References (158)
And the firstborn bore a son and named him Moab; he is the ancestor of the Moabites to this day. [The Moabites became a people who settled east of the Dead Sea in present-day Jordan; the name sounds like "from the father" in Hebrew.]
When Husham died, Hadad, the son of Bedad, became king after him.
He was the one who defeated the Midianites in the land of Moab, and his city was called Avith.
The leaders of Edom are terrified.
Anxiety has seized the mighty men of Moab.
All the inhabitants of Canaan melt away.
[The word for melt signifies a change that cannot be resisted. The people tremble with fear and cannot do anything about the situation.]
And they journeyed from Ovot and camped in
Ijej-Haavarim [meaning: "Abraham's ruins," see ] in the desert opposite
Moab, toward the sunrise
(eastward).
From there they journeyed and camped on the other side of the Arnon [which flows through Wadi el-Mojib and empties into the southeastern part of the Dead Sea], which is in the desert that comes out at the border of the Amorites. For the Arnon is the border of Moab between Moab and the Amorites.
and the valley slope that slopes toward the seat of Ar (village) [Ar was the capital of Moab]
and leans against the border of Moab."
[The extra-biblical source "The Book of the Wars of the Lord" has not yet been found. A similar book that is also mentioned is the Book of Jashar (; ). These books seem to have consisted of victory songs and were widely known at that time.]
and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, at the head of Pisgah (mountain peak) overlooking the wilderness.
Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land out of his hand as far as the Arnon.
For a fire has gone out from Chesbon,
a flame from the city of Sihon,
it has devoured Ar in Moab,
the lords of the high places of Arnon.
Woe to you, Moab,
you are subdued, people of Chemosh.
He has given his sons as refugees
and his daughters into captivity
– to Sihon, king of the Amorites.
And the children of Israel journeyed, and pitched in the plains of Moab by the Jordan over against Jericho.
And Moab was very afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was terrified of the sons of Israel.
And Moab said to the elders of Midian, "Now this crowd will eat up (literally lick up) everything around us, as oxen eat up the green of the fields." And Balak, son of Zippor, was king of Moab at that time.
And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with [reward/payment for] divination in their hands. [Balak's statement in suggests that the payment was first discussed after Balaam came to him. Here they may have brought a partial payment with them, see also .] And they came to Balaam and spoke Balak's words to him.
[The journey was long and it was late.] And he said to them, "Stay here tonight, and I will bring you back the words that the Lord (Yahweh) speaks to me." And the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.
And Balaam said to God (Elohim), "Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me (and said),
And the princes of Moab arose and went to Balak and said, "Balaam refuses to go with us."
[Balaam is a pagan priest who is initially described in positive terms, because he hears the voice of the Lord and obeys and cannot curse the Israelites. As the story progresses, he reveals his dual nature. In the New Testament, he is described as one who leads the Israelites into sin, see ; ; ; . There are several parallels with Judas. Both loved money () and betrayed their brothers. It is interesting to note that during excavations at Tell Deir Alla in Jordan (8 km east of the Jordan River, 1 km north of Jabbok) in 1967, an inscription was found in a temple mentioning "the seer Balaam, son of Beor." The text, which contains prophecies of doom and chaos, also mentions birds and even a hyena and a donkey. The inscription dates back to 900-800 BC, which is much later than Balaam. However, this inscription is an extra-biblical source that confirms the Bible's account, which was already recorded in the Books of Moses, that a prophet named Balaam was known in this particular area of Jordan.]
And Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab.
And when Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at Ir-Moab [the city in Moab, probably Ar, see , ], which is on the border of Arnon, at the outermost part of the border.
And he returned to him, and he stood by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab.
And he [Balaam] took up his parable (he began to speak in images and proverbs, often with many meanings; sometimes even prophetically – Hebr. mashal) and said:
"From Aram [present-day central and southern Syria; meaning: exalted]
Balak brought me,
king of Moab
from the mountains of the east:
Come, curse (Hebr. arar) Jacob
and come curse (Hebr. zaam) Israel.
