Jeremiah 48:7

48:7 “Moab, you trust in the things you do and in your riches.

So you too will be conquered.

Your god Chemosh ¹  will go into exile ² 

along with his priests and his officials.

Numbers 22:40-41

22:40 And Balak sacrificed bulls and sheep, and sent some ³  to Balaam, and to the princes who were with him. 22:41 Then on the next morning Balak took Balaam, and brought him up to Bamoth Baal. ⁴  From there he saw the extent of the nation.

Numbers 28:14

28:14 For their drink offerings, include ⁵  half a hin of wine with each bull, one-third of a hin for the ram, and one-fourth of a hin for each lamb. This is the burnt offering for each month ⁶  throughout the months of the year.

Numbers 28:28-30

28:28 with their grain offering of finely ground flour mixed with olive oil: three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths for the one ram, 28:29 with one-tenth for each of the seven lambs, 28:30 as well as one male goat to make an atonement for you.

Isaiah 15:2

15:2 They went up to the temple, ⁷ 

the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament. ⁸ 

Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba, ⁹  Moab wails.

Every head is shaved bare,

every beard is trimmed off. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 16:12

16:12 When the Moabites plead with all their might at their high places, ¹¹ 

and enter their temples to pray, their prayers will be ineffective! ¹² 

¹ sn Chemosh was the national god of Moab (see also Numb 21:29). Child sacrifice appears to have been a part of his worship (2 Kgs 3:27). Solomon built a high place in Jerusalem for him (1 Kgs 11:7), and he appears to have been worshiped in Israel until Josiah tore that high place down (2 Kgs 23:13).

² sn The practice of carrying off the gods of captive nations has already been mentioned in the study note on 43:12. See also Isa 46:1-2 noted there.

³ sn The understanding is that Balak was making a sacrifice for a covenant relationship, and so he gave some of the meat to the men and to the seer.

⁴ sn The name Bamoth Baal means “the high places of Baal.”

⁵ tn The word “include” is not in the Hebrew text but is implied. It is supplied in the translation to make a complete English sentence.

⁶ tn Heb “a month in its month.”

⁷ tn Heb “house.”

⁸ tn Heb “even Dibon [to] the high places to weep.” The verb “went up” does double duty in the parallel structure.

⁹ tn Heb “over [or “for”] Nebo and over [or “for”] Medeba.”

¹⁰ sn Shaving the head and beard were outward signs of mourning and grief.

¹¹ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

¹² tn Heb “when he appears, when he grows tired, Moab on the high places, and enters his temple to pray, he will not prevail.” It is possible that “when he grows tired” is an explanatory gloss for the preceding “when he appears.”