In the " Burden of Jloab" pronounced by Isaiah (ch. XV, xvi) we possess a document full of interesting de- tails as to the condition of the nation at the time of the deatli of Ahaz. king of Judah, B.C. 72G. More than a century and a half had elapsed since the great calamity to which we have just referred. In that interval Moab has regained all, and more than all, of his former pros- perity, and has besides extended himself over the dis- trict which he originally occupied in the youth of the nation, and which was left vacant when the removal of Reuben to Assyria, which had been begun by Pul in B.C. 770, was completed by Tiglath-pileser about the year 7-10 (1 Chron. v, 25, 2f)). This passage of Isaiah cannot be considered apart from that of Jeremiah, ch. xlviii. The latter was pronounced more than a century later, about the year IJ.C. COO, ten or twelve years before the inva.-idu of Nebuchadnezzar, by which Jerusalem was dostniyed. In many respects it is identical with that of Isaiah, and both are believed by the best modern scholars, on account of the archaisms and other pecidiar- ities of language which they contain, to be adopted from a common source — the work of some much more ancient prophet. Isaiah ends his denunciation by a prediction— in his own words — that within three years Moab should be greatly reduced. This was probably witli a view to Shalmaneser, who destroyed Samaria, and no doubt overran the other side of the Jordan in B.C. -725, and again in 723 (2 Kings xvii, 3 ; xviii, 9). The only .event of which we have a record to which it would seem possible that the passage, as originally ut- tered by the older prophet, applied, is the above inva- sion of Pul, who, in commencing the deportation of Keuben, very probably at the same time molested Moab. The dilliculty of so many of the towns of Keuben being mentioned as at that early day already in the posses- sion of iMoab may perhaps be explained by remember- ing that the idolatry of the neigiiburing nations — and therefore of Moab— liad been adopted by the trans-Jor- danic tribes for some time previously to the final depor- tation by Tiglath-i)ileser (see 1 Chron. v, 25), and that many ol^thc sanctuaries were probably, even at the date of the original delivery of the denunciation, in the hands of the priests of Chemosh and i\lil<'om. If, as Ev.ald {(Jegc/i. iii, 588) with much i)rol)ai)ility infers, the JIo- abites, no less than the Ammonites, were nnder the pro- tection of the powerful Uzziah (2 Chron. xxvi, 8), then the obscure expressions of the ancient seer as given in Isa. xvi, 1-5, referring to a tribute of lambs (comp. 2 Kings iii, 4) sent from the wild pasture-griMUids south of Moab to Zion, and to protection aud relief from op-
I pression afforded by the throne of David to the fugitives and outcasts of Jloab, ac(piire an intelligible sense. On the other hand, the calamities which Jeremiah describes may have been inflicted in any one of the numerous visitations from the Assyrian army, under which these unhappy countries suflered at the period of his prophecy in rapid succession.
{ But the uncertainty of the exact dates referred to in these several deiumciations does not in the least affect the interest or the value of the allusions they contain to
I tlie condition of Moab. They bear the evident stamp of portraiture by artists who knew their subject thor- oughly. The nation appears in them as high-spirited, wealthy, pojmlous, and even to a certain extent civil- ized, enjoying a wide reputation and popularity. With a metaphor which well expresses at once the pastoral wealth of the country and its commanding, almost re- gal position, but which cannot be conveyed in a trans-
! lation, Moab is depicted as the strong sceptre (Isa. xvi,
I G; Jer. xlviii, 29), the beautiful staff, whose fracture will be bewailed by all about him, and by all w ho know him. In his cities we discern a ''great multitude" of people living in " glory," and in the enjoyment of great "treasure," crowding the public squares, the housetops, and the ascents and descents of the numerous high ]3laces and sanctuaries where the " priests and princes" of Chemosh or Baal-Pcor minister to the anxious devo- tees. Outside the town lie the -'plentiful fields," lux- uriant as the renowned Carmel — the vineyards, and gar- dens of "summer fruits" — the harvest is in course of reaping, and the " hay is ^ored in its abundance," the vineyards and the presses are crowded with peasants, gathering and treading the grapes, the land resounds with the clamor of the vintagers. These characteristics contrast very favorably with any traits recorded of Ammon, Edom, Midian, Amalek, the Philistines, or the Canaanitish tribes. And since the descriptions we are considering are adopted by certainly two, and probably three prophets — Jeremiah, Isaiah, and the older seer — extending over a period of nearly 200 years, we may safely conclude that they are not merely temporary circumstances, but were tlie enduring characteristics of the people. In this case there can be no doubt that among tlie pastoral peojile of Syria, Moab stood next to Israel in all matters of material wealth and civilization. It is very interesting to remark the feeling which act- uates the prophets in these denunciations of a people who, though the enemies of Jehovah, were the blood- relations of Israel. Half the allusions of Isaiah and Jer- emiah in the passages referred to must forever remain obscure. We shall never know who the " lords of the heathen" were who, in that terrible night, laid waste and brought to silence the prosperous Ar-Moab and Kir- Moab; nor the occasion of that flight over the Anion, when the Jloabitish women were huddled together at the ford, like a flock of young birds, pressing to cmss to the safe side of the stream — when the dwellers in Aroer stood by the side of the high-road which passed their town, and eagerly questioning the fugitives as they hurried up, " What is done ?" — received but one answer from all alike— "All is lost! Sloab is confounded and broken down !" Many expressions also, such as the " weeping of Jazer," the " heifer of three years old," the "shadow of Ileshbon," the "lions," must remain ob- scure. But nothing can obscure or render obsolete the tone of tenderness and affection whidi makes itself felt in a hundred expressions throughout these precious doc- uments. Ardently as tlic prophet longs for the destruc- tion of the enemy of his country ami of Jeliovah, and earnestly as ho curses the man '■ that doeth the w(M-k of Jehovah deceitfully, that keepeth back his sword from blood," yet he is- constrained to bemoan and lament such dreadful calamities to a peojilc so near him both in blood and locality. His heart mourns — it sounds like pipes — for the men of Kir-hercs; liis heart cries out, it sounds like a harp for Moali. Isaiah recurs to the sub- ject iu another passage of extraordinary force, and of