in Jeremiah.)

Isaiah 16:6; Jeremiah 48:29. “the pride of Moab ...”

Isaiah 16:7; Jeremiah 48:31. “shall howl ... and mourn ...”

Isaiah 16:8; Jeremiah 48:32. “the weeping of Sibnah ...”

Isaiah 16:10; Jeremiah 48:33. “gladness is taken away ...”

Isaiah 16:11; Jeremiah 48:36. “my bowels shall sound ...”

Section IV - Moab After the Exile

After the exile, intimate connections took place between the Jews and the Moabites by marriages (Ezra 9:1 ff; Nehemiah 13:1). These marriages, however, were dissolved by Ezra as being, in his view, contrary to the law of Moses. In the time of the Maccabees little mention is made of them (compare Daniel 11:41); but Josephus mentions them in the history of Alexander Jannaeus. Heshbon and Nadaba, Lemba and Oronas, Gelithon and Zara, cities of Moab, are there mentioned as being at that time in the possession of the Jews (Jos. “Ant.” xiii. 15. 4). After that, their name is lost under that of the Arabians, as was also the case with Edom and Ammon. At the time of Abulfeda, Moab proper, south of the river Arnon, bore the name of Karrak, from the city of that name (compare the note at Isaiah 15:1); the territory north of the Arnon, the name of Belka, which includes also the country of the Amorites. Since that time the accounts of the country are exceedingly meagre, and it is only until quite recently that the state of Moab has attracted the attention of travelers.

It has been ranged and ravaged by the predatory tribes of Arabs, and, through fear of them, few travelers have ventured to visit it. In February and March, 1806, however, Mr. Seetsen, not without danger of losing his life, undertook a tour from Damascus down to the south of the Jordan and the Dead Sea, and thence to Jerusalem; and, in his journey, threw much unexpected light on the prophecy before us, especially in regard to the places mentioned here. He found a multitude of places, or the ruins of places, still bearing the old names, and thus has set bounds to the perfectly arbitrary designations of the old maps. In September 1812, that distinguished German traveler, I. L. Burckhardt, made the same tour from Damascus down to Karrak, from where he pursued his journey over Wady Mousa, or Petra, and thence to Cairo in Egypt. In 1818, a company of intelligent English travelers (Bankes, Irby, Mangles, and Legh), made a journey from Karrak to the land of the Edomites, particularly to Petra, and thence back, on the other side of the Jordan, to Tiberius. In some respects they confirmed, and, in others, extended the accounts of Seetsen (see Gesenius’ “Commentary”). In the notes at these chapters, I have endeavored to embody the principal information found in these writers on the topography of Moab.

Section V - Analysis of This Prophecy

‘The prophecy,’ says Prof. Stuart (“Bib. Rep.” vii. 110), ‘is a piece replete with vivid description, with animated and impassioned thought, with poetic diction, and with scenes which are adapted to make a deep impression on the mind of the reader.’ The prophecy in the two chapters contains the following parts:

I. The capitals of Moab are destroyed suddenly in one night Isaiah 15:1.

II. In the midst of the consternation, the people hasten to the high places, and to the altars and temples of the gods, to implore protection. They are seen in the streets with sackcloth, and on the tops of the houses, crying out with loud lamentations, and every expression of sorrow and despair Isaiah 15:2.

III. Some of the fugitives flee to Zoar for protection, and others to Luhith and Horonaim, hastening to countries beyond their own borders, because everything in their own land was withered and dried up Isaiah 15:5.

IV. Consternation and desolation are spread throughout the land, and even the streams are full of blood, and wild beasts are seen coming up upon the land Isaiah 15:8.

V. The prophet pities them, weeps with them Isaiah 15:5; Isaiah 16:1 :11, and advises them to seek the favor of Judah by sending to them the customary tribute which was due, and which had been for a long time witcheld Isaiah 16:1.

VI. Some of the fugitives are seen at the fords of Arnon endeavoring to escape to Judea, and making supplication for reception, and imploring blessings on the land Isaiah 16:2. But see the notes at Isaiah 16:2, for another view of the design of this passage. The view here given is that suggested by Gesenius and Prof, Stuart.

VII. They are repulsed, and the answer to their supplication is given in such a tone as to show the deep sense of the injury received from Moab which the Jewish people entertainedIsaiah 16:7.

VIII. The prophet then proceeds in his description of the utter wasting of the country of Moab - desolation which excited the deepest feelings in his heart, and so great as to move his most tender compassion Isaiah 16:8.

IX. Then follows a limitation of the time when all this would take place. Within three years all this would be fulfilled Isaiah 16:13.