Bible Strands
Isaiah 15:1
This is the burden against Moab: Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is devastated, destroyed in a night!
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet transmits a divine oracle against Moab, announcing the sudden ruin of its cities. This pronouncement functions as the opening declaration in a sequence of judgments against neighboring nations.
The words — The Hebrew term מַשָּׂ֖א (ma.Sa') literally means "oracle" or "burden," establishing the message as a weighty divine declaration. The verbs שֻׁדַּ֨ד (shu.Dad) and נִדְמָ֔ה (nid.Mah) describe the cities being devastated and destroyed specifically "in a night" (בְּ/לֵ֞יל).
The thread — Comparable judgments against Moab appear in Amos 2:1, Jeremiah 48:1, and Numbers 21:28, where divine wrath consumes its urban centers. These passages consistently tie Moab's downfall to historical transgressions and prior military conflicts.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to accept that sudden, unpreventable judgment falls on a specific geopolitical entity. It demands acknowledgment of divine authority over national fate without offering mitigation or comfort.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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;
Cross-references
- Amos 2:1 This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Moab, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because he burned to lime the bones of Edom’s king.
- Jeremiah 48:1 Concerning Moab, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo, for it will be devastated. Kiriathaim will be captured and disgraced; the fortress will be shattered and dismantled.
- Numbers 21:28 For a fire went out from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the rulers of Arnon’s heights.
- Isaiah 11:14 They will swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines to the west; together they will plunder the sons of the east. They will lay their hands on Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be subject to them.
- Ezekiel 25:8 This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because Moab and Seir said, “Look, the house of Judah is like all the other nations,”
- Isaiah 14:28 In the year that King Ahaz died, this burden was received:
- Isaiah 16:7 Therefore let Moab wail; let them wail together for Moab. Moan for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth, you who are utterly stricken.
- Isaiah 16:11 Therefore my heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir-heres.
- Isaiah 25:10 For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain. But Moab will be trampled in his place as straw is trodden into the dung pile.
- Zephaniah 2:8 “I have heard the reproach of Moab and the insults of the Ammonites, who have taunted My people and threatened their borders.