Isaiah 15:5

My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction. MY HEART SHALL CRY OUT FOR MOAB. The prophet himself is moved with pity for Moab. Ministers, in denouncing the wrath of God against sinners, should do it with tender sorrow, not with exultation. HIS FUGITIVES (SHALL FLEE) UNTO ZOAR - fleeing from Moab, wander as far as to Zoar, on the extreme boundary south of the Dead Sea. Horsley translates, her nobility, or "rulers" (). AN HEIFER OF THREE YEARS OLD - i:e., raising their voices, 'like a heifer' (cf. ;...

5._My heart shall cry out for Moab. _At length he assumes the character of a mourner. But it may be thought to be strange and inconsistent in him to bewail the calamity of the Moabites; for he ought rather to have lamented the destruction of the Church, and to have rejoiced at the ruin of her enemies. It is customary with the prophets, however, to assume in this manner the character of those whose calamities they foretell, and thus to exhibit their condition, as it were, on a stage; by which means they produce a stronger impression than if they delivered their instruction in a direct form. Yet there can be no doubt that the prophets shuddered at the judgments of God, even against the wicked; though the meaning which I have stated is simpler and more appropriate, and may easily be inferred from frequent usage. _His fugitives to Zoar, _(242) _a heifer of three years old. _He calls them fug...

Verse 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 αυτη, _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_ uses _equa trima_, for a young mare just coming to her prime. _Bochart_ observes, from _Aristotle_, Hist. Animal. lib. iv. that in this kind of animals alone the voice of the female is deeper than that of the male; therefore the lowing of the heifer, rather than of the bullock,

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 account of their sufferings (see the note at Isaiah 21:3). It is worthy of remark, that the Septuagint reads this as if it were ‘“his” heart’ - referring to the Moabites, ‘the heart of Moab shall cry out.

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

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 themselves, everyone expressing their concern for the desolation of their country; and so the Targum, "the Moabites shall say in their hearts:'' HIS FUGITIVES [SHALL FLEE] UNTO ZOAR; a city where Lot fled to, when he came out of Sodom, to which it is thought the allusion is, see Genesis 19:20 the meaning seems to be, that those that escaped out of the above cit

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 ...

ZOAR. Now (probably) _Tell esh Shaghur._ not him that wandereth. Deuteronomy 34:3.Jeremiah 48:34. AN HEIFER. [flee] like an heifer , &c. Compare Jeremiah 48:34. MOUNTING UP. ascent. LUHITH. Now _Tel'at el Heith_. one mile west of Mount Nebo. Compare Jeremiah 48:5 HORONAIM. Not identified; probably _Wady Ghueir_....

(Jeremiah 48:34; Jeremiah 48:5; Jeremiah 48:3) The new theme is introduced by an expression of the writer's sympathy with the homeless fugitives: _My heart_ CRIETH _out for Moab_(cf. Isaiah 16:9; Isaiah 16:11). _his fugitives_ R.V. renders less suitably "her nobles." The word as pointed means "bolts," which is here taken as a symbol for princes. But it is better, with the Targum and nearly all modern commentators, to change the vowel, and translate "fugitives" as in...