And he came to him, and he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And he said, "What has the Lord (Yahweh) spoken?"
I see him, but not now.
I see him, but not near.
A star shall come out of Jacob
and a scepter shall rise out of Israel
and shall smite the corners of Moab
and break down all the sons of Seth.
[Verses 1-3 form a chiasm. The structure emphasizes how it is precisely the sacrifice to these idols that is central to what arouses God's wrath. Baal is the Canaanite and Hebrew word for "lord" and Peor is the place. The place is located just east of Jericho and is also called Beit-Peor (Peor's house) in . Baal was a fertility god who was worshipped with sexual rites, see ; .]
And Israel stayed in Shittim [plural of Shittah, Hebrew for acacia tree – according to Josephus, 1 mile east of the Jordan, see ; ; ]
and the people began to commit adultery with the daughters of Moab.
And Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke to them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying:
These were the ones counted by Moses and the priest Eleazar, who counted the sons of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, near Jericho.
And they brought the captives and the spoil and the spoiled things to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the assembly of the sons of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which is by the Jordan opposite Jericho.
And they journeyed from Oboth and camped in
Ijej-Haavarim [meaning: "Abraham's ruins"], at the border of
Moab.
And they journeyed from the mountains of Avarim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho.
And they camped by the Jordan from Beit Jeshimot to Avel Shittim in the plains of Moab.
And the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying:
And the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying:
These are the commands (the clear commandments – Hebr. mitzvot) and decrees (binding legal decisions) that the Lord (Yahweh) commanded (Hebrew: tsavah) the sons of Israel through Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho.
On the other side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses undertook (he made a conscious decision) to explain this teaching (Hebr. torah) and said:
So we departed from our brothers, the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, from the way of the Arabah, from Eilat, and from Ezion-geber. And we turned and took the road through the wilderness of Moab.
[Ezion-geber was a port city in Edom on the northern coast of the Gulf of Aqaba (Red Sea) in the region around Eilat/Aqaba, perhaps Coral Island. It was Solomon's main port for worldwide trade, see .]
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to me, "Do not attack Moab or engage in battle with them, for I will not give you any of their land as your possession, since I have given Ar [a city in Moab; here also refers to the entire area] to the sons of Lot as their possession.
"Today is the day you are to cross the border of Moab and Ar,
These are the provisions of the covenant that the Lord (Yahweh) commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he made with them at Horeb (Hebr. Chorev).
[In Hebrew usage, one makes a covenant. This is because all such covenants are blood covenants. In English, we usually use the expression "enter into a covenant," but this is misleading because a covenant that is merely entered into, without blood, is a different kind of covenant than a blood covenant. Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai. The Hebrew name for Horeb shares its root with cherev, which means sword.]
"Go up to this mountain of Avarim
[mountain range], to Mount
[peak] Nebo, which is in the land of
Moab, opposite Jericho, and see the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel for their possession
(property; literally: something to grasp hold of – Hebr. ),
Moses went
[north] from the desert of
Moab up to Mount
Nebo, which is
[on the east side of the Jordan River] opposite Jericho. He went up to the top of
Pisgah.
[A mountain ridge with several peaks located just northwest of Mount Nebo.] There the Lord
(Yahweh) showed him the whole land
[that he had been promised to see ]:
[Moses stands in the middle of the eastern edge of the land that will become Israel, and starting from north to south (in a semicircle in a counterclockwise direction), God shows him the whole land.] Gilead
[north along the ridge] all the way to
[the city of] Dan.
[in the north]There in the land of Moab, Moses, the servant of the Lord, died, just as the Lord (Yahweh) had said.
And he was buried in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-Peor, and no one knows where his grave is to this day.
And the sons of Israel mourned Moses in the plains of Moab for 30 days, and then the weeping and mourning for Moses ended.
[Thirty in Hebrew is shloshim, and this 30-day mourning period is called shloshim, see also .]
This is the inheritance that Moses distributed in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan east of Jericho.
