Text -- Jeremiah 48:18-47 (NET)

48:18 Come down from your place of honor; sit on the dry ground, you who live in Dibon. For the one who will destroy Moab will attack you; he will destroy your fortifications. 48:19 You who live in Aroer, stand by the road and watch. Question the man who is fleeing and the woman who is escaping. Ask them, ‘What has happened?’ 48:20 They will answer, ‘Moab is disgraced, for it has fallen! Wail and cry out in mourning! Announce along the Arnon River that Moab has been destroyed.’ 48:21 “Judgment will come on the cities on the high plain: on Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath, 48:22 on Dibon, Nebo, and Beth Diblathaim, 48:23 on Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul, and Beth Meon, 48:24 on Kerioth and Bozrah. It will come on all the towns of Moab, both far and near. 48:25 Moab’s might will be crushed. Its power will be broken. I, the Lord, affirm it! 48:26 “Moab has vaunted itself against me. So make him drunk with the wine of my wrath until he splashes around in his own vomit, until others treat him as a laughingstock. 48:27 For did not you people of Moab laugh at the people of Israel? Did you think that they were nothing but thieves, that you shook your head in contempt every time you talked about them? 48:28 Leave your towns, you inhabitants of Moab. Go and live in the cliffs. Be like a dove that makes its nest high on the sides of a ravine. 48:29 I have heard how proud the people of Moab are, I know how haughty they are. I have heard how arrogant, proud, and haughty they are, what a high opinion they have of themselves. 48:30 I, the Lord, affirm that I know how arrogant they are. But their pride is ill-founded. Their boastings will prove to be false. 48:31 So I will weep with sorrow for Moab. I will cry out in sadness for all of Moab. I will moan for the people of Kir Heres. 48:32 I will weep for the grapevines of Sibmah just like the town of Jazer weeps over them. Their branches once spread as far as the Dead Sea. They reached as far as the town of Jazer. The destroyer will ravage her fig, date, and grape crops. 48:33 Joy and gladness will disappear from the fruitful land of Moab. I will stop the flow of wine from the winepresses. No one will stomp on the grapes there and shout for joy. The shouts there will be shouts of soldiers, not the shouts of those making wine. 48:34 Cries of anguish raised from Heshbon and Elealeh will be sounded as far as Jahaz. They will be sounded from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah. For even the waters of Nimrim will be dried up. 48:35 I will put an end in Moab to those who make offerings at her places of worship. I will put an end to those who sacrifice to other gods. I, the Lord, affirm it! 48:36 So my heart moans for Moab like a flute playing a funeral song. Yes, like a flute playing a funeral song, my heart moans for the people of Kir Heres. For the wealth they have gained will perish. 48:37 For all of them will shave their heads in mourning. They will all cut off their beards to show their sorrow. They will all make gashes in their hands. They will all put on sackcloth. 48:38 On all the housetops in Moab and in all its public squares there will be nothing but mourning. For I will break Moab like an unwanted jar. I, the Lord, affirm it! 48:39 Oh, how shattered Moab will be! Oh, how her people will wail! Oh, how she will turn away in shame! Moab will become an object of ridicule, a terrifying sight to all the nations that surround her.” 48:40 For the Lord says, “Look! Like an eagle with outspread wings a nation will swoop down on Moab. 48:41 Her towns will be captured. Her fortresses will be taken. At that time the soldiers of Moab will be frightened like a woman in labor. 48:42 Moab will be destroyed and no longer be a nation, because she has vaunted herself against the Lord. 48:43 Terror, pits, and traps are in store for the people who live in Moab. I, the Lord, affirm it! 48:44 Anyone who flees at the sound of terror will fall into a pit. Anyone who climbs out of the pit will be caught in a trap. For the time is coming when I will punish the people of Moab. I, the Lord, affirm it! 48:45 In the shadows of the walls of Heshbon those trying to escape will stand helpless. For a fire will burst forth from Heshbon. Flames will shoot out from the former territory of Sihon. They will burn the foreheads of the people of Moab, the skulls of those war-loving people. 48:46 Moab, you are doomed! You people who worship Chemosh will be destroyed. Your sons will be taken away captive. Your daughters will be carried away into exile. 48:47 Yet in days to come I will reverse Moab’s ill fortune.” says the Lord. The judgment against Moab ends here.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Jer 48:18

Dibon, Aroer, and Ataroh were built by the children of Gad. It should seem the Moabites were not come into the possession of them.

Wesley: Jer 48:18

It was a place well watered, but God threatens she should be in thirst, that is, driven into some dry, barren countries.

Wesley: Jer 48:18

The king of Babylon.

Wesley: Jer 48:20

Arnon was the name of a river; it was the border of Moab: probably the adjacent country or city might take its name from the river.

Wesley: Jer 48:25

That is the beauty and the strength of Moab.

Wesley: Jer 48:26

Fill him with the intoxicating wine of God's vengeance.

Wesley: Jer 48:27

Why didst thou deal by Israel as men deal by thieves, when they are brought to shame?

Wesley: Jer 48:28

Still the prophet speaks of the Moabites, as a people whose armies were routed, and calls to them to leave their houses in cities, not promising themselves any security, either to or from their houses, or from the walls of the cities, but to get them to rocks, which are naturally fortified, and from whence (if from any place) security may be promised.

Wesley: Jer 48:30

He shall never execute what he thinks to do.

Wesley: Jer 48:30

His boastings and his lies, still never effect his designs.

Wesley: Jer 48:31

herez - A city of Moab.

Wesley: Jer 48:32

Sibmah was famous in those days for vines.

Wesley: Jer 48:32

Jazer was it seems first taken, and carried into captivity.

Wesley: Jer 48:36

The prophet means such pipes as they were wont to use at funerals, and other sad occasions.

Wesley: Jer 48:40

Nebuchadnezzar shall come swiftly, and spread himself over Moab.

Wesley: Jer 48:43

A variety of dangers upon all sides.

Wesley: Jer 48:45

Heshbon was it seems a place of force.

Wesley: Jer 48:45

That is, the glory.

Wesley: Jer 48:47

It seems this is to be understood of a spiritual reduction of them, by calling them into the kingdom of the Messiah.

JFB: Jer 48:18

(Isa 47:1).

JFB: Jer 48:18

Now so securely settled as if in a lasting habitation.

JFB: Jer 48:18

Dibon, being situated on the Arnon, abounded in water (Isa 15:9). In sad contrast with this, and with her "glory" in general, she shall be reduced not only to shame, but to the want of the commonest necessaries ("thirst") in the arid wilderness (Jer 48:6).

JFB: Jer 48:19

On the north bank of the Arnon, a city of Ammon (Deu 2:36; Deu 3:12). As it was on "the way" of the Moabites who fled into the desert, its inhabitants "ask" what is the occasion of Moab's flight, and so learn the lot that awaits themselves (compare 1Sa 4:13, 1Sa 4:16).

JFB: Jer 48:20

Answer of the fleeing Moabites to the Ammonite inquirers (Jer 48:19; Isa 16:2). He enumerates the Moabite cities at length, as it seemed so incredible that all should be so utterly ruined. Many of them were assigned to the Levites, while Israel stood.

JFB: Jer 48:20

The north boundary between Moab and Ammon (Jer 48:19; Num 21:13).

JFB: Jer 48:21

(Jer 48:8). Not only the mountainous regions, but also the plain, shall be wasted.

JFB: Jer 48:21

(Compare Jos 15:51).

JFB: Jer 48:21

(Num 21:23; Isa 15:4).

JFB: Jer 48:21

(Jos 13:18; Jos 21:37).

JFB: Jer 48:22

"the house of Diblathaim": Almon-diblathaim (Num 33:46); "Diblath" (Eze 6:13); not far from Mount Nebo (Num 33:46-47).

JFB: Jer 48:23

Meaning "the city of camels."

JFB: Jer 48:23

"the house of habitation": Beth-baalmeon (Jos 13:17). Now its ruins are called Miun.

JFB: Jer 48:24

(Jos 15:25; Amo 2:2).

JFB: Jer 48:24

(See on Isa 34:6); at one time under the dominion of Edom, though belonging originally to Moab (Gen 36:33; Isa 63:1). Others think the Bozrah in Edom distinct from that of Moab. "Bezer" (Jos 21:36).

JFB: Jer 48:25

The emblem of strength and sovereignty: it is the horned animal's means of offense and defense (Psa 75:5, Psa 75:10; Lam 2:3).

JFB: Jer 48:26

(see on Jer 13:12; Jer 25:17). Intoxicated with the cup of divine wrath, so as to be in helpless distraction.

JFB: Jer 48:26

Boasted arrogantly against God's people, that whereas Israel was fallen, Moab remained flourishing.

JFB: Jer 48:26

Following up the image of a drunken man, that is, shall be so afflicted by God's wrath as to disgorge all his past pride, riches, and vainglory, and fall in his shameful abasement.

JFB: Jer 48:26

He in his disaster shall be an object of derision to us, as we in ours have been to him (Jer 48:27). Retribution in kind.

JFB: Jer 48:27

(Zep 2:8).

JFB: Jer 48:27

The Hebrew has the article: referring to Jer 48:26, "Was not Israel (the whole nation) the object of derision to thee?" Therefore, Moab is to suffer as formerly for its exultation over the calamity (2Ki 17:6) of the ten tribes under the Assyrian Shalmaneser (Isa. 15:1-16:14), so now for its exultation over the fall of Judah, under the Chaldean Nebuchadnezzar. God takes up His people's cause as His own (Oba 1:13-18).

JFB: Jer 48:27

(Jer 2:26). Proverbial. What did Israel do to deserve such derision? Was he detected in theft, that thou didst so exult over him in speaking of him? Though guilty before God, Israel was guiltless towards thee.

JFB: Jer 48:27

"since ever" thou didst begin speaking of him.

JFB: Jer 48:27

At Israel's calamity [CALVIN]; or, "thou didst shake thy head" in "derision" [MAURER].

JFB: Jer 48:28

Doves often have their nests in the "sides" of caverns. No longer shalt thou have cities to shelter thee: thou shalt have to flee for shelter to caves and deserts (Psa 55:6, Psa 55:8; Son 2:14).

JFB: Jer 48:29

(Isa 16:6-7). Moab was the trumpeter of his own fame. Jeremiah adds "loftiness and arrogancy" to Isaiah's picture, so that Moab had not only not been bettered by the chastisement previously endured as foretold by Isaiah, but had even become worse; so that his guilt, and therefore his sentence of punishment, are increased now. Six times Moab's pride (or the synonyms) are mentioned, to show the exceeding hatefulness of his sin.

JFB: Jer 48:30

Moab's "proud arrogancy" (Jer 48:29) or "wrath," against My people, is not unknown to Me.

JFB: Jer 48:30

The result shall not be so as he thinks: his lies shall not so effect what he aims at by them. CALVIN translates, "his lies are not right (that is, his vauntings are vain because God will not give them effect); they shall not do so" as they project in their minds, for God will set at naught their plans.

JFB: Jer 48:31

Not that it deserves pity, but the prophet's "crying" for it vividly represents the greatness of the calamity.

JFB: Jer 48:31

Kir-hareseth, in Isa 16:7; see on Isa 16:7. It means "the city of potters," or else "the city of the sun" [GROTIUS]. Here "the men of Kir-heres" are substituted for "the foundations of Kir-hareseth," in Isa 16:7. The change answers probably to the different bearing of the disaster under Nebuchadnezzar, as compared with that former one under Shalmaneser.

JFB: Jer 48:32

With the same weeping as Jazer, now vanquished, wept with for the destruction of its vines. The same calamity shall befall thee, Sibmah, as befell Jazer. The Hebrew preposition here is different from that in Isa 16:9, for which reason MAURER translates, "with more than the weeping of Jazer." English Version understands it of the continuation of the weeping; after they have wept for Jazer, fresh subject of lamentation will present itself for the wasting of the vine-abounding Sibmah.

JFB: Jer 48:32

As the Septuagint reads "cities of Jazer," and as no traces of a lake near Jazer are found, the reading of English Version is doubtful. Retaining the present reading, we avoid the difficulty by translating [GROTIUS], "Thy plants (that is, citizens: alluding to the 'vine') are gone over the sea (that is, shall be transported beyond the sea to Cyprus, and such distant lands subject to Babylon; and this, too, in summertime), whereas Jazer (that is, the men of Jazer) reached the sea" (shore only, but are not transported beyond the sea); so that worse shall befall thee than befalls Jazer.

JFB: Jer 48:32

Nebuzara-dan.

JFB: Jer 48:33

Rather, "Carmel": as the parallel "land of Moab" requires, though in Isa 16:10, it is "the plentiful field." Joy is taken away as from the nearer regions (Canaan and Palestine), so from the farther "land of Moab"; what has happened to Judah shall befall Moab, too (Jer 48:26-27) [MAURER]. However, Moab alone seems to be spoken of here; nor does the parallelism forbid "plentiful field" answering to "Moab." English Version is therefore better.

JFB: Jer 48:33

Repeated; as at the conclusion of the vintage, men sing over and over again the same cry of joy. A shouting shall be heard, but not the joyous shouting of laborers treading the grapes, but the terrible battle cry of the foe.

JFB: Jer 48:34

Those who fly from Heshbon on its capture shall continue the cry even as far as Elealeh . . . . There will be continued cries in all quarters, from one end to the other, everywhere slaughter and wasting.

JFB: Jer 48:34

Moab heretofore not having known foreign yoke, and in its full strength, is compared to an heifer of three years old, never yet yoked, nor as yet worn out with many birth-givings (compare Note, see on Isa 15:5).

JFB: Jer 48:34

That is, the well-watered and therefore luxuriant pastures of Nimrim.

JFB: Jer 48:34

The Hebrew is stronger: not merely shall be "desolate," but desolation itself multiplied: plural, "desolations." The most fertile tracts shall be dried up.

JFB: Jer 48:35

Namely, whole burnt offerings as the Hebrew requires [GROTIUS]. Compare the awful burnt offering of the king of Moab (2Ki 3:27).

JFB: Jer 48:35

(Isa 16:12).

JFB: Jer 48:36

(See on Isa 15:7; Isa 16:11).

JFB: Jer 48:36

A plaintive instrument, therefore used at funerals and in general mourning.

JFB: Jer 48:36

Literally, the abundance . . . that which is over and above the necessaries of life. GROTIUS translates, "They who have been left remaining shall perish"; they who have not been slain by the enemy shall perish by disease and famine.

JFB: Jer 48:37

(See on Jer 47:5; Isa 15:2-3).

JFB: Jer 48:37

That is, arms, in which such cuttings used to be made in token of grief (compare Zec 13:6).

JFB: Jer 48:38

(See Jer 22:28); a vessel cast aside by the potter as refuse, not answering his design.

JFB: Jer 48:39

Moab.

JFB: Jer 48:39

Prodigious, yet sure to happen.

JFB: Jer 48:39

Not daring to show her face.

JFB: Jer 48:39

A derision to some; a dismaying to others in beholding such a judgment of God, fearing a like fate for themselves.

JFB: Jer 48:40

Nebuzara-dan, the captain of Nebuchadnezzar.

JFB: Jer 48:40

Not to bear them "on eagles' wings" (Exo 19:4; Deu 32:11-12), as God does His people, but to pounce on them as a prey (Jer 49:22; Deu 28:49; Hab 1:8).

JFB: Jer 48:41

(Isa 13:8).

JFB: Jer 48:42

(See on Jer 48:26).

JFB: Jer 48:43-44

(See on Isa 24:17; Isa 24:18).

JFB: Jer 48:44

When thou thinkest thou hast escaped one kind of danger, a fresh one will start up.

JFB: Jer 48:45

They thought that they would be safe in Heshbon.

JFB: Jer 48:45

That is, "they that fled because of the force" of the enemy: they that fled from it. GLASSIUS translates, "through want of strength." So the Hebrew particle is translated (Psa 109:24), "faileth of fatness," that is, "faileth through want of fatness"; also Lam 4:9.

JFB: Jer 48:45

Copied in part from Sihon's hymn of victory (Num 21:27-28). The old "proverb" shall hold good again. As in ancient times Sihon, king of the Amorites, issued forth from his city, Heshbon, as a devouring "flame" and consumed Moab, so now the Chaldeans, making Heshbon their starting-point, shall advance to the destruction of Moab.

JFB: Jer 48:45

That is, the city of Sihon.

JFB: Jer 48:45

That is, Moab from one corner to the other.

JFB: Jer 48:45

The most elevated points of Moab. Making some alterations, he here copies Balaam's prophecy (Num 24:17). Margin there translates "princes" for corners; if so, "crown of . . . head" here refers to the nobles.

JFB: Jer 48:45

Sons of tumult; those who have tumultuously revolted from Babylon. Heshbon passed from the Amorite to the Israelite sway. Moab had wrested it from Israel and helped the Chaldeans against the Jews; but revolting from Babylon, they brought ruin on themselves in turn.

JFB: Jer 48:46

Copied from Num 21:29.

JFB: Jer 48:47

Restoration promised to Moab, for the sake of righteous Lot, their progenitor (Gen 19:37; Exo 20:6; Psa 89:30-33). Compare as to Egypt, Jer 46:26; Ammon, Jer 49:6; Elam, Jer 49:39. Gospel blessings, temporal and spiritual, to the Gentiles in the last days, are intended.

The event of the prophecy as to Ammon preceded that as to Moab (see on Jer 49:3); and in Eze 21:26-28, the destruction of Ammon is subjoined to the deposition of Zedekiah.

Clarke: Jer 48:18

That dost inhabit Dibon - This was anciently a city of the Reubenites, afterwards inhabited by the Moabites, about two leagues north of the river Arnon, and about six to the east of the Dead Sea. - Dahler.

Clarke: Jer 48:19

O inhabitant of Aroer - See the note on Jer 48:6 (note). This place, being at a greater distance, is counselled to watch for its own safety, and inquire of every passenger, What is done? that it may know when to pack up and be gone.

Clarke: Jer 48:20

Tell ye it in Arnon - Apprize the inhabitants there that the territories of Moab are invaded, and the country about to be destroyed, that they may provide for their own safety.

Clarke: Jer 48:21

Upon Holon, etc. - All these were cities of the Moabites, but several of them are mentioned in no other place.

Clarke: Jer 48:25

The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken - His political and physical powers are no more.

Clarke: Jer 48:27

Was not Israel a derision unto thee? - Didst thou not mock my people, and say their God was no better than the gods of other nations? See Eze 25:8

Clarke: Jer 48:27

Was he found among thieves? - Did the Israelites come to rob and plunder you? Why then mock them, and rejoice at their desolation, when their enemies prevailed over them? This the Lord particularly resents.

Clarke: Jer 48:28

Dwell in the rock - Go to the most inaccessible places in the mountains

Clarke: Jer 48:28

The hole’ s mouth - And into the most secret eaves and holes of the earth.

Clarke: Jer 48:29

The pride of Moab - See on Isa 16:1 (note).

Clarke: Jer 48:32

O vine of Sibmah - See on Isa 16:8 (note).

Clarke: Jer 48:34

As a heifer of three years old - Which runs lowing from place to place in search of her calf, which is lost or taken from her.

Clarke: Jer 48:37

For every head shall be bald - These, as we have seen before, were signs of the deepest distress and desolation.

Clarke: Jer 48:40

He shall fly as an eagle - The enemy will pounce upon him, carry him off, and tear him to pieces.

Clarke: Jer 48:42

Moab shall be destroyed from being a people - They shall not have a king or civil governor: and I doubt whether there be any evidence that they were ever reinstated in their national character. They were captivated by the Chaldeans; and probably many returned with the Jews on the edict of Cyrus: but as to their being an independent nation after this, where is the positive proof?

Clarke: Jer 48:43

Fear, and the pit, and the snare - See the note on Isa 24:17, Isa 24:18.

Clarke: Jer 48:45

They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon - Heshbon being a fortified place, they who were worsted in the fight fled to it, and rallied under its walls; but, instead of safety, they found themselves disappointed, betrayed, and ruined. See Jer 48:2 (note), and the note there

Clarke: Jer 48:45

But a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon - Jeremiah has borrowed this part of his discourse from an ancient poet quoted by Moses, Num 21:28 (note); where see the notes

Clarke: Jer 48:45

The crown of the head - The choicest persons of the whole nation.

Clarke: Jer 48:46

The people of Chemosh - The Moabites, who worshipped Chemosh as their supreme god.

Clarke: Jer 48:47

Will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days - I have already expressed doubts (see Jer 48:42) whether the Moabites were ever restored to their national distinction. The expressions in this chapter, relative to their total destruction as a people, are so strong and so frequent, that they leave little room for a limited interpretation. That many of them returned on the edict of Cyrus by virtue of which the Jews were restored, I doubt not; but neither the Ammonites, Moabites, Philistines, nor even the Jews themselves were ever restored to their national consequence. Perhaps the restoration spoken of here which was to take place in the latter days, may mean the conversion of these people, in their existing remnants, to the faith of the Gospel. Several judicious interpreters are of this opinion. The Moabites were partially restored; but never, as far as I have been able to learn, to their national consequence. Their conversion to the Christian faith must be the main end designed by this prophecy.

Calvin: Jer 48:18

Here the Prophet turns to address the city Dibon, which was renowned among that people. The mode of speaking is well known; he calls the people of the city the daughter of Dibon; and he calls the daughter an inhabitant, because the Moabites, as it has been said, ever rested in safety and quietness in their own habitations, for no one disturbed them. It is, then, the same as though he had said, “Ye who have hitherto been in a quiet state, descend now from your glory, and dwell in thirst. ” ¹⁰ By thirst he means the want of all things. Thirst is set in opposition to glory; but it is more than if the Prophet had mentioned disgrace or poverty; for there are many who are otherwise oppressed by want, and yet find fountains or streams; but when there is no drop of water to quench thirst, it is an extreme misery.

