6. For—the cause of their flight southwards (2 Kings 3:19; 2 Kings 3:25). "For" the northern regions and even the city Nimrim (the very name of which means "limpid waters," in Gilead near Jordan) are without water or herbage. read more
The Lord also expressed His grief over Moab’s coming judgment through the prophet (cf. Isaiah 21:3-4; Isaiah 22:4; Jeremiah 9:1). Isaiah took up God’s words in his own mouth and represented God’s thoughts and words by using the first person singular (cf. Isaiah 16:9). The Moabite refugees would move from place to place trying to find security. Their movement would be generally south, so the enemy may have descended from the north. The whole country would suffer devastation. Even though people... read more
1. Burden] see on Isaiah 13:1. Because.. night] RV ’For in a night.’ Ar of Moab] i.e. city of Moab. The capital (Numbers 22:36; Joshua 13:16) is doubtless meant. The places referred to in the chapter are in Moabite territory. Silence] RV ’nought.’ Kir] probably Kerak, a fortress on the Dead Sea. 2. He is gone, etc.] i.e. the Moabite people. Bajith] ’the house,’ i.e. the temple of the Moabite deity, Chemosh. Dibon] here the Moabite Stone, with inscription by king Mesha (2 Kings 3:4), was found... read more
Moab’s Calamity and the Way of EscapeThis section consists of two parts: (a) Isaiah 15:1;—Isaiah 16:12, a prophecy announcing that a great disaster is about to fall upon Moab, and (b) Isaiah 16:13-14, a short appendix in which Isaiah affirms the speedy fulfilment of the foregoing prophecy. The first part is not necessarily by Isaiah, and may have been uttered earlier than his time; much of it is also quoted by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 48:1-47). Cp. Isaiah 2:2-4, where there is reason to suppose that... read more
(6) The waters of Nimrim . . .—These also appear in Jeremiah 48:34. They were probably a reservoir from which the fields were irrigated so as to be conspicuous for their verdure Eusebius (Onomast.) places it north of Zoar. The name appears to survive in the Wady en Nemeirah on the south-eastern shore of the Dead Sea (De Saulcy, Voyage, i. 284; Tristram, Land of Israel, 340). Beth-Nimrah appears as the name of a town in Numbers 32:36). The desolation predicted was probably thought of as caused... read more
32CHAPTER XVIIISAIAH TO THE FOREIGN NATIONS736-702 B.C.Isaiah 14:24-32; Isaiah 15:1-9; Isaiah 16:1-14; Isaiah 17:1-14; Isaiah 18:1-7; Isaiah 19:1-25; Isaiah 20:1-6; Isaiah 21:1-17; Isaiah 23:1-18THE centre of the Book of Isaiah (chapters 13 to 23) is occupied by a number of long and short prophecies which are a fertile source of perplexity to the conscientious reader of the Bible. With the exhilaration of one who traverses plain roads and beholds vast prospects, he has passed through the... read more
CHAPTER 15 The Burden of Moab The Destruction Announced (Isaiah 15:1-9 ) read more
JUDGMENT ON GENTILE NATIONS This is a long lesson to read, but the study put upon it need not be proportioned to its length. There is a sameness in the chapters, and their contents are not unlike what we reviewed in the preceding lesson. Note the names of the nations and their contiguity to God’s chosen people. They have come in contact with their history again and again, which is why they are singled out for special mention. It will be well here to review what was said about these Gentile... read more
The Core of Prophecy Isaiah 15-16 The fifteenth and sixteenth chapters give "the burden of Moab;" then follow the burdens, or oracles, of Damascus, Ethiopia, and Egypt. We have thus to deal with a vision which looks out upon all directions with a judgment which permits nothing to escape its scrutiny and verdict. The principle of prophecy is the same throughout; for want of applying this doctrine many men have become lost in prophetic detail and colour which really have next to nothing to do... read more
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Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Isaiah 15:5-7
Isaiah 15:5-7. My heart shall cry out for Moab— Hitherto the prophet had set forth the lamentation of the Moabites; but seeing these future evils as it were present to his own mind, he compassionates their griefs, and declares his own participation of their sorrows: the meaning of the next clause is, "His fugitives wander even unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old;" that is to say, sending forth their cries by weeping and lamenting, like a heifer, &c." Three years old is mentioned only to... read more