tops of Moab, and in the streets thereof; the mourning,
as it was general, it was public; it was seen by all,
and everywhere; see the note on Isa. xv. 3: for 1
have broken Moab lilce a vessel wherein is no pleasure,
saith the Lord; as an earthen vessel, which the potter
does not like, and which is useless and unprofitable to
any, and which he takes and dashes into pieces; into a
thousand shivers, as the word ø here signifies, and can
never be put together again; or as a filthy unclean vessel
a man can't bear in his sight: Moab is by the Lord
called his wash-pot, Psal. lx. 8. The Moabites were
vessels of wrath, fitted for destruction by their own
tins; and now the time of it was come.
'Ver. 39. They shah howl, saying, how is it brolcen
down ? &c.] Or, how is it broken or thrown into con-
sternation {p} ? they howl; that is, they howl out these
words, or, whilst they are howling, say, how isKir-heres
or Moab broken all to pieces; their strength, power,
and.glory; their cities, and their mighty men; and
are in the utmost fright and confusion ? Jarchi takes
it to be an imperative, and paraphrases it, "howl ye
"over her {q}, and ny, how is it broken !" Kimchi says
it may be taken either as in the past or in the impe-
rative. How hath Moab turned the back with shame ?
not being able to look their enemies in the face, but
obliged to flee before them. So shall Moab be a
derisiou and a dismaying to all them about him; a de-
rision to some, to their enemies, as Israel had been to
them, and so they are paid in tbeir own coin; and
a consternation to others, their friends, who would
fear sharing the same fate, at the hands of the
Chaldeans.
Ver. 40. For thus saith the Lord, behold, he shall fly
as an eagle, &c.] The enemy, Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon, with his army; who is compared to an
eagle for Iris strength, swiftness, and greediness after
the prey: and shall spread his wings over Moab ; as an
eagle spreads its wings, which are very large, over the
little birds it seizes upon as its prey; so the king
of Babylon would bring a numerous army against
Moab, and spread it over his country. The Targum
is, "behold, as all eagle which flies, so a king shall
"come up with his army, and encamp against
"Moab."
Vet. 41. Kerioth is taken, &c.3 The name of a city
in Moab, as in ver. 24. so Jarchi, and others; but
Kimchi and Abarbinel observe, that it may be taken
for an appellative, and be rendered the cities; every
one of the cities of Moab, which were as easily and
quickly taken as one city; these may intend the cities
in the plain, as the strong holds those in high places:
and the strong holds are surprised; every one of them;
so that there was not a city, or a fortified place, but
what came into the enemies' hands: and the mighty
men's hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of
a woman in her pangs; even the hearts of the soldiers,
and tlm most courageous generals, shall sink within
them; and they be not only as timorous as women in
common, but as low-spirited as a woman when she
finds her- pains are coming upon her, and the time of
her delivery is at hand.
Ver. 42. And Moab shall be destroyed from being a
people, &c.] For some time, not always; since the
captivity of Moab is promised to be returned, yet. 47.
or from being such a people as they had been, enioy-
ing so much ease, wealth, power, and prosperity.
Abarbinel takes it to be a comparative, and renders it,
more than a people; that is, shall be destroyed more
than any other people; but the former sense is best.
Because he hath magnified himself against the Lord;
the Targum is, against the people of the Lord;
this is the cause of his destruction; see the note on
ver. e6.
Ver. 43. Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be
upon thee, &c.] A proverbial expression, shewing,
that if they escaped one danger, or sore judgment, they
should fall into another and greater: the words seem
to be taken from Isa. xxiv. 17. see the note there: O
inhabitant of Moab, saith the Lord; what in the pro-
phecy of Isaiah is said of the inhabitants of the earth
in general, is here applied to the inhabitants of Moab in
particular.
Ver, 44. He that fleeth from the fear, &c.3 From
terrible enemies he is afraid of, and dares not face
them, but flees, in order to escape them: shall fall into
the pit; into some misfortune or another: and he that
getteth out o3" the pit shall be taken in the snare; laid
by the enemy for him, and so shall fall into his hands.
Sanctius very ingeniously observes that the allusion is
to the hunting of deer, and such-like creatures; when
first a line of feathers of various colours is placed to
fright tbem; and if they get over that, then there is
a pit dug for them, to catch them in; and if they get
out of that, a snare is laid to take them; so that they
rarelyescape: and thus it would be with the Moabites, if
they got rid of a first and second danger, a third would
involve them; their destruction was certain, as fol-
lows; see Isa. xxiv. 18: for I will bring upon it, even
upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the Lord;
in a way of wrath and punishment; for which there
was a time fixed, and was now at hand, and would
quickly take place, according to the will and word of
the Lord, of which Moab might be assured; who is
expressed by name, for the sake of explanation, and
that it might be manifest who was intended.
Vet. 45. They that fled stood u,nder the shadow of
Heshbon, because of the .force, &c.] Heshbon was a
strong city in the land of Moab, to which many of the
Moabites betook themselves in this time of their
calamity; thinking they should be sheltered, under the
protection of it, from the fury of the Chaldean army;
hither they fled, and here they stood, imagining they
were safe, because of the force; because of the strength
of the city of Heshbon, as Kimchi; or because of the
force of their enemies, for fear of them, as Kimchi's
father; or for want of strength, because they had no
more strength to flee, and therefore stopped there, so
Jarchi and Abarbinel: but the words should rather be
rendered, they that stood under the shadow of Heshbon ;
thinking themselves safe, but now perceiving danger,
tied with strength *; or as swiftly as they could, and
with all the strength they had, that they might, if

{o} \^ytrbv\^ totalis confractio praedicitur, Schmidt.
{p} \^htx Kya\^ quomodo consternata est, Piscator, Schmidt.
{q} \^wlylyh\^ ululate, Munster, Piscator; ejulate, Junius & Tremellius.
{r} \^Myon xwkm\^ ex virbus (seil. suis) erunt fugientes, Schmidt.