Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Isaiah
Chapter 15: The Burden of Moab
The burdens against the nations continue, and now the word falls on Moab, Israel's neighbor and old rival east of the Dead Sea. In a single night her cities are laid waste, and the whole land dissolves into mourning: shaved heads, sackcloth, and howling in the streets. Yet the most striking line in the chapter is not the ruin but the grief: 'My heart shall cry out for Moab.' Even as He pronounces judgment, God weeps over the perishing. This short, sorrowful oracle shows both the seriousness of God's judgment and the tenderness of His heart.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Isaiah chapter 15. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. This is the burden of Moab, a lament over a nation's sudden ruin, and a rare window into the grieving heart of God. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
The Son of Lot
Moab descended from Lot and lived east of the Dead Sea, a long-standing neighbor and rival of Israel.
Laid Waste and Silenced
Her chief cities, Ar and Kir, fall in a single night, and the whole land turns to weeping.
Sackcloth and Howling
Shaved heads, cut beards, and sackcloth in the streets: the marks of a nation in total grief.
My Heart Shall Cry
The astonishing center of the chapter: God Himself grieves over the very nation He judges.
The Burden Falls in the Night (Isaiah 15:1-4)
Moab's strong cities are laid waste in a single night, and the whole nation goes up to the high places to weep, girded in sackcloth, howling in her streets.
Laid Waste, and Brought to Silence
"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; 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. 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. 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."
Hebrew Study
"howl," yalal (יָלַל). To wail, to howl aloud in grief. The word sounds like the thing it names, a raw, drawn-out cry. It rings through this chapter (15:2, 3, 8): Moab does not merely weep quietly but howls, the loud, uncontrolled mourning of a people whose whole world has collapsed.
"Moab." The nation sprang from Lot, Abraham's nephew, through his elder daughter (Genesis 19:37). Moab settled on the high plateau east of the Dead Sea and was for centuries a near neighbor and frequent rival of Israel.
Explanation
The blow falls fast and in the dark. "In the night" Ar and Kir, Moab's two chief strongholds, are "laid waste, and brought to silence." A city "brought to silence" is a city emptied of life, its streets and markets suddenly still. There is no slow siege here, only sudden, overwhelming ruin.
The nation's response is total mourning. They go "up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep." Every sign of grief the ancient world knew appears at once: heads shaved bald, beards cut off, bodies wrapped in sackcloth, and everywhere the sound of howling, "on the tops of their houses, and in their streets." Even "the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out"; the very men who should defend her are weeping instead. It is a portrait of a whole society undone in a single night.
Gospel Focus
Moab had grown proud and secure behind her walls and her wealth, and in one night it was gone. The Bible keeps returning to this warning: what men trust in apart from God can vanish in a moment. Jesus told of a rich man who said, "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease," and heard God answer, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee" (Luke 12:19-20), the same sudden "night." Paul warns that "when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them" (1 Thessalonians 5:3). The lesson is not that we should live in fear, but that we should build on what cannot be shaken. Cities fall, fortunes vanish, strong men weep; only what is founded on God endures. Do not wait for the night of ruin to seek Him; seek Him now, while it is called today.
My Heart Shall Cry Out for Moab (Isaiah 15:5-6)
In the middle of the judgment comes a startling voice of compassion: God's own heart cries out for the perishing nation, grieving over the ruin He pronounces.
My Heart Shall Cry Out for Moab
"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. For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing. Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows. For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the howling thereof unto Eglaim, and the howling thereof unto Beerelim."
Hebrew Study
Even as he pronounces judgment on Moab — an ancient enemy of Israel — the prophet feels its grief: "My heart shall cry out for Moab." The waters of Nimrim are "desolate," the grass withered, the fugitives fleeing with weeping. God's oracles against the nations are not gloating; His prophet weeps over the doom he must announce, even the doom of a hostile people. It anticipates the compassion of the God "who will have all men to be saved," grieving over judgment while declaring it just.
Explanation
Suddenly the tone changes. The one pronouncing the judgment says, "My heart shall cry out for Moab." The prophet, and behind him the LORD who speaks through him, does not gloat over Moab's fall; He grieves. Refugees stream toward Zoar at the south end of the Dead Sea, climbing the ascent of Luhith "with weeping," raising along the road of Horonaim "a cry of destruction." The land itself withers: "the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate... the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing." Everything that once gave life has dried up. And over it all is that grieving voice, a heart crying out for a doomed people.
