summer season, and at the time or' their vintage, and
devoured the fruits of' their vines and fig-trees, with
which this country abounded; and so impoverished
and ruined them. The Targum of thewhole is," there-
" fore as I have brought an army against Jazer, so I
"will bring slayers against Sibmah; they that carry
"them captive have waded; they have passed through
"the sea; they are come to the sea of Jazer; upon
"thy harvest, and upon thy vintage, the spoilers are
"fitlien."
Vet. 33. And .joy and gladness is taken .from the
plentiful field, &c.] Or, from Carmel {k}; not Mount
Carreel -in the land or' Israel; for the prophecy is of'
Moab; though that reached to Sibmah; but here it
signifies any. fruitful place, like Carrel, where were
good pasturage, corn, and fruit-bearing trees, which
produced great plenty of good things, and caused joy
to the owners of them: but now all being destroyed by
the enemy, .joy and gladness would cease: and from
the land of Moab; from all parts of it, whe,re there had
used to be plenty, and so joy: I have caused wine to
J;2il. from the wine-presses: there being no grapes to put
into them, er men to tread thcm, were there any; or,
if put in and trodden, not the owners, but the enemy,
should have the wine; so that it should fail from the
Moabites; they should be never the better for it.
These are the words of'the Lord, who has the disposal
of the fruits of the earth: none shall tread with shout-
ing; as treaders in the wine-press used to do, to
encourage one another, and make their labour more
easy, and the time to pass on in it more pleasantly;
but now there should neither be treading nor shouting;
see Isa. xvi. 10: their shouting shall be no shouting;
not a shouting of joy, as used to be when they trod
out the wine; but a cry of mourning and lamentation,
because of the sword of the enemy.
Ver. 34. From the cry of Heshbon even unto .Elealeh,
&c.] Two cities in the land of Moab; of which see
isa. xv. 4. and xvi. 9. Heshbon being destroyed, a
cry was made by the inhabitants of it, which either
reached from thence to Elealeh; or the destruction
being carried on to that city, the cry was continued
there: and even unto 3ahaz, have they uttered their voice;
another ,sity of Moab; see Isa. xv. 4. which also was
laid waste, and where the Moobites uttered their voice
or' lamentation on account of it: from Zoar even unto
Horonaim, as an heifer of three years old: that is, as
the destruction should go on to Zoar, and so to Horo-
naim; of which places see Isa. xv. 5. so the cry of the
distressed, and or' those that flee, should also go 'from
place to place; and be as loud, and as strong, and
heard as far, as the lowlug of' a heifer of three years
old. Naturalists {} observe, that the voice ia all female
creatures is smaller and shriller, excepting the ox; for
the voices of the females of that creature is stronger
than in the males; and also that the taming of these
creatures is when they are three years old, that is the
proper time; before it is too soon, and afterwards too
late {m}; and then it  is their voice is fuller, and their
strength firmer, to which the allusion here is; see the
note on Isa. xv. 5: for the waters also of Nimrim shall
be desolate; being disturbed by the Chaldean army,
their horses treading them with their feet, and so
tbuling them; or being mixed with the blood of the
slain, and so unfit to drink. A sad case this, to have
neither wine nor water; see the note on Isa. xv. 6. to
which may be added, that Jerom also makes mention
of a village in his time called Benamerium,to the north
of Zoar; and seems rather the place intended.
Vet. 35. Moreover I will cause to cease in MOab, saith
the Lord, him that offereth in the high places, &c.] A
burnt-offering there; that is, the priest, who shall be
taken and carried captive, ver. 7. even every one of
them; so that there won't be one left to otter sacrifice:
and him that burneth incense to his gods: Chemosh, and
others, the Moobites worshippod: this suggests that
idolatry was one of the sins for which they were
punished; and as all places and all sorts of persons
should suffer in this calamity, so likewise idolatrous
places, priests, and worshippets.
Ver. 36. Thcrefore my heart shall sound for Moab like
p,Tpes, &c.] That are sounded on mournful occasions,
as at funerals, and the tike; see Matt. ix. 23. This
the prophet said, as Kimchi observes, in the person of
the people, the inhabitants of Moab; whose bowels
would yearn and sound for the calamities of their
country like the doleful sound of minstrels. So the
Targum, "therefore the Moabites shall sound in their
"hearts like a harp :" and my heart shall sound like
pipes .for the men of Kir-heres ; as for the country of
Moab in general, so for this principal city, and the
inhabitants of it, in particular; see the note on Isa.
xvi. 11: because the riches that he hath gotten is perished ;
either Moab or Kir-heres; the abundance of goods
they had got together were now lost, falling into the
hands of the enemy; and which was matter of lamen-
tation. The Targum is, "for the rest of their sub-
" stance they had got were spoiled." Some understand
it of the residue of men that escaped the sword; these
perished by famine, or other means; see Isa. xv. 7.
Vet. 37. For every head shall be bald, and every
beard clipped, &c.] Men, in times of mourning, used to
pluck off the hairs of their head till they made titera
bald, and shaved their beards; which, as Kimchi says,
were the glory of their faces; see Isa. xv. 2: upon all
the hands shall be cuttings: it was usual with the Hea-
thens to make incisions in the several parts of their
bodies, particularly in their hands and arms, with their
nails, or with knives, in token of mourning; which are
forbidden the Israelites, Dent. xiv. 1 :. and upon the
loins sackcloth; this is a well-known custom for
mourners, to put off their clothes, and put on sack-
cloth; all these things are mentioned, to shew how
great was the mourning of Moab for the calamities
of it.
Vet. 38. There shall be lamentation generally, &c.]
Or, all of it is mourning {}; the whole country of Moab
is in mourning; or all is full of mourning; all persons,
places, and things, express nothing but mourning; go
where you will, it is to be seen: upon all the house-

{k} \^lmrkm\^ de Carmelo, Vulg. Lat.; de Charmel, Montanus; ex Car-
melo, Schmidt.
{l} Aristotel. Hist. Animal. I. 4. c. 11. Plin. Nat. Hist. I. 11. c. 51.
{m} Plin. Nat. Hist. 1. 8.c. 45.
{n} \^dpom hlk\^ totus luctus (est) vel omnia luctus (sunt), Schmidt;
totus erit planctus, Junius & Tremellius; per omnia erit planctus,
Piscator.