We hence see that the Prophet exaggerates the punishment of the Moabites, when he says that the citizens of Dibon would sit in thirst, because, he says, ascended against thee has the waster, ¹¹ and the destroyer of thy fortresses. We may hence conclude that the city was on all sides fortified, so that it thought its defences sufficient to keep off enemies. But the Prophet derides this presumption, because the Chaldeans would come to pull down and destroy all these strongholds. It follows —

Calvin: Jer 48:19

We have stated elsewhere why the prophets in describing calamities spoke in so elevated a style; for their object was not to seek fame or the praise of eloquence. They are not these rhetorical ornaments which the prophets used; but they necessarily spoke in a lofty style of the punishments which awaited the ungodly, because such was the hardness of their hearts that they hesitated not to despise God’s threatenings, or to regard them as fables. That God’s threatenings then might penetrate into the hearts of men, it was necessary to exaggerate them by means of various comparisons, as it is done here and in many places. We ought at the same time to bear in mind what I have said, that the Prophet had a regard to his own people. As the Moabites were like a hid treasure, the Jews could never have thought it possible, that the Chaldeans would at length make an inroad there; but the Prophet declares that the thing was so certain, as though it was seen by their own eyes. In order then to lead the Jews to the very scene itself, the judgments of God are here not only described, but as it were painted.

Stand, he says, on the way, and look, thou inhabitant of Aroer This was another city of the Moabites, of which mention is made in many places; and then he mentions others, as we shall see. Ask him, he says, who fleeth and her who escapes He, indeed, changes the gender of the nouns; but when he mentions many, and then one person, he did this for the sake of amplifying; because, on the one hand, he wished to show that so great would be the number of exiles, that the whole land would become empty; and then, on the other hand, when he says that this and that person would flee, he means that they would be so scattered that they would not go in troops; but as it is usual in a disordered state of things, one would flee on this side, and another on the other side. Ask him who fleeth, or as we may render the words, Ask all who flee; and then, ask her who escapes; because not only men, but also women would flee, so that no sex would be spared. In short, he intimates, that those who dwelt in cities well fortified, would be all anxiety on seeing enemies irresistibly advancing through every part of the country.

Calvin: Jer 48:20

We have stated why the Prophet describes so fully the ruin of the Moabites, and dwells so long on a subject in no way obscure; it was not indeed enough merely to teach and to show what was useful to be known, but it was also necessary to add goads, that the Jews might attend to these prophecies; nay, it was necessary to drive as it were with a hammer into their minds what would have been otherwise incredible; for they deemed it a fable that the Moabites could thus be broken, laid waste, and reduced to nothing. The Prophet then would have labored in vain, or spoken ineffectually, had he described in simple and plain words what we here read. But he added vehemence to his words, as though he would drive in his words with a hammer and fasten them in the minds of the people.

He then says, that Moab was ashamed, because he was smitten And then he turns again to address their neighbors, Howl, cry, and declare in Aroer: but the Prophet ironically exhorted others to howl and cry; for, as we have said, it was not his purpose to show that they deserved pity who had been the most cruel enemies to God’s Church, but to show that God’s vengeance would be so dreadful as to call forth cryings and howlings through the whole neighborhood. And then he adds, Declare it in Aroer; and afterwards he names many cities; as though he had said, that no corner of the land would be free from fear and anxiety, because the enemies, after having made an inroad into one part, would turn to another, so as to make no end of ravaging, until they had destroyed the whole country and all the people. Of these cities and of their situation there is no need of saying much, for it would be a useless labor. For in the last place, the Prophet sufficiently shews that what he had in view was what I have stated; for he says, on all the cities of Moab, remote as well as near: he intimates that no part of the land would be exempted from destruction; for the enemies having begun to attack it, would not cease until they had gone through every part, and desolation had spread everywhere, as though the whole country had been burnt with fire. It follows, —

Calvin: Jer 48:25

By another metaphor he expresses the same thing. By horn he means power, as all who are in any measure acquainted with Scripture well know that by this word is set forth power, strength, or any defense for the protection of a nation. He then says that the horn of Moab was cut off; and he adds afterwards as all explanation, that his strength was broken Hence by this second clause we understand what the Prophet meant when he said, that the horn of Moab was cut off. But he again introduces God as the speaker, because the Moabites thought that their horn could not be broken. As then Jeremiah would not have obtained credit, had he spoken in his own name, he again brought forward God as declaring his own words. It now follows, —

Calvin: Jer 48:26

The Prophet now addresses the Chaldeans, who were to be the executioners of God’s vengeance: hence he says, Make him drunk, because he has magnified himself against Jehovah, that is, raised himself in his pride against God. Then the Prophet, as God’s herald, encouraged the Chaldeans, fully to execute God’s judgment, who had been chosen to be his servants. And the address had more force in it when the Prophet showed that such a command was committed to him, as we have seen elsewhere; for the Prophets showed how efficacious was their doctrine, when they besieged and stormed cities, when they gave orders to armies. This then is the course which Jeremiah now follows, when as God’s herald he summons the Chaldeans, and commands them vigorously to perform what God approved and what he had decreed, even to inebriate the Moabites with evils. The rest to-morrow.

Calvin: Jer 48:27

But the higher cause for the drunkenness mentioned here ought to be observed, even because Moab exalted himself against God. For after having spoken of the pride through which he exulted over God, he adds an explanation, Has not Israel been a derision to thee? See then how the Moabites acted proudly towards God, even because they treated his Church reproachfully. And this ought especially to be noticed; for God intimates by these words, that he is so connected with the faithful as to regard their cause as his own, as it is said elsewhere,

“He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of my eye.” (Zec 2:8)

God then so takes the faithful under his own protection, that whatever injury is done to them, he counts it as done to him. This connection is well expressed by the Prophet, when he says, “The Moabites have raised themselves against God;” and at the same time he shews the way and manner, even because they exulted over the Israelites. Were any one to object and say, that the Moabites injured mortal men only and not God; the answer has already been given, even that God has so adopted his Church as to identify himself with it. Let us then know, that God, when he sees us suffering anything unjustly, regards the wrong as done to himself. As then the people of Israel had been a derision to the Moabites, the Prophet threatens them with a similar punishment for their pride.

And then he adds, Has he been found among thieves? It is, indeed, certain, that the people of Israel deserved very severe scourges, and that when they were subjected to so many adversities, a just reward was rendered to them for their iniquities. With regard to God this is certain; but with regard to the Moabites, the people of Israel were innocent; for these ungodly men could not object anything to the Israelites, for they were altogether like them, or even worse. God then compares here his chosen people with aliens, and says that the Israelites were not thieves. Under one thing he comprehends everything, as though he had said, “Of what wickedness have the Israelites been guilty, that you have thus become so enraged against them?” We hence see what the words of the Prophet mean, even that the Moabites were impelled by nothing but cruelty and pride, when they so basely raged against the Israelites, and so disdainfully oppressed them; for as I have already said, there was no cause why the Moabites should have been so hostile to the miserable people. Thus their crime was doubled, for they acted proudly towards God’s people, and they acted thus without a cause; for with regard to them, God’s people were innocent.

By saying that they were moved, or excited whenever they spoke of the Israelites, he intimates that they were carried away by malevolence, so as to wish all kinds of evil to the miserable, and then, as far as they could, to lay snares for them. As then they thus raged furiously against the Israelites, the Prophet includes everything of this kind in the word “moved,” or raised an uproar. ¹³ It follows —

Calvin: Jer 48:28

Here Jeremiah denounces exile on the Moabites; as though he had said, that such would be the desolation of their land, that they would be forced as wanderers to flee here and there. That he bids them to leave their cities, this is not done in the same way as when God commands his people what is right; but he only shews that he was armed with the sword of God, not only to speak with the mouth, but also to perform what he foretells; for the execution ought not to be separated from the prophecies, for the hand of God is joined with his mouth. When, therefore, he announces anything by his servants, the fulfillment also, as it has been stated, is included.

This is the import of the words, Leave the cities, and dwell among the rocks; that is, Hide yourselves in lurking-places, for no habitable land will afford you rest, or be a convenient place to flee to. And they shall be, he says, like a dove which makes a nest in remote places beyond the clefts of the rocks, or stones. He means the most deserted places. It is the same as though he had said, that it would not be simply an exile that God would allot to the Moabites, but that they would be taken away to regions unknown, and deserted by men. It follows —

Calvin: Jer 48:29

Here the Prophet intimates by anticipation, that how much soever the Moabites might boast, they could not, by their boastings and their pride, so succeed that God should not appear against them as a Judge. We have said already, that as the Moabites had been long in a quiet state, what the Prophet denounced on them, appeared at the first hearing as incredible. It is then by way of anticipation that he says, that the Moabites were proud, did swell with haughtiness, and breathed much arrogance, that, in short, they manifested high and lofty spirits. When the Prophet says all this, and adds, that nothing would avail them, we see that he meets those doubts which might have possessed weak minds, so as to prevent them to believe his prophecy.

And when he uses the words, We have heard, he not only means by report, but that the Moabites loudly boasted, as it is usual with proud men; for they made, so to speak, a bellowing, and sought, even by their tongues alone, to strike others with terror. As then they proclaimed their wealth and their power, they sought in a manner to shake the very air, so that all might tremble at their voice alone. This seems to have been expressed by the Prophet, when he said, We have heard In short, Jeremiah does not mean that the report of the pride of Moab had spread abroad, as rumors often fly respecting the haughtiness and boastings of men; but he intimates that the Moabites were heralds of their own power, so that they spoke in lofty terms of their own greatness, and thus their own tongues testified of their haughtiness and arrogance. ¹⁴ And hence it was that the Prophet enlarged on their pride; Moab is very proud, he says; we have heard his haughtiness, his pride and his arrogance, (though it be the same word,) and the loftiness of his heart, or, as we may say in Latin, et altos spiritus, and his high sprits. It now follows —

Calvin: Jer 48:30

This verse is variously explained, at least the second clause. Some render it, “His indignation, and not what is right;” then they add by itself, “his lies;” and lastly, “they have not done rightly,” or as others, “they will not do anything fixed,” which is more suitable, and comes near to the rendering which I have given. But I will not here discuss other interpretations, or try at large to disprove-them, but it is sufficient for us to understand the real meaning of the Prophet.

In the first place, God is here introduced as saying, I know his insolence The pronoun אני , ani, is emphatical, for in the last verse the Prophet had said, that the boastings of Moab were a terror, as they spoke loudly of their own strength and defences. As then they thus with open mouths sounded forth their own praises, they filled all their neighbors with terror; hence the Prophet said, We have heard the pride of Moab Now God also on his part gives this answer, I know, he says, his insolence; as though he had said, “The Moabites do not thus boast, but that I am a witness; all these things ascend to my tribunal.”

He afterwards adds, still in the person of God, Not rectitude are his lies By the word עברתו , obertu, which some render, “his indignation,” the Prophet means, I think, insolence. It signifies properly excess, as it comes from עבר , ober, to pass over. The noun is indeed often taken to express indignation, because anger keeps within no limits, but is, as Horace says, a momentary madness. ¹⁵ But on account of what the passage seems to require, I render it insolence, and it is the most suitable word. And God having declared that the insolence of Moab was seen by him, mentions also his lies The word בדים , means branches of trees, and sometimes sons or children, they being members of the community; and hence some render it “sons” here, as though the Prophet had said, that after the Moabites had been cut off, there would be none remaining to continue their name in the world. As then there was to be no posterity to the Moabites, they think that בדים , badim here means sons or children. But this view cannot be admitted, because we shall hereafter see that there was to be some residue to the Moabites. We cannot then take בדים , badim, but as referring to their vain boastings, for they were nothing but lies.

But we must consider what Jeremiah says; the word כן , ken, means right; and I take the two words as being in apposition, “His lies are not right;” that is, there is no stability in his lies. For when an apposition is explained, one of the words is turned to an adjective, or a preposition is inserted: Not right then are his lies; that is, in his lies there is no rectitude, or in his lies there is no stability. But the rectitude of which the Prophet now speaks, refers not to justice or equity, but to stability; and that it has this meaning may be gathered from other places. Then he says, that the boastings which the Moabites indulged in were vain, because God would not establish what they thought, or as they commonly say, what they presumed.

And then he adds the reason; the particle כן , ken, is to be taken here adverbially; it is an adverb of likeness, “so,” or thus, they shall not so do; that is, as they had conceived in their minds. It is a confirmation of the last clause; for why was there to be no stability in their lies? because God would break down the Moabites, so that their counsels would be vain, without any effect. We now then perceive the meaning of the words. Isa 16:6 uses nearly the same expressions, but he does not add this confirmation, that they would not be able to do what they intended. He only says, “there shall no rectitude be in their boastings,” לא כן בדיו , la ken bediu, having previously spoken of the loftiness of their heart and of their ferocity and insolence; for he mentions the third word with the other two. ¹⁶

Now this verse may be accommodated to our use; whenever the ungodly indulge in boasting, and insolently arrogate all things to themselves, let us not fear and tremble, but bear in mind what the Prophet teaches us here, whose admonition is very necessary; for he shews that this pride is in derision with God, and that when the ungodly fulminate in a terrible manner, there will be no effect to their lies. It follows, —

Calvin: Jer 48:31

Some think the last word to be a proper name, though, according to etymology, it is “the city of potsherd.” They therefore give this rendering, “the strong city.” But Isaiah calls it “Kir-hareseth,” קיר-הרשת ; he extends the word by adding a syllable to it; but the word, however, is the same. Then he says, I will think of the men of Kir-cheres The word הגה , ege, is properly to complain, to whisper, to murmur; and hence some render the words not improperly, “I will mutter to the men of the city of potsherd.” ¹⁷

The Prophet does not relate here what he would do, as I have before reminded you; but that he might represent to the life the ruin of Moab, he mentions their howling, crying, and complaints. He then says, I will howl, cry aloud, and with a trembling voice complain, as those who are grievously oppressed with evils; at one time they complain, cry aloud, and howl, and at another they mutter inwardly, grumble and murmur. Thus the Prophet assumes the character of such persons, in order that he might more fully set forth the extreme calamity of that nation. He afterwards comes to particulars: —

Calvin: Jer 48:32

Here the Prophet shews more clearly what he had said generally before, that Sibmah would weep for her vines, after having wept for Jazer. These were cities in the land of Moab, as it appears from other places. Some give this rendering, “In comparison with the weeping” or mourning, etc.; and מן , men, as it is well known, has this meaning; but as ב , beth, “in weeping,” is adopted by Isaiah, instead of מן , men, there is no doubt but that the Prophet means a continued mourning, when he says, From (or with) the weeping of Jazer I will weep for thee, vine of Sibmah; that is, there will be no end to weeping; for after the Moabites had mourned for the destruction of the city Jazer, a new cause of weeping would arise, for other cities would be destroyed, and especially Sibmah.

Now the region of Sibmah was very fertile, especially on account of the abundance of vines. Then the Prophet includes the whole wealth of that city under the word vine; nay, he designates the citizens as its shoots or young branches. I will weep, he says, “ over thee, the vine of the vine-bearing region of Sibmah; for thy shoots, that is, thy wealth, have passed over the sea, and the citizens of Jazer, who were thy neighbors.” He afterwards repeats respecting the city of Jazer what he had said, because its calamity was connected with the other, and was the same. For God had involved these two cities in the same destruction. Jazer then came even to the sea. Now a waster rushed in: Isaiah has shouting, הידד , eidad, which is added presently here; but the word there has quite a different meaning, that all rejoicing would cease. The word here is שדד , shidad, and means a waster or spoiler. A waster then has fallen, that is, has come with great irresistible force, on thy vintages and harvests; that is, that he may scatter and consume all things. It follows, —

Calvin: Jer 48:33

He pursues the same metaphor or comparison; for he says that all places would be laid waste and desolate, which before had been valuable and highly regarded on account of their fruitfulness. Cease then shall all rejoicing from the land of Moab, however fruitful it might have been. And then he adds, I will make the wine to cease from the presses; that is, no one shall press the grapes, that from them the wine may flow. And he adds, הידד הידד , eidad, eidad, shouting, shouting, for there will be no shouting Some render הידד , eidad, “ signal, ” celeuma, ( vel celeusma,) a Greek word, but used also in Latin: κέλευμα is said by the Greeks to be the shouting of sailors, especially when they drive to the shore; they then rouse one another in rowing, and also congratulate one another, because they are nigh to land; for to see the harbor is a cause of special joy to sailors, as though it were a restoration to life and safety. But this word κέλευμα is applied to other things, as it may be said that reapers sing a celeusma when they finish their work. The vine-dressers had also their songs; and they were sung by heathen nations, as Virgil says. “Now the worn-out vine-dresser sings at the extreme rows of vines.” ¹⁸ By extreme rows or ranks he seems to mean the extreme parts of the vines; for extreme rows ( antes) are properly prominences or overhanging stones. Now when they had come to the end, they sang and congratulated themselves as to the vintage. It was then a common custom among all nations.

The Prophet, now alluding to this, says, “They who shall tread in the winepress shall not be as usual joyful, so as to have their shouting, shouting, הידד הידד , eidad, eidad. ” He repeats the word, because men greatly exult at the vintage, and are excessive in their rejoicings. This is the reason why the Prophet mentions the word twice. He then adds, there shall be no shouting, לא הידד , la eidad, because there would be no vineyards. Isaiah uses other expressions, but the meaning is the same. It now follows, —

Calvin: Jer 48:34

He continues the same subject; and by many and various expressions confirms the same thing, in order that the faithful might know that the destruction of the Moabites was really foretold, and that they might feel more assured that God announced nothing but what he would presently execute.

At the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh they shall send forth their voice. He means, as before, that there would be continued cryings and howlings sounding forth from every part, and spreading through every region. He then adds, From Zoar to Horonaim We must bear in mind the situations of these cities; but we may suppose that the Prophet chose those cities which were opposite to each other. Then from one corner to the other continual crying would be heard, because there would be everywhere desolation and ruin. And then he comes to another part, from one city even to another there would be a similar cry. In short, he shews that no part in the whole land of Moab would be in a quiet state and free from miseries. This is the meaning.

But he compares the whole land of Moab, or the city Horonaim, to an heifer three years old, on account of its lasciviousness. Some restrict the comparison to the city Horonaim, for they read the words in apposition, “to Heronaim, an heifer three years old,” putting the last words in the accusative case: but others read them apart, “an heifer three years old” is Moab. And I prefer this construction, because he afterwards adds another city, even Nimrim. As, however, it is a matter of no great moment, I will not contend with any one who may take the other view. Whether then it be one city or the whole country, it is compared to an heifer three years old, because that nation had long luxuriated in its own pleasures. Now, an heifer three years old, as it is well known, frisks and leaps, because it knows not what it is to fear the yoke; and then it is not worn out, as the case is with cows, who are weakened by having often brought forth young; and further, the milk that is taken from them exhausts their strength. But all heifer three years old is in her rigor and prime. In short, the Prophet intimates that the Moabites lived well, and as it were unrestrained, for they had long exulted in their abundance; and as they had plenty of wine and bread, they gave themselves up to luxury. ¹⁹

He then adds, Surely even the waters of Nimrim shall be a desolation Some think Nimrim to have been a city, and it is elsewhere called Nimra. Its waters are also mentioned by Isaiah, as the brooks of the willows. We may hence conclude that these waters were perpetual and flowed continually. But the Prophet speaks metaphorically as before, for the meaning is, that nothing would be so safe in the land of Moab as not to be destroyed, that nothing would be so fruitful as not to be dried up. Then by the waters of Nimrim he means the abundance which was in the whole country. For the Chaldeans did not dry up that river or those lakes, for it is certainly unknown whether there was a river there or a lake. But it is probable that there was there abundance of waters, which were not dried up by the coming of an hostile army; but, as I have said, he shews by these figurative expressions that the whole land of Moab would be laid waste. It follows —

Calvin: Jer 48:35

In this verse the Prophet expresses what he had before referred to, that God would become in such a way the avenger of the pride and cruelty of the Moabites as to punish them for their superstitions. They had descended from a pious father, for they were the posterity of Lot; but they had renounced the worship of the only true God, and had defiled themselves with the pollutions of heathens. Justly then does God declare that he would be the avenger of idolatry, while executing punishment on the pride and cruelty of the Moabites.

Now this passage, as innumerable others, clearly shews that idolatry and all profanation of divine worship, cannot finally escape punishment. God may indeed for a time connive at it, but he must necessarily at last appear as the vindicator of his own glory in punishing superstitions. But, if he spared not the Moabites, to whom the law had not, been given, and who had been corrupted through many long years, how shall they now escape unpunished, to whom God’s Word is daily propounded, and in whose ears it sounds? Let, us then remember that superstitions cannot be endured, for God will at length vindicate his own glory with regard to these abominations; for every superstition is nothing less than a profanation of God’s glory, which is thus transferred to idols and vain inventions.

Calvin: Jer 48:36

Here the Prophet, as it has been before stated, does not mourn the calamity of the people of Moab, but assumes the character of others, so that the event might appear more evident, it being set as it were before our eyes; for as we have said, the wealth of the Moabites was so great at that time, that it dazzled the eyes of all. It was then difficult for the faithful to form an idea of this vengeance of God, therefore the Prophet transfers to himself the feelings of others, and relates what the Moabites would do, when God had so grievously afflicted them.

