Isaiah 15:9 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 15:9
For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood: for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land.
to fill or (intransitively) be full of · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
blood
דָ֔םDam
H1818
blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or… · noun, common masculine singular absolute
bring
אָשִׁ֥ית'a.Shit
H7896
to place (in a very wide application) · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
more
נוֹסָפ֑וֹתno.sa.Fot
H3254
to add or augment (often adverbial · verb, niphal active participle, feminine plural absolute
Dimon
דִּימ֖וֹןdi.Mon
H1775
Dimon · proper noun, a place name
lions
אַרְיֵ֔ה'ar.Yeh
H738
a lion · noun, common masculine singular absolute
escapeth
לִפְלֵיטַ֤תlif.lei.Tat
H6413
deliverance · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
Moab
מוֹאָב֙mo.'Av
H4124
Moab · proper noun, a place name
remnant
וְלִשְׁאֵרִ֖יתve.lish.'e.Rit
H7611
a remainder or residual (surviving · conjunction + preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
land
אֲדָמָֽה'a.da.Mah
H127
soil (from its general redness) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
2 Kings 17:25 And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the LORD: therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which slew…
Leviticus 26:18 And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.
Leviticus 26:21-22 And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.
Leviticus 26:24 Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.
Leviticus 26:28 Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.
Jeremiah 15:3 And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beast…
Jeremiah 48:43-45 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 50:17 Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 15:6–end
Here the prophet further describes the woeful and piteous lamentations that should be heard throughout all the country of Moab when it should become a prey to the Assyrian army. "By this time the cry has gone round about all the borders of Moab," Isa 15:8. Every corner of the country has received the alarm, and is in the utmost confusion upon it. It has reached to Eglaim, a city at one end of the country, and to Beer-elim, a city as far the other way. Where sin has been general, and all flesh have corrupted their way, what can be expected but a general desolation? Two things are here spoken of as causes of this lamentation: -
I. The waters of Nimrim are desolate (Isa 15:6), that is, the cou…
Dimon--same as Dibon (Isa 15:2). Its waters are the Arnon.
full of blood--The slain of Moab shall be so many.
bring more--fresh calamities, namely, the "lions" afterwards mentioned (Kg2 17:25; Jer 5:6; Jer 15:3). VITRINGA understands Nebuchadnezzar as meant by "the lion"; but it is plural, "lions." The "more," or in Hebrew, "additions," he explains of the addition made to the waters of Dimon by the streams of blood of the slain.
Next: Isaiah Chapter 16
John Gill on Isaiah 15:9
For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood,.... Of the slain, as the Targum adds. This was a river in the land of Moab, as say Jarchi and Kimchi; it had its name from the blood of the slain, Some take it to be the name of a city, and the same with Dibon, Isaiah 15:2 but, because of the abundance of blood shed in it, got this new name; and the Vulgate Latin version here calls it Dibon; and the Syriac version Ribon; and the Arabic version Remmon:
for I will bring more upon Dimon; or "additions" (r), not merely add blood to the waters of the river, as Jarchi and Kimchi; but bring additional evils and plagues, as Aben Ezra. The Targum interprets it,
"the congregation of an army;''
but wha…
(Verse 9) But the waters of Dimon, which is interpreted as sufficient pain or sorrow, which had polluted many with its sprinkling, will be accused by deceived peoples of not being for their salvation, but for their bloodshed. Hence the prophetic speech promises that over flowing tears, which is interpreted as Dibon, they will accumulate not just one sorrow, but multiple additions of sorrow: so that after they have fully repented and fled from the Moabite lion, they may have God as their leader, whom the Septuagint called Ariel, which is interpreted as lion of God: I will refrain from discussing their translation in this place, because it disagrees with the Hebrew truth in many places, and from what we have interpreted, the sense of that can also be understood.
(Verse 9) Because the waters of Dibon are filled with blood. Where there was once luxury due to fertile fields and constantly flowing springs, there the streams of blood will flow due to the multitude of those killed. For I will set upon Dibon additional things for those who have fled from Moab, a lion, and the remnants of the land. Lest anyone think it is a mistake of the scribe, and wishes to correct the error, let it be known that the name is written with both the letter M and the letter B: E of which Dimon is interpreted as silence; Dibon, flowing. With both names given because of the quietly flowing waters, to this day this small town is called both Dimon and Dibon interchangeably. As for the statement: I will set upon Dibon additional things, and seemed to ask a question about what it was, he explained in the following verse, saying: For those who have fled from Moab, a lion, and the remnants of the land: so that even those who have escaped in flight may be consumed by beasts. Although we can also understand the lion, the king of the enemies, through a metaphor, so that no one can escape his power, as if it were a roar.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Dibon — Pining; wasting. (1.) A city in Moab (Num. 21:30); called also Dibon-gad (33:45), because it was built by Gad and Dimon (Isa. 15:9). It has been identified with the modern Diban, about 3 miles north…
Dimon — (river bed), The waters of, some streams on the east of the Dead Sea, in the land of Moab, against which Isaiah uttered denunciation. (Isaiah 15:9) Gesenius conjectures that the two names Dimon and…
Dibon · .Taken by Moab — .Taken by Moab
Lion · .Of divine — .Of divine
Moabites · Prophesies respecting: Desolation and grief — Prophesies respecting: Desolation and grief
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
on Isaiah 15:9–end
For the waters of Dimon shall be filled with blood. [246] Here he describes not only grief and howling, flight or trembling, or the covetousness of enemies in plundering their wealth, but the slaughter of men. How great must this have been, when large and magnificent rivers, such as Dimon was, are filled with blood!
For I will lay upon Dimon additions. [247] By additions he means that the Lord, in whose name he speaks, will multiply the murders; so that the dead bodies shall be heaped up, and there shall be no end to cruelty and slaying. Now, though the Assyrians were cruel in this slaughter, yet the Lord was not cruel; for he justly punished the barbarity of the Moabites which they basely…
As Moabitis has thus become a great scene of conflagration, the Moabites cross the border and fly to Idumaea. The reason for this is given in sentences which the prophet again links on to one another with the particle ci (for). "Therefore what has been spared, what has been gained, and their provision, they carry it over the willow-brook. For the scream has gone the round in the territory of Moab; the wailing of Joab resounds to Eglayim, and his wailing to Beeer-Elim. For the waters of Dimon are full of blood: for I suspend over Dimon a new calamity, over the escaped of Moab a lion, and over the remnant of the land." Yithrâh is what is superfluous or exceeds the present need, and pekuddâh…
Dibon: The Masoretic Text reads Dimon, which is a play on the word translated blood (Hebrew dam). • blood: Apparently many people from Moab had already been killed, but their judgment had only begun.
Rashi on Isaiah 15:9
The waters of Dimon The name of the river.
have been filled with blood Like the name of the river. [The name דִּימוֹן resembles דַּם, blood.]
for I will place upon Dimon additions Its name is blood, and I will add the blood of the fallen, to fill it. Jonathan renders, however: כְּנִישַׁת מַשַׁירְיָן, the gathering of the camps, the camps joined together. This is an expression of (infra 21:1) “Join (סְפוּ) year to year”; (Deut. 29:18) “to add (סְפוֹת) the inadvertent sins.”
for the survivors of Moab is the lion The survivors which Sennacherib will leave over, Nebuchadnezzar will carry away in his time, and he will destroy them. And he is called “the lion,” as the matter is stated (Jer. 4:7…
