Isaiah 15:2 kjv
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.
Isaiah 15:2 nkjv
He has gone up to the temple and Dibon, To the high places to weep. Moab will wail over Nebo and over Medeba; On all their heads will be baldness, And every beard cut off.
Isaiah 15:2 niv
Dibon goes up to its temple, to its high places to weep; Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Every head is shaved and every beard cut off.
Isaiah 15:2 esv
He has gone up to the temple, and to Dibon, to the high places to weep; over Nebo and over Medeba Moab wails. On every head is baldness; every beard is shorn;
Isaiah 15:2 nlt
Your people will go to their temple in Dibon to mourn.
They will go to their sacred shrines to weep.
They will wail for the fate of Nebo and Medeba,
shaving their heads in sorrow and cutting off their beards.
Isaiah 15 2 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Isaiah 15:2 | They go to the temples, to Dibon, and to the high places to weep; upon Nebo and upon Medeba Moab will wail. | Judgment on Moab, lamentation of their gods/places |
| Jeremiah 48:1 | Concerning Moab. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Woe to Nebo, for it is devastated! Kirjathaim is captured and put to shame; Mishgamed is captured and put to shame. | Prophecy of Moab's destruction |
| Jeremiah 48:15 | Moab is carried away; his cities go out from his border. | Further detail on Moab's fall |
| Jeremiah 48:18 | Come down from glory and sit on the ground, inhabitant daughter of Dibon. For the destroyer of Moab will come up against you and destroy your fortified places. | Specifically names Dibon and its fate |
| Jeremiah 48:35 | In every house of Moab and in the fields, the LORD declares, there shall be no more burnt offerings. | Religious practices interrupted |
| Jeremiah 48:37 | For every head is shaved and every beard clipped; on all hands are gashes, and on their loins is sackcloth. | Signs of mourning |
| Jeremiah 48:39 | How brightly it flamed, how it fled away! Moab, how you have been put to shame and confounded, you who were the horror of the nations! | Moab's former pride and present shame |
| Jeremiah 15:2 | Whoever finds my words will eat them; and rejoice my heart. | Not a direct reference |
| Luke 10:13 | “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. | "Woe" declarations against cities |
| Matthew 11:21 | “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. | "Woe" pronouncements on cities |
| Isaiah 3:26 | Her gates mourn and grieve; she sits in ashes; and her cities lament and cry out. | General prophecy of cities' distress |
| Isaiah 5:6 | I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or tended, and briers and thorns shall come up; and I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. | Description of desolation |
| Jeremiah 48:45 | In the shadow of Heshbon they have fled without strength, for fire has gone out from Heshbon, and flame from the midst of Seon; it has devoured the forehead of Moab, and the crown of the head of the noisy multitude. | Heshbon as a source of destruction |
| Numbers 21:29 | Woe to you, Moab! You are undone, O people of Chemosh! He has given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity to Sihon king of the Amorites. | Moab's history and relation to gods |
| Joshua 13:17 | Nebo and Baal-meon, with their names, the villages belonging to Nebo and Baal-meon, | Geographical locations mentioned |
| Psalm 137:7 | Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem's downfall, how they said, “Crush them! Crush them down to the very foundation!” | Nations celebrating others' downfall |
| Amos 1:13 | Concerning the Ammonites. Thus says the LORD: “Because of their actions at the time of the slaughter of women in Gilead, because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their border, | Specific cruelties of surrounding nations |
| Micah 1:11 | Pass on, inhabitants of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame; the inhabitants of Zaanan do not come out; the wailing of Beth-ezel shall take away their standing place in you. | Cities wailing and facing shame |
| Isaiah 3:18 | In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, the crescent ornaments, | Loss of adornments during mourning |
| Zechariah 7:3 | to ask the priests who belonged to the house of the LORD of hosts and the prophets, saying, “Should I weep and practice abstinence in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?” | Weeping and fasting in specific months |
| Zechariah 12:11 | On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, like the weeping of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. | Great weeping and mourning |
Isaiah 15 verses
Isaiah 15 2 Meaning
This verse describes the destruction and grief that will fall upon Moab due to the actions against them. The people of Moab are overcome with sorrow, moaning and weeping in public spaces and on the rooftops, lamenting their losses. Specifically, it mentions the destruction of Heshbon and Dibon, places significant to Moab's identity and pride.
