Isaiah 15:5-8
Context15:5 My heart cries out because of Moab’s plight, 1
and for the fugitives 2 stretched out 3 as far as Zoar and Eglath Shelishiyah.
For they weep as they make their way up the ascent of Luhith;
they loudly lament their demise on the road to Horonaim. 4
15:6 For the waters of Nimrim are gone; 5
the grass is dried up,
the vegetation has disappeared,
and there are no plants.
15:7 For this reason what they have made and stored up,
they carry over the Stream of the Poplars.
15:8 Indeed, the cries of distress echo throughout Moabite territory;
their wailing can be heard in Eglaim and Beer Elim. 6
1 tn Heb “for Moab.” For rhetorical purposes the speaker (the Lord?, see v. 9) plays the role of a mourner.
2 tn The vocalization of the Hebrew text suggests “the bars of her gates,” but the form should be repointed to yield, “her fugitives.” See HALOT 156-57 s.v. בָּרִחַ, and BDB 138 s.v. בָּרִיהַ.
3 tn The words “are stretched out” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
4 tn Heb “For the ascent of Luhith, with weeping they go up it; for [on] the road to Horonaim an outcry over shattering they raise up.”
5 tn Heb “are waste places”; cf. NRSV “are a desolation.”
6 tn Heb “to Eglaim [is] her wailing, and [to] Beer Elim [is] her wailing.”