My heart cries out for Moab: Some scholars question the use of the first person expression My heart, but the textual evidence supports this reading in Masoretic Text. The alternative reading, “His heart,” refers back to the pronoun in the last line of verse 4 (“his soul”). New Jerusalem Bible and New American Bible follow this reading. Most major translations and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project keep Masoretic Text, with these words of sympathy coming from the prophet himself. He feels deeply for the Moabites who were devastated by the enemy. Just as the people of Heshbon and Elealeh cried out (verse 4), so does the prophet. This is consistent with the thoughts expressed in 16.9 and 11. My heart is an idiom for the prophet himself. Good News Translation keeps the figure here, which is well understood in English, but Contemporary English Version uses a nonfigurative alternative by rendering the whole line as “I pity Moab!” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch says “I am deeply shocked and shout for help for Moab.”

His fugitives flee to Zoar, to Eglath-shelishiyah: The pronoun his refers to Moab, so his fugitives describes the Moabites who fled for their lives. Some fled to the town of Zoar, which was at the southern end of the Dead Sea in the territory of Edom. Others fled to Eglath-shelishiyah, which is also mentioned in Jer 48.34, but its location is not known. This Hebrew name means “a three year old calf,” which seems an unlikely name for a town. However, we can only regard it as a place name and transliterate it in our translation.

For at the ascent of Luhith they go up weeping: This clause opens with the particle ki in Hebrew. As in verse 1b, it does not introduce a reason but an emphatic statement, so it may be rendered “indeed.” The ascent of Luhith refers to a road that ascended to a town named Luhith, whose location is not known either. The people weep as they go up to this town.

On the road to Horonaim they raise a cry of destruction: Horonaim is another town with an unknown location; it is mentioned in Jer 48.3, 5, 34. As the people make their way toward this town, they raise a cry of destruction, which means they cry over the destruction of their land. New Jerusalem Bible says “they utter heart-rending cries” (similarly New American Bible). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “They raise a cry of anguish,” while Revised English Bible suggests “there are cries of ‘Disaster!’” (similarly Bible en français courant). New International Version provides a useful model, saying “they lament their destruction.”

Possible translation models for this verse are:

• I too weep for Moab; its fugitives run to Zoar and Eglath-shelishiyah;
indeed, on the way up to Luhith they weep, on the road to Horonaim they lament the devastation.

• I cry over the fate of Moab; its refugees flee to Zoar and Eglath-shelishiyah;
yes, on the climb up to Luhith they weep, on the way to Horonaim they cry over the devastation.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .