Isaiah 15:4

And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh: their voice shall be heard even unto Jahaz: therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his life shall be grievous unto him. HESHBON - an Amorite city, 20 miles east of Jordan; taken by Moab, after the carrying away of Israel, (cf. Jer 48.) ELEALEH - near Heshbon, in Reuben. JAHAZ - east of Jordan, in Reuben. Near it Moses defeated Sihon. THEREFORE - because of the sudden overthrow of their cities. THE ARMED SOLDIERS OF MOAB SHALL CRY OUT - even the armed men, instead of fighting in defense of their land, shall join in the general cry. HIS LIFE SHALL BE GRIEVOUS UNTO HIM - rather, 'his soul is grieved' () (Maurer). Compare with the English version,...

4._And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh. _Here he names other cities; for his design is to bind up, as it were, in a bundle all the cities of that country, that they may be involved in the general destruction; as if he had said, that none at all shall be exempted. _Therefore the light-armed soldiers of Moab shall howl_. Though על כן (_gnal ken_) literally signifies _therefore_, yet some think that a reason is not here assigned; but that is of little importance. The Prophet shows that there will be none that does not _howl_; for he declares that the bold and courageous shall mourn. Next he adds, _the soul of every one shall howl to him. _(241) Every one shall be so engrossed with his own grief, that he will not think of his neighbors....

Verse Isaiah 15:4. _THE ARMED SOLDIERS _- "The very loins"] So the _Septuagint_, ἡ οσφυς, and the _Syriac_. They cry out violently, with their utmost force....

AND HESHBON SHALL CRY - This was a celebrated city of the Amorites, twenty miles east of the Jordan Joshua 13:17. It was formerly conquered from the Moabiltes by Sihon, and became his capital, and was taken by the Israelites a little before the death of Moses Numbers 21:25. After the carrying away of the ten tribes it was recovered by the Moabites. Jeremiah Jeremiah 48:2 calls it ‘the pride of Moab.’ The town still subsists under the same name, and is described by Burckhardt. He says, it is situated on a hill, southwest from El Aal (Elealeh). ‘Here are the ruins of an ancient town, together with the remains of some edifices built with small stones; a few broken shafts of columns are still sta

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 15:1 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" (Jeremiah 48:1.) on the same early writing. But speculations of this kind are in the highest degree uncertain, and moreover lead to no results of the slightest importance. It is best, therefore, to regard Is

AND HESHBON SHALL CRY, AND ELEALEH,.... Two other cities in the land of Moab. The first of these was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who took it from the Moabites, Numbers 21:25 it came into the hands of the Reubenites, Numbers 32:3 and afterwards was again possessed by the Moabites, Jeremiah 48:2. Josephus t calls it Essebon, and mentions it among the cities of Moab; it goes by the name of Esbuta in Ptolemy u; and is called Esbus by Jerom w, who says it was a famous city of Arabia in his time, in the mountains over against Jericho, twenty miles distant from Jordan; hence we read of the Arabian Esbonites in Pliny x. Elealeh was another city of Moab, very near to Heshbon and frequently mentioned with it,...

CHAPTER 15 The Burden of Moab _ The Destruction Announced (Isaiah 15:1)_...

THE OVERTHROW OF MOAB. A sudden catastrophe has overwhelmed Ar (Numbers 21:15 *) and Kir in one night. The daughter (read _bath_ for Bayith; _cf_. Jeremiah 48:18) of Dibon (Numbers 21:30 *) has gone up to the high places to lament; everywhere are signs of mourning. The cry of distress is heard from Heshbon (Numbers 21:25 *) and Elealeh (Numbers 32:37 *) in Jahaz (Numbers 21:23 *). The fugitives (_mg._) flee to Zoar ...

HESHBON. Now _Heshoan._ The capital of the Amorites. Rebuilt by Reuben (Numbers 32:37). CRY. cry in pain. ELEALEH. Nowel' Al, near Heshbon. Compare Isaiah 16:9; Numbers 32:3; Numbers 32:37; Jeremiah 48:34. JAHAZ. Not identified. Numbers 21:23.Deuteronomy 2:32.

The wailing of Moab....