My heart, he says, shall sound like pipes Some think that mournful pipes are meant, but I know not whether or not they were instruments of this kind; and there are those who think that חללים , chellim, were bag-pipes, but what is too refined I leave. The Prophet simply means that such would be the trepidation, that the hearts of the Moabites would make a noise like pipes. He repeats the same thing in different words, that his heart would make a noise, or sound, for the men of Kir-heres, of which city we spoke yesterday.

He now adds, for the residue which they have made, or which Moab has made, for the verb is in the singular number; and then, they have perished, where also there is a change of number; but the reference is to the word “residue,” יתרת , iteret, which included hidden treasures, as we have stated. ²⁰ Whatever then the Moabites had gained for themselves, and whatever they thought would be always safe, the Prophet declares that it would perish. Isaiah adds, “their substance,” פקותם , pekotem, and says, that they would carry it to the willows, that is, to deserted places; as though he had said, that all the wealth of the Moabites would be scattered, as though it were, as they say, a thing forsaken. It now follows —

Calvin: Jer 48:37

The Prophet describes at large a very great mourning. They were wont in great sorrow to pull off their hair, to shave their beard, and to put on sackcloth, or to gird it round their loins, and also to cut their hands with a knife or with their nails. As these things were signs of grief; Jeremiah puts them all together, in order to show that the calamity of Moab would not be common, but what would cause to the whole people extreme lamentation. They shall make bald, he says, their heads, their beard they shall pull off, or shave; for the word, to diminish, may signify either. Then he adds, the incisions in the hands; they shall tear their faces and their hands with their nails, or as some say, with a knife or a razor. As to sackcloth, it was also a sign of mourning. It is indeed certain that it was formerly the practice for men, as though it was innate in human nature, in great calamities to spread ashes on the head and to put on sackloth. But he has added other excesses which are not very congenial to nature, for it is not agreeable to humanity to pull off the beard, to make bald the head, or to tear the hands and the face with the nails. These things show excesses, suitable neither to men nor to women, — not to women on the ground of modesty, nor to men on the ground of manliness and strength of mind.

But mankind never control themselves, and whether they mourn or rejoice, they are ever led away to excesses, observing no moderation. There was also another evil connected with sackcloth and ashes; for when it was God’s design to lead men by these symbols to humble themselves, to consider their sins and to flee to his mercy, they were diverted to another end, even that he who mourned might appear miserable to others, and make a display of his weeping and tears. In short, besides excess, there was also this common evil, even hypocrisy. For men ever turn aside to what is vain, and dissemble in all things. But in this place there is no reason to dispute about mourning, for the Prophet means only that the Moabites would become most miserable, exhibiting all the symptoms of sorrow. It follows —

Calvin: Jer 48:38

The Prophet at the beginning of the verse continues the same subject, that the Moabites would weep and lament throughout all their houses and in all their streets The reason is added in the second clause, because God would bring a severe judgment on that nation.

By saying that there would be lamentation on all the roofs, he refers to what was customary at that time, for they had their walks on the roofs or tops of their houses. Then he says, that the Moabites, in order to be more seen and to excite pity, would ascend on the roofs, and cry, howl, and lament there. But we must observe what is added, that the calamity would come from God; for it would not have been sufficient to foretell adversity, except this was added, that God ascended his tribunal to execute his judgments when he thus chastised the people. He also compares the people of Moab to a despised vessel, in order to make a distinction between God’s children and aliens; for God does also chastise his own people when they sin, but he ceases not to love them and to regard them as precious. Now he says that Moab would be a vessel despised and rejected. ²¹ It now follows, —

Calvin: Jer 48:39

The Prophet still speaks in the person of others, and according to their feelings and not his own. He then says, that howling, they would say, through wonder, How is it that Moab has been so broken, that all had turned their backs, that Moab had become ashamed? He indirectly intimates, that though no one could then know God’s judgment, which he now foretells, yet God would by the event prove that he had said nothing but in earnest. This wonder then was expressed for this purpose, that the Jews might know, that though the calamity of Moab would fill all with astonishment, and make them cry out as respecting an extraordinary thing, “What can this mean?” yet the fulfillment of his prophecy would be certain.

This is the meaning of the words when he says, Howling, they will cry out, How has Moab been broken? and how has he turned his neck, or as they say, his back? Moab is ashamed; and then, he is made a derision, which we have observed before. He adds, a terror, though some read, “a bruising;” but more suitable is fear or terror. For the Prophet means, that Moab would be to others a derision, and that he would be to others a dread, being an example of God’s awful judgment. ²² And he says that he would be a terror to all around, that is, to the whole surrounding country, as well as a laughter and a derision. It follows, —

Calvin: Jer 48:40

Here again he introduces God’s name, for it was necessary to confirm an incredible prophecy by his authority. “God is he,” he says, “who declares that enemies will come, who will fly through all the land of Moab.” He now compares the Chaldeans to eagles; and there is here a name understood which is not expressed. Fly will he like an eagle, that is, the king of Babylon with his army.

The sum of what is said then is, that however widely extended might be the country of Moab, yet there would be no corner into which the Chaldeans would not penetrate, because they would nearly equal the eagles in swiftness. Hence he adds, They will extend their wings, not to cherish, as eagles spread their wings over their young ones; but by extension he means, that they would seize on all the land of Moab; so that hiding places would be sought in vain, because the Chaldeans would from one part to another take possession of every place, however remote the Moabites might think it to be, and however they might hope its distance would render it safe. He afterwards adds, —

Calvin: Jer 48:41

I have already reminded you, that the Prophet is not using too many words in this extended discourse, for it was necessary to confirm at large what all would have otherwise rejected. He then says, that the cities of Moab were taken, that strongholds were seized He mentions these things expressly, because the country of Moab thought that it was defended by cities and strongholds; and they thus thought, “Should the Chaldeans come and make an irruption, there are many cities who will oppose them; they will then have to spend much time in overcoming these obstacles. It may then so happen, that being broken down with fatigue they will return to their own country, and we shall recover what we may have lost.” With this confidence then the Moabites deceived themselves, when they looked on their well fortified cities and strongholds. For this reason the Prophet now says, Taken are the cities, and seized on are the strongholds ²³

There was another thing of which the Moabites boasted, that they possessed military valor; and yet they had not of late made a trial of their strength, as they had been indulging themselves in sloth and pleasures. But as they had formerly performed deeds worthy of being remembered, they despised, as I have said, their enemies, arrogating to themselves the credit of great valor. The Prophet, on the other hand, declares that their courage would vanish away: The heart, he says, of the men of Moab shall become effeminate in that day, softer than the heart of a woman, when oppressed with evils. It might have appeared a complete comparison, when he said that the men of Moab would be soft and effeminate; but he wished to express something more, and hence he added, that they would become softer than women when in great trouble. And by these words he intimates, that it is in God’s power to melt the hearts of men, and to break down their fierceness, so that they who were like lions are made like does. And this ought to be carefully noticed; because courage is not only a special gift, but it is also necessary that God should daily and constantly strengthen those whom he has once made brave; otherwise they who are courageous above others will soon lose their valor. It follows, —

Calvin: Jer 48:42

He repeats what we have before observed, that the calamity of Moab would be a just reward for his pride and indeed his sacrilege. The Prophet then says that though God’s vengeance might seem extremely grievous, yet it was most just, because the Moabites had not only been cruel against their neighbors, but also reproachful against God. Here, then, he condemns them first for cruelty, and then for their impious pride, because they exalted themselves against God

But we must bear in mind the reason noticed before; for the Moabites did not openly boast that they were equal or superior to God, but when they raised their crests against God’s people, they became contumelious against God himself, who had promised to be the protector and the Father of his people. As then the Moabites thus despised the protection and promise of God, they are here justly condemned by the Prophet, that they exalted themselves against God And this ought to be carefully noticed, so that we may not do any wrong to the godly, for God will at length show that he is injured in their persons. And then also no common consolation may be hence derived, that all who molest us are carrying on war against God, and that all who injure us act sacrilegiously towards him. For the Prophet has before explained how the Moabites gloried against God, even because they regarded the children of Israel with derision. It follows, —

Calvin: Jer 48:43

By these words the Prophet skews, that though the Moabites should adopt many means of escape, yet they should be taken, for God’s hand would everywhere entrap them. He mentions terror first, then the pit, and thirdly, the snare, ²⁴ that is, “Thou wilt be so frightened that terror will compel thee to flee; but when thou fleest, pits will be in the way into which thou wilt fall: but if thou wilt rise from the pit, snares will surround thee, and thou wilt be taken.” We then see that by these similitudes nothing else is meant but God’s judgment, which impended over the Moabites, so that it could by no means be averted by them; for no ways could be found out by which they could escape, because fear would force them to flee, and would, as it is usually the case, deprive them of mind and thought, and thus they would be driven here and there, and could not move from any place without meeting with a pit, and, as it has been said, after the pit there would be the snare.

Calvin: Jer 48:44

Now all this has not been expressed without reason, because we know with how many flatteries men are wont to delude themselves when God summons them to judgment; for they immediately look around here and there, and promise themselves impunity, and then they hope for light punishment, as though they were at peace with God. But the unbelieving harden themselves, as Isaiah says, as though they had made a covenant with death and a compact with hell. (Isa 28:15.) As, then, the wicked set up security in opposition to God, the Prophet here shews that there are many ways in his hand, by which he can take the fugitives, and those who seem to think that they can escape through their own astuteness; and hence he said, He who flees from terror, that is, from present danger, shall fall into the pit, that is, when the Moabites shall now think themselves secure, they shall meet with new dangers, and new deaths will surround them.

But we must notice what is added at the end of the verse, Because I will bring on Moab the year of their visitation Here God sustains the minds of the godly, that they might not faint on account of long delay. As, then, the faithful might have been worn out with weariness while God prolonged the time as to the Moabites, the Prophet says, “Come at length shall the year of their visitation.” For as it has been stated elsewhere, by this mode of speaking God intimates that though he for a time passes by things and connives at them, he will at length show himself to be the judge of the world. We would have God ever to act in haste; and hence, when he exhorts us to patience, all our feelings rebel. This happens, because we do not consider that the fitness of times is determined by his will. Hence he speaks now of the year of visitation, as though he had said, “I may for a time appear to disregard human affairs and to neglect my own, while my people are cruelly oppressed by the wicked; but the time of visitation will come.” For by this word “visitation,” God means that there are changes, or, as they commonly say, revolutions, which are fixed and certain. We now then understand the design of God, when he says, that he would bring a visitation on the Moabites. It follows, —

Calvin: Jer 48:45

He confirms what is said in the last verse, that the Moabites would in vain resort to their strongest cities, even Heshbon and Sihon; because a flame would thence break forth, which would consume the whole land. We hence see that God took away from the Moabites all their vain confidences, and showed that no defences could stand against his power, when once he rose up for judgment.

The fleers, he says, shall stand under the shadow of Heshbon, thinking that there would be a safe refuge in that city, and in others. ²⁵ But the particle כי , ki, seems not to me to be here causal, but rather an affirmative, or even an adversative; but, or surely a fire has gone forth from Heshbon, and a flame from Sihon The Prophet, I doubt not, borrowed these words from Moses, for he says in Num 21:28, that a fire had gone forth from Heshbon; and there the expression is given as an old proverb. There is no doubt but that enemies had triumphed over that city when it was taken; for that whole song spoken by Moses is ironical, and in saying that fire had gone forth, he referred to their counsels, for they thought that city sufficiently strong against enemies. Now the Prophet says, that what had been formerly said of Heshbon would be again fulfilled, that it would be, as it were, the beginning of the fire. The meaning then, as I think, is, that the Moabites indeed thought, that they would have a quiet and agreeable shadow under the protection of the city Heshbon, and of the city Sihon; but what was to be? even that these two cities would become, as it were, the beginnings of the fire. How, or in what way? even because the probability is, that there those counsels were taken which provoked the Chaldeans. We indeed know that riches and power always produce haughtiness and false confidence in men; for in villages and small towns wars are not contrived; but the great cities gather the wood and kindle the fire; and the fire afterwards spreads and pervades the whole land. ²⁶

This, then, is what our Prophet means, when he says, that fire went forth from Heshbon, even contrary to the expectation of the people, for they thought that were all things to go to ruin, there yet would be safety for them in that city: go forth, he says, shall fire from the city Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and it shall consume the corner of Moab, and all his extremities; for by קרקר , kadkad, he means all parts. Extremity is elsewhere taken for a part; but he does not mean that fire would come to all parts or extreme corners, only as it were to touch them slightly: but he intimates that the whole land would be consumed by this fire; it would thus spread itself to its very extremities. ²⁷

But as I have already said, the Prophet alludes to that old saying mentioned by Moses, (Num 21:27.) Further, there is no doubt but that Heshbon and Sihon were then in the possession of that nation; for they had taken away many cities from the Israelites, and thus the children of Israel had been reduced to narrower limits. At length the tribe of Judah alone remained after the overthrow of the kingdom of Israel. When they were driven into Chaldea, it was an easy thing for the Moabites to make that their own which belonged to no one. Besides, as they had helped the Chaldeans and betrayed that miserable people, and had thus acted perfidiously towards their brethren, a reward was given to them. But when at length they themselves dreaded the power of the Babylonian monarchy, they began to change their minds, and endeavored to obstruct the farther progress of the Chaldeans. Hence then a war was contemplated, and the occasion was given. He then speaks of Heshbon and Sihon as chief cities; and there is no doubt but that Sihon derived its name from a king who ruled there. For we know that there was a king bearing this name; but as he speaks here of a place, it is probable, that the king’s name was given to the city in order to commemorate it.

He at length adds, that this fire and flame would devour the top of the head of the sons of Saon, or tumult. But he calls the Moabites tumultuous, because they before made a great noise, and were dreaded by their neighbors. As then all their neighbors had been frightened, in a manner, by their voice alone, he calls them sons of tumult, or tumultuous men, from the effect produced. It follows —

Calvin: Jer 48:46

Here the Prophet, as he comes to the end of his prophecy, suddenly exclaims, Woe to thee ! as though he had said, that words failed him to express the grievousness of God’s vengeance. There is then more force in this single expression, than if he had at large described the miseries of that nation. He then adds, The people of Chemosh have perished The Prophet again intimates, that the Moabites vainly confided in their idol, Chemosh; they thought that there would be a sure safety to them from their god, who was, as they commonly say, a tutelar god. But the Prophet says, that their superstition would avail them nothing, for they and their idol would perish together. He exults over this fictitious god, that on the other hand he might extol the power of the only true God. For there is here an implied contrast between the God of Israel and Chemosh whom the Moabites worshipped.

He then adds, Thy sons and thy daughters shall be carried away into captivity The Prophet does not seem here to continue the same subject; for he had said before that ruin or destruction was coming on the Moabites, but he now mitigates that punishment, and speaks only of exile. But as captivity is like death, as it abolishes the name of a nation, he speaks correctly and suitably. And then we must observe, that God, for a time, so executed his vengeance on the Moabites, that he left them some hope as to the future, according to what follows in the last verse —

Calvin: Jer 48:47

Here, as we see, God gives place to his mercy, so that the Moabites should not wholly perish. At the same time, things which seem to be contrary agree together, even that destruction was nigh the people of Moab, and yet that some would remain alive, who would afterwards renew the name of the nation, as it was God’s purpose to restore the Moabites to their former state. These things, as I have said, seem inconsistent, and yet they may be easily reconciled; for it was God’s will so to destroy the Moabites, that those who died might not be without hope; and then, those who remained alive were not deemed to be among the living, but in exile they were like the dead. God, indeed, ever supported the godly with hope, even when they were driven into Babylon: but as to the Moabites, the living as well as the dead, had no hope. Why, then, was this promise given? not for the sake of the Moabites; but that the Jews might feel assured that God would at length be propitious to them; he promises pardon to the Moabites as it were accidentally, so to speak, and thus unavowedly stretches forth his hand to them, but with a design through this mercy to give to the Israelites a taste of his paternal favor. What remains we must reserve for the lecture tomorrow.

Defender: Jer 48:42

Although Moab was related to Israel through Lot the nephew of Abraham (Gen 12:5) and the father of both Moab and Ammon (Gen 19:36-38), the Moabites were often enemies of Israel and worshipers of false gods, especially Chemosh (Num 21:29). The prophesied invasion and desolation of Moab, whose country was in the fields and mountains just east of the Dead Sea, soon took place. However, the Moabites continued to exist as a minor nation for many centuries after Nebuchadrezzar. Eventually, they disintegrated completely, just as prophesied."

TSK: Jer 48:18

daughter : Jer 46:18, Jer 46:19; Isa 47:1

Dibon : Jer 48:22; Num 21:30, Num 32:3; Jos 13:17; Isa 15:2

and sit : Gen 21:16; Exo 17:3; Jdg 15:18; Isa 5:13; Eze 19:13

the spoiler : Jer 48:8

TSK: Jer 48:19

inhabitant : Heb. inhabitress

Aroer : Num 32:34; Deu 2:36; 2Sa 24:5; 1Ch 5:8

ask : 1Sa 4:13, 1Sa 4:14, 1Sa 4:16; 2Sa 1:3, 2Sa 1:4, 2Sa 18:24-32

TSK: Jer 48:20

confounded : Jer 48:1-5; Isa 15:1-5, Isa 15:8, Isa 16:7-11

Arnon : Num 21:13, Num 21:14, Num 21:26-28; Deu 2:36; Jos 13:9; Jdg 11:18; Isa 16:2

TSK: Jer 48:21

the plain : Jer 48:8; Eze 25:9; Zep 2:9

Jahazah : Jos 13:18, Jahaza, Jos 21:36, Jos 21:37; Isa 15:4, Jahaz

TSK: Jer 48:22

Dibon : Jer 48:1, Jer 48:18; Num 32:34

Bethdiblathaim : Num 33:46, Almon-diblathaim, Eze 6:14, Diblath

TSK: Jer 48:23

Kiriathaim : Jer 48:1; Gen 14:5, Shaveh Kiriathaim, Jos 13:19, Kirjathaim

Bethmeon : Num 32:38, Baal-meon, Jos 13:17, Beth-baal-meon

TSK: Jer 48:24

Kerioth : Jer 48:41; Amo 2:2

Bozrah : Deu 4:43, Bezer, Jos 21:36, Bezor, Zep 2:8-10

TSK: Jer 48:25

horn : Psa 75:10; Lam 2:3; Dan 7:8, Dan 8:7-9, Dan 8:21; Zec 1:19-21

and his : Num 32:37; Job 22:9; Psa 10:15, Psa 37:17; Eze 30:21-25

TSK: Jer 48:26

ye him : Jer 13:13, Jer 13:14, Jer 25:15-17, Jer 25:27-29, Jer 51:7, Jer 51:39, Jer 51:57; Psa 60:3, Psa 75:8; Isa 29:9; Isa 51:17, Isa 63:6; Lam 3:15, Lam 4:21; Eze 23:31-34; Nah 3:11; Rev 16:19

for he : Jer 48:42; Exo 5:2, Exo 9:17; Job 9:4; Isa 10:15; Eze 35:12, Eze 35:13; Dan 5:23; Dan 8:11, Dan 8:12, Dan 11:36; Zep 2:8-10; 2Th 2:4

wallow : Isa 19:14, Isa 29:9; Hab 2:16

and he also : Jer 48:39; Psa 2:4, Psa 59:8; Lam 1:21; Eze 23:32

TSK: Jer 48:27

was not : Psa 44:13, Psa 79:4; Pro 24:17, Pro 24:18; Lam 2:15-17; Eze 25:8, Eze 26:2, Eze 26:3, Eze 35:15; Eze 36:2, Eze 36:4; Oba 1:12, Oba 1:13; Mic 7:8-10; Zep 2:8, Zep 2:10; Mat 7:2

was he found : Jer 2:26; Mat 26:55, Mat 27:38

skippedst : or, movedst thyself

TSK: Jer 48:28

leave : Jer 48:9; Jdg 6:2; 1Sa 13:6; Isa 2:19; Oba 1:3, Oba 1:4

like : Jer 49:16; Psa 55:6, Psa 55:7; Son 2:14

TSK: Jer 48:29

heard : Pro 8:13; Isa 16:6; Zep 2:8-15

his loftiness : Job 40:10-12; Psa 138:6; Pro 18:12, Pro 30:13; Isa 2:11, Isa 2:12; Dan 4:37; Luk 14:11; Jam 4:6

TSK: Jer 48:30

know : Isa 16:6, Isa 37:28, Isa 37:29

his lies shall not so effect it : or, those on whom he stayeth (Heb. his bars) do not right, Baddim as Lowth observes, sometimes means those who pretend to the art of divination. Though the soothsayers of Moab, upon whose skill she relies, promise him success, yet in the event it will appear there was no truth in what they said. Jer 50:36; Job 9:12, Job 9:13; Psa 33:10; Pro 21:30

TSK: Jer 48:31

will I howl : Isa 15:5, Isa 16:7-11

Kirheres : Jer 48:36; 2Ki 3:25, Kar-haraseth, Isa 16:7, Kir-hareseth

TSK: Jer 48:32

vine : Num 32:38, Shibmah, Jos 13:19; Isa 16:8, Isa 16:9

Jazer : Num 21:32, Jaazer, Num 32:1, Num 32:35; Jos 21:39

the spoiler : Jer 48:8, Jer 48:15, Jer 48:18, Jer 40:10

TSK: Jer 48:33

joy : Jer 25:9, Jer 25:10; Isa 9:3, Isa 16:9, Isa 24:7-12, Isa 32:9-14; Joe 1:12, Joe 1:16; Rev 18:22, Rev 18:23

caused : Isa 5:10, Isa 7:23, Isa 16:10; Joe 1:5, Joe 1:12, Joe 1:13; Hag 2:16

TSK: Jer 48:34

the cry : Jer 48:2; Isa 15:4-6

Elealeh : Num 32:37

Jahaz : Jer 48:21, Jahazah

Zoar : Jer 48:3, Jer 48:5; Deu 34:3; Isa 15:5

as an heifer of : As a young cow, when deprived of her first calf; which runs about from place to place, filling the air with loud and repeated lowings, expressive of the deepest distress.

