He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off.
He - Moab personified.
Is gone up to Bajith - rather, 'to the temple' (Maurer): answering to the "sanctuary" (Isaiah 16:12) in a similar context.
To Dibon - rather, as Dibon was in a plain north of the Arnon, 'Dibon (is gone up) to the high places,' the usual places of sacrifice in the East. Same town as Dimon, Isaiah 15:9. Bajith and Dimon were perhaps to Moab what Dan and Bethel were to Israel.
To weep - at the sudden calamity;
Moab shall howl over Nebo - `in,' or 'at Nebo;' not on account of Nebo (cf. 5:3) (Maurer). The "over" х `al (H5921)] expresses that Nebo and Medeba were upon a hill-side. The town Nebo was adjacent to the mountain, not far from the northern shore of the Dead Sea. There it was that Chemosh, the idol of Moab, was worshipped (cf. Deuteronomy 34:1).
Medeba - south of Heshbon, on a hill east of Jordan.
Baldness, (and) every beard cut off. The Orientals regarded the beard with special veneration. To cut one's beard off is the greatest mark of sorrow and mortification (cf. Jeremiah 48:37).