Then Balak, son of Zippor, rose up and fought against Israel, and he sent for Balaam, son of Beor, to curse you.
And the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord (Yahweh), and the Lord (Yahweh) strengthened Eglon [meaning: "like a calf" and also similar to the word for round/rounded], king of Moab, against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord (Yahweh).
[The Moabites are not mentioned among the peoples whom the Lord had left to test the Israelites, see verses 3-6. The Moabites are descended from Lot's eldest daughter, who had an incestuous relationship with her father after he "ate and drank," see . The name Eglon means "like a calf" in Hebrew, and is similar to the word agol, which means round or rounded. No Israelite could fail to notice the caricatured description of Eglon, who becomes a clown-like figure. In , the Hebrew word bari is used, which describes fat cattle, and here with an intensifier that describes him as "enormously fat." Every time his name appears in verses 12-17, he is described as "the king of Moab," but after , the author avoids that title. This man was "someone" during the 18 years he reigned, but is then reduced to a nameless "he" who dies a humiliating death.]
And the sons of Israel served Eglon, king of Moab, for 18 years.
But when the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord (Yahweh), the Lord (Yahweh) raised up a savior (deliverer), Ehud, the son of Gera, the son of Benjamin, a left-handed man, and the sons of Israel sent a gift with him to Eglon, king of Moab.
[The name Benjamin literally means "son of the right hand." The author notes that Ehud was left-handed, a trait that would prove decisive for the outcome of this story, see verses 16 and 21. The Benjaminites were known for their skill in using slings with their left hand ().]
And he offered the gift to Eglon, king of Moab. Eglon was a very well-fed (literally "fat/large abundance/more/much" – Hebr. bari meód) man. [The same expression is used about the seven fat cows in Joseph's dream, see .]
And he said to them, "Follow me, for the Lord (Yahweh) has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand."
And they went down after him and took the fords of the Jordan [just north of the Dead Sea] against (opposite) the Moabites, and did not allow anyone to cross. [The fords of the Jordan River were a strategic position to hold, see also . This prevented the Moabite forces west of the Jordan from receiving reinforcements and also prevented their retreat. A similar strategy is used in when Jephthah fights against the Ephraimites and in Ramses II's description of the battle of Kadesh against the Hittites in 1285 BC].
And they struck down about 10,000 men in Moab at that time, every able-bodied man and every warrior, not a single man escaped (managed to flee).
Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel, and the land had peace for 40 years.
And the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord
(Yahweh) and served
[now seven idols are listed:] the Baals
and the Ashtaroth
(stars) and
the gods of Aram
[which were Chehadad, Mot, Anat, and Rimmon] and
the gods of Sidon and the gods of
Moab [Chemosh, see ] and the gods of the sons of Ammon
[Moloch, see ] and the gods of the Philistines
[Dagon, see ] and they forsook the Lord
(Yahweh) and did not serve him.
and said to him,
"Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take the land from Moab, nor did they take the land of the sons of Ammon.
[Now follows a long explanation in which Jephthah shows that he is well acquainted with the history of Israel. He makes it clear that the sons of Ammon have never been taken by Israel. On the contrary, there are three countries that God says Israel should not fight against because they are their brothers. These are Ammon and Moab, who are descendants of Lot (Abraham's nephew), and Edom, who are descendants of Esau (Jacob's brother). What Jephthah now recounts from verses 16 to 26 is how Israel wandered in the desert and did not touch these three countries, but how, on the other hand, the Amorites long ago took the area that Ammon now claims and how Israel took it from the Amorites and thus has a legal right to this area. see .]
and Israel sent messengers to Edom, saying, 'Let me pass through your land, I beg you,' [] but the king of Edom would not listen. And in the same way he sent to the king of Moab, but he would not, and Israel remained in Kadesh.
And they journeyed through the wilderness and went around (took a detour around) the land of Edom and the land of Moab and came to the east side of Moab, and they camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not come within the borders of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. [The Arnon River flows through Wadi el-Mojib and empties into the southeastern part of the Dead Sea.]