Nimrim : Num 32:3, Nimrah, Num 32:36, Beth-nimrah, Isa 15:6

desolate : Heb. desolations

TSK: Jer 48:35

him that offereth : Jer 48:7; Num 22:40,Num 22:41, Num 28:14, Num 28:28-30; Isa 15:2, Isa 16:12

TSK: Jer 48:36

mine heart : Jer 4:19; Isa 15:5, Isa 16:11, Isa 63:15

Kirheres : Jer 48:31

the riches : Jer 17:11; Pro 11:4, Pro 13:22, Pro 18:11; Ecc 5:13, Ecc 5:14; Isa 15:7; Luk 12:20,Luk 12:21; Jam 5:2, Jam 5:3

TSK: Jer 48:37

every head : Jer 16:6, Jer 41:5, Jer 47:5; Isa 3:24, Isa 15:2, Isa 15:3; Eze 7:18, Eze 27:31; Amo 8:10; Mic 1:16

clipped : Heb. diminished

cuttings : Lev 19:28; 1Ki 18:28; Mar 5:5

upon the loins : Gen 37:29, Gen 37:34; 1Ki 21:27; 2Ki 6:30; Isa 20:2, Isa 37:1; Rev 11:3

TSK: Jer 48:38

upon : Isa 15:3, Isa 22:1

broken : Jer 22:28, Jer 25:34; Psa 2:9; Isa 30:14; Hos 8:8; Rom 9:21, Rom 9:22; 2Ti 2:20,2Ti 2:21; Rev 2:27

TSK: Jer 48:39

How is it : Jer 48:17; Lam 1:1, Lam 2:1, Lam 4:1; Rev 18:9, Rev 18:10,Rev 18:15, Rev 18:16

back : Heb. neck

a derision : Jer 48:26, Jer 48:27; Isa 20:4-6; Eze 26:16-18

TSK: Jer 48:40

he shall : Jer 4:13; Deu 28:49; Lam 4:19; Eze 17:3; Dan 7:4; Hos 8:1

spread : Jer 49:22; Isa 8:8

TSK: Jer 48:41

Kerioth : or, The cities, Jer 48:24

as the heart : Jer 4:31, Jer 6:24, Jer 30:6, Jer 49:22, Jer 49:24, Jer 50:43, Jer 51:30; Isa 13:8, Isa 21:3, Isa 26:17, Isa 26:18; Mic 4:9, Mic 4:10; 1Th 5:3

TSK: Jer 48:42

Moab : Moab has long since ceased to be a nation; while the Jews, agreeably to the Divine promise (Jer 46:28), though successively subdued and oppressed by the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Syro-Macedonians, and Romans (which have also all passed away, and are no more), and dispersed over the face of the earth, subsist to this day as a distinct people from all the nations of the world!

from : Jer 48:2, Jer 30:11; Est 3:8-13; Psa 83:4-8; Isa 7:8; Mat 7:2

magnified : Jer 48:26-30; Pro 16:18; Isa 37:23; Dan 11:36; 2Th 2:4; Rev 13:6

TSK: Jer 48:43

Deu 32:23-25; Psa 11:6; Isa 24:17, Isa 24:18; Lam 3:47

TSK: Jer 48:44

that fleeth : Jer 16:16; 1Ki 19:17, 1Ki 20:30; Isa 37:36-38; Amo 2:14, Amo 2:15, Amo 5:19, Amo 9:1-4

the year : Jer 8:12, Jer 10:15, Jer 11:23, Jer 23:12, Jer 46:21, Jer 51:18; Isa 10:3; Hos 9:7; Mic 7:4

TSK: Jer 48:45

a fire : Num 21:28; Amo 2:2

devour : Num 24:17; Zec 10:4; Mat 21:42

tumultuous ones : Heb. children of noise

TSK: Jer 48:46

Woe : Num 21:29

the people : Jer 48:7, Jer 48:13; Jdg 11:24; 1Ki 11:7; 2Ki 23:13

captives : Heb. in captivity

TSK: Jer 48:47

Yet will I bring : Many of the Moabites were afterwards restored to their country by Cyrus, as we learn from Josephus; but they never were restored to their national consequence; and perhaps their restoration in the latter days refers to the conversion of their scattered remnants to the gospel. Jer 46:26, Jer 49:6, Jer 49:39; Isa 18:7, Isa 19:18-23, Isa 23:18; Eze 16:53-55

in the latter : Jer 23:20, Jer 30:24; Num 24:14; Deu 4:30, Deu 31:29; Job 19:25; Eze 38:8; Dan 2:28; Dan 10:14; Hos 3:5

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Jer 48:18

Sit in thirst - Jeremiah draws a picture of the conquered inhabitants, collected outside the walls, waiting for their captors to march them away to the slave mart. The enemy occupied with plundering the houses of Dibon thinks little of the hunger and thirst of his prisoners.

Strong holds - The remains of the fortifications of Dibon are still visible.

Barnes: Jer 48:19

Aroer - On the Arnon, due south of Dibon. If Dibon falls, the turn of Aroer will come next, and therefore its inhabitants are to be on the look out, asking for news.

Barnes: Jer 48:20

Or, "Moab is ashamed, because she (Dibon) is broken"by her fortifications being battered down.

Barnes: Jer 48:21

Holon - This place apparently took its name from caverns in its neighborhood.

Barnes: Jer 48:22

Beth-diblathaim - i. e., "the house of the two cakes of figs,"perhaps so called from two hills in its neighborhood. Hos 1:3 note.

Barnes: Jer 48:23

Beth-meon - Meon is probably the Moabite Olympus, and thus Beth-Baal-Meon, the full name of this town Jos 13:17, would signify the place where the heavenly Baal was worshipped.

Barnes: Jer 48:24

Kerioth - A synonym of Ar, the old capital of Moab. It appears to have been a considerable place, and has been identified with El-Korriat, situated on the long ridge of Mount Attarus.

Bozrah - Probably the Bosora mentioned in 1 Macc. 5:26 in company with Bosor, i. e., Bezer. Since the word means sheepfolds, it was no doubt a common name for places in this upland region, fit only for pasturage.

Barnes: Jer 48:25

The horn - i. e., his pride (marginal reference); his arm, i. e., his strength Jer 17:5.

Barnes: Jer 48:26

Make ye him drunken - With the wine-cup of God’ s fury, until terror deprive him of his senses.

Barnes: Jer 48:27

Was he found ... - Or, "was he found among thieves that so often as thou speakest of him"thou waggest thy head? - in contempt for a fallen enemy.

Barnes: Jer 48:28

Dwell in the rock - See Jer 4:29. The sole chance of escape is refuge in inaccessible fastnesses.

In the sides ... - On the further side "of the mouth of the pit."The wild rock pigeon invariably selects deep ravines for its nesting and roosting.

Barnes: Jer 48:30

But it shall not be so - Most commentators translate, "I know, saith Jehovah, his arrogancy, and the emptiness of his boastings; they have worked emptiness."

Barnes: Jer 48:31

Mine heart ... - Rather, "there shall be mourning for"etc.

Barnes: Jer 48:32

Or, "More than the weeping of Jazer"over its ruined vineyards "will I weep for thee, O vine of Sibmah."Compare the marginal reference. Jazer lies in an upland valley about 15 miles north of Heshbon.

Thy plants ... - " Thy branches are gone over the sea, i. e."the power of Moab is felt even on the western side of the Dead Sea; "they reached etc."

Barnes: Jer 48:33

Winepresses - Rather, "wine-vats,"into which the wine runs from the presses.

Their shouting shall be no shouting - The vintage shout is - silence. For the vines have been destroyed, and desolation reigns where once was the joyful cry of those who tread the grapes.

Barnes: Jer 48:34

The meaning is that, taking up the lamentation of Heshbon, the Moabites break forth into a wail, heard as far as Elealeh, scarcely two miles distant Num 32:37, but thence spreading over the land to towns on the southern and southwestern borders of the land.

An heifer of three years old - Applied in Isa 15:5 to Zoar, but here to Horonaim. Some take "an heifer"as a proper name, and render it: "Eglah for the third part"(compare Isa 19:24). Zoar, Horonaim, and Eglah formed a tripolis, or confederacy of three towns, and Eglah might therefore be put after either one or the other.

Nimrim - Probably the Wady-en-Nemeirah at the southeastern end of the Dead Sea.

Barnes: Jer 48:36

Like pipes - A wind instrument, used at funerals Mat 9:23.

The riches that he hath gotten - literally, "that which remains over, a superfluity."

Barnes: Jer 48:37

Cuttings - Compare Jer 16:6, and marginal references.

Barnes: Jer 48:38

Generally - Rather, entirely.

Barnes: Jer 48:39

Literally, "How is it broken down! they wail! How hath Moab tutored the back in shame! Yea, Moab is become a laughter and a terror Jer 17:17 to all who are round about him."

Barnes: Jer 48:40

The rapid and irresistible attack of Nebuchadnezzar is compared to the impetuous dash of the eagle on its prey Deu 28:49.

Barnes: Jer 48:41

Surprised - captured by force.

Barnes: Jer 48:45

Because of the force - Rather, without force. Translate it: "The fugitives have stood, (i. e., halted) powerless in the shadow of Heshbon."As Heshbon was the capital of the Ammonites, the sense is that the defeated Moabites looked to Ammon for protection.

But afire ... - Not only will Ammon refuse aid to Moab, but her ruin is to come forth from Heshbon. To show this Jeremiah has recourse to the old triumphal poetry of the Mosaic age (marginal reference).

The corner - i. e., of the beard ..."the crown of the head."The fire of war consumes both far and near, both hair and beard, i. e., everything that it can singe and destroy.

The tumultuous ones - literally, "sons of the battle-shout,"the brave Moabite warriors.

Barnes: Jer 48:47

Bring again the captivity - (Or, "restore the prosperity.") A similar promise is given to Egypt, Ammon, and Elam Jer 46:26; Jer 49:6.

Thus far ... Moab - An editorial note by the same hand as the last words of Jer 51:64.

Poole: Jer 48:18

Of this

Dibon we read Num 21:30 . It was a land for cattle, Num 32:3 . Both Dibon, and Aroer, and Ataroth were built by-the children of Gad, to whose lot it fell, Num 32:34 , as also to the Reubenites in part, Jos 13 17 . It should seem that the Moabites were now come into the possession of it, either by conquest, or upon the Assyrians taking the ten tribes.

Sit in thirst it was a place well watered (otherwise it had not been fit for cattle); God threateneth that she should be

in thirst that is, driven into some dry, barren countries.

For the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds for the king of Babylon, whom God had appointed to spoil all Moab, shall destroy thee also, and thy strong holds shall not secure thee.

Poole: Jer 48:19

Aroer was a city in the lot of Gad and Reuben, Num 32:34 . In David’ s time it was in the hand of the Jews, 1Sa 30:28 , but in Isaiah’ s time it belonged to Syria, Isa 17:2 , and here it is reckoned to the Moabites. The inhabitants of it are called to

stand by the way and seeing the Moabites fleeing, to ask what news. Others think that Aroer was at this time a city of the Ammonites, and here called unto to see their neighbours the Moabites fleeing before their enemies.

Poole: Jer 48:20

Arnon was the name of a river, Num 21:14 Deu 2:36 Jos 12:1 . It was the border of Moab, whither Balak went to meet Balaam, Num 22:36 ; probably the adjacent country or city might take its name from the river.

Poole: Jer 48:24

God threateneth vengeance to come upon all Moab, which had great plains , Num 31:12 33:48 . For the names of these cities, and those mentioned Jer 48:22-24 , some of them we read of in other places of holy writ; others we read not of, neither is it material for us to know their situation; they are not at this day to be known by their old names: they are all here mentioned as cities at this time belonging to the Moabites, to whom this vengeance is threatened, and not to them only, but to all other cities of the land of Moab wherever situate.

Poole: Jer 48:25

That is, the beauty and the strength of Moab . So these two terms often signify in holy writ, the horn being much the beauty of some beasts, and that part of their bodies by which they both do injury to others, and defend themselves from the assaults of others. God here declares that Moab should both lose its glory and beauty, and also all the power it formerly had to defend itself, or offend others.

Poole: Jer 48:26

Make ye him drunken either make ye him to stagger like a drunken man, (the cause being put for the effect,) or fill him with the intoxicating wine cup of God’ s vengeance, with the effects of God’ s wrath. For he magnified himself against the Lord because of his pride, and exalting himself against the Lord, as if he had been stronger than he, and so ont of the reach of God’ s power.

Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision: as drunken men vomit, and stagger, and fall, and wallow in their vomit, so let the Moabites fall by the sword, wallow in their blood, and like drunken men be mocked at and had in derision by all those who see what their vaunts come to, and what vengeance they have pulled upon themselves.

Poole: Jer 48:27

For was not Israel a derision unto thee? it is an ill thing to mock at the miseries of others, especially such as we have some relation to; the Moabites were descended from Lot, who was nearly related to Abraham the father of the Jews, and ought not to have mocked at them, but to have pitied their neighbours and kindred: they either mocked at the ten tribes when they were carried into captivity by Shalmaneser, or at Judah captivated by the king of Babylon. God threateneth the Ammonites, Eze 25:6 , and the Edomites, by Obadiah, for the same misdemeanour.

Was he found among thieves? why didst thou deal by Israel as men deal by thieves, when they are brought to shame? Ought not he to have been by thee accounted in a better rank than that of thieves?

For since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy instead of compassionating the Jews in their calamity, thou never spakest of them but with joy and triumph. Others make a quite other sense, viz. for those words against him thou thyself shalt wander . But the learned author of the English Annotations observes well, that the word in the form here used will not so well bear it, though the verb doth in its primary sense signify to wander.

Poole: Jer 48:28

Still the prophet speaks of the Moabites as a people whose armies were routed, and calls to them to leave their houses in cities, not promising themselves any security, either to or from their houses, or from the walls of their cities, but to get them to rocks, which are naturally fortified, and from whence (if from any place) security might be promised. And he commends to them the natural sagacity of a dove, which being a feeble creature, and not able to encounter a hawk or eagle, makes herself a nest in the sides of some rock where she may be at safety.

Poole: Jer 48:29

There is a passage, Isa 16:6 , &c., concerning Moab, very little differing from this: Isaiah lived some years before this prophet, who yet complaineth of them for the same sins, so as they were not at all reformed. God saith he had heard of their pride and arrogancy; a vice which commonly attendeth ease and prosperity, and is exceeding odious in the sight of God, so as a wicked man is often in Scripture set out under the notion of a proud man.

Poole: Jer 48:30

I know his rage, either against Israel, or other people; but he shall never execute it, or bring to pass what he thinks to do. There is no trusting to what he saith, his boastings and his confidence are but lies, and shall never effect his designs.

Poole: Jer 48:31

Though wicked men rejoice and triumph in the ruin of good men, yet their charity suffereth them not to do the like, but engageth them to mourn for them in the day of their affliction. Jeremiah declareth his compassion toward these Moabites, though they derided the Jews when they were carried into captivity. nay, he mourns upon the prospect of their misery at some distance; when the sight of the Jews’ present calamity would not affect the Moabites with any compassion at all. We find the like compassion in another prophet, Isa 16:11 Jer 48:7 there it is called Kir-hareseth , which was a city of Moab, as we read, 2Ki 3:25 .

Poole: Jer 48:32

We read of this

vine of Sibmah also Isa 16:8,9 . Both Sibmah and Jahaza were places in the portion of Reuben, Jos 13:18,19 . Sibmah was doubtless a place famous in those days for vines and vineyards. This Jahaza or

Jazer was, as it should seem, first taken and carried into captivity, which caused a great lamentation. The prophet foretells such a weeping for Sibmah as was for Jazer. By plants he means the inhabitants of Sibmah, which he prophesieth should be carried into captivity over the Dead Sea. As an aggravation of the judgment that should come upon them, God, by his prophet, tells them that the spoiler should come upon them in their vintage and harvest time.

Poole: Jer 48:33

The time of harvest and vintage being times when the husbandmen were wont to reap the fruit of all their labours the preceding year, were times of great joy ordinarily; but the prophet foretells them of a year when there should be no such rejoicing, for they should have no wine from the winepresses, there should be no shouting as used to be in the time of harvest and of vintage.

Poole: Jer 48:34

An heifer of three years old See Isa 15:5 .

Heshbon and

Elealeh and

Jahaz and

Zoar and

Horonaim were all cities of Moab, who are here all threatened with ruin; with the country about Nimrim ; which Nimrim is mentioned no where in Scripture but here, and in Isa 15:6 ; nor are interpreters well agreed, whether in this place it be the name of a river, or a lake, or a city. The sense is, the whole country of Moab shall be destroyed, the cry shall reach from one part of the country to another, either the cry of the inhabitants, or of their enemies pursuing them with a great noise.

Poole: Jer 48:35

That is, every one, or some of all orders, for the Moabites generally were idolaters; though the expressing it under this notion may hint to us also one great cause of this judgment coming upon them, viz. their idolatry.

Poole: Jer 48:36

The prophet means such pipes as they were wont to use at funerals, and other sad occasions, to play doleful lessons upon; see Isa 15:5 ; because of the great change in the state of this poor people, which had got together a great deal of wealth, which is all perished.

Poole: Jer 48:37

These phrases are expounded in the beginning of the following verse, There shall be lamentation generally upon all the house-tops of Moab. Shaving of the hair, and clipping the beards, and cutting themselves, were rites and ceremonies of mourning used by these heathens.

Poole: Jer 48:38

We met with the same phrase applied to Coniah, Jer 22:28 . The meaning is, I have broken Moab all to pieces, as people use to do vessels they care not for; they never go about to mend such a vessel, but dash it in pieces against some stones or walls.

Poole: Jer 48:39

Those that formerly lived in Moab, when it was in its glory, shall lament to see how the case is altered with it, that all its glory is broken down, and they that were wont to conquer their enemies turn their backs with shame upon their enemies. And Moab, that was wont to be the praise and admiration of all people, was become an astonishment, and an object of derision and scoffing to them.

Poole: Jer 48:40

Nebuchadnezzar shall come upon Moab swiftly; and as an eagle covereth the prey which he hath taken with his wings, so Nebuchadnezzar shall spread himself over Moab.

Poole: Jer 48:41

Whether

Kerioth here be the proper name of a city, as it is Jer 48:24 , or an appellative noun signifying cities, is doubtful. The latter seems best to agree to this place: The cities and the strong holds are all taken ; and though Moab hath in it many mighty and valiant men, yet their hearts will be full of fear, or ready to fail them, like a woman’ s who is in her travail and hath great and sore pains.

Poole: Jer 48:42

That is, for a time; see Jer 48:47 ; or being such a people as it hath been, so full of splendour and glory. The reason given is the same with that Jer 48:26 .

Poole: Jer 48:43

These three words,

fear, pit, snare signify no more than a variety of dangers that should be on all sides of them, so as if any escaped one danger, he should presently meet with another, for this was the time when the Lord was resolved to punish all the inhabitants of the land of Moab.

Poole: Jer 48:45

Heshbon was a great city, and, as it should seem, a place of some force; the war being in the country, they made Heshbon the place of their sanctuary. But the prophet, applying to the Chaldeans what was said in Moses’ s time, Num 21:28 , prophesieth that Heshbon also should be destroyed, and the fire should devour the crown of the head, that is, the glory of the brave rebelling gallants, called hi the Hebrew the children of noise .

Poole: Jer 48:46

The prophet, closing the threatening part of his prophecy against Moab, repeateth the same thing which he had often said, that the Moabites should be carried into captivity by the king of Babylon, and denounceth a woe unto them upon that account.

Poole: Jer 48:47

Some think this prophecy was fulfilled upon the return of the Jews out of Babylon, when the Jews inhabited the land of Moab, Zep 2:9 ; but this doth not seem to be the bringing again the captivity of Moab, but of Judah; besides, in that place it is said that Moab should be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and salt-pits, and a perpetual desolation . It is therefore rather to be understood of a spiritual reduction of them, by calling some of them under the kingdom of the Messiah, as the Jewish doctors themselves interpret it. Some think this a promise rather respecting the Jews than the Moabites; it is said, Jer 48:9 , that the remnant of the Lord’ s people should possess Moab; and, Jer 48:11 , that all the isles of the heathen should worship God.

Thus far is the judgment of Moab: these last words are doubtless to be interpreted rather as a conclusion of this prophecy against Moab, than (as some would have it) as a limitation of the time how long this judgment on Moab should endure, as if thus far were as much as thus long .

Haydock: Jer 48:18

Thirst. Dibon was well supplied with water, Isaias xv. 9.

Haydock: Jer 48:20

Arnon, on which river Aroer stood.

Haydock: Jer 48:26

Drunk with the wine of God's wrath. ---

Dash. Hebrew, "roll in," or "they shall clap hands over Moab, in," &c.

Haydock: Jer 48:27

Thieves. Chap. ii. 26. (Calmet) ---

Protestants, "was he found among thieves? for since thou speakest of him, thou skippest for joy." (Haydock) ---

Chaldean agrees with the Vulgate, which is clearer. (Calmet) ---

Septuagint, "hath he been found stealing from thee, since thou hast fought against him?" Grabe subjoins, "Thou shalt go into banishment.["] (Haydock) ---

As Moab was related to Israel, his derision was the more criminal, and more grievously punished. (Worthington)

Haydock: Jer 48:28

Place. Seek for shelter in the caverns and highest mountains. (Haydock)

Haydock: Jer 48:30

Able. He hath attempted too much.

