Isaiah 15:3

Isa 15:3 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.

Ver. 3. In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth.] Saccum et silicium non curat Deus. God careth not for these externals where there is not a heart sprinkled with the blood of his Son. "The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination; how much more when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?" {Pro 21:27}

On the tops of their houses.] Thence, as it were, to require help from heaven.

Weeping abundantly.] Heb., Descending with weeping, like as with weeping they ascended; {a} they get nothing of their gods, though they cried to them. But he that goeth to the true God with an honest heart and lawful petitions is sure to speed. See Isa 45:19.

{a} Miseros ergo Papicolas, qui et ipsi cum fietu ad divos divasque suas ascendunt, cum ululatu descendunt. - Scultet.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

tops of . . . houses--flat; places of resort for prayer, &c., in the East (Act 10:9).

weeping abundantly--"melting away in tears." HORSLEY prefers "descending to weep." Thus there is a "parallelism by alternate construction" [LOWTH], or chiasmus; "howl" refers to "tops of houses." "Descending to weep" to "streets" or squares, whither they descend from the housetops.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 3. With sackcloth] שק sak. The word is in the plural שקים sakkim, sacks, in one of De Rossi's MSS.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(3) In their streets . . .—The picture of lamentation is continued. The flat roofs of Eastern houses were a natural resort for such wailings (Isa_22:1). The “broad places,” the bazaars or market-places, were also, like the agora of Greek cities, a natural place of concourse. The prophet represents them as filled with the sound of wailing.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. (Jer_48:37 f.) on the tops of their houses] See on Isa_22:1. The word streets should not be used twice; substitute in the second case broad places (as in R.V.).

weeping abundantly] lit. “going down in weeping,” an unusually strong figure. In other passages the eye is said to “go down in tears” (Jer_9:18; Lam_1:16; Lam_3:48); but nowhere else is the whole being spoken of as dissolved in weeping.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In their streets they shall girt themselves with sackcloth,.... Instead of their fine clothes, with which they had used to deck themselves, being a very proud people; see Isa 16:6 this was usual in times of distress on any account, as well as a token of mourning for the dead; see Joe 1:8. The word for "streets" might be rendered "villages", as distinct from cities, that were "without" the walls of the cities, though adjacent to them; and the rather, seeing mention is made of streets afterwards:

on the tops of their houses; which were made flat, as the houses of the Jews were, on which were battlements, Deu 22:8 hither they went for safety from their enemies, or to see if they could spy the enemy, or any that could assist them, and deliver them; or rather, hither they went for devotion, to pray to their gods for help; for here it was usual to have altars erected, to burn incense on to their deities; see Kg2 23:12 and in such places the people of God were wont to pray, Act 10:9,

and in their streets; publicly, as well as privately, where they ran up and down to get from the enemy, and save themselves:

everyone shall howl, weeping abundantly: or, "descending with weeping": the tears running down his cheeks in great abundance, so that his whole body was as it were watered with them; or the meaning may be, that everyone that went up to the temples of the idols, and to the high places, Isa 15:2 or to the roofs of the houses, as here, to pray the assistance of their gods, should come down weeping and howling, having no success.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

In their streets - Publicly. Everywhere there shall be lamentation and grief. Some shall go into the streets, and some on the tops of the houses.

They shall gird themselves with sackcloth - The common token of mourning; and also worn usually in times of humiliation and fasting. It was one of the outward acts by which they expressed deep sorrow (Gen 37:34; 2Sa 3:31; 1Ki 21:27; 2Ki 19:1; Job 16:15; the note at Isa 3:24).

On the tops of the houses - The roofs of the houses in the East were, and still are, made flat, and were places of resort for prayer, for promenade, etc. The prophet here says, that all the usual places of resort would be filled with weeping and mourning. In the streets, and on the roofs of the houses, they would utter the voice of lamentation.

Shall howl - It is known that, in times of calamity in the East, it is common to raise an unnatural and forced howl, or long-continued shriek. Persons are often hired for this purpose Jer 9:17.

Weeping abundantly - Hebrew, ‘Descending into weeping;’ “that is,” going, as we would say, “deep into it,” or weeping much; immersed as it were in tears (compare Jer 13:17; Jer 14:17).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Shall gird themselves with sackcloth: this was another practice of mourners.

The tops of their houses, which were made flat, Deu 22:8; to which men used to go up, either to walk, or to cry to God in heaven or to men for help.

In their streets; publicly, without shame; whereas in ordinary sorrows men are wont to seek secret places for their mourning.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

In their streets; literally, in his streets; i.e. the streets of Moab. They shall gird themselves with sackcloth. Another widely spread custom, known to the Assyrians, (Jon_3:5) the Syrians, (1Ki_20:31) the Persians, (Est_4:1, Est_4:2) the Israelites, (Neh_9:1) and, as we see here, to the Moabites. The modern wearing of black garments, especially crape, is representative of the old practice. Every one shall howl. "Howling" remains one of the chief tokens of mourning in the East. It was a practice of the Egyptians (Herod., 2:79), of the Persians (ibid., 8:99; 9:24), of the Babylonians, (Jer_51:8) and probably of the Orientals generally. Weeping abundantly; or, running down with tears. (comp. Jer_9:18 Jer_13:17; Herod., 8:99)

National distress.

