Ezekiel 25:9

“Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, &c.] Or, “the shoulder of Moab”f399; that part of their country where their greatest strength lay, So the Targum renders it, “the strength of Moab;” where their principal cities were, their frontier towns, and fortified places, as appears by what follows: from his cities which are on his frontiers; or, “from his Ars”f400, from his cities which are at his end; at the extreme part of the land, upon the borders of his countries; the two cities of Ar and Aroer, (<042128>Numbers 21:28 <050236>Deuteronomy 2:36): the glory of the country; as the above cities were, and what follow: Bethjeshimoth; this was formerly in the tribe of…”

“open . . . from the cities--I will open up the side, or border of Moab (metaphor from a man whose side is open to blows), from the (direction of) the cities on his northwest border beyond the Arnon, once assigned to Reuben (Jos 13:15-21), but now in the hands of their original owners; and the "men of the east," the wandering Bedouin hordes, shall enter through these cities into Moab and waste it. Moab accordingly was so wasted by them, that long before the time of Christ it had melted away among the hordes of the desert. For "cities," GROTIUS translates the Hebrew as proper names, the Ar and Aroer, on the Arnon. Hence the Hebrew for "cities," "Ar" is repeated twice (Num 21:28; Deu 2:36; Isa…”

“I will open the side ... - i. e., lay it open to the attack of the enemy from the cities, from his cities, from his frontier (or, in every quarter). There is an ironical stress on “his” cities, because these cities belonged not to Moab but to Israel, having been assigned to the Reubenites Numbers 32:38; Joshua 13:20. They lay to the north of the river Arnon, which was the proper boundary of Moab Numbers 21:13. The Moabites had in the last days of the kingdom of Israel recovered this territory Isaiah 16:1-14. They still occupied this land in the time of Ezekiel (see Jeremiah 48:0). The glory of the country - This tract, belonging to the district called by the Arabians “Al Belka,” has been at…”

“The side - That part of his country which was best fortified. Bethjeshimoth - An ancient city; it was a fortress toward the desert, which watched lest any should make an inroad on the country. Ezekiel 25:10”

“side: or, shoulder Bethjeshimoth: Jos 13:20 Baalmeon: Num 32:37, Num 32:38; Jos 13:17, Jos 13:19; Jer 48:23 Ezekiel 25:10”