Haydock: Jer 48:31

Brick wall. Hebrew Kir-cheres, (Isaias xvi. 7.; Calmet) "the city of the sun;" (Grotius) Ar, the capital. The prophet joins in the mournful canticle, as was usual, Luke vii. 32. (Calmet) ---

Those who boast of more than they have, are compared to an earthen wall. (Worthington)

Haydock: Jer 48:32

Jazer, or "more than for Jazer;" about six leagues to the north of Sebama, which had a rivulet communicating with the sea of Jazer.

Haydock: Jer 48:33

Carmel, which here denotes any fruitful vineyard or place. ---

The, &c. Protestants, "none shall tread with shouting, their shouting shall be no shouting." Hebrew hedad, "the cry" of the people in the vintage. (Calmet)

Haydock: Jer 48:34

As a. Literally, "the heifer;" a title of Oronaim, which was proud and ungovernable. (Haydock) ---

Hebrew also, "from Agelah to Salisa; the," &c. ---

Bad; abandoned, Isaias xv. 6. (Calmet)

Haydock: Jer 48:36

Pipes. Hebrew chalilim, (Haydock) lyre or flutes. Such were used at funerals of children; (Matthew ix. 23.) trumpets sounded for men. (Servius) ---

Could; opposing the conqueror of Asia, ver. 30, 31. (Calmet) ---

Protestants, "the riches that he hat gotten is perished."

Haydock: Jer 48:37

Shaven, or "clipt," (Protestants; Haydock) as in mourning. ---

Tied. Hebrew, "cut," chap. xvi. 6. (Calmet) ---

Such signs of mourning were usual in those countries. The Romans let their hair grow. (Cicero, pro Sestio.) (Worthington)

Haydock: Jer 48:39

Bowed. Septuagint and Chaldean, "turned his back."

Haydock: Jer 48:41

Carioth, probably Kir Hares, which the eagle of Babylon seized. Roman Septuagint omits verse 40. (Calmet) ---

Grabe supplies, Behold, &c., and here, the heart, &c. (Haydock)

Haydock: Jer 48:42

Cease for a time, till he regain his liberty under Cyrus, ver. 47.

Haydock: Jer 48:43

Fear. It was customary to hand feathers near a wood, to frighten the prey into pits or nets, Isaias xxiv. 17. (Sanctius)

Haydock: Jer 48:45

There....saith, &c., to the end of the chapter is supplied by Grabe. His copy subjoins, "What Jeremias prophesied against all nations. Thus," &c., chap. xxv. 15. (Haydock)

Hesebon, expecting shelter. But internal broils ruined them. ---

There, &c., to [verse] 47., is borrowed from Numbers xxi. 27.[28, 29.?] Sehon had taken Hesebon from Moab. ---

Part. Moses has "Ar, of Moab, and the inhabitants of the heights of Arnon." [Numbers xxi. 28.] (Calmet) ---

Tumult. Hebrew shaon, (Haydock) means also pride, in which sense Balaam uses Seth, Numbers xxiv. 17. (Calmet)

Haydock: Jer 48:47

Days. When they, Elam and the other Gentiles, shall be converted to the faith of Christ. We read of no other bringing back, (Worthington) though it might take place. (Haydock)

Gill: Jer 48:18

Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon,.... A city in Moab; See Gill on Isa 15:2. The Targum is,

"O kingdom of the congregation of Dibon;''

but this was not a kingdom of itself, though a principal city in the kingdom of Moab:

come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; in a dry and thirsty land; in want of all the necessaries of life; in captivity; who before abounded with all good things, inhabiting a well watered and fruitful soil; see Isa 15:9; but now called to quit all their former glory and happiness, their fulness and felicity, and submit to the greatest straits and difficulties:

for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds; the king of Babylon and his army, who spoiled the other cities of Moab; he should come against this also, and take it, and demolish its fortifications, by reason of which it thought itself secure; but these should not be able to protect it.

Gill: Jer 48:19

O inhabitant of Aroer,.... Another city that belonged to Moab, situated on the border of it towards Ammon, near the river Arnon; See Gill on Isa 17:2;

stand by the way, and espy; get to the road side where travellers pass, and look out for them:

ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth; whether man or woman you see fleeing, having escaped the army of the Chaldeans:

and say, what is done? by the Chaldeans; ask what cities they have taken; what progress they have made; what is done to their cities, that they flee from them? tell all the particulars of things.

Gill: Jer 48:20

Moab is confounded, for it is broken down,.... This is the answer returned, by those that had escaped and were fleeing, to those who inquired of them; who report that the whole country of Moab was in the utmost confusion and consternation; not being able to stand before the enemy, who broke down and destroyed all that was in his way: and therefore calls upon them to

howl and cry; because of the general ruin at the nation, and who must expect themselves to share the same fate; and therefore should prepare themselves and their neighbours for it, as follows:

tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled; the country of Arnon, so called from a river of that name, on the banks of which Aroer was situated; the inhabitants of which are desired to spread it all over that part of the country, that Moab was utterly ruined by the Chaldean army; the particulars of which follow:

Gill: Jer 48:21

And judgment is come upon the plain country,.... Of Moab, which was for the most part such, especially that which lay near Arnon; the judgment of God's vengeance, punishment for sin, by the hand of the Chaldeans. The Targum is,

"they that execute vengeance are come:''

upon Holon; a city of Moab; of which see Jos 15:51; it had its name perhaps from the sandy ground on which it stood. Grotius takes it to be the Alabana of Ptolemy:

and upon Jahazah: the same with Jahaz; see Gill on Isa 15:4; reckoned by Grotius to be the Jadu of Ptolemy; see Jos 13:18;

and upon Mephaath; of which see Jos 13:18; said by Grotius to be the Maipha of Ptolemy.

Gill: Jer 48:22

And upon Dibon,.... Whose destruction by this time was come upon it, as suggested, Jer 48:18;

and upon Nebo: of which see Jer 48:1;

and upon Bethdiblathaim: the same with Almondiblathaim in Num 33:46 and Diblath in Eze 6:14.

Gill: Jer 48:23

And upon Kirjathaim,.... Of which see Jer 48:1;

and upon Bethgamul; this is nowhere else mentioned in Scripture; supposed by Grotius to be the Maccala of Ptolemy, put for Camala:

and upon Bethmeon: of which see Isa 15:2.

Gill: Jer 48:24

And upon Kerioth,.... Which once belonged to the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:25; from this place Judas Iscariot is by some thought to have his name; as if it was "Ish Kerioth", "a man of Kerioth". Grotius takes it to be the Goiratha of Ptolemy:

and upon Bozrah; not in Idumea, but in Moab; the same with Bezer, Jos 21:36;

and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, for and near; all the rest of the cities not named, whether nearer or farther off from Aroer.

Gill: Jer 48:25

The horn of Moab is cut off,.... The kingdom of Moab, high and strong, his power and strength, by which he defended himself, and offended others, as a beast with his horns; his powerful kingdom, and the glory of it:

and his arm is broken, saith the Lord; so that he cannot hold a sword, or manage any weapon of war against the enemy, or do anything to annoy him, or in his own defence. The Targum is,

"the kingdom of Moab is cut off, and their rulers are broken, saith the Lord;''

and so Ben Melech interprets it of his princes, and his armies, which were the arm of the king, and of the people.

Gill: Jer 48:26

Make ye him drunken,.... Not with wine, but with the cup of divine wrath; with the vengeance of God; with sore judgments, afflictions, and calamities; give him his fill of them, till he is quite intoxicated with them, and has lost his senses, and is brought to madness and distraction, and reels, and staggers, and falls to the ground, like a drunken man; and his state and kingdom is quite ruined: this is said to the enemies of Moab, the king of Babylon and his army:

for he magnified himself against the Lord; made himself as great as he; yea, set himself above him; thought himself out of his reach; spoke proudly, haughtily, and contemptibly of him, and blasphemously against him, as if he could not deliver his people, or destroy his and their enemies. The Targum interprets it of the people of God, as in Zep 2:10; paraphrasing the words thus;

"bring distress upon them, that they may be like to drunken men; for against the people of the Lord have they magnified themselves:''

Moab also shall wallow in his vomit; as drunken men do: or, he shall "clap", or "dash ^a his hand in his vomit": dash his hands and feet against the ground as he lies in his vomit, as persons in such a condition do: or shall wring his hands, and clap them together for sorrow, being sick, and in distress. Some render it, "he shall clap the hand at Moab in his vomit" ^b; men shall laugh at him as he lies wallowing in it, or rejoice at his fall and ruin; but this is expressed in the next clause:

and he also shall be in derision; as drunken men are; he shall be derided by others, as others have been derided by him; now it will be his turn.

Gill: Jer 48:27

For was not Israel a derision unto thee?.... In the time of his calamity, when the ten tribes were carried captive by the Assyrians some years ago; and of late the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin by the Chaldeans; the Moabites rejoiced at this, which they ought not to have done, upon the common principles of humanity; and especially since they were not only neighbours, but akin; and therefore, according to the law of retaliation, it was but just that they should be had in derision themselves:

was he found among thieves? that is, Israel; that he should be a derision to any, as thieves are when they are taken; men rejoice at it, insult them, and deride them; but was this the case of Israel? had he robbed any? had he done any injury to Moab, or any other? no, verily: why this derision then?

for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy; or, "shookedst thyself" ^c; whenever the Moabites spoke of the distresses and calamities of Israel, and of their captivity, they laughed till they shook themselves; not only shook their heads, but their whole bodies. The Vulgate Latin version is, "therefore, because of thy words which thou hast spoken against him, thou shall be carried captive"; and Jarchi mentions such a sense of the words, as given by some of their Rabbins; and to this agrees the Targum,

"and because ye have multiplied words against them, therefore ye shall go into captivity.''

Gill: Jer 48:28

O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock,.... Signifying hereby that they would not be in safety in their strongest and most fortified cities, which would be besieged by the enemy, and taken; and therefore are advised to leave them, and flee to the rocks and mountains, that if possible they might be safe there:

and be like the dove, that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth; which, for fear of birds of prey, makes her nest in the side of a hole, or cleft of a rock, that she and her young may be safe from them; and which being pursued by the hawk, flies into a hollow rock or cavern, as Homer ^d observes: but here it intends the place where it makes its nest; which is for the most part in deserts and rocky places, where great numbers of doves resort, and make their nests, as Diodorus Siculus ^e relates; and especially in the holes and clefts of rocks, to which the allusion is in Son 2:14. The Targum is,

"and be as a dove that leaves her dove house, and comes down and dwells in the bottom of a pit,''

or ditch.

Gill: Jer 48:29

We have heard the pride of Moab,.... Israel, and all the nations round about, had heard of this, and seen or heard of many instances of it; the thing was notorious; according to Kimchi, it is the prophet that here speaks in the name of the nations; but it seems best to understand it of the Lord himself, as appears from the Jer 48:30; and who here speaks in the plural number, because of the plurality of persons in the Godhead; as he afterwards does in the singular number, to denote the unity of the divine essence:

(he is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart; a heap of words to express the same thing; suggesting that the instances of his pride were many, and that it was exceeding great indeed: these many words were little enough; and indeed words were wanting fully to declare it. The same was observed in Isaiah's time, and in much the same language; only more words are here used, to show that his pride was increased since that time; see Isa 16:6.

Gill: Jer 48:30

I know his wrath, saith the Lord,.... Against the Jews, and other nations; what he has threatened to do unto them, and would do if not restrained:

but it shall not be so; as he has devised in his mind, and threatened in his wrath; all his swelling thoughts and big words shall come to nothing:

his lies shall not so effect it; it shall not be according to his words; they will prove lies, and of no effect. Kimchi interprets it of the sons of Moab, who shall not be able to do what they thought to do; and Jarchi of his mighty ones; and the Targum of his nobles, paraphrasing it,

"and their nobles are not right, they do not as is becoming;''

perhaps it may be better understood of his diviners and soothsayers, as the word is used in Isa 44:25; and be rendered, "his diviners have not done right" ^f; they have deceived him with their lying oracles; swelled him with pride; and brought him to ruin, he trusting to them.

Gill: Jer 48:31

Therefore will I howl for Moab,.... The prophet, being as a man affected with the miseries of a people very wicked, and so deserving of them; though indeed by this he does not so much design to express the affections of his own heart, as to show what reason the Moabites would have to howl for the calamities of their country; for, as Kimchi observes, the prophet here speaks in the person of the people of Moab; see Isa 16:7;

and I will cry out for all Moab; the whole country of Moab, which should become desolate:

mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kirheres; the same with Kirhareseth, a city of Moab, Isa 16:7; whose foundations should be sapped, the city taken, and the men of it put to the sword, or caused to flee; and their case being deplorable, the prophet says his heart should mourn for them like a dove, as Kimchi and Jarchi observe; though it may be rendered, "he shall mourn" ^g; that is, Moab; for the destruction of such a principal city, and the men of it. The Targum renders it,

"for the men of the city of their strength.''

Gill: Jer 48:32

O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer,.... Sibmah was a city in the land of Moab abounding with vines, but now should be destroyed; and Jazer another city in the same country, which was destroyed before the other; and therefore its destruction should be lamented and wept over, as that had been: or "from", or "after the weeping of Jazer" ^h; when that is over, or from thence will I go in course as the desolation proceeds, to weep for Sibmah: or I will weep for that "more than the weeping of Jazer" ⁱ; make a greater lamentation for it than for Jazer; or, as some, than Isaiah made for Jazer; of which see Isa 16:9;

thy plants are gone over the sea; the Dead sea; meaning the inhabitants of Sibmah, the governors and common people, who were gone over sea into captivity, as it is generally understood:

they reach even to the sea of Jazer; a lake or confluence of water near to Jazer, called a sea; as it was usual with the Jews to call such seas; as the sea of Tiberias, and the like: this spread of the plants seems to refer to the multitudes of those that belonged to Sibmah, and the villages of it, which extended beyond the Dead sea, even to the sea of Jazer; but as fruitful as this vine was, and extensive as its branches were, they should come to destruction:

the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits, and upon thy vintage: the king of Babylon, who came upon them with his army in the summer season, and at the time of their vintage, and devoured the fruits of their vines and fig trees, with which this country abounded; and so impoverished and ruined them. The Targum of the whole is,

"therefore as I have brought an army against Jazer, so I will bring slayers against Sibmah; they that carry them captive have waded; they have passed through the sea; they are come to the sea of Jazer; upon thy harvest, and upon thy vintage, the spoilers are fallen.''

Gill: Jer 48:33

And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field,.... Or, from Carmel ^k; not Mount Carmel in the land of Israel; for the prophecy is of Moab; though that reached to Sibmah; but here it signifies any fruitful place, like Carmel, where were good pasturage, corn, and fruit bearing trees, which produced great plenty of good things, and caused joy to the owners of them: but now all being destroyed by the enemy, joy and gladness would cease:

and from the land of Moab; from all parts of it, where there had used to be plenty, and so joy:

and I have caused wine to fail from the wine presses: there being no grapes to put into them, or men to tread them, were there any; or, if put in and trodden, not the owners, but the enemy, should have the wine; so that it should fail from the Moabites; they should be never the better for it. These are the words of the Lord, who has the disposal of the fruits of the earth:

none shall tread with shouting; as treaders in the wine press used to do, to encourage one another, and make their labour more easy, and the time to pass on in it more pleasantly; but now there should neither be treading nor shouting; see Isa 16:10;

their shouting shall be no shouting; not a shouting of joy, as used to be when they trod out the wine; but a cry of mourning and lamentation, because of the sword of the enemy.

Gill: Jer 48:34

From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh,.... Two cities in the land of Moab; of which see Isa 15:4. Heshbon being destroyed, a cry was made by the inhabitants of it, which either reached from thence to Elealeh; or the destruction being carried on to that city, the cry was continued there:

and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice; another city of Moab; see Isa 15:4; which also was laid waste, and where the Moabites uttered their voice of lamentation on account of it:

from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as an heifer of three years old: that is, as the destruction should go on to Zoar, and so to Horonaim; of which places see Isa 15:5; so the cry of the distressed, and of those that flee, should also go from place to place; and be as loud, and as strong, and heard as far, as the lowing of a heifer of three years old. Naturalists ^l observe, that the voice in all female creatures is smaller and shriller, excepting the ox; for the voices of the females of that creature is stronger than in the males; and also that the taming of these creatures is when they are three years old, that is the proper time; before it is too soon, and afterwards too late ^m; and then it is their voice is fuller, and their strength firmer, to which the allusion here is; See Gill on Isa 15:5;

for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate; being disturbed by the Chaldean army, their horses treading them with their feet, and so fouling them; or being mixed with the blood of the slain, and so unfit to drink. A sad case this, to have neither wine nor water; See Gill on Isa 15:6; to which may be added, that Jerom also makes mention of a village in his time called Benamerium, to the north of Zoar; and seems rather the place intended.

Gill: Jer 48:35

Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the Lord, him that offereth in the high places,.... A burnt offering there; that is, the priest, who shall be taken and carried captive, Jer 48:7; even everyone of them; so that there will not be one left to otter sacrifice:

and him that burneth incense to his gods: Chemosh, and others, the Moabites worshipped: this suggests that idolatry was one of the sins for which they were punished; and as all places and all sorts of persons should suffer in this calamity, so likewise idolatrous places, priests, and worshippers.

Gill: Jer 48:36

Therefore my heart shall sound for Moab like pipes,.... That are sounded on mournful occasions, as at funerals, and the like; see Mat 9:23. This the prophet said, as Kimchi observes, in the person of the people, the inhabitants of Moab; whose hearts would yearn and sound for the calamities of their country like the doleful sound of minstrels. So the Targum,

"therefore the Moabites shall sound in their hearts like a harp:''

and my heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kirheres; as for the country of Moab in general, so for this principal city, and the inhabitants of it, in particular; See Gill on Isa 16:11;

because the riches that he hath gotten is perished; either Moab or Kirheres; the abundance of goods they had got together were now lost, falling into the hands of the enemy; and which was matter of lamentation. The Targum is,

"for the rest of their substance they had got were spoiled.''

Some understand it of the residue of men that escaped the sword; these perished by famine, or other means; see Isa 15:7.

Gill: Jer 48:37

For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped,.... Men, in times of mourning, used to pluck off the hairs of their head till they made them bald, and shaved their beards; which, as Kimchi says, were the glory of their faces; see Isa 15:2;

upon all the hands shall be cuttings: it was usual with the Heathens to make incisions in the several parts of their bodies, particularly in their hands and arms, with their nails, or with knives, in token of mourning; which are forbidden the Israelites, Deu 14:1;

and upon the loins sackcloth; this is a well known custom for mourners, to put off their clothes, and put on sackcloth; all these things are mentioned, to show how great was the mourning of Moab for the calamities of it.

Gill: Jer 48:38

There shall be lamentation generally,.... Or, "all of it is mourning" ⁿ; the whole country of Moab is in mourning; or all is full of mourning; all persons, places, and things, express nothing but mourning; go where you will, it is to be seen:

upon all the house tops of Moab, and in the streets thereof; the mourning, as it was general, it was public; it was seen by all, and everywhere; See Gill on Isa 15:3;

for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the Lord; as an earthen vessel, which the potter does not like, and which is useless and unprofitable to any, and which he takes and dashes into pieces; into a thousand shivers, as the word ^o here signifies, and can never be put together again; or as a filthy unclean vessel a man cannot bear in his sight: Moab is by the Lord called his wash pot, Psa 60:8. The Moabites were vessels of wrath, fitted for destruction by their own this; and now the time of it was come.

Gill: Jer 48:39

They shall howl, saying, how is it broken down?.... Or, "how is it broken" or "thrown into consternation ^p? they howl"; that is, they howl out these words, or, while they are howling, say, how is Kirheres or Moab broken all to pieces; their strength, power, and glory; their cities, and their mighty men; and are in the utmost fright and confusion? Jarchi takes it to be an imperative, and paraphrases it,

"howl ye over her ^q, and say, how is it broken!''

Kimchi says it may be taken either as in the past or in the imperative;

how hath Moab turned the back with shame? not being able to look their enemies in the face, but obliged to flee before them;

so shall Moab be a derision and a dismaying to all them about him; a derision to some, to their enemies, as Israel had been to them, and so they are paid in their own coin; and a consternation to others, their friends, who would fear sharing the same fate, at the hands of the Chaldeans.

Gill: Jer 48:40

For thus saith the Lord, behold, he shall fly as an eagle,.... The enemy, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, with his army; who is compared to an eagle for his strength, swiftness, and greediness after the prey:

and shall spread his wings over Moab; as an eagle spreads its wings, which are very large, over the little birds it seizes upon as its prey; so the king of Babylon would bring a numerous army against Moab, and spread it over his country. The Targum is,

"behold, as all eagle which flies, so a king shall come up with his army, and encamp against Moab.''

Gill: Jer 48:41

Kerioth is taken,.... The name of a city in Moab, as in Jer 48:24; so Jarchi, and others; but Kimchi and Abarbinel observe, that it may be taken for an appellative, and be rendered "the cities"; everyone of the cities of Moab, which were as easily and quickly taken as one city; these may intend the cities in the plain, as the strong holds those in high places:

and the strong holds are surprised; everyone of them; so that there was not a city, or a fortified place, but what came into the enemies' hands:

and the mighty men's hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs; even the hearts of the soldiers, and the most courageous generals, shall sink within them; and they be not only as timorous as women in common, but as low spirited as a woman when she finds her pains are coming upon her, and the time of her delivery is at hand.

