1358 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Isaiah 15 This chapter is a prophecy of the destruction of the Moabites; two of their principal cities are mentioned as made desolate, Isaiah 15:1 the inhabitants in divers places are represented as weeping and mourning, and showing various signs of it, Isaiah 15:2 yea, not only the common people, but the armed soldiers also,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The burden of Moab,.... A heavy, grievous prophecy, concerning the destruction of Moab. The Targum is, "the burden of the cup of cursing, to give Moab to drink.'' This seems to respect the destruction of it by Nebuchadnezzar, which is prophesied of in Jeremiah 48:1 for that which was to be within three years, Isaiah 16:14 looks like another and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He is gone up to Bajith,.... That is, Moab; the king or people of Moab, particularly the inhabitants of the above cities. Bajith signifies house; and here a house of idolatry, as Kimchi interprets it; it was an idol's temple, very likely the temple of their god Chemosh, the same which is called Bethbaalmeon, Joshua 13:17 "the house of Baal's...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
In 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 Isaiah 16:6 this was usual in times of distress on any account, as well as a token of mourning for the dead; see Joe 1:8. The word for "streets" might be rendered "villages", as...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate,.... Or dried up, through a great drought that should come upon the land at this time; or being defiled with the blood of the slain, as Jarchi: it may denote the well watered pastures about Nimrim, that should become the forage of the enemy, and be trodden under foot by its army, or be forsaken by the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up,.... The great substance which the Moabites had got, and hoarded up: shall they carry away to the brook of the willows; either the Moabites should carry their substance to some brook, it may be near Nimrim, where many willows grew, and cast it into the brook, or lay it by...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For the cry is gone found about the borders of Moab,.... The cry of destruction and howling because of it; the places mentioned, as is observed by some, being upon the borders of the land. Heshbon was on the north east, Elealeh on the north west, Jahaz on the south west, Horonaim further west, Zoar the utmost west, and the places following seem to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood,.... Of the slain, as the Targum adds. This was a river in the land of Moab, as say Jarchi and Kimchi; it had its name from the blood of the slain, Some take it to be the name of a city, and the same with Dibon, Isaiah 15:2 but, because of the abundance of blood shed in it, got this new name; and the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Isaiah 16 This chapter is a continuation of the prophecy against Moab; in which the prophet gives good advice, but in case of a haughty neglect of it, which he foresaw, threatens with ruin, and fixes a time for it. He advises the Moabites to pay their tribute to the king of Judah, or otherwise they should be turned out of their...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land,.... Or tribute, as the Targum rightly interprets it. The Moabites, being conquered by David, paid tribute to him, 2 Samuel 8:2 and when the kingdom was divided in Rehoboam's time, the tribute was paid to the kings of Israel, which continued till the times of Ahab, when the Moabites rebelled, and refused...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For it shall be,.... Or, "otherwise it shall be" (z); if ye do not pay this tribute: [that] as a wandering bird cast out of the nest: or, "as a wandering bird, the nest sent out": that is, as a bird that has forsaken its nest, and wanders about, and its young ones are turned out of the nest, scarcely fledged, and unable to shift for themselves,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Take counsel, execute judgment,.... This refers either to what goes before, that they would take the counsel given, and do that which was just and right, by paying tribute to the king of Judah; or to what follows, that they would enter into a consultation, the king of Moab with his nobles, and resolve upon what was right, and do it, by protecting...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Let mine outcasts dwell with thee,.... Not whom God had cast out, but who were the Lord's people, and whom he owns as such, though cast out by the enemy, or obliged to flee, and quit their country; let these be sojourners in thy land; let them continue awhile there; let them dwell privately and peaceably: Moab, be thou a covert to them from the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And in mercy shall the throne be established,.... That is, the throne of Hezekiah, and his government over Judah, which was more firmly settled and established after the overthrow of the Assyrian army, through the mercy of God vouchsafed to him, and on account of the mercy he exercised among his subjects, see Proverbs 20:28. Hezekiah was a type of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
We have heard of the pride of Moab,.... These are the words of the prophet, either in the name of the Lord, or in the person of the Jews, or of other nations, who had heard very frequently, and from many persons, and from every quarter, of the excessive pride of this people, and had many instances of it related to them, which foretold their ruin;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab,.... One Moabite shall mourn for another; the living for the dead; or one part of the country for another; or to Moab, they shall howl in turns, answering to one another: everyone shall howl: every Moabite, or the whole country of Moab shall howl, being everywhere desolate: for the foundations of Kirhareseth...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For the fields of Heshbon languish,.... Through drought; or because of the forage of the enemy, and their treading upon them; or because there were no men left to till and manure them. Of Heshbon [See comments on Isaiah 15:4]. It seems to have been a place famous for fields and pastures, and to have been a very fruitful and well watered place;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah,.... That is, bewail the one, as he had done the other, both places with the fruits about them being destroyed by the enemy; or "therefore with weeping I will bewail" (most vehemently lament, an usual Hebraism) "Jazer", and "the vine of Sibmah": the prophet here represents the...