This chapter is a continuation of the prophecy against Moab; in which the prophet gives good advice, but in case of a haughty neglect of it, which he foresaw, threatens with ruin, and fixes a time for it.

Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land Or tribute, as the Targum rightly interprets it. The Moabites, being conquered by David, paid tribute to him, and when the kingdom was divided in Rehoboam’s time, the tribute was paid to the kings of Israel, which continued till the times of Ahab, when the…

For it shall be Or, “otherwise it shall be” [[24]]; if ye do not pay this tribute: that as a wandering bird cast out of the nest: or, “as a wandering bird, the nest sent out”: that is, as a bird that has forsaken its nest, and wanders about, and its young ones are turned out of the nest, scarcely…

Take counsel, execute judgment This refers either to what goes before, that they would take the counsel given, and do that which was just and right, by paying tribute to the king of Judah; or to what follows, that they would enter into a consultation, the king of Moab with his nobles, and resolve…

Let mine outcasts dwell with thee Not whom God had cast out, but who were the Lord’s people, and whom he owns as such, though cast out by the enemy, or obliged to flee, and quit their country; let these be sojourners in thy land; let them continue awhile there; let them dwell privately and…

And in mercy shall the throne be established That is, the throne of Hezekiah, and his government over Judah, which was more firmly settled and established after the overthrow of the Assyrian army, through the mercy of God vouchsafed to him, and on account of the mercy he exercised among his…

We have heard of the pride of Moab These are the words of the prophet, either in the name of the Lord, or in the person of the Jews, or of other nations, who had heard very frequently, and from many persons, and from every quarter, of the excessive pride of this people, and had many instances of it…

Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab One Moabite shall mourn for another; the living for the dead; or one part of the country for another; or to Moab, they shall howl in turns, answering to one another: everyone shall howl: every Moabite, or the whole country of Moab shall howl, being everywhere…

For the fields of Heshbon languish Through drought; or because of the forage of the enemy, and their treading upon them; or because there were no men left to till and manure them. Of Heshbon (See Gill on Isa. 15:4).

Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah That is, bewail the one, as he had done the other, both places with the fruits about them being destroyed by the enemy; or “therefore with weeping I will bewail” (most vehemently lament, an usual Hebraism) “Jazer”, and “the vine…

And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field Or “is gathered” [[7]], though their harvest was not; all cause of joy and gladness was removed; a plentiful field being foraged, trampled upon, and destroyed by the enemy, and left desolate without any to manure it: and in the…

Wherefore my bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab Making a noise as the harp does, and a mournful one as that, when used at funerals; which it makes when it is stricken or played on with the hand, as these were, through the afflictive and punitive hand of God; and which, when stricken, causes a…

And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place With weeping there, or with frequent sacrifices, and going from one high place to another, as Balak king of Moab did; and by comparing places together, it looks as if this was the way of the Moabites in their distress,…

This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning Moab That is, this prophecy now delivered out is what comes from the Lord; it is the word of the Lord, and not of man, and so shall certainly come to pass; when this word was spoken follows: since that time; from eternity, as some, and so refer…

But now the Lord hath spoken Something else. What follows is a distinct prophecy from the former, and has a date annexed to it, when it should be fulfilled: the former prophecy relates to the utter destruction of the Moabites by the Babylonians, in the times of Nebuchadnezzar; of which Jeremiah,…