16:7 So Moab wails over its demise 1 –
they all wail!
Completely devastated, they moan
about what has happened to the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth. 2
15:2 They went up to the temple, 3
the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament. 4
Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba, 5 Moab wails.
Every head is shaved bare,
every beard is trimmed off. 6
1 tn Heb “So Moab wails for Moab.”
2 tn The Hebrew text has, “for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth you [masculine plural] moan, surely destroyed.” The “raisin cakes” could have cultic significance (see Hos 3:1), but the next verse focuses on agricultural disaster, so here the raisin cakes are mentioned as an example of the fine foods that are no longer available (see 2 Sam 6:19; Song 2:5) because the vines have been destroyed by the invader (see v. 8). Some prefer to take אֲשִׁישֵׁי (’ashishe, “raisin cakes of”) as “men of” (see HALOT 95 s.v. *אָשִׁישׁ; cf. NIV). The verb form תֶהְגּוּ (tehgu, “you moan”) is probably the result of dittography (note that the preceding word ends in tav [ת]) and should be emended to הגו (a perfect, third plural form), “they moan.”
3 tn Heb “house.”
4 tn Heb “even Dibon [to] the high places to weep.” The verb “went up” does double duty in the parallel structure.
5 tn Heb “over [or “for”] Nebo and over [or “for”] Medeba.”
6 sn Shaving the head and beard were outward signs of mourning and grief.