Gill: Jer 48:42

And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people,.... For some time, not always; since the captivity of Moab is promised to be returned, Jer 48:47; or from being such a people as they had been, enjoying so much ease, wealth, power, and prosperity. Abarbinel takes it to be a comparative, and renders it, "more than a people"; that is, shall be destroyed more than any other people; but the former sense is best;

because he hath magnified himself against the Lord; the Targum is, against the people of the Lord; this is the cause of his destruction; See Gill on Jer 48:26.

Gill: Jer 48:43

Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee,.... A proverbial expression, showing, that if they escaped one danger, or sore judgment, they should fall into another and greater: the words seem to be taken from Isa 24:17; See Gill on Isa 24:17;

O inhabitant of Moab, saith the Lord; what in the prophecy of Isaiah is said of the inhabitants of the earth in general, is here applied to the inhabitants of Moab in particular.

Gill: Jer 48:44

He that fleeth from the fear,.... From terrible enemies he is afraid of, and dares not face them, but flees, in order to escape them:

shall fall into the pit; into some misfortune or another:

and he that getteth out of the pit shall be taken in the snare; laid by the enemy for him, and so shall fall into his hands. Sanctius very ingeniously observes that the allusion is to the hunting of deer, and such like creatures; when first a line of feathers of various colours is placed to frighten them; and if they get over that, then there is a pit dug for them, to catch them in; and if they get out of that, a snare is laid to take them; so that they rarely escape: and thus it would be with the Moabites, if they got rid of a first and second danger, a third would involve them; their destruction was certain, as follows; see Isa 24:18;

for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the Lord; in a way of wrath and punishment; for which there was a time fixed, and was now at hand, and would quickly take place, according to the will and word of the Lord, of which Moab might be assured; who is expressed by name, for the sake of explanation, and that it might be manifest who was intended.

Gill: Jer 48:45

They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon, because of the force,.... Heshbon was a strong city in the land of Moab, to which many of the Moabites betook themselves in this time of their calamity; thinking they should be sheltered, under the protection of it, from the fury of the Chaldean army; hither they fled, and here they stood, imagining they were safe, "because of the force"; because of the strength of the city of Heshbon, as Kimchi; or because of the force of their enemies, for fear of them, as Kimchi's father; or for want of strength, because they had no more strength to flee, and therefore stopped there, so Jarchi and Abarbinel: but the words should rather be rendered, "they that stood under the shadow of Heshbon"; thinking themselves safe, but now perceiving danger, "fled with strength" ^r; or as swiftly as they could, and with all the strength they had, that they might, if possible, escape from thence:

for a fire ^s (for so it should be rendered, and not "but a fire")

shall come forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon; the same with Heshbon; so called from Sihon, an ancient king of it; the meaning is, that the Chaldeans should make themselves masters of Heshbon, this strong city, in which the Moabites trusted; and from thence should go out like a flame of fire, and spread themselves all over the country, and destroy it: what was formerly said of the Amorites, who took the land of Moab out of the hands of the king of it, and it became afterwards a proverbial expression, is here applied to the Chaldeans; see Num 21:26; so the Targum, by a flame of fire, understands warriors:

and shall devour the corner of Moab; the whole country, even to the borders of it. The Targum is,

"and shall slay the princes of Moab;''

so great men are sometimes called corners; see Zec 10:4;

and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones; not of the common people that were tumultuous and riotous, but of the great ones, who swaggered and boasted, and made a noise about their strength and riches; but now should have their heads broke, and their pride and glory laid in the dust. So the Targum,

"and the nobles, the children of noise.''

Gill: Jer 48:46

Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth,.... The inhabitants of Moab, who worshipped the idol Chemosh; of which see Jer 48:7; and so called his people, as Israel were called the people of the Lord; now these, notwithstanding their idol, whom they worshipped, and in whom they trusted, should perish; and sad and deplorable would be their condition and circumstances:

for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives; this explains the woe that should come upon them, and in what sense they should perish; since their sons and daughters, who they hoped would have continued their name and nation, were taken, and would be carried captives into Babylon; see Num 21:29.

Gill: Jer 48:47

Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter day, saith the Lord,.... Some think this is added, not so much for the sake of Moab as of the Jews, to assure them of their return from captivity, as had been promised them, since this would be the case even of Moab. It had a literal accomplishment under Cyrus, as is thought, when they were restored to their land; and certain it is they were a people in the times of Alexander, or King Jannaeus, who subdued them, as Josephus ^t relates: and it had a spiritual one in the times of the Messiah, in the conversion of some of these people, as very probably in the first times of the Gospel; so it will have in the latter day; see Isa 11:14. Kimchi interprets it of the days of the Messiah. For though that people are no more, yet there are a people which inhabit their country, who will, at least many of them, be converted, when the fulness of the Gentiles is brought in; and it is no unusual thing in Scripture for the present inhabitants of many countries to be called after those who formerly inhabited them, as the Turks are often called Assyrians;

thus far is the judgment of Moab; that is, either so long, unto the latter days, will the judgment of Moab continue. So the Targum,

"hitherto to execute vengeance of judgment on Moab;''

or rather, thus far is the prophecy concerning the destruction of Moab; this is the conclusion of it; here it ends, being a long one.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Jer 48:18

¹ tn Heb “sit in thirst.” The abstract “thirst” is put for the concrete, i.e., thirsty or parched ground (cf. Deut 8:19; Isa 35:7; Ps 107:33) for the concrete. There is no need to emend to “filth” (צֹאָה [tso’ah] for צָמָא [tsama’]) as is sometimes suggested.

² tn Heb “inhabitant of Daughter Dibon.” “Daughter” is used here as often in Jeremiah for the personification of a city, a country, or its inhabitants. The word “inhabitant” is to be understood as a collective as also in v. 19.

sn Dibon was an important fortified city located on the “King’s Highway,” the main north-south road in Transjordan. It was the site at which the Moabite Stone was found in 1868 and was one of the cities mentioned on it. It was four miles north of the Arnon River and thirteen miles east of the Dead Sea. It was one of the main cities on the northern plateau and had been conquered from Sihon and allotted to the tribe of Reuben (Josh 13:17).

NET Notes: Jer 48:19

¹ sn Aroer is probably the Aroer that was located a few miles south and west of Dibon on the edge of the Arnon River. It had earlier been the southern border of Sihon, king of Heshbon, and had been allotted to the tribe of Reuben (Josh 13:16). However, this whole territory had earlier been taken over by the Arameans (2 Kgs 10:33), later by the Assyrians, and at this time was in the hands of the Moabites.

NET Notes: Jer 48:21

¹ sn See the study note on Jer 48:8 for reference to this tableland or high plain that lay between the Arnon and Heshbon.

NET Notes: Jer 48:25

¹ tn Heb “The horn of Moab will be cut off. His arm will be broken.” “Horn” and “arm” are both symbols of strength (see BDB 902 s.v. קֶרֶן 2 [and compare usage in Lam 2:3] and BDB 284 s.v. זְרוֹעַ 2 [and compare usage in 1 Sam 2:31]). The figures have been interpreted for the sake of clarity.

² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

NET Notes: Jer 48:26

¹ tn Heb “Make him drunk because he has magnified himself against the Lord.” The first person has again been adopted for consistency within a speech of the Lord. Almost all of the commentaries relate the figure of drunkenness to the figure of drinking the cup of God’s wrath spelled out in Jer 25 where reference is made at one point to the nations drinking, staggering, vomiting, and falling (25:27 and see G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 316, for a full list of references to this figure including this passage and 49:12-13; 51:6-10, 39, 57).

² tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. It is usually used of clapping the hands or the thigh in helpless anger or disgust. Hence J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 321) paraphrases “shall vomit helplessly.” HALOT 722 s.v. II סָפַק relates this to an Aramaic word and see a homonym meaning “vomit” or “spew out.” The translation is that of BDB 706 s.v. סָפַק Qal.3, “splash (fall with a splash),” from the same root that refers to slapping or clapping the thigh.

NET Notes: Jer 48:27

¹ tn Heb “were they caught among thieves?”

² tn Heb “that you shook yourself.” But see the same verb in 18:16 in the active voice with the object “head” in a very similar context of contempt or derision.

³ tc The reading here presupposes the emendation of דְבָרֶיךָ (dÿvarekha, “your words”) to דַבֶּרְךָ (dabberkha, “your speaking”), suggested by BHS (cf. fn c) on the basis of one of the Greek versions (Symmachus). For the idiom cf. BDB 191 s.v. דַּי 2.c.α.

NET Notes: Jer 48:28

¹ tn Heb “in the sides of the mouth of a pit/chasm.” The translation follows the suggestion of J. Bright, Jeremiah (AB), 321. The point of the simile is inaccessibility.

NET Notes: Jer 48:29

¹ tn Heb “We have heard of the pride of Moab – [he is] exceedingly proud – of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his haughtiness, and the loftiness of his heart.” These words are essentially all synonyms, three of them coming from the same Hebrew root (גָּאָה, ga’ah) and one of the words being used twice (גָּאוֹן). Since the first person singular is used in the next verse, the present translation considers the “we” of this verse to refer to the plural of majesty or the plural referring to the divine council in such passages as Gen 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; Isa 6:8 and has translated in the singular to avoid possible confusion of who the “we” are. Most understand the reference to be to Jeremiah and his fellow Judeans.

NET Notes: Jer 48:30

¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

² tn The meaning of this verse is somewhat uncertain: Heb “I know, oracle of the Lord,/ his arrogance and [that it is?] not true; // his boastings accomplish that which is not true.” Several of the modern English versions and commentaries redivide the verse and read something like, “I know his insolence…his boastings are false; his deeds are false (NRSV, REB).” However, the word translated “deeds” in the last line is a verb in the third person plural and can only have as its logical grammatical subject the word “boastings.” The adjective כֵּן (ken) + the negative לֹא (lo’) is evidently repeated here and applied to two different subjects “arrogance” and “boasting” to emphasize that Moab’s arrogant boasts will prove “untrue” (Cf. HALOT 459 s.v. II כֵּן 2.c for the meaning “untrue” for both this passage and the parallel one in Isa 16:6). There is some difference of opinion about the identification of the “I” in this verse. Most commentators see it as referring to the prophet. However, F. B. Huey (Jeremiah, Lamentations [NAC], 395) is probably correct in seeing it as referring to the Lord. He points to the fact that the “I” in vv. 33, 35, 38 can only refer to God. The “I know” in v. 30 also clearly has the Lord as its subject. There are other cases in the book of Jeremiah where the Lord expresses his lament over the fate of a people (cf. 14:1-6, 17-18).

NET Notes: Jer 48:31

¹ tc The translation is based on the emendation of the Hebrew third masculine singular (יֶהְגֶּה, yehggeh) to the first singular (אֶהְגֶּה, ’ehgeh). This emendation is assumed by almost all of the modern English versions and commentaries even though the textual evidence for it is weak (only one Hebrew ms and the Eastern Qere according to BHS).

NET Notes: Jer 48:32

¹ tc Or “I will weep for the grapevines of Sibmah more than I will weep over the town of Jazer.” The translation here assumes that there has been a graphic confusion of מ (mem) with כְּ (kaf) or בְּ (bet). The parallel passage in Isa 16:9 has the preposition בְּ and the Greek version presupposes a comparative idea “as with.” Many of the modern English versions render the passage with the comparative מִן (min) as in the alternate translation, but it is unclear what the force of the comparison would be here. The verse is actually in the second person, an apostrophe or direct address to the grapevine(s) of Sibmah. However, the translation has retained the third person throughout because such sudden shifts in person are uncommon in contemporary English literature and retaining the third person is smoother. The Hebrew text reads: “From/With the weeping of Jazer I will weep for you, vine of Sibmah. Your tendrils crossed over the sea. They reached unto the sea of Jazer. Upon your summer fruit and your vintage [grape harvest] the destroyer has fallen.”

² tn Heb “crossed over to the Sea.”

³ tn Or “reached the sea of Jazer.” The Sea is generally taken to be a reference to the Dead Sea. The translation presupposes that the word “sea” is to be omitted before “Jazer.” The word is missing from two Hebrew mss, from the parallel passage in Isa 16:8, and from the Greek version. It may have arisen from a mistaken copying of the same word in the preceding line.

sn Though there is some doubt about the precise location of these places, Sibmah is generally considered to have been located slightly north and west of Heshbon and Jazer further north toward the border of Ammon not far from the city of Amman. Most commentators see the reference here (and in the parallel in Isa 16:8) to the spread of viticulture westward and northward from the vineyards of Sibmah. G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 318-19), however, see the reference rather to the spread of trade in wine westward beyond the coast of the Mediterranean and eastward into the desert.

⁴ tn Heb “her summer fruit.” See the translator’s note on 40:10 for the rendering here. According to BDB 657 s.v. נָפַל Qal.4.a, the verb means to “fall upon” or “attack” but in the context it is probably metonymical for attack and destroy.

NET Notes: Jer 48:33

¹ tn Heb “from the garden land, even from the land of Moab.” Comparison with the parallel passage in Isa 16:10 and the translation of the Greek text here (which has only “the land of Moab”) suggest that the second phrase is appositional to the first.

² tn Heb “no one will tread [the grapes] with shout of joy.”

³ tn Heb “shouts will not be shouts.” The text has been expanded contextually to explain that the shouts of those treading grapes in winepresses will come to an end (v. 33a-d) and be replaced by the shouts of the soldiers who trample down the vineyards (v. 32e-f). Compare 25:30 and 51:41 for the idea.

NET Notes: Jer 48:34

¹ tn The meaning of this verse is very uncertain. The ambiguity of the syntax and the apparent elliptical nature of this text makes the meaning of this verse uncertain. The Hebrew text reads: “From the cry of Heshbon unto Elealeh unto Jahaz they utter their voice from Zoar unto Horonaim Eglath Shelishiyah.” The translation and interpretation here are based on interpreting the elliptical syntax here by the parallel passage in Isaiah 15:4-6 where cries of anguish rise from Heshbon and Elealeh which are heard all the way to Jahaz. The people flee southward arriving at Zoar and Eglath Shelishiyah where they voice the news of the destruction in the north. Hence, the present translation interprets the phrase “from the cry of Heshbon unto Elealeh” to be parallel to “Heshbon and Elealeh cry out” and take the preposition “from” with the verb “they utter their voice,” i.e., with the cry of Heshbon and Elealeh. The impersonal “they raise their voice” is then treated as a passive and made the subject of the whole verse. There is some debate about the identification of the waters of Nimrim. They may refer to the waters of the Wadi Nimrim which enters the Jordan about eight miles north of the Dead Sea or those of the Wadi en-Numeirah which flows into the southern tip of the Dead Sea from about ten miles south. Most commentators take the reference to be the latter because of association with Zoar. However, if the passage is talking about the destruction in the north which is reported in the south by the fleeing refugees, the reference is probably to the Wadi Nimrim in the north.

sn Elealeh was about two miles (3.3 km) north of Heshbon. Jahaz was about twenty miles (33 km) south of it. These three cities were in the north and Zoar, Horonaim, and Eglath Shelishiyah were apparently in the south. The verse is speaking about the news of destruction in the north spreading to the south. Comparison should be made with the parallel passage in Isa 15:4-6.

NET Notes: Jer 48:35

¹ tn Heb “high place[s].” For the meaning and significance of this term see the study note on 7:31.

² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

NET Notes: Jer 48:37

¹ tn Heb “upon every loin [there is] sackcloth.” The word “all” is restored here before “loin” with a number of Hebrew mss and a number of versions. The words “in mourning” and “to show their sorrow” are not in the text. They have been supplied in the translation to give the average reader some idea of the significance of these acts.

sn The actions referred to here were all acts that were used to mourn the dead (cf. Isa 15:2-3).

NET Notes: Jer 48:38

¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

NET Notes: Jer 48:39

¹ tn Heb “turn her back.”

NET Notes: Jer 48:40

¹ tn Heb “Behold! Like an eagle he will swoop and will spread his wings against Moab.” The sentence has been reordered in English to give a better logical flow and the unidentified “he” has been identified as “a nation.” The nation is, of course, Babylon, but it is nowhere identified so the referent has been left ambiguous.

sn Conquering nations are often identified with a swiftly flying eagle swooping down on its victims (cf. Deut 28:49). In this case the eagle is to be identified with the nation (or king) of Babylon (cf. Ezek 17:3, 12 where reference is to the removal of Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) and his replacement with Zedekiah).

NET Notes: Jer 48:41

¹ tn Parallelism argues that the word קְרִיּוֹת (qÿriyyot) be understood as the otherwise unattested feminine plural of the noun קִרְיָה (qiryah, “city”) rather than the place name Kerioth mentioned in v. 24 (cf. HALOT 1065 s.v. קִרְיָה). Both this noun and the parallel term “fortresses” are plural but are found with feminine singular verbs, being treated either as collectives or distributive plurals (cf. GKC 462-63 §145.c or 464 §145.l).

² tn Heb “The heart of the soldiers of Moab will be like the heart of a woman in labor.”

NET Notes: Jer 48:42

¹ tn Heb “Moab will be destroyed from [being] a people.”

NET Notes: Jer 48:43

¹ sn There is an extended use of assonance here and in the parallel passage in Isa 24:17. The Hebrew text reads פַּחַד וָפַחַת וָפָח (pakhad vafakhat vafakh). The assonance is intended to underscore the extensive trouble that is in store for them.

² tn Heb “are upon you, inhabitant of Moab.” This is another example of the rapid switch in person or direct address (apostrophe) in the midst of a third person description or prediction which the present translation typically keeps in the third person for smoother English style.

³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

NET Notes: Jer 48:44

¹ sn Jer 48:43-44a are in the main the same as Isa 24:17-18 which shows that the judgment was somewhat proverbial. For a very similar kind of argumentation see Amos 5:19; judgment is unavoidable.

² tn Heb “For I will bring upon her, even upon Moab, the year of her punishment.”

³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

NET Notes: Jer 48:45

¹ tn Or “of those noisy boasters.” Or “They will burn up the frontiers of Moab. They will burn up the mountain heights of those war-loving people.” The meaning of this verse is not entirely certain because of the highly figurative nature of the last two lines. The Hebrew text has been translated somewhat literally here. The Hebrew text reads: “In the shadow of Heshbon those fleeing stand without strength. For a fire goes forth from Heshbon, a flame from the midst of Sihon. And it devours the forehead of Moab and the skull of the sons of noise.” The meaning of the first part is fairly clear because v. 2 has already spoken of the conquest of Heshbon and a plot formed there to conquer the rest of the nation. The fire going forth from Heshbon would hence refer here to the conflagrations of war spreading from Heshbon to the rest of the country. The reference to the “midst of Sihon” is to be understood metonymically as a reference for the ruler to what he once ruled (cf. E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 583). The last two lines must refer to more than the fugitives who stopped at Heshbon for protection because it refers to the forehead of Moab (a personification of the whole land or nation). It is unclear, however, why reference is made to the foreheads and skulls of the Moabites, other than the fact that this verse seems to be a readaptation or reuse of Num 24:17 where the verb used with them is “smite” which fits nicely in the sense of martial destruction. Translated rather literally, it appears here to refer to the destruction by the fires of war of the Moabites, the part (forehead and skulls) put for the whole. TEV sees a reference here to the “frontiers” and “mountain heights” of Moab and this would work nicely for “foreheads” which is elsewhere used of the corner or border of a land in Neh 9:22. The word “crown” or “skull” might be a picturesque metaphor for the mountain heights of a land, but the word is never used elsewhere in such a figurative way. TEV (and CEV) which follows it might be correct here but there is no way to validate it. The meaning “war-loving people” for the phrase “sons of noise” is based on the suggestion of BDB 981 s.v. שָׁאוֹן 1 which relates the phrase to the dominant use for שָׁאוֹן (sha’on) and is adopted also by TEV, CEV, and C. von Orelli, Jeremiah, 341. REB “braggarts” and NIV “noisy boasters” seem to base the nuance on the usage of שָׁאוֹן (sha’on) in Jer 46:17 where Pharaoh is referred to as an empty noise and the reference to Moab’s arrogance and boasting in 48:29.

sn This verse and the next are an apparent adaptation and reuse of a victory song in Num 21:28-29 and a prophecy in Num 24:17. That explains the reference to Sihon who was the Amorite king who captured Heshbon and proceeded from there to capture most of northern Moab (the area between Heshbon and the Arnon) which has been referred to earlier in this prophecy. This prophecy appears to speak of the destruction of Moab beginning from the same place under the picture of a destructive fire which burns up all the people. The fire is a reference to the conflagrations of war in which the enemy captures the cities and sets them on fire and burns all the people in them. What Sihon once did (Num 21:28-29) and what Balaam prophesied would happen to Moab in the future (by David? Num 24:17) are being reapplied to a new situation.

NET Notes: Jer 48:46

¹ tn Heb “Woe to you, Moab.” For the usage of this expression see 4:13, 31; 13:17 and the translator’s note on 4:13 and 10:19.

² tn Heb “Your sons will be taken away into captivity, your daughters into exile.”

NET Notes: Jer 48:47

¹ tn See 29:14; 30:3 and the translator’s note on 29:14 for the idiom used here.

² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

Geneva Bible: Jer 48:20

^{( m )} Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: wail and cry; tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is laid waste,

^{( m )} Thus they who flee will answer.

Geneva Bible: Jer 48:25

The ^{( n )} horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the LORD.

^{( n )} That is, his power and strength.

Geneva Bible: Jer 48:26

Make ye him ^{( o )} drunk: for he magnified [himself] against the LORD: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.

^{( o )} He willed the Chaldeans to lay afflictions enough on them till they are like drunken men that fall down to their shame and are derided by all.

