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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>I S A I A H.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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This chapter, and that which follows it, are the burden of Moab--a
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prophecy of some great desolation that was coming upon that country,
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which bordered upon this land of Israel, and had often been injurious
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and vexatious to it, though the Moabites were descended from Lot,
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Abraham's kinsman and companion, and though the Israelites, by the
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appointment of God, had spared them when they might both easily and
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justly have cut them off with their neighbours. In this chapter we
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have,
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I. Great lamentation made by the Moabites, and by the prophet himself
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for them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+15:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
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II. The great calamities which should occasion that lamentation and
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justify it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+15:6-9">ver. 6-9</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Isa15_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa15_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa15_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa15_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa15_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Burden of Moab.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 725.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid
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waste, <I>and</I> brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab
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is laid waste, <I>and</I> brought to silence;
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2 He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to
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weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their
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heads <I>shall be</I> baldness, <I>and</I> every beard cut off.
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3 In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth:
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on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one
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shall howl, weeping abundantly.
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4 And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh: their voice shall be
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heard <I>even</I> unto Jahaz: therefore the armed soldiers of Moab
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shall cry out; his life shall be grievous unto him.
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5 My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives <I>shall flee</I>
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unto Zoar, a heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up
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of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of
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Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The country of Moab was of small extent, but very fruitful. It bordered
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upon the lot of Reuben on the other side Jordan and upon the Dead Sea.
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Naomi went to sojourn there when there was a famine in Canaan. This is
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the country which (it is here foretold) should be wasted and grievously
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harassed, not quite ruined, for we find another prophecy of its ruin
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+48:1-47">Jer. xlviii.</A>),
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which was accomplished by Nebuchadnezzar. This prophecy here
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was to be fulfilled <I>within three years</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+16:14"><I>ch.</I> xvi. 14</A>),
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and therefore was fulfilled in the devastations made of that country by
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the army of the Assyrians, which for many years ravaged those parts,
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enriching themselves with spoil and plunder. It was done either by the
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army of Shalmaneser, about the time of the taking of Samaria, in the
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fourth year of Hezekiah (as is most probable), or by the army of
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Sennacherib, which, ten years after, invaded Judah. We cannot suppose
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that the prophet went among the Moabites to preach to them this sermon;
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but he delivered it to his own people,
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1. To show them that, though judgment begins at the house of God, it
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shall not end there,--that there is a providence which governs the
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world and all the nations of it,--and that to the God of Israel the
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worshippers of false gods were accountable, and liable to his
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judgments.
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2. To give them a proof of God's care of them and jealousy for them,
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and to convince them that God was an enemy to their enemies, for such
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the Moabites had often been.
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3. That the accomplishment of this prophecy now shortly (<I>within
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three years</I>) might be a confirmation of the prophet's mission and
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of the truth of all his other prophecies, and might encourage the
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faithful to depend upon them.</P>
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<P>
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Now concerning Moab it is here foretold,</P>
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<P>
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I. That their chief cities should be surprised and taken in a night by
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the enemy, probably because the inhabitants, as the men of Laish,
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indulged themselves in ease and luxury, and dwelt securely
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+15:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>):
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Therefore there shall be great grief, <I>because in the night Air of
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Moab is laid waste and Kir of Moab,</I> the two principal cities of
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that kingdom. <I>In the night that they were taken,</I> or sacked,
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<I>Moab was cut off.</I> The seizing of them laid the whole country
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open, and made all the wealth of it an easy prey to the victorious
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army. Note,
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1. Great changes and very dismal ones may be made in a very little
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time. Here are two cities lost in a night, though that is the time of
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quietness. Let us therefore lie down as those that know not what a
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night may bring forth.
