Isaiah 15:2
in Isaiah 15Dibon goes up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails over Nebo, as well as over Medeba. Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They are gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep: Moab waileth over Nebo, and over Medeba; on all their heads is baldness, every beard is cut off.
KJV
He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off.
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This verse in Isaiah 15
Commentary
11 notes on this verse(Vers. 2.) The house ascends, and Dibon ascends to the heights in lamentation over Nabo, and over Medaba Moab will howl. Do not be troubled that I am proceeding along the path of history, for you yourself desired that I do so. It is understood, however, that the royal house and the city of Dibon ascend to the idols that are placed on the heights: over Nabo and over Medaba, distinguished cities, the entire province will wail. For in Nabo there was consecrated the idol Chamos, which is called by another name Beelphegor.
This site's exposition
Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste
on Isaiah 15:1-3
Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste opens the Moab burden with two capitals named together, Ar on the Arnon and Kir, both struck by surprise in a single night rather than by a prolonged siege. Moab's flight to Bajith and Dibon, the high places, is a flight toward the very shrines where Moab's god Chemosh was worshipped, weeping carried to the places that were supposed to protect the nation. Baldness, cut beards and sackcloth on every housetop and street are the standard Near Eastern gestures of mourning, the whole nation performing grief in public at once.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Verse 2) Therefore, since every teaching contrary to the truth, which is born without the inspiration of God from human understanding in the darkness of error, has been laid waste by the night, and its arguments, which are understood as walls, have been destroyed by the words of Ecclesiastes; so that they fall into eternal silence, to such an extent that their entire faction turns to repentance and tears, over Nabo, that is, over prophecy and authority, that is, over their leaders, and over Medaba, where there are no fruitful trees, but barren thickets, in which beasts dwell, as it is written in the twenty-eighth psalm: And he will reveal the hidden things of the forest: there will be wailing and lamentation, and all the ornaments of eloquence will be taken away from their heads, so that they remain naked and deformed. And if anything seemed to have masculinity in a beard, when shaved by a Ecclesiastical man, it is considered effeminate and weak.
(Ver. 2.) The house ascends, and Dimon goes up to the high places to mourn. LXX: Be sad for yourselves, for Dimon will perish, where the altar is; there you shall go up to lament. The whole house of adversarial wisdom, and Dibon, which means their downfall, ascends to the high places, where it had pridefully exalted itself: not to offer sacrifices, but to mourn for the sins it had committed before. And truly, falsehood passes like a river, and flows by, and can never stay in a stable dwelling. But the word of God, which is compacted, is stable. And so the manna, which appears like ice upon the face of the earth, does not overflow, but remains. Furthermore, according to the Septuagint, the Moabites are commanded to mourn and lament, not for others, for this is the privilege of the perfected ones over themselves, because even their Dibon, that is, their composed word, which flowed like a torrent, will perish: in which they had as it were an altar of their consecration, and all secular riches. And in the psalm it is said: If riches abound, do not set your heart upon them. But the beginning of salvation is to understand one's own sins and to weep over them.
The Medieval Church1 voice
434. The house is gone up. Here he shows the magnitude of their punishment from the magnitude of their weeping, and he sets out three things. First, he foretells their weeping, both as to those who weep: the house, namely, the royal house, and Dibon, …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
To weep - To offer their supplications with tears to their idols for help. Medeba - Two considerable cities, anciently belonging to the Moabites. Beard - The hair of their heads and beards was shaved, as was usual in great mournings.
): He (that is, Moab, especially the king of Moab) has gone up to Bajith (or rather to the house or temple of Chemosh), and Dibon, the inhabitants of Dibon, have gone up to the high places, where they worshipped their idols, there to make their complaints.
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4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He is gone up to Bajith,.... That is, Moab; the king or people of Moab, particularly the inhabitants of the above cities.
