New International Version
Isaiah 15:2
2Dibon 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 in other versions
- King James Version (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.
- English Standard Version (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;
- New King James Version (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.
- New Living Translation (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.
Context of Isaiah 15:2
1A prophecy against Moab: Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! 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. 3In the streets they wear sackcloth; on the roofs and in the public squares they all wail, prostrate with weeping. 4Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz. Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out, and their hearts are faint.
Read all of Isaiah 15Isaiah 15:2 word by word
עָלָ֨ה הַבַּ֧יִת וְדִיבֹ֛ן הַבָּמ֖וֹת לְבֶ֑כִי עַל־נְב֞וֹ וְעַ֤ל מֵֽידְבָא֙ מוֹאָ֣ב יְיֵלִ֔יל בְּכָל־רֹאשָׁ֣יו קָרְחָ֔ה כָּל־זָקָ֖ן גְּרוּעָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- He is gone upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
- to Bajithבַּ֫יִתbayith · BajithH1006
- and to Dibonדִּיבֹן, דִּימוֹןdîybôn dîybôn · DibonH1769
- the high placesבָּמָהbâmâh · high placeH1116
- to weepבְּכִיbekîy · weepingH1065
- Moabמוֹאָבmô'âb · MoabH4124
- shall howlיָלַלyâlal · to wailH3213
- over Neboנְבוֹnebô · NeboH5015
- and over Medebaמֵידְבָאmêydebâ' · MedebaH4311
- on all their headsרֹאשׁrô'sh · headH7218
- baldnessקׇרְחָהqorchâh qorchâ' · bald spotH7144
- every beardזָקָןzâqân · beardH2206
- cut offגָּדַעgâda‛ · to cut down/offH1438
Cross-references for Isaiah 15:2
- Isaiah 16:12When Moab appears at her high place, she only wears herself out; when she goes to her shrine to pray, it is to no avail.
- Joshua 13:17to Heshbon and all its towns on the plateau, including Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baal Meon,
- Jeremiah 48:18“Come down from your glory and sit on the parched ground, you inhabitants of Daughter Dibon, for the one who destroys Moab will come up against you and ruin your fortified cities.
- Isaiah 15:3In the streets they wear sackcloth; on the roofs and in the public squares they all wail, prostrate with weeping.
- Isaiah 14:31Wail, you gate! Howl, you city! Melt away, all you Philistines! A cloud of smoke comes from the north, and there is not a straggler in its ranks.
- Isaiah 16:7Therefore the Moabites wail, they wail together for Moab. Lament and grieve for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth.
- Jeremiah 48:31Therefore I wail over Moab, for all Moab I cry out, I moan for the people of Kir Hareseth.
- Numbers 32:3“Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon—
- Deuteronomy 34:1Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the Lord showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan,
- Jeremiah 48:1Concerning Moab: This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo, for it will be ruined. Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured; the stronghold will be disgraced and shattered.
- Numbers 21:30“But we have overthrown them; Heshbon’s dominion has been destroyed all the way to Dibon. We have demolished them as far as Nophah, which extends to Medeba.”
- Joshua 13:16The territory from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the middle of the gorge, and the whole plateau past Medeba
- Isaiah 3:24Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a sash, a rope; instead of well-dressed hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, branding.
- Isaiah 22:12The Lord, the Lord Almighty, called you on that day to weep and to wail, to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth.
- Leviticus 19:27“ ‘Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.
- Leviticus 21:5“ ‘Priests must not shave their heads or shave off the edges of their beards or cut their bodies.
Commentaries on Isaiah 15:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2He is gone to Bajith, and to Dibon - הבית עלה alah habbayith, should be rendered, he is gone to the House, i.e., to their chief temple, where they practiced idolatry. Dibon was the name of a tower where also was an idolatrous temple; thither they went to weep and pray before their idols, that they might interpose and save them from their calamities. So R. D. Kimchi. Me is gone to Bajith and to Dibon: but Bishop Lowth reads Beth Dibon; this is the name of…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2He is gone up - That is, the inhabitants of Moab in consternation have fled from their ruined cities, and have gone up to other places to weep. To Bajith, and to Dibon - Lowth supposes that these two words should be joined together, and that one place is denoted. The Chaldee renders it, Ascend into the houses of Dibon.‘ Kimchi supposes that the word (בית bayith ) denotes a temple. It usually means “house,” and hence, may mean a temple of the gods; that…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2In the ancient Near East, people shaved or cut off their beards to show deep sorrow (see Jeremiah 48:37).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-9Lowth thinks it was delivered in the first years of Hezekiah's reign and fulfilled in the fourth when Shalmaneser, on his way to invade Israel, may have seized on the strongholds of Moab. Moab probably had made common cause with Israel and Syria in a league against Assyria. Hence it incurred the vengeance of Assyria. Jeremiah has introduced much of this prophecy into his forty-eighth chapter. 1. Because--rather, "Surely"; literally, "(I affirm) that"…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 15:2
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 15
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
New International Version — © NIV® 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica
Commentaries