What would make a prophet weep over a vineyard? Isaiah does so over Sibmah, a town east of the Jordan known for its vines. “Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah,” he says, and the grief spreads to the fields of Heshbon (Isaiah 16:9). Earlier, the town is simply one of the places named in the land given to Reuben’s tribe (Joshua 13:19), and Numbers 32:38 spells it Shibmah. It is a small place, remembered for a harvest that was lost. Isaiah 16 holds the lament.
4 verses
And Nebo, and Baalmeon,(their names being changed,) and Shibmah: and gave other names unto the cities which they builded.
And Kirjathaim, and Sibmah, and Zarethshahar in the mount of the valley,
For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness: her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea.
Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen.
Matthew George Easton, 1897
Coolness; fragrance, a town in Reuben, in the territory of Moab, on the east of Jordan (Josh. 13:19); called also Shebam and Shibmah (Num. 32:3, 38). It was famous for its vines (Isa. 16:9; Jer. 48:32). It has been identified with the ruin of Sumieh, where there are rock-cut wine-presses. This fact explains the words of the prophets referred to above. It was about 5 miles east of Heshbon.