7:33 the men of the other Nebo, 52;
15:2 They went up to the temple, 5
the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament. 6
Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba, 7 Moab wails.
Every head is shaved bare,
every beard is trimmed off. 8
48:1 The Lord God of Israel who rules over all 9 spoke about Moab. 10
“Sure to be judged is Nebo! Indeed, 11 it will be destroyed!
Kiriathaim 12 will suffer disgrace. It will be captured!
Its fortress 13 will suffer disgrace. It will be torn down! 14
1 tc Smr and the LXX have Sibmah. Cf. v. 38.
2 tn Cf. Baal-meon in v. 38.
3 sn Abarim. This refers to the high plateau region of the Transjordan, the highest elevation of which is Mount Pisgah (or Nebo; cf. Deut 34:1). See also the note on the name “Pisgah” in Deut 3:17.
4 map For the location of Jericho see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.
5 tn Heb “house.”
6 tn Heb “even Dibon [to] the high places to weep.” The verb “went up” does double duty in the parallel structure.
7 tn Heb “over [or “for”] Nebo and over [or “for”] Medeba.”
8 sn Shaving the head and beard were outward signs of mourning and grief.
9 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” For this title see 7:3 and the study note on 2:19.
10 sn Moab was a country east of the Dead Sea whose boundaries varied greatly over time. Basically, it was the tableland between the Arnon River about halfway up the Dead Sea and the Zered River which is roughly at the southern tip of the Dead Sea. When the Israelites entered Palestine they were forbidden to take any of the Moabite territory but they did capture the kingdom of Sihon north of the Arnon which Sihon had taken from Moab. Several of the towns mentioned in the oracles of judgment against Moab here are in this territory north of the Arnon and were assigned to Reuben and Gad. Several are mentioned on the famous Moabite Stone which details how Mesha king of Moab recovered from Israel many of these cities during the reign of Joram (852-841
11 tn Heb “Woe to Nebo for it is destroyed.” For the use of the Hebrew particle “Woe” (הוֹי, hoy) see the translator’s note on 22:13. The translation has taken this form because the phrase “Woe to” probably does not convey the proper meaning or significance to the modern reader. The verbs again are in the tense (Hebrew prophetic perfect) that views the action as if it were as good as done. The particle כִּי (ki) probably is causal but the asseverative works better in the modified translation.
12 sn Nebo and Kiriathaim were both north of the Arnon and were assigned to Reuben (Num 32:3, Josh 13:19). They are both mentioned on the Moabite Stone as having been recovered from Israel.
13 tn Or “Misgab.” The translation here follows the majority of commentaries and English versions. Only REB sees this as a place name, “Misgab,” which is otherwise unknown. The constant use of this word to refer to a fortress, the presence of the article on the front of it, and the lack of any reference to a place of this name anywhere else argues against it being a place name. However, the fact that the verbs that accompany it are feminine while the noun for “fortress” is masculine causes some pause.
14 tn For the meaning of the verb here see BDB 369 s.v. חָתַת Qal.1 and compare usage in Isa 7:8; 30:31.