And are you now better than Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel or fight against them?
In the days when the judges
[spiritual and military leaders of the Jewish people, see ] ruled, there was a famine in the land.
[The time of the judges is an approximately 300–year period in Jewish history, after the wilderness wanderings and before the monarchy. It is a dark time in Israel’s history. There is anarchy, with internal conflicts among the twelve tribes but also with neighboring countries.] Then a man went from
Bethlehem of Judah with his wife and two sons to live for a time in the land of
Moab.
The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and his two sons Machlon and Chilion. [Elimelech’s name means: ”my God is king”; Naomi ”well-being/sweetness”; the sons ”sickly” and ”fragile/weak”]. The family were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. [Ephraim was an area around Bethlehem, see ; ; .] They came to the land of Moab and stayed there.
[The first chapter begins and ends in the small town of Bethlehem in Judah. It is an almost ironic point that there is a famine in Bethlehem, in Hebrew ”house of bread”. The natural cause of the famine was probably several years of drought and crop failure. From a theological perspective, there were also spiritual causes. The people of Israel had abandoned God and devoted themselves to idols, and one consequence of this was that God’s hand of protection left the people, see ; .
Moab is located east of the Dead Sea, see ; . Only a generation earlier, the Israelites had been at war with Moab, see . The decision to go to Moab, and not to their Jewish brethren east of the Jordan River, may describe spiritual apostasy. Marriage to Moabite women was not forbidden, but no Moabite, or his sons to the tenth generation, were allowed to be admitted to the assembly of the Lord, see . The reason was the origin of the people, the incestuous relationship between Lot and his eldest daughter, see . Further, it was the Moabites who paid for Balaam to curse Israel, see .]
Naomi got up (decided), with her daughters-in-law, to return home from the plain of Moab. For she had heard in Moab that the Lord (Yahweh) had taken care of his people and given them bread (Hebrew lechem). [Bethlehem was again a ”bread town.”]
So Naomi and her daughter-in-law, Ruth the Moabite, returned from the land of Moab. They came to Bethlehem when the barley harvest started [in the spring, around the month of April.]
[Although wheat was more desirable than barley, barley was an important grain because it was more durable and grew in places too dry for other grains. Its early harvest made it an important part of the food supply while waiting for other crops to mature. The barley harvest is the first harvest of the year. It takes place in April, which means that the bulk of Ruth’s story takes place in early spring.]
The servant in charge of the reapers replied, ”She is a Moabite woman who returned here with Naomi from the land of Moab.
Then he said to the redeemer, ”The land that belonged to our relative (brother, half-brother) Elimelech is now given to Naomi, who came back to us from Moab.
But they forgot the Lord (Yahweh), their God (Elohim), and he gave them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of Hazor [in northern Galilee, see ], and into the hand of the Philistines [], and into the hand of the king of Moab [east of the Dead Sea, see ], and they fought against them.
After Saul had taken the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab and against the sons of Ammon and against Edom and against the kings of Zobah and against the Philistines. And wherever he turned himself, he struck them down.
And David went from there to
Mitspeh [meaning: "watchtower"] in
Moab [east of the Jordan River], and he said to the king of
Moab, "Let my father and my mother, I beg you, come here and stay with you until I know what God
(Elohim) will do for me."
And he brought them before the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold (Hebr. matsodah). [The exact location of Mizpah is not entirely certain; it is a general name for a military outpost, but it may also be a city, perhaps Kerak or Rujm el-Meshrefeh in present-day Jordan.]
And he defeated Moab and measured them with a measuring line, making them lie down on the ground, and he measured two rows, which he killed, and one whole row was allowed to live. And the Moabites became David's servants (slaves) and brought gifts.
from Aram, from Moab, from the sons of Ammon, from the Philistines, from Amalek, and from the spoils of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, the son of a warrior from Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, he struck down the two lions of Moab (famous heroes) and he went down and struck down a lion in the pit (cistern) during the snowy season (winter).
