Because of the force. — Better, without strength. What is meant is that the fugitives of Moab seek shelter in Heshbon, the capital of the Ammonites (Jeremiah 49:3), and find no protection there.
A fire shall come forth out of Heshbon... — The words are interesting as being a quotation from a fragment of an old poem, probably from the “Book of the Wars of the Lord,” which is also to be found in Numbers 21:28. Heshbon, at the time of the Exodus the capital of the Amorites, is here identified with Sihon as their king. In the prophet’s application of the words, the Moabites are represented as taking refuge under the walls of Heshbon, but, instead of finding shelter, fire bursts out from walls and gates. They have come to look on its conflagration. The flames spread far and near. They devour the “corner” as of the beard, the hair on the crown of the head. The symbolism of destruction is the same as in Isaiah 7:20. In the “tumultuous ones” (literally, children of tumult) we have the panic-stricken clamorous crowds of the Moabite fugitives. The phrase in the Hebrew is nearly the same as “the children of Seth” in Numbers 24:17.