46. elder sister … Samaria—older than Sodom, to whom Judah was less nearly related by kindred than she was to Samaria. Sodom is therefore called her younger sister; Samaria, her "elder sister" [Grotius]. Samaria is called the "elder," because in a moral respect more nearly related to Judah [Fairbairn]. Samaria had made the calves at Dan and Beth-el in imitation of the cherubim.
her daughters—the inferior towns subject to Samaria (compare Nu 21:25, Margin).
left—The Orientals faced the east in marking the directions of the sky; thus the north was "left," the south "right."
Sodom … daughters—Ammon and Moab, offshoots from Sodom; also the towns subject to it.