The particular trouble causing such extreme grief was the destruction of the two chief cities of Moab, Ar and Kit. To destroy the capital of a kingdom is to strike the nation at its very heart. Conquerors can dictate peace when the chief city lies at their mercy. Illustrate from the recent German siege of Paris. This chapter vigorously pictures the distress throughout the land when Ar was taken, the rush of people to the border districts, the alarm of those whose property was imperiled, the wail of those who had lost their friends in the strife. Howling, weeping, plucking off the hair, covering with sackcloth, and other signs of despairing grief, were found everywhere; and the cries were all the more bitter because for so many generations Moab had dwelt secure. Here one kind of national distress brings before us that general subject, and sets upon considering

I ITS BEARING ON THE POOR. They are always the first to suffer from political or international conditions which affect manufacture, trade, or agriculture. Living upon daily wage, and, when thrifty, only able to provide in limited degrees for depressed times, the poor are most dependent on the preservation of peace, security, order, and mutual confidence. Demagogues urge the poor to a disturbance of social relations, with the promise of material advantage. In the interests of the poor themselves we plead that war, disturbance, revolutionary change, never even temporarily serve their interest. So grievous is the effect of political convulsions on the poor, that no class of the community should more intensely demand the knitting of laud to land by commerce and brotherhood, and the correction of social and political evils by processes which do not disturb the sense of national security. Of the poor the words may well be used, "In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.

II ITS BEARING ON THE RICH. They are always the aim of attack in lawless times, whether the evil come through aggressive enemies outside the nation, or through turbulent people inside the nation. The one wants "booty," and the other wants excuse for robbery. The rich need national security

(1) for the retention of what they have;

(2) for the increase of what they have;

(3) and for the enjoyment of what they have.

National distress becomes especially afflictive to the rich, because by training and association they are unfitted for self-help when their riches are taken away.

III ITS MISSION AS SENT BY GOD. It is often that which we find illustrated in the case of Moab. National distress, circumstances that unite the whole land in a common grief, and in a common sense of helplessness, is the Divine corrective of the evils which attend prolonged peace, security, and luxury. Those evils may be traced:

1. In the sphere of men"s thought. The material is exaggerated, the unseen and spiritual are at disadvantage, and cannot hold their due place and proportion.

2. In the sphere of social life. In prolonged times of peace and prosperity, the separations between classes of society are grievously widened, and there grows up a painful contrast between the few who are unduly rich and the many who are miserably poor. National distress brings rich and poor together, in mutual dependence and service.

3. In the spheres of religion. Like the voyager, men can easily dismiss the thought of God when, for long times together, seas are calm and heavens are clear; but when the skies are black, and the wild waves shake the frail ship, and fear whitens every face, the soul begins to cry for a sight of God and a touch of his protecting hand. We are with God as our little children are with their mothers. They run about and play, taking little heed of her, until the head aches, and the pulse is high, and pain wearies; and then there is nobody in all the world will do but their mother. National distress brings nations back to the thought and love of God. The atheist, the agnostic, and the secularist have their chance when the sun shines; nobody wants such vain helpers when the tempests rage. Then nobody will do but the God of our fathers.

IV ITS SHAME, IF CAUSED BY MAN"S WILFULNESS OR MAN"S NEGLECT. And these are too often the immediate causes of national distress. War is almost always the issue of somebody"s willfulness or masterfulness. Nobody would need to go to war if they did not hanker after something to which they had no right, or were not compelled to resist these envious, masterful folk. And such distresses as come by prevailing disease are usually traceable to men"s neglectings of social and family and household duty. God makes even man"s errors and sins serve his purpose, but he never ceases to declare woe unto him by whom the offence cometh. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

On the tops - Which were made flat, to which men used to go up, to cry to God in heaven, or to men for help.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

“In its streets they are girded with sackcloth; on its roofs and in its squares (or broad places) all (literally, all of it) howls, coming down with weeping (from the house-tops or the temples).” In the Hebrew of this verse there is a singular alternation of masculine and feminine forms, all relating to Moab, sometimes considered as a country and sometimes as a nation. The last clause is explained by most modern writers, to mean melting into tears, as the eye is elsewhere said to run down tears or water (Jer 9:18; Lam 3:48). But as the eye is not here mentioned, and the preposition is inserted, making a marked difference between this and the alleged expressions, it is better to adhere to the old construction which supposes an antithesis between this clause and the ascent to the temples or the housetops. Sackcloth is mentioned as the usual mourning dress and a badge of deep humiliation.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

This continues the prophecy about the people of Moab. God describes events that will happen in the future as if it is happening in the present. (See: Isaiah 15:1-2)

they wear sackcloth

They do this to show their extreme sadness. AT: "they wear sackcloth and mourn" (See: Symbolic Action)

Heshbon ... Elealeh ... Jahaz

These are names of cities and towns. (See: How to Translate Names)

Heshbon and Elealeh call out

These city names represent the people of these cities. "The people of Heshbon and Elealeh call out" (See: Metonymy)

they tremble within themselves

Physical trembling is a symptom of fear and represents fear. AT: "they will be completely filled with fear" or "they tremble with fear" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

sackcloth

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

sighing Heb. יֹרֵד, sighing and roaring with weeping. Comp. (Judges 11:37) “And I will cry, (וְיָרַדְתִּי) on the mountains,” and (Lam. 3:19) “Remember my affliction and my cry (וּמְרוּדִי).”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

In their streets. In the streets of the Moabites.

גגותיה Her roofs. The roofs of the country.

ייליל Shall howl. Comp. ייטיב he will do good (Job 24:31); in both cases the sounding of the radical is an anomaly.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.