Discovery BoxIsaiah 15:1-4
Context15:1 Here is a message about Moab:
Indeed, in a night it is devastated,
Ar of Moab is destroyed!
Indeed, in a night it is devastated,
Kir of Moab is destroyed!
15:2 They went up to the temple, 1
the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament. 2
Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba, 3 Moab wails.
Every head is shaved bare,
every beard is trimmed off. 4
15:3 In their streets they wear sackcloth;
on their roofs and in their town squares
all of them wail,
they fall down weeping.
15:4 The people of 5 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out,
their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz.
For this reason Moab’s soldiers shout in distress;
their courage wavers. 6
[15:2] 2 tn Heb “even Dibon [to] the high places to weep.” The verb “went up” does double duty in the parallel structure.
[15:2] 3 tn Heb “over [or “for”] Nebo and over [or “for”] Medeba.”
[15:2] 4 sn Shaving the head and beard were outward signs of mourning and grief.
[15:4] 5 tn The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[15:4] 6 tc The Hebrew text has, “For this reason the soldiers of Moab shout, his inner being quivers for him.” To achieve tighter parallelism, some emend the first line, changing חֲלֻצֵי (khalutse, “soldiers”) to חַלְצֵי (khaltse, “loins”) and יָרִיעוּ (yari’u, “they shout,” from רוּעַ, rua’) to יָרְעוּ (yor’u, “they quiver”), a verb from יָרַע (yara’), which also appears in the next line. One can then translate v. 4b as “For this reason the insides of the Moabites quiver, their whole body shakes” (cf. NAB, NRSV).
