Isaiah 15 Study Notes

15:1-16:14 The pronouncement against Moab is the second in a series of pronouncements against nations that were immediate neighbors of Israel. Moab was located in Transjordan opposite Jericho and on the east bank of the Dead Sea. The Bible and other sources (the Moabite Stone, for example) record a long history of conflict between Israel and Moab, whose origins go back to the incestuous union between Lot and his daughter (Gn 19:30-38). See Jr 48 for a similar pronouncement against Moab (also Ezk 25:8-11; Am 2:1-3).

15:1 Ar was a city on the wadi Arnon in the middle part of Moab, and Kir (the same place as Kir-hareseth, 16:7) was further south.

15:2 Nebo and Medeba were two northern Moabite sites east of the northern tip of the Dead Sea. Nebo was further known as the mountain that Moses ascended to catch sight of the promised land before he died (Dt 34:1). Dibon was further south about midway down the coast of the Dead Sea and some twenty miles inland. Its temple was dedicated to Chemosh, the main god of the Moabites. Shaving hair from the head and beard was an ancient mourning rite.

15:3 Sackcloth was a rough material, irritating to the skin and worn as part of mourning rites.

15:4 Heshbon and Elealeh were northeastern cities in Moab. Jahaz was further south parallel to Dibon.

15:5-9 The pronouncement in these verses describes the attempted escape route of those who survived the devastation of northern Moab.

15:5 While the location of some of these sites (Zoar, for instance) is debated, the fact that others (Eglath-shelishiyah and Horonaim) were in the south suggests that all the sites mentioned here were in the south. This implies that the destruction was in the northern part of Moab and the refugees fled south.

15:6 The Waters of Nimrim may be associated with the Wadi Numeira, continuing the naming of southern Moabite sites.

15:7 The Wadi of the Willows may be a reference to the Zered River, the Wadi el-Hesa, which separated Moab from Edom on the south.

15:8 The locations of Eglaim and Beer-elim are uncertain.

15:9 The Hebrew text says the “waters of Dimon,” but good textual evidence (as listed in the textual footnote in the CSB) leads to the change of Dimon to Dibon. The pronouncement reverts from the south to the midpoint of Moab, but this may be due to the fact that Dibon was the most important city. The point is that those who escaped the devastation of the attack would be eaten by lions.