Isaiah 15:3
in Isaiah 15In its streets they wear sackcloth; on the rooftops and in the public squares they all wail, falling down weeping.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
In their streets they gird themselves with sackcloth; on their housetops, and in their broad places, every one waileth, weeping abundantly.
KJV
In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly.
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This verse in Isaiah 15
Commentary
11 notes on this verseIn their streets they shall girt themselves with sackcloth,.... Instead of their fine clothes, with which they had used to deck themselves, being a very proud people; see Isa 16:6 this was usual in times of distress on any account, as well as a token of mourning for the dead; see Joe 1:
This site's exposition
Ar in Moab is ruined
on Isaiah 15:1-3
The Moab burden opens with two capitals, Ar and Kir, each "destroyed in a night," struck by surprise instead of a siege. Dibon goes up to weep at its high places, the shrines of Moab's god Chemosh. Shaved heads, cut beards and sackcloth are the Near Eastern gestures of mourning.
This site's exposition
In its streets they wear sackcloth
Gill notes that proud Moab trades fine clothes for sackcloth in its streets, and points to Moab's pride in 16:6. The rooftops were flat places of prayer. Falling down weeping is rendered by some as melting away in tears.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
(Version 3.) In the crossroads of it, they are girded with sacks; over its roofs, and in its streets, all wailing will descend into weeping. Private tears will not exist, public mourning will echo with public laments; neither married women, nor young maidens, nor the small age of children, nor the faltering steps of the elderly will be held back in their houses, extreme captivity will not know shame and weakness.
A commentator
Verecundus of JuncaCOMMENTARY ON THE CANTICLE OF HABAKKUK 6:12 · Written before 552.
proposed
Indeed, it is not inappropriate that the author of the abyss, the devil, should be identified with the abyss, as he is also called death, being the head of death: "Where, O death, is your sting?" And the voice of death or the abyss groans …
(Verse 3) In their crossroads, that is, the byways of errors, while each one fabricates according to his own will, he is equipped with the sack of penance, and over the roofs and tamed places, in which they first believed themselves to be lofty; and in the streets (because they do not enter by the narrow way, which leads to life, but by the broad way, which leads to death) there will be wailing. And they shall by no means ascend into pride, but descend into weeping.
The Medieval Church1 voice
436. Third, he excludes any limit to their weeping, both as to diversity of place: for every, that is, in every manner, howling, shall be, on the tops of their houses, which had level places for sitting, and in their streets shall come down weeping, …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Prayer to the true God is heart's ease ( 1 Sam. i. 18 ), but prayers to false gods are not. Divers places are here named that should be full of lamentation (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
In their streets - Publicly. Everywhere there shall be lamentation and grief. Some shall go into the streets, and some on the tops of the houses. They shall gird themselves with sackcloth - The common token of mourning; and also worn usually in times of humiliation and fasting. It was one of the outward acts by which they expressed deep sorrow (Gen 37:34; 2Sa 3:31; 1Ki 21:27; 2Ki 19:1; Job 16:15; the note at Isa 3:24).
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
tops of . . . houses--flat; places of resort for prayer, &c., in the East (Ac 10:9). weeping abundantly--"melting away in tears." HORSLEY prefers "descending to weep." Thus there is a "parallelism by alternate construction" [LOWTH], or chiasmus; "howl" refers to "tops of houses." "Descending to weep" to "streets" or squares, whither they descend from the housetops.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
With sackcloth - שק sak. The word is in the plural שקים sakkim, sacks, in one of De Rossi’s MSS.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
They went up to the temple, and Dibon Moab went up to the temple, and the people of Dibon to the high places.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
because the armed men of Moab shall cry in alarm Since the armed men of Moab shall cry out towards the battle, and the soul of Moab shall cry out for itself, like one mourning for himself.
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
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּחוּצֹתָ֖יו | bechutzotav | in streets its | H2351 → | 164 times |
| חָ֣גְרוּ | chageru | they have girded on | H2296 → | 44 times |
| שָׂ֑ק | sak | sackcloth | H8242 → | 49 times |
| עַ֣ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| גַּגּוֹתֶ֧יהָ | gagoteiha | roofs its | H1406 → | 30 times |
| וּבִרְחֹבֹתֶ֛יהָ | uvirchoteiha | and in open places its | H7339 → | |
| כֻּלֹּ֥ה | kuloh | all of it | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יְיֵלִ֖יל | yeyelil | it is wailing | H3213 → | 30 times |
| יֹרֵ֥ד | yored | going down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| בַּבֶּֽכִי׃ | babekhi | in <the> weeping | H1065 → | 30 times |
בְּחוּצֹתָ֖יוin streets its
bechutzotavH2351 →164 times
חָ֣גְרוּthey have girded on
chageruH2296 →44 times
שָׂ֑קsackcloth
sakH8242 →49 times
עַ֣לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
גַּגּוֹתֶ֧יהָroofs its
gagoteihaH1406 →30 times
וּבִרְחֹבֹתֶ֛יהָand in open places its
uvirchoteihaH7339 →
כֻּלֹּ֥הall of it
kulohH3605 →5413 times
יְיֵלִ֖ילit is wailing
yeyelilH3213 →30 times
יֹרֵ֥דgoing down
yoredH3381 →381 times
בַּבֶּֽכִי׃in <the> weeping
babekhiH1065 →30 times
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
Matthew 11:21“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 3:6–7
not to the many peoples of unfamiliar speech and difficult language whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you.
- Matthew 15:21
Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
- Ezekiel 3:6–7
Through
Jeremiah 19:13The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like that place, Topheth—all the houses on whose rooftops they burned incense to all the host of heaven and…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 23:12
He pulled down the altars that the kings of Judah had set up on the roof near the upper chamber of Ahaz, and the altars that Manasseh had set up in the two courtyards…
- Jeremiah 32:29
And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come in, set it on fire, and burn it, along with the houses of those who provoked Me to anger by burning incense to…
- Jeremiah 7:18
The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven; they pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me…
- Zephaniah 1:5
those who bow on the rooftops to worship the host of heaven, those who bow down and swear by the LORD but also swear by Milcom,
- 2 Kings 23:12
Through
Isaiah 22:1This is the burden against the Valley of Vision: What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the rooftops,
it leads to
- Jeremiah 21:13
Behold, I am against you who dwell above the valley, atop the rocky plateau—declares the LORD—you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our dwellings?”
- Jeremiah 21:13
Through
2 Kings 6:30When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes. And as he passed by on the wall, the people saw the sackcloth under his clothes next to his skin.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 21:27
When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He lay down in sackcloth and walked around meekly.
- 1 Kings 21:27
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 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; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah and Verecundus of Junca, COMMENTARY ON THE CANTICLE OF HABAKKUK 6:12.