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2. As the country feeds the cities, so the cities protect the country,
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and neither can say to the other, <I>I have no need of thee.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. That the Moabites, being hereby put into the utmost consternation
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imaginable, should have recourse to their idols for relief, and pour
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out their tears before them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+15:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>He</I> (that is, Moab, especially the king of Moab) <I>has gone up
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to Bajith</I> (or rather to the house or temple of Chemosh), <I>and
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Dibon,</I> the inhabitants of Dibon, <I>have gone up to the high
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places,</I> where they worshipped their idols, there to make their
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complaints. Note, It becomes a people in distress to seek to their God;
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and shall not we then thus <I>walk in the name of the Lord our God,</I>
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and call upon him in the time of trouble, before whom we shall not shed
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such useless profitless tears as they did before their gods?</P>
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<P>
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III. That there should be the voice of universal grief all the country
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over. It is described here elegantly and very affectingly. Moab shall
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be a vale of tears--a little map of this world,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+15:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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The Moabites shall lament the loss of Nebo and Medeba, two considerable
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cities, which, it is likely, were plundered and burnt. They shall tear
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their hair for grief to such a degree that <I>on all their heads shall
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be baldness, and they shall cut off their beards,</I> according to the
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customary expressions of mourning in those times and countries. When
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they go abroad they shall be so far from coveting to appear handsome
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that <I>in the streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+15:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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and perhaps being forced to use that poor clothing, the enemy having
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stripped them, and rifled their houses, and left them no other
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clothing. When they come home, instead of applying themselves to their
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business, they shall go up to <I>the tops of their houses</I> which
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were flat-roofed, and there they shall <I>weep abundantly,</I> nay,
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they shall <I>howl,</I> in crying to their gods. Those that <I>cry not
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to God with their hearts</I> do but <I>howl upon their beds,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+7:14,Am+8:3">Hos. vii. 14; Amos viii. 3</A>.
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<I>They shall come down with weeping</I> (so the margin reads it); they
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shall come down from their high places and the tops of their houses
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weeping as much as they did when they went up. Prayer to the true God
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is heart's ease
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+1:18">1 Sam. i. 18</A>),
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but prayers to false gods are not. Divers places are here named that
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should be full of lamentation
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+15:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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and it is but a poor relief to have so many fellow-sufferers,
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fellow-mourners; to a public spirit it is rather an aggravation
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<I>socios habuisse doloris--to have associates in woe.</I></P>
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<P>
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IV. That the courage of their militia should fail them. Though they
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were bred soldiers, and were well armed, yet they <I>shall cry out</I>
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and shriek for fear, and every one of them shall have <I>his life
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become grievous to him,</I> though it is characteristic of a military
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life to delight in danger,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+15:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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See how easily God can dispirit the stoutest of men, and deprive a
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nation of benefit by those whom it most depended upon for strength and
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defence. The Moabites shall generally be so overwhelmed with grief that
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life itself shall be a burden to them. God can easily make weary of
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life those that are fondest of it.</P>
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<P>
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V. That the outcry for these calamities should propagate grief to all
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the adjacent parts,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+15:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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1. The prophet himself has very sensible impressions made upon his
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spirit by the prediction of it: "<I>My heart shall cry out for
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Moab;</I> though they are enemies to Israel, they are our
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fellow-creatures, of the same rank with us, and therefore it should
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grieve us to see them in such distress, the rather because we know not
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how soon it may be our own turn to drink of the same cup of trembling."
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Note, It becomes God's ministers to be of a tender spirit, not to
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desire the woeful day, but to be like their master, who wept over
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Jerusalem even when he gave her up to ruin, like their God, <I>who
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desires not the death of sinners.</I>
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2. All the neighbouring cities shall echo to the lamentations of Moab.
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<I>The fugitives,</I> who are making the best of their way to shift for
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their own safety, shall carry the cry to <I>Zoar,</I> the city to which
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their ancestor Lot fled for shelter from Sodom's flames and which was
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spared for his sake. They shall make as great a noise with their cry
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<I>as a heifer of three years old</I> does when she goes <I>lowing</I>
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for her calf, as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+6:12">1 Sam. vi. 12</A>.
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They shall go up the hill of <I>Luhith</I> (as David went up the ascent
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of Mount Olivet, many a weary step and all in tears,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+15:30">2 Sam. xv. 30</A>),
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and <I>in the way of Horonaim</I> (a dual termination), the way that
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leads to the two Beth-horons, the upper and the nether, which we read
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of,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+16:3,5">Josh. xvi. 3, 5</A>.