Geneva Bible: Jer 48:27

For was not Israel a derision to thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou hast spoken of him, thou didst ^{( p )} leap for joy.

^{( p )} You rejoiced to hear of his misery, (Isa 16:6).

Geneva Bible: Jer 48:30

I know his wrath, saith the LORD; ^{( q )} but [it shall] not [be] so; his lies shall not so effect [it].

^{( q )} He will not execute his malice against his neighbours.

Geneva Bible: Jer 48:31

^{( r )} Therefore will I wail for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; [my heart] shall mourn for the men of Kirheres.

^{( r )} Read (Isa 16:7).

Geneva Bible: Jer 48:32

O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants have gone over the sea, they reach [even] to the sea ^{( s )} of Jazer: the spoiler hath fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage.

^{( s )} Which city was in the utmost border of Moab: and by this he signifies that the whole land would be destroyed and the people carried away.

Geneva Bible: Jer 48:34

From the cry of Heshbon [even] to Elealeh, [and even] to Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar [even] to Horonaim, [as] an ^{( t )} heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate.

^{( t )} See Isa 15:5

Geneva Bible: Jer 48:36

Therefore my heart shall sound for Moab like ^{( u )} pipes, and my heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kirheres: because the riches [that] he hath gotten have perished.

^{( u )} Their custom was to play on flutes or instruments, heavy and grave tunes at burials and in the time of mourning, as in (Mat 9:23).

Geneva Bible: Jer 48:40

For thus saith the LORD; Behold, ^{( x )} he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab.

^{( x )} That is, Nebuchadnezzar, as in (Jer 49:22).

Geneva Bible: Jer 48:43

^{( y )} Fear, and the pit, and the snare, [shall be] upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the LORD.

^{( y )} He that escapes one danger will be taken by another, (Isa 24:17).

Geneva Bible: Jer 48:45

They that fled stood under the shadow ^{( z )} of Heshbon because of the force: but ^{( a )} a fire shall come out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.

^{( z )} They fled there thinking to have comfort from the Amorites.

^{( a )} The Amorites had destroyed the Moabites in times past, and now because of their power the Moabites will seek them for help.

Geneva Bible: Jer 48:46

Woe be to thee, O Moab! the people of ^{( b )} Chemosh perisheth: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives.

^{( b )} Who vaunted themselves of their idol as though he could have defended them.

Geneva Bible: Jer 48:47

Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the ^{( c )} latter days, saith the LORD. Thus far [is] the judgment of Moab.

^{( c )} That is, they will be restored by the Messiah.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Jer 48:1-47

1 The judgment of Moab,

7 for their pride;

11 for their security;

14 for their carnal confidence;

26 and for their contempt of God and his people.

47 The restoration of Moab.

MHCC: Jer 48:14-47

The destruction of Moab is further prophesied, to awaken them by national repentance and reformation to prevent the trouble, or by a personal repentance and reformation to prepare for it. In reading this long roll of threatenings, and mediating on the terror, it will be of more use to us to keep in view the power of God's anger and the terror of his judgments, and to have our hearts possessed with a holy awe of God and of his wrath, than to search into all the figures and expressions here used. Yet it is not perpetual destruction. The chapter ends with a promise of their return out of captivity in the latter days. Even with Moabites God will not contend for ever, nor be always wroth. The Jews refer it to the days of the Messiah; then the captives of the Gentiles, under the yoke of sin and Satan, shall be brought back by Divine grace, which shall make them free indeed.

Matthew Henry: Jer 48:14-47

The destruction is here further prophesied of very largely and with a great copiousness and variety of expression, and very pathetically and in moving language, designed not only to awaken them by a national repentance and reformation to prevent the trouble, or by a personal repentance and reformation to prepare for it, but to affect us with the calamitous state of human life, which is liable to such lamentable occurrences, and with the power of God's anger and the terror of his judgments, when he comes forth to contend with a provoking people. In reading this long roll of threatenings, and meditating on the terror of them, it will be of more use to us to keep this in our eye, and to get our hearts thereby possessed with a holy awe of God and of his wrath, than to enquire critically into all the lively figures and metaphors here used.

I. It is a surprising destruction, and very sudden, that is here threatened. They were very secure, thought themselves strong for war and able to deal with the most powerful enemy (Jer 48:14), and yet the calamity is near, and he is not able to keep it off, nor so much as to keep the enemy long in parley, for the affliction hastens fast (Jer 48:16) and will soon come to a crisis. The enemy shall fly as an eagle, so swiftly, so strongly shall he come (Jer 48:40), as an eagle flies upon his prey, and he shall spread his wings, the wings of his army, over Moab; he shall surround it, that none may escape. The strong-holds of Moab are taken by surprise (Jer 48:41), so that all their strength stood them in no stead; and this made the hearts even of their mighty men to fail, for they had not time to recollect the considerations that might have animated them. It requires a more than ordinary degree of courage not to be afraid of sudden fear.

II. It is an utter destruction, and such as lays Moab all in ruins: Moab is spoiled (Jer 48:15), quite spoiled, is confounded and broken down (Jer 48:20); their cities are laid in ashes, or seized by the enemy so that they are forced to quit them, Jer 48:15. Divers cities are here named, upon which judgment has come, and the list concludes with an et cetera - and such like. What occasion was there for him to mention more particulars when it comes upon all the cities of Moab in general, far and near? Jer 48:21-24. Note, When iniquity is universal we have reason to expect that calamity should be so too. The kingdom is deprived of its dignity and authority: The horn of Moab is cut off, the horn of its strength and power, both offensive and defensive; his arm is broken, that he can neither give a blow nor prevent a blow, Jer 48:25. Is the youth of the kingdom the strength and beauty of it? His chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter, Jer 48:15. They went down to the battle promising themselves that they should return victorious; but God told them that they went down to the slaughter; so sure are those to fall against whom God fights. In a word, Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, Jer 48:42. Those that are enemies to God's people will soon be made no people.

III. It is a lamentable destruction; it will be just matter of mourning and will turn joy into heaviness. 1. The prophet that foretels it does himself lament it, and mourns at the very foresight of it, from a principle of compassion to his fellow-creatures and concern for human nature. The prophet will himself howl for Moab; his very heart shall mourn for them (Jer 48:31); he will weep for the vine of Sibmah (Jer 48:32); his heart shall sound like pipes for Moab, Jer 48:36. Though the destruction of Moab would prove him a true prophet, yet he could not think of it without trouble. The ruin of sinners is no pleasure to God, and therefore should be a pain to us; even those that give warning of it should lay it to heart. These passages, and many others in this chapter, are much the same with what Isaiah had used in his prophecies against Moab (Isa 15:1-9, Isa 16:1-14); for, though there was a long distance of time between that prophecy and this, yet they were both dictated by one and the same Spirit, and it becomes God's prophets to speak the language of those that went before them. It is no plagiarism sometimes to make use of old expressions, provided it be with new affections and applications. 2. The Moabites themselves shall lament it; it will be the greatest mortification and grief imaginable to them. Those that sat in glory, in the midst of wealth, and mirth, and all manner of pleasure, shall sit in thirst, in a dry and thirsty land, where no water, no comfort is, Jer 48:18. It is time for them to sit in thirst, and inure themselves to hardship, when the spoiler has come, who will strip them of all, and empty them. The Moabites in the remote corners of the country, that are furthest from the danger, will be inquisitive to know how the matter goes, what news from the army, will ask every one that escapes, What is done? Jer 48:19. And when they are told that all is gone, that the invader is the conqueror, they will howl and cry, in bitterness and anguish of spirit (Jer 48:20); they will abandon themselves to solitude, to lament the desolations of their country; they will leave the cities that used to be full of mirth, and dwell in the rock where they may have their full of melancholy; they shall no more be singing birds, but mourning birds, like the dove (Jer 48:28); the doves of the valley, Eze 7:16. Let those that give themselves up to mirth know that God can soon change their note. Their sorrow shall be so very extreme that they shall make themselves bald and cut themselves (Jer 48:37), which were expressions of a desperate grief, such as tempted men to be even their own destroyers. Job indeed rent his mantle and shaved his head, but he did not cut himself. When the flood of passion rises ever so high wisdom and grace must set bounds to it, set banks to it, to restrain it from such barbarities. The sorrow shall be universal (Jer 48:38): There shall be a general lamentation upon all the house-tops of Moab, where they worshipped their idols, to whom they shall in vain bemoan themselves, and in all the streets, where they conversed with one another, for they shall be free in communicating their grief and fears and in propagating them; for they see all lost: " I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, which shall not be regarded and cannot be pieced again."That which Moab used to rejoice in was their pleasant fruits and the abundance of their rich wines. The delights of sense were all the matter of their joy. Take away these, destroy their gardens and vineyards, and you make all their mirth to cease, Hos 2:11, Hos 2:12. There is great weeping when their plants are transplanted, have gone over the sea (Jer 48:32), are carried into other countries, to be planted there. The spoiler has fallen upon thy summer-fruits and upon thy vintage, and it is this that makes the cry of Heshbon to reach even to Elealeh, Jer 48:34. Take joy and gladness from the plentiful field, and you take it from the land of Moab, Jer 48:33. If the wine fail from the wine-presses, that used to be trodden with acclamations of joy, all their gladness is cut off. Take away that shouting, and there shall be no shouting. Note, Those who make the delights of sense their chief joy, their exceeding joy, since these are things they may easily be deprived of in a little time subject themselves to the tyranny of the greatest grief; whereas those who rejoice in God may do that even when the fig-tree does not blossom and there is no fruit in the vine. These Moabites lost not only their wine, but their water too: Even the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate (Jer 48:34), and therefore their grief grew extravagantly loud and noisy, and their lamentations were heard in all placed like the lowing of a heifer of three years old. The expressions here are borrowed from Isa 15:5, Isa 15:6. 3. All their neighbours are called to mourn with them, and to condole with them on their ruin (Jer 48:17): All you that are about him bemoan him, Let him have that allay to his grief, let him see himself pities by the adjoining countries. Nay, let those at a distance, who do but know his name and have heard of his reputation, take notice of his fall, and say, How is the strong staff broken, whose strength was the terror of its enemies, and the beautiful rod, whose beauty was the pride of its friends! Let the nations take notice of this and receive instruction. Let none be puffed up with or put confidence in their strength or beauty, for neither will be a security against the judgments of God.

IV. It is a shameful destruction and such as shall expose them to contempt: Moab is made drunk (Jer 48:26), and he that is made drunk is made vile; he shall wallow in his vomit, and become an odious spectacle, and shall justly be in derision. Let the Moabites be intoxicated with the cup of God's wrath till they stagger and fall, and be brought to their wits' end, and make themselves ridiculous by the wildness not only of their passions but of their counsels. And again (Jer 48:39): Moab shall be a derision and a dismaying to all about him; they shall laugh at the fall of the pomp and power he was so proud of. Note, Those that are haughty are preparing reproach and ignominy for themselves.

V. It is the destruction of that which is dear to them, not only of their summer fruits and their vintage, but of their wealth (Jer 48:36): The riches that he has gotten have perished, though he thought he had laid them up very safely, and promised himself a long enjoyment of them, yet they are gone. Note, The money that is hoarded in the chest is as liable to perishing as the summer-fruits that lie exposed in the open field. Riches are shedding things, and, like dust as they are, slip through our fingers even when we are in most care to hold them fast and gripe them hard. Yet this is not the worst; even those whose religion was false and foolish were fond of it above any thing, and, such as it was, would not part with it; and therefore, though it was really a promise, yet to them it was a threatening (Jer 48:35), that God will cause to cease him that offers in the high places, for the high places shall be destroyed, and the fields of offerings shall be laid waste, and the priests themselves, who burnt incense to their gods, shall be slain or carried into captivity, Jer 48:7. Note, It is only the true religion, and the worship and service of the true God, that will stand us in stead in a day of trouble.

VI. It is a just and righteous destruction, and that which they have deserved and brought upon themselves by sin.

1. The sin which they had been most notoriously guilty of, and for which God now reckoned with them, was pride. It is mentioned six times, Jer 48:29. We have all heard of the pride of Moab; his neighbours took notice of it; it has testified to his face, as Israel's did; he is exceedingly proud, and grows worse and worse. Observe his loftiness, his arrogancy, his pride, his haughtiness; the multiplying of words to the same purport intimates in how many instances he discovered his pride, and how offensive it was both to God and man. It was charged upon them Isa, Jer 16:6, but here it is expressed more largely that there. Since then they had been under humbling providences, and yet were unhumbled; nay, they grew more arrogant and haughty, which plainly marked them for that utter destruction of which pride is the forerunner. Two instances are here given of the pride of Moab: - (1.) He had conducted himself insolently towards God. He must be brought down with shame (Jer 48:26), for he has magnified himself against the Lord; and again (Jer 48:42), he shall be destroyed from being a people, for this very reason. The Moabites preferred Chemosh before Jehovah, and thought themselves a match for the God of Israel, whom they set at defiance. (2.) He had conducted himself scornfully towards Israel, particularly in their late troubles; therefore Moab shall fall into the same troubles; into the same hands, and be a derision, for Israel was a derision to him, Jer 48:26, Jer 48:27. The generality of the Moabites, when they heard of the calamities and desolations of their neighbours the Jews, instead of lamenting them, rejoiced in them, they skipped for joy. Many, in such a case, entertain in their minds a secret pleasure at the fall of those they had a dislike to, who yet have so much discretion as to conceal it; it is so invidious a thing. But the Moabites industriously proclaimed their joy, and avowed the enmity they had to Israel, triumphing over every Israelite they met with in distress and laughing at him, which was as inhuman as it was impious and an impudent affront both to man, whose nature they were of, and to God, whose name they were called by. Note, Those that deride others in distress will justly and certainly, sooner or later, come into distress themselves, and be had in derision. Those that are glad at calamities, especially the calamities of God's church, shall not long go unpunished.

2. Besides this they had been guilty of malice against God's people, and treachery in their dealings with them, Jer 48:30. They made a jest of the desolations of Judah and Jerusalem, and pretended, when they laughed at them, that it was but in sport and to make themselves merry; but, says God, " I know his wrath; I know it comes from the old enmity he has to the seed of Abraham and the worshippers of the true God. I know he thinks these calamities of the Jewish nation will end in their utter extirpation. He now tells the Chaldeans what bad people the Jews are, and irritates them against them; but it shall not be so as he expects; his lies shall not so effect it. The nation, whose fall they triumph in, shall recover itself."Some read it, I know his rage. Is it not so? Is he not very furious against the people of God? And his lies I know also. Do they not do so? Do they not belie them? Note, All the fury and all the falsehood of the church's enemies are perfectly known to God, whatever the pretenses are with which they think to cover them, Isa 37:28.

VII. It is a complicated destruction, and by one instance after another will at length be completed; for those that make their escape from one judgment shall perish by another: Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon them, Jer 48:43. There shall be fear to drive them into the pit, and a snare to hold them fast in it when they are in it; so that they shall neither escape from the destruction nor escape out of it. What was said of sinners in general (Isa 24:17, Isa 24:18), that those who flee from the fear shall fall into the pit and those who come up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare, is here particularly foretold concerning the sinners of Moab (Jer 48:44); for it is the year of their visitation, when God comes to reckon with them, and will be known by the judgments which he executes, for he is the King whose name is the Lord of hosts (Jer 48:15); he is not only the King who has authority to give judgment, but he is the Lord of hosts, who is able to do what he has determined. The figurative expressions used Jer 48:44 are explained in one instance (Jer 48:45): Those that fled out of the villages for fear of the enemy's forces put themselves under the shadow of Heshbon, stood there, and supposed they stood safely, as now armies sometimes retire under the cannon of a fortified city, and it is their protection; but here they should be disappointed, for, when they flee out of the pit, they fall into the snare; Heshbon, which they thought would shelter them, devours them as Moses had foretold long since (Num 21:28): A fire has gone out of Heshbon, and a flame from the city of Sihon, and devours those that come from all the corners of Moab, and fastens upon the crown of the head of the tumultuous noisy ones, or of the revellers, or children of noise, not meant of the rude clamorous multitude, but of the great men, who bluster, and hector, and make a noise; the judgments of God shall light on them. Shall we hear the conclusion of this whole matter? We have it (Jer 48:46): " Woe be to thee, O Moab! thou art undone; the people that worship Chemosh perish, and are gone; farewell, Moab. Thy sons and daughters, the hopes of the next generation, have gone into captivity after the Jews, whose calamities they rejoiced in."

VIII. Yet it is not a perpetual destruction. The chapter concludes with a short promise of their return out of captivity in the latter days. God, who brings them into captivity, will bring again their captivity, Jer 48:47. Thus tenderly does God deal with Moabites, much more with his own people! Even with Moabites he will not contend for ever, nor be always wrath. When Israel returned, Moab did; and perhaps the prophecy was intended chiefly for the encouragement of God's people to hope for that salvation which even Moabites shall share in. Yet it looks further, to gospel times; the Jews themselves refer it to the days of the Messiah; then the captivity of the Gentiles, under the yoke of sin and Satan, shall be brought back by divine grace, which shall make them free, free indeed. This prophecy concerning Moab is long, but here it ends; it ends comfortably: Thus far is the judgment of Moab.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jer 48:18-20

In Jer 48:18-25 is further described the downfall of this strong and glorious power. The inhabitants if Dibon are to come down from their glory and sit in misery; those of Aroer are to ask the fugitives what has happened, that they may learn that the whole table-land on to the Arnon has been taken by the enemy; and they are to howl over the calamity. The idea presented in Jer 48:18 is an imitation of that in Isa 47:1, "Come down, O daughter of Babylon, sit in the dust;" but רדי is intensified by the addition of מכּבוד , and וּשׁבי על is changed into וּשׁבי בצּמא (the Kethib ישׁבי has evidently been written by mistake for וּשׁבי , the Qeri ). צמא elsewhere means "thirst;" but "sit down in the thirst" would be too strange an expression; hence צמא must here have the meaning of צמא , Isa 44:3, "the thirsty arid land:" thus it remains a question whether we should point the word צמא , or take צמא as another form of צמא , as חלב sa ,צ î א fo mro is of חלב , Eze 23:19. There is no sufficient reason why Hitzig and Ewald should give the word a meaning foreign to it, from the Arabic or Syriac. Dibon lay about four miles north from the Arnon, at the foot of a mountain, in a very beautiful plain, where, under the name of Dibân , many traces of walls, and a well by the wayside, hewn out of the rock, are still to be found (Seetzen, i. S. 409f.). Hence it must have been well provided with water, even though we should be obliged to understand by "the water of Dimon" (Dibon), which Isaiah mentions (Isa 15:9), the river Arnon, which is about three miles off. The command to "sit down in an arid land" thus forms a suitable figure, representing the humiliation and devastation of Dibon. That the city was fortified, is evident from the mention of the fortifications in the last clause. ישׁבת , as in Jer 46:19. Aroer was situated on the north bank of the Arnon ( Mojeb ), where its ruins still remain, under the old name Arâ'ir (Burckhardt, p. 372). It was a frontier town, between the kingdom of Sihon (afterwards the territory of the Israelites) and the possession of the Moabites (Deu 2:36; Deu 3:12; Deu 4:48; Jos 12:2; Jos 13:9, Jos 13:16). But after the Moabites had regained the northern portion of their original territory, it lay in the midst of the land. The fugitives here represented as passing by are endeavouring, by crossing the Arnon, to escape from the enemy advancing from the north, and subduing the country before them. נס ונמלטה means fugitives of every kind. The co-ordination of the same word or synonymous terms in the masc. and fem. serves to generalize the idea; see on Isa 3:1, and Ewald, §172, c . In נמלטה the tone is retracted through the influence of the distinctive accent; the form is participial. The question, "What has happened?" is answered in Jer 48:20. כּי חתּה , "for (= certainly) it is broken down." The Kethib הלילי וּזעקי must not be changed. Moab is addressed: with הגּידוּ is introduced the summons, addressed to individuals, to proclaim at the Arnon the calamity that has befallen the country to the north of that river.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jer 48:21-25