At that time Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab [], on the mountain east of Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the Ammonites.
because they have forsaken me and have worshipped
Ashtoreth [Ishtar – goddess of love and war; queen of heaven and wife of Baal], goddess of the Sidonians,
Chemosh, the god of Moab, and Milcom [also called Molech], the god of the Amorites, and have not walked in my ways to do what is right in my sight and to keep (guard, protect, preserve) my statutes (literally "things engraved") and my ordinances (binding legal decisions) as his father David did.
[The First and Second Books of Kings were originally one book. Here continues the passage that began in the previous four verses, see . Moab, east of the Dead Sea, had previously ruled over Israel (), but had been defeated by David (). Now, just over a hundred years later, the Moabites seize the opportunity and revolt when Ahab has just died. On the Mesha Stele (also called the "Moabite Stone"; found in Dibon in Jordan in 1868), which dates from 840 BC, there is a description of this war by Mesha, king of Moab, see also . The sixth king of the Southern Kingdom, Ahaziah, now faces adversity both politically and personally: Moab revolts and he is injured in an accident. Ahaziah was king of Israel for a short period from 853 to 852 BC.] And
Moab [east of the Dead Sea] rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab
(Hebr. Achav).
And Mesha, king of Moab, was a sheep breeder, and he gave the king of Israel the wool of 100,000 lambs and 100,000 rams.
But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
Then he went and sent messengers to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, saying, "The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?"
He replied, "I will go. I am as you are, and my people as your people, my horses as your horses."
Then the king of Israel said, "Alas (oh no), it is the Lord (Yahweh) who has gathered these three kings to deliver them into the hand of Moab."
And Elisha said to the king of Israel, "What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother." And the king of Israel said to him, "No, for the Lord (Yahweh) has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab."
And this is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord (Yahweh), and he will deliver Moab into your hand.
And all the kings of Moab heard that the kings were coming up to fight against them, and they gathered together, all who could bear armor (were old enough) and upward, and they stood at the border.
And they rose early in the morning, and the sun shone on the water, and the Moabites saw the water a distance away, and it was red like blood,
and they said, "This is blood; surely the kings have fought against each other and each has killed his man; therefore, Moab, to the spoil!"
And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and struck the Moabites, so that they fled before them. And they struck the land of Moab mightily (powerfully, thoroughly, severely).
And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too strong for him, he took with him 700 men who drew swords to break into the king of Edom, but they could not.
And Elisha died, and they buried him.
And Moabite raiders came into the land at the beginning of the year [in the spring, after the winter rains in March and before the harvest was gathered in May, when all the laborers were needed in the fields, see ; , ].
And the high places that were in front of (east of) Jerusalem, to the right [the southern hill] of the Mount of Destruction [a play on words for "Mount of Anointing," i.e., the Mount of Olives], which Solomon, king of Israel, had built for
Ashtoret [Ishtar – goddess of love and war; queen of heaven and wife of Baal], the abomination of the Sidonians, King of Israel, had built for Ashtoreth [Ishtar – goddess of love and war; queen of heaven and wife of Baal], the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom [also called Molech], the abomination of the sons of Ammon,
the king defiled himself.
And the Lord (Yahweh) sent against him the armies of the Chaldeans, the armies of the Arameans, the armies of the Moabites, and the armies of the sons of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy them, according to the word of the Lord (Yahweh) which he had spoken by the hand of his servants the prophets.
When Husham died, Hadad, son of Bedad, became king after him. He defeated the Midianites in the land of Moab. His city was called Avith.
also Jokim and the men of Koseba, and Joash and Saraf, who became lords of Moab, as well as Jasubi-Lehem. But this belongs to a distant time.
Shaharajim had children in the land of Moab after he had divorced his wives Hushim and Baara.
In addition, Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada from Kabzeel, was a brave man and did many great deeds. He struck down the two Ariels in Moab, and it was he who, on a snowy day, went down and killed the lion in the pit.
