Isaiah 15
1 The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence;
2 He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off.
3 In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly.
4 And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh: their voice shall be heard even unto Jahaz: therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his life shall be grievous unto him.
5 My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction.
6 For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing.
7 Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows.
8 For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the howling thereof unto Eglaim, and the howling thereof unto Beer-elim.
9 For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood: for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land.
World Behind This Chapter
Explore the people, places, language, history, and material world connected to Isaiah 15.
What historical setting lies behind Isaiah 15?
The poem addresses Moab’s catastrophe without naming the invading army or a secure year.
How does Isaiah 15's lament over moab shape the chapter?
Place-name procession, weeping, refugees, and devastated agriculture create an oracle that sounds unusually sympathetic toward the judged nation.
Can the route through Moab in Isaiah 15 be mapped exactly?
Many places are identifiable or approximately located, but several ancient names remain uncertain. The poem is a lamenting itinerary, not a modern route description.
Sources to ExploreCurated research paths for this chapter 3
History & Daily Life1
- Moab: Kingdom East of the Dead SeaBible Odyssey
Scholarly introduction to Moab’s land, people, language, political history, and relationship with Israel and Judah. It provides essential background for Isaiah 15’s rapid sequence of destroyed towns, refugee movements, mourning rituals, and regional geography.
Maps & Timeline1
- Medeba and the Moabite PlateauBible Odyssey
Locates Medeba on the fertile plateau south of Heshbon and identifies it as one of the cities named in Isaiah’s oracle against Moab. It helps readers follow Isaiah’s geographical movement rather than treating the chapter’s place-names as an unintelligible list.
Language & Literature1
- Hyperbole and the Soundscape of Moab’s LamentTranslation Insights and Perspectives
Explains the poetic hyperbole in which cries from Heshbon and Elealeh are heard as far away as Jahaz. Readers learn how Isaiah uses exaggerated sound, repeated place-names, and parallel cries to portray an entire landscape participating in national grief.

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