15:8 Indeed, the cries of distress echo throughout Moabite territory;
their wailing can be heard in Eglaim and Beer Elim. 1
16:2 At the fords of the Arnon 2
the Moabite women are like a bird
that flies about when forced from its nest. 3
16:6 We have heard about Moab’s pride,
their great arrogance,
their boasting, pride, and excess. 4
But their boastful claims are empty! 5
16:7 So Moab wails over its demise 6 –
they all wail!
Completely devastated, they moan
about what has happened to the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth. 7
1 tn Heb “to Eglaim [is] her wailing, and [to] Beer Elim [is] her wailing.”
2 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
3 tn Heb “like a bird fleeing, thrust away [from] a nest, the daughters of Moab are [at] the fords of Arnon.”
3 tn עֶבְרָה (’evrah) often means “anger, fury,” but here it appears to refer to boastful outbursts or excessive claims. See HALOT 782 s.v. עֶבְרָה.
4 tn Heb “not so his boasting.”
4 tn Heb “So Moab wails for Moab.”
5 tn The Hebrew text has, “for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth you [masculine plural] moan, surely destroyed.” The “raisin cakes” could have cultic significance (see Hos 3:1), but the next verse focuses on agricultural disaster, so here the raisin cakes are mentioned as an example of the fine foods that are no longer available (see 2 Sam 6:19; Song 2:5) because the vines have been destroyed by the invader (see v. 8). Some prefer to take אֲשִׁישֵׁי (’ashishe, “raisin cakes of”) as “men of” (see HALOT 95 s.v. *אָשִׁישׁ; cf. NIV). The verb form תֶהְגּוּ (tehgu, “you moan”) is probably the result of dittography (note that the preceding word ends in tav [ת]) and should be emended to הגו (a perfect, third plural form), “they moan.”