He also defeated the Moabites, and they became David's servants and paid him tribute.
King David also dedicated these to the Lord (Yahweh), as he had done with the silver and gold he had brought home from all the other peoples: from the Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, Philistines, and Amalekites.
Then the Moabites and Ammonites came, and with them other Ammonites, to fight against Jehoshaphat.
Now look at the people of Ammon, Moab, and the hill country of Seir! It was their territory that you did not allow Israel to pass through when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they took a detour away from them and did not destroy them.
And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord sent an attack from behind on the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who had come against Judah, and they were defeated.
The people of Ammon and Moab rose up against the people of the hill country of Seir to destroy and annihilate them, and when they had finished with the people of Seir, they helped to destroy each other.
Have you not cast us out, God (Elohim)?
Will you no longer go out with our army?
Geval [probably south of the Negev, near Petra]
and Ammon [descendants of Lot, see , east of the Jordan River]
and Amalek [in the Negev, south of Judah, see : the first enemy the Israelites encountered after leaving Egypt, see ],
the Philistines [present-day Gaza, bitter enemies especially during the time of Saul and David]
with the inhabitants of Tyre [Lebanon],
Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
They shall fly down over the shoulders of Philistia in the west,
together they shall crush the sons of the east,
they shall stretch out their hand over Edom and Moab,
and the sons of Ammon shall obey them.
[Moab was Israel and Judah's neighbor east of the Jordan River. Many of the northern Moabite cities in this chapter once belonged to Israel. Among them are Heshbon and Elealeh, mentioned in , see . When Israel and Judah were strong, they controlled this area, but in Isaiah's day, Moab and other countries in the area were under attack from Assyria. Verses 1-4 list the major cities from south to north.] Message concerning
(prophecy, burden upon) Moab. In one night,
Ar [city south of the Arnon River, on the eastern side of the Dead Sea] in Moab,
laid in ruins,
in one night Kir [present-day city of Karak, also south of the Arnon] in Moab is destroyed,
laid in ruins. He has gone up to the temple [or a city called Bait] and to Divon,
to the high places to weep over [Mount] Nebo [where the idol Kemosh was worshipped, see also ]
and over Medeba [a city east of the Jordan River, see ; , ].
Moab [the whole country] cries out (in grief, pain, and shock);
every head is bald, every beard is shaved [as a sign of mourning].
Cheshbon [east of the Jordan, ; ; ]
and Elale [west of the Jordan, 3 km from Cheshbon, ; ; ] cry out,
their voices are heard as far as Jahaz [Levitical city east of the Jordan, see ; ; ].
Therefore the warriors of Moab cry aloud,
his soul faints (weakens, fades) within him.
My heart cries out for
Moab,
her refugees stretch out to
Tsoar, like a three-year-old heifer
[full of strength—or is it the name of a place, "Eglat-Shelishija"],
as Lochit rises, they go up with weeping, on
the road to Choronaim they raise a cry of doom.
The cry of lamentation has gone around the borders of Moab;
its howling has reached Eglajim []
and its howling has reached Beer Elim [beyond the eastern border of Moab, see ].
The waters of Dimon are full of blood,
I will bring more upon Dimon [area northwest of Damascus],
a lion that has escaped from Moab
will come upon him and upon the remnant of the land.
For it shall come to pass that like fluttering birds,
like a scattered nest
(bird's nest),
so shall the daughters of
Moab be
at the fords of
Arnon.
Let my outcasts [God's people from Judah] dwell with you, Moab,
be a shelter for them from the face of the destroyer. [The Greek translation Septuagint reverses the meaning: "Let the vulnerable from Moab dwell with you (Judah)."]
For the extortioner [perhaps referring to the Assyrians] will come to an end,
destruction will cease,
those who trample will disappear from the land.
We have heard of Moab's pride,
he is very proud,
even though his pride and his arrogance
and his arrogance, his groundless boasting.
