Bible Strands
Isaiah 15:3
In its streets they wear sackcloth; on the rooftops and in the public squares they all wail, falling down weeping.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet describes the city of Moab during a period of national catastrophe, detailing how its inhabitants respond to imminent judgment. The text places citizens in streets, rooftops, and public squares adopting standard mourning customs.
The words — חָגְרוּ (cha.ge.ru) means "they have girded on," and שַׂק (sak) translates to "sackcloth," describing the physical act of wearing coarse mourning garments. יְיֵלִיל (ye.ye.lil) denotes a loud, continuous wailing that permeates the urban landscape.
The thread — Donning sackcloth as a public sign of grief appears in Jonah 3:6 when the king of Nineveh covers himself in it, and in 2 Samuel 3:31 when David commands his forces to do so for Abner. The text's emphasis on rooftops and open squares aligns with the widespread, inescapable nature of the lament described in Isaiah 15:2 and 15:4.
Why it lands — The passage records that judgment strips away private comfort, forcing even ordinary architectural spaces into collective mourning. It requires the reader to acknowledge that national disaster manifests visibly across every social stratum and geographic location.
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
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.
Cross-references
- Jonah 3:6 When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
- Deuteronomy 22:8 If you build a new house, you are to construct a railing around your roof, so that you do not bring bloodguilt on your house if someone falls from it.
- 2 Samuel 3:31 Then David ordered Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn before Abner.” And King David himself walked behind the funeral bier.
- 2 Kings 6:30 When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes. And as he passed by on the wall, the people saw the sackcloth under his clothes next to his skin.
- Isaiah 15:2 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.
- Isaiah 22:1 This is the burden against the Valley of Vision: What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the rooftops,
- Isaiah 22:4 Therefore I said, “Turn away from me, let me weep bitterly! Do not try to console me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
- Jeremiah 19:13 The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like that place, Topheth—all the houses on whose rooftops they burned incense to all the host of heaven and poured out drink offerings to other gods.”
- Jeremiah 48:38 On all the rooftops of Moab and in the public squares, everyone is mourning; for I have shattered Moab like an unwanted jar,” declares the LORD.
- Matthew 11:21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.