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Thither the cry shall be carried, there it shall be raised, even at
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that great distance: <I>A cry of destruction;</I> that shall be the
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cry, like, "Fire, fire! we are all undone." Grief is catching, so is
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fear, and justly, for trouble is spreading and when it begins who knows
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where it will end?</P>
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<A NAME="Isa15_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa15_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa15_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa15_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Burden of Moab.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 725.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>6 For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay is
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withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing.
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7 Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they
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have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows.
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8 For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the
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howling thereof unto Eglaim, and the howling thereof unto
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Beer-elim.
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9 For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood: for I will
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bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and
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upon the remnant of the land.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here the prophet further describes the woeful and piteous lamentations
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that should be heard throughout all the country of Moab when it should
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become a prey to the Assyrian army. "By this time <I>the cry has gone
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round about</I> all <I>the borders of Moab,</I>"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+15:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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Every corner of the country has received the alarm, and is in the
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utmost confusion upon it. It has reached to <I>Eglaim,</I> a city at
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one end of the country, and to <I>Beer-elim,</I> a city as far the
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other way. Where sin has been general, and all flesh have corrupted
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their way, what can be expected but a general desolation? Two things
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are here spoken of as causes of this lamentation:--</P>
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<P>
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I. <I>The waters of Nimrim are desolate</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+15:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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that is, the country is plundered and impoverished, and all the wealth
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and substance of it swept away by the victorious army. Famine is
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usually the sad effect of war. Look into the fields that were well
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watered, the fruitful meadows that yielded delightful prospects and
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more delightful products, and there all is eaten up, or carried off by
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the enemy's foragers, and the remainder trodden to dirt by their
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horses. If an army encamp upon green fields, their greenness is soon
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gone. Look into the houses, and they are stripped too
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+15:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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<I>The abundance</I> of wealth that <I>they had gotten</I> with a great
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deal of art and industry, and <I>that which they had laid up</I> with a
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great deal of care and confidence, <I>shall they carry away to the
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brook of the willows.</I> Either the owners shall carry it thither to
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hide it or the enemies shall carry it thither to pack it up and send it
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home, by water perhaps, to their own country. Note,
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1. Those that are eager to get abundance of this world, and solicitous
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to lay up what they have gotten, little consider what may become of it
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and in how short a time it may be all taken from them. Great abundance,
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by tempting the robbers, exposes the owners; and those who depend upon
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it to protect them often find it does but betray them.
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2. In times of distress great riches are often great burdens, and do
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but increase the owner's care or the enemies' strength. <I>Cantabit
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vacuus coram latrone viator--The penniless traveller will exult, when
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accosted by a robber, in having nothing about him.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. <I>The waters of Dimon are turned into blood</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+15:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
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that is, the inhabitants of the country are slain in great numbers, so
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that the waters adjoining to the cities, whether rivers or pools, are
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discoloured with human gore, inhumanly shed like water. <I>Dimon</I>
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signifies <I>bloody;</I> the place shall answer to its name. Perhaps it
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was that place in the country of Moab where the waters seemed to the
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<I>Moabites as blood</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+3:22,23">2 Kings iii. 22, 23</A>),
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which occasioned their overthrow. But now, says God, <I>I will bring
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more upon Dimon,</I> more blood than was shed, or thought to be seen,
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at that time. <I>I will bring additions upon Dimon</I> (so the word
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is), additional plagues; I have yet more judgments in reserve for them.
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<I>For all this, God's anger is not turned away.</I> When he judges he
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will overcome; and to the roll of curses shall be <I>added many like
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words,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+36:32">Jer. xxxvi. 32</A>.
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See here what is the <I>yet more evil</I> to be brought upon Dimon,
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upon Moab, which is now to be made a land of blood. Some flee, and
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make their escape, others sit still, and are overlooked, and are as a
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remnant of the land; but upon both God <I>will bring lions,</I> beasts
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of prey (which are reckoned one of God's four judgments,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:21">Ezek. xiv. 21</A>),
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and these shall glean up those that have escaped the sword of the
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enemy. Those that continue impenitent in sin, when they are preserved
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from one judgment, are but reserved for another.</P>
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<!-- (End Body) -->
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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