Isaiah 15:5, Isaiah 15:6

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 15:1-5

The country of Moab was of small extent, but very fruitful. It bordered upon the lot of Reuben on the other side Jordan and upon the Dead Sea. Naomi went to sojourn there when there was a famine in Canaan. This is the country which (it is here foretold) should be wasted and grievously harassed, not quite ruined, for we find another prophecy of its ruin (Jer. 48:1-47), which was accomplished by Nebuchadnezzar. This prophecy here was to be fulfilled within three years (Isa. 16:14), and therefore... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 15:5

My heart shall cry out for Moab ,.... These seem to be the words of the prophet, pitying them as they were fellow creatures, though enemies; which shows humanity in him, and signifies that their calamities were very great, that a stranger should be concerned for them, and such to whom they had been troublesome; so Jarchi understands it, who observes the difference between the true and false prophet, particularly between Isaiah and Balaam; but others, as Kimchi, interpret it of the Moabites... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 15:5

My heart shall cry out for Moab "The heart of Moab crieth within her" - For לבי libbi , my heart, the Septuagint reads לבו libbo , his heart, or לב leb ; the Chaldee, לבו libbo . For בריחיה bericheyha , the Syriac reads ברוחה berocheh ; and so likewise the Septuagint, rendering it εν αυτῃ , Edit. Vat: or εν ἑαυτῃ , 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... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 15:1-9

THE BURDEN OF MOAB . The present chapter and the next are very closely connected, and may be regarded as together constituting "the burden of Moab." It has been argued on critical grounds that the bulk of the prophecy is quoted by Isaiah from an earlier writer, and that he has merely modified the wording and added a few touches here and there (so Gesenius, Rosenmüller, Hitzig, Maurer, Ewald, Knobel, and Cheyne). Jeremiah is thought to have also based his "judgment of Moab" ( ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 15:1-9

Oracle concerning Moab. I. HISTORY or Moan. Zoar was the cradle of the race, the house of the tribal father Lot. While the brother-tribe of Ammon wandered to the pastures of the northeast, Moab remained nearer the original seat. They were confined to a narrower district by the invasion of the Amorites ( Numbers 21:26-30 ; Deuteronomy 2:10 , Deuteronomy 2:11 ). Their long feud with the tribe of Benjamin lasted to the time of Saul. But in the Book of Ruth we have a pleasant glimpse... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 15:5

My heart shall cry out for Moab (comp. Isaiah 16:9 , Isaiah 16:11 ). The prophet sympathizes with the sufferings of Moab, as a kindred people ( Genesis 19:37 ), and perhaps as having, in the person of Ruth, furnished an ancestress to the Messiah ( Matthew 1:5 ). His fugitives ; literally, her fugitives . The country is here personified, instead of the people , the former being feminine, the latter masculine. Shall flee unto Zoar . Zoar, the "little" town, spared for... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 15:5

Denunciations of God's wrath upon sinners compatible with the deepest pity for them. It is sometimes assumed that those who exert themselves earnestly to set before men the severer aspects of religion, who, like Paul before Felix, "reason of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come " ( Acts 24:25 ), must be persons of harsh, stern, and pitiless tempers, devoid of the gentler feelings, or at any rate without keen sympathy with their fellow-men. The advocates of universal... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 15:5

My heart shall cry out for Moab - This is expressive of deep compassion; and is proof that, in the view of the prophet, the calamities which were coming upon it were exceedingly heavy. The same sentiment is expressed more fully in Isaiah 16:11; see also Jeremiah 48:36 : ‘My heart shall sound for Moab like pipes.’ The phrase denotes great inward pain and anguish in view of the calamities of others; and is an expression of the fact that we feel ourselves oppressed and borne down by sympathy on... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Isaiah 15:5

Isaiah 15:5. My heart shall cry out for Moab “Hitherto the prophet had set forth the lamentations 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.” His fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, &c. The meaning of this clause is thought to be, His fugitives shall cry, so as they may be heard unto Zoar; or, shall wander and cry as they go along the way, even till they come to... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Isaiah 15:1-9

Devastation in Moab (15:1-16:14)The place names mentioned in these two chapters indicate that the attack on Moab comes from the north, most likely from Assyria. The attack is swift and ruthless, and towns fall in a night. Wherever a person looks, there is mourning (15:1-4). Even Isaiah weeps as he sees the people fleeing pitifully, rushing along the streets, across the streams and over the fields that have been damaged by the invading armies. They take with them whatever precious possessions... read more

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