Isaiah 15 · Verse 2

Isaiah 15:2

He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off.

Isaiah 15:2, King James Version

Isaiah 15:2 in other translations

BSB	Dibon goes up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails over Nebo, as well as over Medeba. Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off.
WEB	They have gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and over Medeba. Baldness is on all of their heads. Every beard is cut off.
ASV	They are gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep: Moab waileth over Nebo, and over Medeba; on all their heads is baldness, every beard is cut off.
YLT	He hath gone up to Bajith and Dibon, The high places--to weep, On Nebo and on Medeba Moab howleth, On all its heads is baldness, every beard cut off.
DARBY	He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep; Moab howleth over Nebo, and over Medeba; on all their heads is baldness, every beard is cut off.
BBE	The daughter of Dibon has gone up to the high places, weeping: Moab is sounding her cry of sorrow over Nebo, and over Medeba: everywhere the hair of the head and of the face is cut off.
Webster	He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard shorn.

What does Isaiah 15:2 mean?

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 2 He is gone to Bajith, and to Dibon - עלה הבית alah habbayith, should be rendered, he is gone to the House, i.e., to their chief temple, where they practiced idolatry. Dibon was the name of a tower where also was an idolatrous temple; thither they went to weep and pray before their idols, that they might interpose and save them from their calamities. So R. D. Kimchi. Me is gone to Bajith and to Dibon: but Bishop Lowth reads Beth Dibon; this is the name of one place; and the two words are to be joined together, without the ו vau intervening. So the Chaldee and Syriac. This reading is not supported by any MS. or Version: but some MSS., instead of ער ar, have עיר ir, a city, others have עד ad, unto, and some editions have על al, upon. But all these help little, though they show that the place puzzled both the scribes and the editors. On all their heads shall be baldness, etc." On every head there is baldness," etc. - Herodotus, 2:36, speaks of it as a general practice among all men, except the Egyptians, to cut off their hair as a token of mourning. "Cut off thy hair, and cast it away," says Jeremiah, Jer 7:29, "and take up a lamentation." Τουτο νυ και γερας οιον οἱζυροισι βροτοισι Κειρασθαι τε κομην, βαλεειν τ' απο δακρυ παρειων. Hom. Odyss. 4:197. "The rites of wo Are all, alas! the living can bestow; O'er the congenial dust enjoined to shear The graceful curl, and drop the tender tear." Pope. On every head. - For ראשיו roshaiv, read ראש rosh. So the parallel place, Jer 48:37, and so three MSS., one ancient. An ancient MS. reads על כל ראש al col rosh. Five read בכל ראש bechol rosh, on every head, with the Septuagint and Arabic. And every head. The ו vau, and, is found in thirty MSS., in three editions, and in the Syriac, Vulgate, and Chaldee. Cut off "Shorn" - The printed editions, as well as the MSS., are divided on the reading of this word. Some have גדועה geduah, shorn, others גרעה geruah, diminished. The similitude of the letters ד daleth and ר resh has likewise occasioned many mistakes. In the present case, the sense is pretty much the same with either reading. The text of Jer 48:37 has the latter, diminished. The former reading is found in twelve of Dr. Zennicott's MSS., forty of De Rossi's, and two of my own. A great number of editions have the same reading.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Isaiah 15:2 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

עָלָ֨ה'a.Lahit has gone upH5927

הַבַּ֧יִתha.Ba.yitthe houseH1004

וְדִיבֹ֛ןve.di.Vonand DibonH1769

הַבָּמ֖וֹתha.ba.Motthe high placesH1116

לְבֶ֑כִיle.Ve.khifor weepingH1065

עַל\־'al-onH5921

נְב֞וֹne.VoNeboH5015

וְעַ֤לve.'Aland onH5921

מֵֽידְבָא֙mei.de.Va'MedebaH4311

מוֹאָ֣בmo.'AvMoabH4124

יְיֵלִ֔ילye.ye.Lilit is wailingH3213

בְּכָל\־be.khol[is] on allH3605

רֹאשָׁ֣יוro.Shavheads itsH7218

קָרְחָ֔הka.re.ChahbaldnessH7144

כָּל\־kol-everyH3605

זָקָ֖ןza.KanbeardH2206

גְּרוּעָֽה\׃ge.ru.'Ah[is] diminishedH1639

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 15:2

Jeremiah 48:1
Against Moab thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed.
Leviticus 21:5
They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.
Jeremiah 48:18
Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds.
Isaiah 3:24
And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.
Numbers 21:30
We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba.
Jeremiah 47:5
Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
Deuteronomy 34:1
And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the Lord shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan,
Isaiah 14:31
Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times.
Isaiah 16:7
Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kir–hareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken.
Isaiah 15:3
In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly.
Jeremiah 7:29
Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
Isaiah 16:12
And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

is gone.
16:12; Jos 13:17; Jer 48:18,22,23
Moab.
3; 14:31; 16:7; Jer 48:31,39
Nebo.
Nu 32:3,38; De 34:1; Jer 48:1
Medeba.
Nu 21:30; Jos 13:16
all.
3:24; 22:12; Le 19:27,28; 21:5; De 14:1; Job 1:20; Jer 7:29; 47:5
Jer 48:1,37,38; Eze 7:18

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Isaiah 15:1
The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence;
Isaiah 15:2
He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off.
Isaiah 15:3
In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly.

Read all of Isaiah 15

Isaiah 15:2 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Subió á Bayith y á Dibón, lugares altos, á llorar; sobre Nebo y sobre Medeba aullará Moab: toda cabeza de ella será raída, y toda barba se mesará.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Il est monté à Baïth et à Dibon, aux hauts lieux, pour pleurer; Moab hurle sur Nebo et sur Médeba; toutes les têtes sont chauves, toute barbe est coupée.
German Elberfelder 1871	Man steigt zum Götzentempel hinauf, und nach Dibon auf die Höhen, um zu weinen; auf Nebo und auf Medeba jammert Moab; auf allen seinen Häuptern ist eine Glatze, jeder Bart ist abgeschoren.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Ascendit domus, et Dibon ad excelsa, in planctum super Nabo; et super Medaba, Moab ululavit; in cunctis capitibus ejus calvitium, et omnis barba radetur.