Therefore Moab shall lament for Moab,
all shall lament, for Qir-Cheres [often associated with the ancient capital of Moab; meaning "wall of clay shards"] raisin cakes you shall mourn,
severely afflicted.
Therefore my heart (bowels, stomach) moans like a kinnor harp for Moab,
and my heart [the strings of my heart vibrate] for Qir-Cheres [in Moab].
And it shall come to pass, when one sees how Moab has exhausted himself
in the high places, that he shall come to his sanctuary and pray,
but he shall not prevail.
These are the provisions that the Lord (Yahweh) spoke concerning Moab in times past.
But now the Lord (Yahweh) has spoken and says: "Within three years, as the years are [carefully] counted by a hired worker, the glory of Moab shall be despised with its great multitudes, and the remnant shall be very small and without strength."
For the hand of the Lord (Yahweh) shall rest on (over) this mountain,
and Moab is trampled under him,
as straw is trampled in the dunghill (manure pile).
Against Egypt and against Judah and against Edom and against the sons of Ammon and against Moab and against all who have cut the corners of their hair, who dwell in the desert. [The Greek historian Herodotus mentions Arab desert peoples who cut the corners of their hair (see the work History, 3:8 – from the 4th century BC). The hairstyle is an outward sign of idolatry, see ; ; ; .] For all nations are uncircumcised, but the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart [].
Edom and Moab and the sons of Ammon,
and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of
Moab, and to the king of the sons of Ammon, and to the king of
Tyre, and to the king of
Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who came to Jerusalem to Zedekiah
(Hebr. Tsidqijah), king of Judah,
And all the Jews who were in Moab and among the sons of Ammon and in Edom and in all the countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, over them.
To
Moab.
Thus says the Lord of hosts
(Yahweh Sebaot), the God of Israel
(Elohim):
Woe to
[the city of] Nebo! For it is doomed.
Qirjatim must be ashamed, it is taken.
Misgav must be ashamed and terrified.
The praise of Moab is no more.
In Heshbon [35 km east of Jericho] they have devised evil against her:
"Come, let us destroy them (cut them off) [the Moabites] as a people."
Even you, Madmen [a city in Moab; means mound; also similar to the word for be silent] shall be silenced (Hebr. damam), the sword shall pursue you.
Moab is destroyed,
her little ones have let out a cry.
Give wings to Moab,
for she must fly and depart,
and her cities shall become a desolate place
with no one living there.
Moab has been easy from his youth
and he has settled [like wine] on the bottom
and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel
– he has not gone into captivity,
therefore his taste remains with him
and his fragrance has not changed.
And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh
as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.
Moab is ruined, and they have gone up into her cities
and her chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,
declares (says, proclaims) the King,
whose name is the Lord of hosts (Yahweh Sebaot).
The disaster for Moab is coming
and her sorrow is hastening greatly.
You daughter who dwells in Dibon,
come down from your glory and sit thirsty,
for the destroyer of Moab has come against you,
he has broken down your strongholds.
Moab must be ashamed, for it is destroyed,
mourn and cry out,
tell it in Arnon,
that Moab is destroyed.
and over Qeriot and over Botsra
and over all the cities of the land of Moab, near and far.
The horn of Moab is cut off
and its arm is broken,
declares (says, proclaims) the Lord (Yahweh). [The horn is a symbol of strength.]
Make him drunk
for he has made himself great before the Lord (Yahweh)
and Moab shall wallow in his vomit
and he shall also become a laughingstock.
And you who live in Moab,
leave the cities and live among the rocks
and be like doves
that build their nests at the mouth of the hole (mouth).
We have heard of Moab's pride,
he is very proud,
his exaltation and his pride
and his arrogance and the haughtiness of his heart.
Therefore, I will lament for Moab;
yes, I will cry out for all of Moab,
for the men of Qir-Cheres [the city is often associated with the ancient capital of Moab; meaning "wall of clay shards"] my heart will groan.
And joy and gladness have been taken away
from your fruitful fields and from the land of Moab
and I have let the wine cease from your winepresses,
no one shall tread with shouts,
the shouts shall not be shouts.