Gospel Focus
This is one of the most tender lines in all the burdens against the nations, and it tells us something we must never forget about God. He takes no pleasure in judgment. Moab was an old enemy of Israel, sprung from Lot's sin, yet God says, "My heart shall cry out for Moab." A chapter later He says it even more plainly: "I will bewail... I will water thee with my tears... my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab" (Isaiah 16:9, 11). This is the same God who declares, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked" (Ezekiel 33:11), and it is the same heart that came to us in Jesus, who "beheld the city, and wept over it" (Luke 19:41) even as He foretold its ruin. Judgment is real, and God will do it; but He does it with tears. Let this correct any hardness in us. If God's heart cries out over the perishing, ours should too. We are not to rejoice when the wicked fall but to weep for the lost and plead with them to be saved, sharing the compassion of the God who grieves even as He judges.
The Cry on Every Border (Isaiah 15:7-9)
The people flee carrying what wealth they can, but the cry of destruction rings around all Moab's borders, and even those who escape the sword meet the lion.
Lions Upon Him That Escapeth
"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."
Hebrew Study
The completeness of Moab's ruin is stark: "the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood," and God warns He will "bring more upon Dimon" — added woes — "lions upon him that escapeth of Moab." Even those who flee the sword meet the lion; there is no back door out of God's judgment. The picture is of a calamity so thorough that survival in one danger only delivers the fugitive into another. It is a sober word: when God's appointed judgment falls, mere escape is not deliverance.
Explanation
The refugees carry off "the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up," fleeing across the brook of the willows with whatever wealth they can save. But there is no corner of the land untouched: "the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab," from Eglaim to Beerelim. The waters of Dimon run red with blood, and for those who slip past the invading sword, a worse terror waits: "lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land." Escape in one direction only meets death in another. The judgment is thorough.
Gospel Focus
Two truths stand out here. First, notice what the fleeing people carry: their treasure, "that which they have laid up." In the hour of ruin they clutch their savings and run, but wealth cannot buy them safety. "Riches profit not in the day of wrath" (Proverbs 11:4), and a man's life "consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth" (Luke 12:15). What we lay up on earth cannot carry us through the day of reckoning; only what we have laid up with God endures. Second, "lions upon him that escapeth" pictures the impossibility of outrunning God's judgment by our own devices; flee the sword and meet the lion. There is only one true refuge, and it is not a direction to run but a Person to run to. The next chapter will point Moab toward it, urging her to send tribute to the ruler in Zion and take shelter there. For us that shelter is Christ, the one hiding place from the wrath to come. Do not trust your treasure or your own escape plans; hide in Him, "for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
Chapter 15 in Review
Isaiah 15 is the burden of Moab, a short and sorrowful lament. In a single night Moab's strong cities are laid waste, and the whole nation dissolves into mourning, shaved heads, sackcloth, and howling in the streets. The people flee toward Zoar clutching their wealth, but the cry of destruction rings around every border, the waters run red, and even those who escape the sword meet the lion. It is a picture of sudden, thorough judgment on a proud and secure people.
For the Apostolic reader, the chapter's heart is the astonishing line, "My heart shall cry out for Moab." God takes no pleasure in the ruin of the wicked; He grieves over the perishing, weeping even as He judges, just as Jesus wept over Jerusalem. It warns us that riches cannot save in the day of wrath and that no one outruns God's judgment by his own devices, and it calls us to the one true refuge, Christ. And it reshapes our hearts: if God cries out over the lost, so must we. Even out of Moab, grace would later draw Ruth, a great-grandmother of David and of Christ, proof that God's mercy can reach into any nation. Judgment is sure, but the heart behind it weeps, and holds out a refuge to all who will come.
- Moab's strong cities fall "in the night," a picture of sudden, unexpected ruin (15:1; Luke 12:19-20).
- The whole nation mourns in sackcloth and howling; even her soldiers weep (15:2-4).
- "My heart shall cry out for Moab": God grieves over the nations He judges (15:5; 16:11; Ezekiel 33:11).
- Riches cannot save in the day of wrath, and no one outruns judgment by his own escape (15:7-9; Proverbs 11:4).
- The only refuge is Christ; even from Moab grace drew Ruth into the line of the Messiah (Acts 4:12; Ruth 1:4).
Questions for Reflection
- Are you building your life on what can be shaken, or on the God who cannot be moved?
- Does your heart cry out over the lost the way God's heart cries out, or have you grown hard toward them?
- Where are you trusting your treasure or your own plans instead of hiding in Christ?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. The place names in this chapter are towns of ancient Moab on the plateau east of the Dead Sea, several of them known from the Bible and from the Moabite Stone (the Mesha Stele, 9th century BC). If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The burden of Moab; ruin in the night and total mourning: Isaiah 15:1-4; Genesis 19:37; Luke 12:19-20; 1 Thessalonians 5:3.
- God grieves over the nation He judges: Isaiah 15:5-6; 16:9-11; Ezekiel 33:11; Luke 19:41.
- Riches cannot save; no escape by our own devices: Isaiah 15:7-9; Proverbs 11:4; Luke 12:15.
- The only refuge is Christ; grace reached even Moab in Ruth: Acts 4:12; Ruth 1:4; Matthew 1:5.