Catholic Commentary on Isaiah 15

“Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Every head is shaved and every beard cut off.” (Isaiah 15:2)

The Burden of Moab

Isaiah pronounces judgment on Moab. Ar and Kir are in ruins and the people go up to the high places to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Every head is shaved and every beard cut off. In the streets they wear sackcloth; on the rooftops and in the public squares they all wail, prostrate with weeping. The waters of Nimrim are dried up and the grass is withered. Isaiah weeps for Moab; he mourns for her.

The Catechism identifies the prophetic lament over enemy nations as a figure of the divine compassion that does not rejoice in the destruction of any creature God has made: the prophet mourns even the enemy's judgment (CCC 1038).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, Isaiah weeps for Moab, the enemy, the nation that oppressed Israel. The prophet who pronounces judgment also mourns it. Speak the hard word when you must. Weep while you speak it. The tear on the prophet's cheek is the sign that the word comes from love, not from triumph.

Prayer

Lord God, give your prophets the tears of Isaiah when they pronounce judgment. Let every hard word come from love. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

15
The Burden against Moab
(Jeremiah 48:1-47)
This is the burden against Moab:
 
Ar in Moab is ruined,
destroyed in a night!
Kir in Moab is devastated,
destroyed in a night!
Dibon goes up to its temple
to weep at its high places.
Moab wails over Nebo,
as well as over Medeba.
 
Every head is shaved,
every beard is cut off.
In its streets they wear sackcloth;
on the rooftops and in the public squares
they all wail, falling down weeping.
Heshbon and Elealeh cry out;
their voices are heard as far as Jahaz.
Therefore the soldiers of Moab cry out;
their souls tremble within.
 
My heart cries out over Moab;
her fugitives flee as far as Zoar,
as far as Eglath-shelishiyah.* 15:5 Or Zoar, like a heifer three years of age.
With weeping they ascend the slope of Luhith;
they lament their destruction on the road to Horonaim.
The waters of Nimrim are dried up,
and the grass is withered;
the vegetation is gone,
and the greenery is no more.
So they carry their wealth and belongings
over the Brook of the Willows. 15:7 Or Poplars
 
For their outcry echoes to the border of Moab.
Their wailing reaches Eglaim;
it is heard in Beer-elim.
The waters of Dimon 15:9 MT, twice in this verse; DSS and Vulgate Dibon; Dimon, a wordplay on Dibon (see verse 2), sounds like the Hebrew for blood. are full of blood,
but I will bring more upon Dimon-
a lion upon the fugitives of Moab
and upon the remnant of the land.

*15:5 15:5 Or Zoar, like a heifer three years of age.

15:7 15:7 Or Poplars

15:9 15:9 MT, twice in this verse; DSS and Vulgate Dibon; Dimon, a wordplay on Dibon (see verse 2), sounds like the Hebrew for blood.