[People used to tread the grapes in the winepress to the beat of rhythmic songs, as it was customary to stand together in the winepress and keep a steady, common rhythm in the treading.]
And I will make an end in Moab,
declares (says, proclaims) the Lord (Yahweh),
on him who sacrifices on high places
and him who sacrifices to his gods.
Therefore my heart moans for Moab
like a flute,
and my heart moans
like a flute for the men of Qir-Cheres [in Moab],
because his abundance has been lost.
On all the rooftops of Moab
and in its open places—everywhere there is lamentation,
for I have crushed Moab like a vessel
that has no beauty,
declares (says, proclaims) the Lord (Yahweh).
How broken he is! They wail!
How Moab has turned his back in shame.
So Moab will become a mockery
and a horror to all around him.
Thus says the Lord (Yahweh):
Behold, he will hover like an eagle
and spread his wings over Moab.
The cities are taken
and the strongholds [natural strongholds, caves, and cliffs – Hebr. masad; the same word as the famous ancient fortress Masada in the Negev desert] are besieged,
and the heart of Moab's mighty men (men in their prime, full of strength and power)
shall be on that day like the heart of a woman in her labor pains.
And Moab shall cease to be a people
because he has made himself great against the Lord (Yahweh).
Terror and the abyss, a snare are upon you (literally: you), inhabitants of Moab,
declares (says, proclaims) the Lord (Yahweh).
He who flees from terror
shall fall into the abyss
and he who climbs out of the abyss
shall be caught in the snare,
for I will bring it upon her,
upon Moab your year of visitation (year of reckoning/visitation) [when injustice is judged], declares (says, proclaims) the Lord (Yahweh).
In the shadow of Cheshbon
the refugees stand without strength,
for a fire has gone forth from Cheshbon,
and a flame from the midst of Sihon
and it devours the corners of Moab
and the crown on the head of the raging ones.
Woe to you, Moab!
The people of Chemosh are scattered,
for your sons are carried away captive
and your daughters are in captivity.
But I will bring back the captives of Moab
at the end of the days (in the days to come),
declares (says, proclaims) the Lord (Yahweh). This is the judgment of Moab.
Thus says the Lord of lords (Adonai Yahweh):
Because Moab and Seir say, "Behold, as with all nations, so it is with the house of Judah,"
therefore I will open the flank of Moab on the side of the cities, on the side of his cities that are on his borders, the beautiful land, Beit-Jeshimot, Baal-Meon, and Kirjatajim
And I will execute judgment upon Moab, and they shall know that I am the Lord (Yahweh).
He will also invade the glorious land [Israel], and many [countries or peoples] will fall, but these will escape his hand [tyranny]: Edom, Moab, and the foremost of the children of Ammon. [These three areas are ancient countries southeast of Israel, present-day Jordan.]
Thus says the Lord (Yahweh):
"For three transgressions of Moab,
yes, for four, I will not relent,
because they burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime.
[In the previous word to Ammon, it was unborn children who were killed, see , here it is the dead who are desecrated. These two prophetic words show how to desecrate the life that God has given.]
I will send a fire upon Moab
and it will consume the palaces (mighty buildings) of Kerioth.
Moab will die in chaos, in the tumult of battle,
to the sound of the shofar (ram's horn).
My people, remember
what Balak, king of Moab, devised, and
Balaam, son of Beor, answered him,
from Shittim to Gilgal
so that you may understand (have intimate knowledge of) the righteous deeds of the Lord (Yahweh).
I have heard the taunts of Moab
and the scoffing of the children of Ammon
who have taunted my people
and questioned their borders.
Therefore, as surely as I live,
declares (says, proclaims) the Lord of hosts (Yahweh Sebaot), the God of Israel (Elohim),
Moab shall be like Sodom
and Ammon like Gomorrah
they shall become a possession for weeds and a salt pit,
an eternal desolation.
The remnant of my people shall plunder them;
the remnant of my people shall depopulate them.
