Isaiah 15 · a question people ask
Had Moab already fallen when these words were spoken?
In the WEB the chapter speaks both ways. Some lines tell of the ruin as already come: "Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing" (15:1), "Every beard is cut off" (15:2), "For the cry has gone around the borders of Moab" (15:8). Others look ahead: "the waters of Nimrim will be desolate" (15:6), "they will carry away the abundance they have gotten" (15:7), "I will bring yet more on Dimon" (15:9). The next chapter ends with a time: "This is the word that the LORD spoke concerning Moab in time past" (Isaiah 16:13), and "But now the LORD has spoken" (Isaiah 16:14): "Within three years, as a worker bound by contract would count them, the glory of Moab shall be brought into contempt" (Isaiah 16:14). These chapters don't say when or how the words came to pass, and these notes add no date and no history.
The verses
“The burden of Moab. For in a night, Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing. For in a night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing. 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.”
“For the waters of Nimrim will be desolate; for the grass has withered away, the tender grass fails, there is no green thing. Therefore they will carry away the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have stored up, over the brook of the willows. For the cry has gone around the borders of Moab, its wailing to Eglaim, and its wailing to Beer Elim. For the waters of Dimon are full of blood; for I will bring yet more on Dimon, a lion on those of Moab who escape, and on the remnant of the land.”
“This is the word that the LORD spoke concerning Moab in time past. But now the LORD has spoken, saying, “Within three years, as a worker bound by contract would count them, the glory of Moab shall be brought into contempt, with all his great multitude; and the remnant will be very small and feeble.””