The Moabites shall lament the loss of Nebo and Medeba, two considerable cities, which, it is likely, were plundered and burnt. They shall tear their hair for grief to such a degree that on all their heads shall be baldness, and they shall cut off their beards, according to the customary expressions of mourning in those times and countries.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
He is gone to Bajith, and to Dibon - עלה הבית alah habbayith, should be rendered, he is gone to the House, i.e., to their chief temple, where they practiced idolatry. Dibon was the name of a tower where also was an idolatrous temple; thither they went to weep and pray before their idols, that they might interpose and save them from their calamities. So R. D. Kimchi.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He is gone up - That is, the inhabitants of Moab in consternation have fled from their ruined cities, and have gone up to other places to weep. To Bajith, and to Dibon - Lowth supposes that these two words should be joined together, and that one place is denoted. The Chaldee renders it, ‘Ascend into the houses of Dibon.’ Kimchi supposes that the word (בית bayith) denotes a temple. It usually means “house,” and hence, may mean a temple of the gods; that is, the principal “house” in the land. This interpretation is adopted by Gesenius and Noyes. Vitringa supposes it to mean Beth-Meon Jer 48:24, or Beth-Baal-Meon Jos 13:17, north of the Arnon, now “Macin.” I have adopted the translation proposed by Kimchi as better expressing the sense in my view than that which makes it a proper name. Dibon, perhaps the same place as Dimon in Isa 15:9, was a city given by Moses to Gad, and afterward yielded to Reuben Num 32:3, Num 32:33-34; Jos 13:9. It was again occupied by the Moabites Jer 48:18, Jer 48:2. Eusebius says it was a large town on the north of the river Arnon. Seetsen found there ruins under the name of Diban in a magnificent plain. Hence, “Dibon” is here appropriately described as “going up” from a plain to weep; and the passage may be rendered, ‘Dibon is weeping upon the high places.’ To weep - Over the sudden desolation which has come upon the principal cities. Moab shall howl over Nebo - Nebo was one of the mountains on the east of the Jordan. It was so high that from it an extended view could be taken of the land of Canaan opposite. It was distinguished as being the place where Moses died Deu 32:49; Deu 34:1. The meaning of this is, that on mount Nebo, Moab should lift up the voice of wailing. Jerome says that the idol Chamos, the principal idol of Moab, was on mount Nebo, and that this was the place of its worship. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
They went up to the temple, and Dibon Moab went up to the temple, and the people of Dibon to the high places.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The harsh prophecy concerning Moab Isaiah prophesied that Sennacherib would come upon Moab and exile them, as it is said (infra:14): “In three years, like the years of a hireling, shall the glory of Moab be debased.”
The Burden Of The Cup Of Cursing To Give Moab To Drink. Because in the night Leheyath Moab is destroyed, and they were asleep. Yea, in the night the fortified city of Moab was subdued, and they were in deep slumber.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עָלָ֨ה | ʾalah | it has gone up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| הַבַּ֧יִת | habayit | the house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| וְדִיבֹ֛ן | vedivon | and Dibon | H1769 → | |
| הַבָּמ֖וֹת | habamot | the high places | H1116 → | 102 times |
| לְבֶ֑כִי | levekhi | for weeping | H1065 → | 30 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| נְב֞וֹ | nevo | Nebo | H5015 → | |
| וְעַ֤ל | veal | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מֵֽידְבָא֙ | meideva' | Medeba | H4311 → | |
| מוֹאָ֣ב | moav | Moab | H4124 → | 181 times |
| יְיֵלִ֔יל | yeyelil | it is wailing | H3213 → | 30 times |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | [is] on all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| רֹאשָׁ֣יו | roshav | heads its | H7218 → | 599 times |
| קָרְחָ֔ה | karechah | baldness | H7144 → | 11 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| זָקָ֖ן | zakan | beard | H2206 → | |
| גְּרוּעָֽה׃ | geruah | [is] diminished | H1639 → |
עָלָ֨הit has gone up
ʾalahH5927 →890 times
הַבַּ֧יִתthe house
habayitH1004 →2046 times
וְדִיבֹ֛ןand Dibon
vedivonH1769 →
הַבָּמ֖וֹתthe high places
habamotH1116 →102 times
לְבֶ֑כִיfor weeping
levekhiH1065 →30 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
נְב֞וֹNebo
nevoH5015 →
וְעַ֤לand on
vealH5921 →5755 times
מֵֽידְבָא֙Medeba
meideva'H4311 →
מוֹאָ֣בMoab
moavH4124 →181 times
יְיֵלִ֔ילit is wailing
yeyelilH3213 →30 times
בְּכָל־[is] on all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
רֹאשָׁ֣יוheads its
roshavH7218 →599 times
קָרְחָ֔הbaldness
karechahH7144 →11 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
זָקָ֖ןbeard
zakanH2206 →
גְּרוּעָֽה׃[is] diminished
geruahH1639 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 3:24Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of styled hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, shame.
it leads to
- Isaiah 22:12
On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 27:31
They will shave their heads for you and wrap themselves in sackcloth. They will weep over you with anguish of soul and bitter mourning.
- Lamentations 2:10
The elders of the Daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence. They have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to…
- Isaiah 15:3
In its streets they wear sackcloth; on the rooftops and in the public squares they all wail, falling down weeping.
- Micah 1:16
Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair in mourning for your precious children; make yourselves as bald as an eagle, for they will go from you into exile.
- Isaiah 22:12
Through
Leviticus 21:5Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 14:1
You are sons of the LORD your God; do not cut yourselves or shave your foreheads on behalf of the dead,
- Ezekiel 44:20
They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but must carefully trim their hair.
- Deuteronomy 14:1
Through
Jeremiah 48:18Come down from your glory; sit on parched ground, O daughter dwelling in Dibon, for the destroyer of Moab has come against you; he has destroyed your fortresses.
it leads to
- Isaiah 47:1
“Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of Chaldea! For you will no longer be called tender or delicate.
- Isaiah 47:1
About Isaiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.