For the cry is gone round about ... - The cry of distress and calamity has encompassed the whole land of Moab. There is no part of the land which is not filled with lamentation and distress.
The howling - The voice of wailing on account of the distress.
Unto Eglaim - This was a city of Moab east of the Dead Sea, which, Eusebius says, was eight miles south of Ar, and hence, says Rosenmuller, it was not far from the south border of Moab. It is mentioned by Josephus (“Ant.” xiv. 1), as one of the twelve cities in that region which was overthrown by Alexander the Great.
Unto Beer-elim - literally, “the well of the princes.” Perhaps the same as that mentioned in Numbers 21:14-18, as being in the land of Moab, and near to Ar:
The princes digged the well,
The nobles of the people digged it.