Isaiah 15 2 Context
Isaiah 15 specifically addresses the impending judgment of God upon the nation of Moab. Historically, Moab was a neighboring kingdom to Israel, often in conflict or vying for power. The Moabites were known for their worship of Chemosh. This chapter serves as a dirge, a poetic lamentation for the devastating consequences of God's wrath that would befall Moab, likely due to their consistent idolatry and opposition to God's people. The specific mention of Nebo and Medeba highlights the religious and strategic importance of these locations to Moab.
Isaiah 15 2 Word Analysis
- They go (Hebrew: הָלְכ֥וּ, hāleḵū): Third-person masculine plural, past tense of the verb "to go" or "to walk." This indicates a movement or progression.
- to the temples (Hebrew: בָּתֵּ֣י, bātê): Plural of "bayith," meaning "house" or "temple." Refers to places of worship or religious sanctuaries.
- to Dibon (Hebrew: דִּיבֹ֗ון, Dīḇōn): A specific city in Moab, historically significant.
- and to the high places (Hebrew: וּלְבָמֹ֔ת, ūləḇāmōṯ): Plural of "bamah," referring to high places, often sites of pagan worship.
- to weep (Hebrew: לִבְכֹּ֖ת, liḇḵōṯ): Infinitive of "bachah," meaning "to weep" or "to cry." Indicates deep sorrow and lamentation.
- upon Nebo (Hebrew: עַל־נְב֖וֹ, ‘al-Nəḇō): Nebo was a mountain and a significant city in Moab, often associated with its religious life.
- and upon Medeba (Hebrew: וּמֵדְבָ֑בָה, ū Mêḏəḇāḇā): Another important city in Moab.
- Moab will wail (Hebrew: יִלִּ֣יל, yillîl): Third-person masculine singular, future tense of "yalal," meaning "to wail" or "to cry out mournfully." This signifies a loud, public expression of grief.
Word-group Analysis:
- "They go to the temples, to Dibon, and to the high places to weep": This phrase vividly illustrates the complete collapse of Moab's spiritual and civic life. The people turn to their places of worship and key cities in their hour of despair, seeking solace or perhaps to perform rites of mourning, but instead find only devastation. The "high places" specifically point to the futility of their pagan worship in the face of divine judgment.
- "upon Nebo and upon Medeba Moab will wail": This highlights the extent of the devastation, reaching the most prominent locations. The personal and collective wailing emphasizes the profound shock and grief over their loss. The use of "wail" implies an intense, often uncontrolled outcry of sorrow, far beyond simple sadness.
Isaiah 15 2 Bonus Section
The prophetic pronouncements against Moab, as seen in Isaiah 15 and echoed in Jeremiah 48, reveal a recurring theme in the Old Testament: God's judgment upon nations that practice idolatry and oppress His people. The specificity of place names like Dibon, Nebo, and Medeba underscores the historical reality of these prophecies. The emotional intensity of the "wailing" reflects a profound human response to total loss, a recognition that their gods and their fortifications have failed them. The act of weeping in these locations also can be seen as a perversion of religious worship, where formerly places of communal gathering and religious observance become sites of utter desolation and despair. This judgment against Moab is not arbitrary but rooted in their historical actions and spiritual rebellion against the God of Israel.
Isaiah 15 2 Commentary
The verse describes the immediate aftermath of Moab's destruction, emphasizing the collective and public display of grief. The people turn to their religious centers and prominent cities in a desperate attempt to find answers or express their profound sorrow, but these very places become symbols of their defeat. The wailing signifies the complete devastation and the collapse of any hope for deliverance from their enemies. It's a testament to the completeness of God's judgment, leaving no stone unturned in its impact on Moab's national identity, from its highest spiritual sites to its most beloved cities.