In Jer 48:21-24 the general idea of Moab's being laid waste is specialized by the enumeration of a long list of towns on which judgment has come. They are towns of ארץ המּישׁור , the table-land to the north of the Arnon, the names of which early all occur in the Pentateuch and Joshua as towns in the tribe of Reuben. But Holon is mentioned only here. According to Eusebius, in the Onomasticon, s.v. ̓Ιεσσά , Jahzah was situated between Μηδαβῶν ( Medeba ) and Δηβοῦς ( Dibon ); according to Jerome, between Medeba and Debus , or Deblathai ; but from Num 21:23, we conclude that it lay in an easterly direction, on the border of the desert, near the commencement of the Wady Wale . Mophaath or Mephaath, where, according to the Onomasticon , a Roman garrison was placed, on account of the near proximity of the desert, is to be sought for in the neighbourhood of Jahzah; see on Jos 13:18. As to Dibon, see on Jer 48:18; for Nebo, see on Jer 48:1. Beth-diblathaim is mentioned only in this passage. It is probably identical with Almon-diblathaim, Num 33:46, and to be sought for somewhere north from Dibon. For Kirjahthaim see Jer 48:1. Beth-gamul is nowhere else mentioned; its site, too, is unknown. Eli Smith, in Robinson's Palestine , iii. App. p. 153, is inclined to recognise it in the ruins of Um-el-Jemel , lying on the southern boundary of the Hauran, about twenty miles south-west from Bozrah; but a consideration of the position shows that they cannot be the same. Beth-meon, or Baal-meon (Num 32:38), or more fully, Beth-baal-meon (Jos 13:17), lay about three miles south from Heshbon, where Burckhardt (p. 365) found some ruins called Mi-ûn (Robinson, iii. App. p. 170, Ma-în ); see on Num 32:38. Kerioth, Jer 48:24 and Jer 48:41, and Amo 2:2, is not to be identified with the ruins called Kereyath or Küreiyath , mentioned by Burckhardt (p. 367) and Seetzen ( Reisen , ii. 342, iv. 384), as Ritter has assumed; for this Kereyath is more probably Kirjathaim (see on Jer 48:1). Rather, as is pretty fully proved by Dietrich (in Merx' Archiv. i. 320ff.), it is a synonym of Ar , the old capital of Moab, Num 22:36; and the plural form is to be accounted for by supposing that Ar was made up of two or several large portions. We find two great arguments supporting this position: (1.) When Ar, the capital, occurs among the names of the towns of Moab, as in the list of those in Reuben, Jos 13:16-21, and in the prophecy against Moab in Isaiah, Jer 15 and 16, where so many Moabitic towns are named, we find no mention of Kerioth; and on the other hand, where Kerioth is named as an important town in Moab, Amo 2:2; Jer 48:1, there is no mention of Ar. (2.) Kerioth is mentioned as an important place in the country in Amo 2:2, where, from the whole arrangement of the prophecy, it can only be the capital of Moab; in this present chapter also, Jer 48:24, Kerioth and Bozrah are introduced as two very important towns which maintained the strength of Moab; and immediately afterwards it is added, "The horn of Moab is cut off," etc. Further, in Jer 48:41 the capture of Kerioth is put on a level with the taking of the fortresses; while it is added, that the courage of the mighty men has failed, just as in Jer 49:22 the capture of Bozrah is coupled with the loss of courage on the part of Edom's heroes. Bozrah is not to be confounded with Bozrah in Edom (Jer 49:13), nor with the later flourishing city of Bostra in Hauran: it is the same with Bezer ( בּצר ), which, according to Deu 4:43 and Jos 20:8, was situated in the Mishor of the tribe of Reuben, but has not yet been discovered; see on Deu 4:43. For the purpose of completing the enumeration, it is further added, "all the towns of the land of Moab, those which are far off (i.e., those which are situated towards the frontier) and those which are near" (i.e., the towns of the interior, as Kimchi has already explained). Thereby the horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm broken. Horn and arm are figures of power: the horn an emblem of power that boldly asserts itself, and pushes down all that opposes (cf. Psa 75:5, 11); the arm being rather an emblem of dominion.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jer 48:26-27

Moab's haughtiness and deplorable fall. - Jer 48:26. "Make him drunk - for he hath boasted against Jahveh - so that Moab shall splash down into his vomit, and himself become a laughing-stock. Jer 48:27. Was not Israel a laughing-stock to thee, or was he found among thieves? for whenever thou spakest of him, thou didst shake thine head. Jer 48:28. Leave the cities and dwell in the rock, ye inhabitants of Moab; and be ye like a dove [that] builds its nest in the sides of the mouth of a pit. Jer 48:29. We have heard the very arrogant pride of Moab, his haughtiness, and his arrogance, and his high-mindedness, and his elation of mind. Jer 48:30. I know, saith Jahveh, his wrath, and the untruthfulness of his words; they have done what is untrue. Jer 48:31. Therefore will I howl over Moab, and for all Moab will I cry; they mourn for the people of Kir-heres. Jer 48:32. I will weep for thee [with more] than the weeping of Jazer, O vine of Sibmah, thou whose tendrils have gone over the sea, have reached even to the sea of Jazer; on thy fruit-harvest and thy vintage a spoiler has fallen. Jer 48:33. And joy and gladness are taken from the garden, and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the wine-vats: they shall not tread [with] a shout; the shout shall be no shout. Jer 48:34. From the cry of Heshbon as far as Elealeh, as far as Jahaz, they utter their voice; from Zoar as far as Horonaim and the third Eglath; for even the waters of Nimrim shall become desolations. Jer 48:35. And I will destroy from Moab, saith Jahveh, him that offers on a high place and burns incense to his gods."

Through his pride, Moab has incurred the sentence of destruction to his power. In arrogance and rage he has exalted himself over Jahveh and His people Israel; therefore must he now be humbled, Jer 48:26-30. The summons to make Moab drunk is addressed to those whom God has charged with the execution of the sentence; cf. Jer 48:10 and Jer 48:21. These are to present to the people of Moab the cup of the divine wrath, and so to intoxicate them, that they shall fall like a drunk man into his vomit, and become a laughing-stock to others (cf. Jer 13:13; Jer 25:15), because they have boasted against Jahveh by driving the Israelites from their inheritance, and by deriding the people of God; cf. Zep 2:8. ספק , to strike, frequently of striking the hands together; here it signifies to fall into his vomit, i.e., to tumble into it with a splash. No other explanation of the word can find support from the language used. Cf. Isa 19:14 and Isa 25:10. In the last clause of Jer 48:26, the emphasis lies on גּם הוּא : "he also (Moab, like Israel before) shall become a laughing-stock." This statement is enforced by the question put in Jer 48:27, "Was not Israel a laughing-stock to thee?" ואם־אם shows a double question, like ה־אם ; and ואם in the first clause may be further strengthened by the interrogative ה before שׂחק , as in Gen 17:17. For other forms of the double question, see Psa 94:9; Job 21:4; Jer 23:26. On Dagesh dirimens in השּׂחק , cf. Ewald, §104, b . There is no sufficient reason for questioning the feminine form נמצאה in the Qeri ; Israel is personified as a woman, just as Moab in Jer 48:20, where חתּה is found. On מדּי דב , cf. Jer 31:20, where, however, דּבּר בּ is used in another meaning. התנודד , to shake oneself, is a stronger expression than הניד בּראשׁ , to shake the head (Jer 18:16), a gesture denoting mockery and rejoicing over another's injury; cf. Psa 64:9.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jer 48:28

A transition is now made from figurative to literal language, and Moab is summoned to leave the cities and take refuge in inaccessible rocks, because he will not be able to offer resistance to the enemy; cf. Jer 48:6 and Jer 48:9. "Like a dove that builds its nest over deep crevices." The reference is to wild pigeons, which occur in large numbers in Palestine, and make their nests in the clefts of high rocks (Son 2:14) even at the present day, e.g., in the wilderness of Engedi; cf. Robinson's Palestine , ii. 203. בּעברי , lit., "on the other side of the mouth of the deep pit," or of the abyss, i.e., over the yawning hollows. בּעברי is a poetic form for בּעבר , as in Isa 7:20. The humiliation of Moab finds its justification in what is brought out in Jer 48:29., his boundless pride and hatred against Israel.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jer 48:29-30

Jer 48:29 and Jer 48:30 only more fully develop the idea contained in Isa 16:6. Those who "heard" are the prophet and the people of God. There is an accumulation of words to describe the pride of Moab. Isaiah's expression also, עברתו לא־כן בּדּיו , is here expanded into two clauses, and Jahveh is named as the subject. Not only have the people of God perceived the pride of Moab, but God also knows his wrath. בּדּיו belongs to לא־כן as a genitive, as in Isaiah לא־כן means "not right," contrary to actual facts, i.e., untrue.

(Note: The Masoretic accentuation, according to which Athnach is placed under כּן , exhibits another view of the words in the text: this is shown by the Chaldee paraphrase, "their nobles endure not, they have not done what is right." The Masoretes took בּדּים in the sense of "staves," and took staves as a symbol of princes, as in Hos 11:6. Luther, in his translation, "I know his anger well, that he cannot do so very much, and attempts to do more than he can," follows the Vulgate, Ego scio jactantiam ejus, et quod non sit juxta eam virtus ejus, nec juxta quod poterat conata sit facere , which again seems to have followed the lxx in taking בּדיּו for בּדּיו .)

Keil-Delitzsch: Jer 48:31-33

Jer 48:31-33 are also an imitation of Isa 16:7-10. V. 31 is a reproduction of Isa 16:7. In Jer 48:7, Isaiah sets forth the lamentation of Moab over the devastation of his country and its precious fruits; and not until v. 9 does the prophet, in deep sympathy, mingle his tears with those of the Moabites. Jeremiah, on the other hand, with his natural softness, at once begins, in the first person, his lament over Moab. על־כּן , "therefore," is not immediately connected with Jer 48:29., but with the leading idea presented in Jer 48:26 and Jer 48:28, that Moab will fall like one intoxicated, and that he must flee out of his cities. If we refer it to Jer 48:30, there we must attach it to the thought implicitly contained in the emphatic statement, "I (Jahveh) know his wrath," viz., "and I will punish him for it." The I who makes lament is the prophet, as in Isa 16:9 and Isa 15:5. Schnurrer, Hitzig, and Graf, on the contrary, think that it is an indefinite third person who is introduced as representing the Moabites; but there is no analogous case to support this assumption, since the instances in which third persons are introduced are of a different kind. But when Graf further asserts, against referring the I to the prophet, that, according to what precedes, especially what we find in Jer 48:26., such an outburst of sympathy for Moab would involve a contradiction, he makes out the prophet to be a Jew thirsting for revenge, which he was not. Raschi has already well remarked, on the other hand, under Isa 15:5, that "the prophets of Israel differ from heathen prophets like Balaam in this, that they lay to heart the distress which they announce to the nations;" cf. Isa 21:3. The prophet weeps for all Moab, because the judgment is coming not merely on the northern portion (Jer 48:18-25), but on the whole of the country. In Jer 48:31 , Jeremiah has properly changed לאשׁישׁי (cakes of dried grapes) into אל־אנשׁי , the people of Kir-heres, because his sympathy was directed, not to dainties, but to the men in Moab; he has also omitted "surely they are smitten," as being too strong for his sympathy. יהגּה , to groan, taken from the cooing of doves, perhaps after Isa 38:15; Isa 59:11. The third person indicates a universal indefinite. Kir-heres, as in Isa 16:11, or Kir-haresheth in Isa 16:7; 2Ki 3:25, was the chief stronghold of Moab, probably the same as Kir-Moab, the modern Kerek, as we may certainly infer from a comparison of Isa 16:7 with Isa 15:1 see on 2Ki 3:25, and Dietrich, S. 324.

Jer 48:32-33

מבּכי יעזר , "more than the weeping of Jazer," may signify, "More than Jazer weeps do I weep over thee;" or, "More than over Jazer weeps do I weep over thee;" or, "More than over Jazer do I weep over thee." However, the former interpretation is the more obvious, and is confirmed by the reading in Isa 16:9. According to the Onomasticon , Jazer was fifteen Roman miles north from Heshbon. Seetzen recognises it in the ruins called es Szir at the source of the Nahr Szir ; see on Num 21:32. According to Jerome, on Isa 16:8, Sibmah was only five hundred paces from Heshbon; see on Num 32:38. Judging from the verse now before us, and from Isa. l.c. , the vines of Sibmah must have been famed for the strength and excellence of their clusters. Even now, that region produces excellent grapes in abundance. From Szalt, which lies only ten miles north from Szir, raisins and grapes are carried to Jerusalem, and these of excellent quality (Seetzen, i. S. 399; Burckhardt, p. 350). In what follows, "his tendrils crossed the sea," etc., the extensive cultivation of the grape is set forth under the figure of a vine whose tendrils stretch out on all sides. "They have crossed over the sea" has reference in Isaiah (Isa 16:8) to the Dead Sea ( ים , as in Psa 68:23; 2Ch 20:2); not merely, however, in the sense of the shoots reaching close to the Dead Sea, but also over it, for Engedi was famed for its vines (Son 1:14). Jeremiah also has reproduced the words taken from Isaiah in this sense. From the following clause, "they reached to the sea of Jazer," it does not follow that he has specified "the sea" by "Jazer." What tells rather the other way is the fact that עבר , which means to cross over, cannot possibly be used as equivalent to נגע עד , "to reach to." "They crossed over the sea" shows extension towards the west, while "they reached to the sea of Jazer" indicates extension towards the north. This latter statement also is an imitation of what we find in Isa 16:8; and "Jazer" is merely further specified as "the sea of Jazer." In spite of the most diligent inquiries, Seetzen (i. S. 406) could learn nothing from the people of that region regarding an inland lake; but in the beautiful green vale in the vicinity of Szâr (i.e., Jazer) there were several ponds, which he supposes may possibly be the mare Jazer , since this valley lying among the mountains is somewhat depressed, and in ancient times was probably filled with water. The "sea" ( ים ) of Solomon's temple further shows that ים does not necessarily denote only a large lake, but might also be applied to a large artificial basin of water. So also, at the present day, the artificial water-basins on the streets of Damascus are called baharat , "seas;" cf. Wetzstein in Delitzsch on Isa 16:8. This cultivation of the vine is at an end; for the destroyer has fallen upon the fruit-harvest and the vintage. Jeremiah, by "the destroyer has fallen," explains the words of Isaiah (Isa 16:9), "shouting has fallen." - In Jer 48:33, Isa 16:10 is reproduced. "Joy and gladness are taken away from the gardens, and from the whole land of Moab." כּרמל is not here a proper name, for Mount Carmel does not at all suit the present context; it is an appellative, fruit-land, i.e., the fruitful wine-country near Jazer. Jeremiah adds, "and from the land (i.e., the whole land) of Moab." The pressing of the grapes comes to an end; there is no wine in the vat; no longer is the wine pressed with "Hedad." הידד is an adverbial accusative. This is further specified by the oxymoron: a " Hedad , and yet not a Hedad ." This word generally signifies any loud shout, - not merely the shout of the wine-pressers as they tread the grapes (see on Jer 25:30), but also a battle-cry; cf. Jer 51:14. Hence the meaning is, " Hedad is heard, but not a merry shout of the wine-pressers."

Keil-Delitzsch: Jer 48:34

Jer 48:34 is based on Isa 15:4-6. "From the cry of Heshbon is heard the echo as far as Elealeh and Jahaz," or "from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz is heard a cry, and from Zoar to Horonaim." Heshbon and Elealeh are only about two miles distant from each other; their ruins are still visible under the names of Hesbân (Husban, see on Jer 48:2) and El Al (see on Num 32:37). They were both built on hills; Elealeh in particular was situated on the summit of a hill whence the whole of the southern Belka may be seen (Burckhardt, p. 365), so that a shout thence emitted could be heard at a great distance, even as far as Jahaz, which is pretty far off to the south-west from Heshbon (see on Jer 48:21). The words "from Zoar to Horonaim" also depend on "they uttered their voice." Both places lay in the south of the land; see on Jer 48:3 and Jer 48:4. The wailing resounds not merely on the north, but also on the south of the Arnon. There is much dispute as to the meaning of עגלת שׁלישׁיּה , which is here mentioned after Horonaim, but in Isa 15:5 in connection with, or after Zoar. To take the expression as an appellative, juvenca tertii anni (lxx, Vulgate, Targum, Gesenius, etc.), would perhaps be suitable, if it were an apposition to Moab, in which case we might compare with it passages like Jer 46:20; Jer 50:11; but this does not accord with its position after Horonaim and Zoar, for we have no analogy for the comparison of cities or fortresses with a juvenca tertii anni, h. e. indomita jugoque non assueta ; and it cannot even be proved that Zoar and Horonaim were fortresses of Moab. Hence we take ' עגלת שׁ as the proper name of a place, "the third Eglath;" this is the view of Rosenmüller, Drechsler, and Dietrich (in Merx' Archiv. i. S. 342ff.). The main reason for this view, is, that there would be no use for an addition being made, by way of apposition, to a place which is mentioned as the limit of the Moabites' flight, or that reached by their wailing. The parallelism of the clauses argues in favour of its being a proper name; for, on this view of it, three towns are named in both members, the first one, as the starting-point of the cry of wailing, the other two as points up to which it is heard. The preposition עד , which is omitted, may be supplied from the parallel member, as in Isa 15:8. Regarding the position of Eglath Shelishijah , it is evident from the context of both passages that we must look for it on the southern frontier of Moab. It is implied in the epithet "the third" that there were three places (villages), not far from one another, all bearing the same name. Dietrich (S. 344f.) has adduced several analogous cases of towns in the country to the east of the Jordan, - two, and sometimes even three, towns of the same name, which are distinguished from each other by numerals. "The waters of Nimrim also shall become desolations," because the enemy fill up the springs with earth. Nimrim is not the place called נמרה or בּית נמרה mentioned in Num 32:3, Num 32:36; Jos 13:27, whose ruins lie on the way from Szalt to Jericho, in the Wady Shaib, on the east side of the Jordan (see on Num 32:36), for this lies much too far to the north to be the place mentioned here. The context points to a place in the south, in Moab proper. where Burckhardt (p. 355), Seetzen ( Reisen , ii. S. 354), and de Saulcy ( Voyage , i. 283, ii. 52) have indicated a stream fed by a spring, called Moiet Numêre (i.e., brook Nimrah), in the country at the south end of the Dead Sea, and in that wady a mass of ruins called Numêre (the Nimmery of Seetzen, iii. 18).

Keil-Delitzsch: Jer 48:35

Jer 48:35 ends the strophe of which it is a part; here the Lord declares that He will make to cease למואב (for, or from Moab, lit., to Moab), every one who offers on a high place and burns incense to his gods. מעלה cannot be a substantive, else the parallelism would be destroyed. Nor may we, with Hitzig, render "he who raises a high place," i.e., builds it, for העלה is not used in this sense.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jer 48:36-38

Further lamentation over the fall of Moab. - Jer 48:36. "Therefore my heart sounds like pipes for Moab, and my heart sounds like pipes for the men of Kir-heres; therefore the savings which he has made are perished. Jer 48:37. For every head is baldness, and every beard is shorn; on all hands there are cuts, and on loins sackcloth. Jer 48:38. On all the roofs of Moab, and in its streets, it is all mourning; for I have broken Moab like a vessel, in which there is no pleasure, saith Jahveh."

The prophet once more lifts up his lamentation over Moab (Jer 48:36 corresponds to Jer 48:31), and gives reason for it in the picture he draws of the deep affliction of the Moabites. Jer 48:36 is an imitation of Isa 16:11; the thought presented in v. 36 b accords with that found in Isa 15:7. Isaiah says, "My bowels sound (groan) like the harp," whose strings give a tremulous sound when struck with the plectrum. Instead of this, Jeremiah puts the sounding of pipes, the instruments used in dirges (Mat 9:23). Moab and Kir-heres are mentioned together, as in Jer 48:31. על־כּן , in the second clause, does not stand for כּי על־כּן , "on this account that" (Kimchi, Hitzig, Graf, etc.), but is co-ordinated with the first על־כּן . The idea is not, "Therefore my heart mourns over Moab, because the savings are perished;" but because the sentence of desolation has been passed on the whole of Moab, therefore the heart of the prophet makes lament, and therefore, too, all the property which Moab has acquired is lost. יתרה , as a collective noun, is joined with the plural verb אבדוּ . On the construction יתרת עשׂה , cf. Gesenius, §123, 3, Rem. 1; Ewald, §332, c . The proof of this is given by the deep sorrow and wailing of the whole Moabite nation, Jer 48:37. On all sides are tokens of the deepest sadness, - heads shorn bald, beards cut off, incisions on the hands, sackcloth round the loins.

Jer 48:37-38

Jer 48:37 is formed out of pieces taken from Isa 15:2-3. קרחה is a substantive, "baldness," i.e., quite bald. גּרוּעה , decurtata , instead of גּדוּעה (in Isaiah), is weaker, but more suitable for the present connection. גּדדת , i.e., cuts or scratches inflicted on the body, as signs of mourning; cf. Jer 16:6; Jer 41:5. כּלּה , "It is all wailing;" nothing is heard but wailing, for God has broken Moab in pieces like a useless vessel. On the simile employed, cf. Jer 22:28.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jer 48:39-44

No escape from destruction. - Jer 48:39. "How it is broken! they howl. How hath Moab turned the back, for shame! And Moab becomes a laughing-stock and a terror to all his neighbours. Jer 48:40. For thus saith Jahveh: Behold, he shall fly like the eagle, and spread his wings over Moab. Jer 48:41. Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are seized, and the heart of the heroes of Moab on that day become like the heart of a travailing woman. Jer 48:42. And Moab is destroyed from being a people, because he hath boasted against Jahveh. Jer 48:43. Fear, and a pit, and a snare, are against thee, O inhabitants of Moab, saith Jahveh. Jer 48:44. He who flees from the fear shall fall into the pit, and he who goes up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for I will bring against it, against Moab, the year of their recompense, saith Jahveh."

The subject of חתּה in Jer 48:39 is Moab viewed as a nation. הילילוּ might be imperative, but in this case we would be obliged to take בּושׁ also as an imperative (as Hitzig and Graf do). It is simpler to take both forms as perfects: "they howl...Moab turns the back, is ashamed" (= for shame). On היה לשׂחק , cf. Jer 48:26. מחתּה , object of terror, as in Jer 17:17. "All who are round about him," as in Jer 48:17. "For (Jer 48:40) the enemy rushes down upon Moab like an eagle, and seizes Kerioth and all his strongholds." The subject is left unnamed, as in Jer 46:18, but it is Nebuchadnezzar. The figure of the eagle, darting down in flight on its prey, is founded on Deu 28:49 (on אל - for על , cf. Jer 49:22). Kerioth, the capital, is taken (see on Jer 48:24); so are the other strongholds or fastnesses of the country. The mere fact that קריּות has the article does not justify any one in taking it as an appellative, "the cities;" this appears from a comparison of Amo 2:2 with this verse. No plural of קריה occurs anywhere. Then the fear of death falls on the heroes of Moab like a woman in labour. מצרה , partic. Hiphil from צרר , uterum comprimens , is found only here and in Jer 49:22, where the figure is repeated. Moab is annihilated, so that it is no longer a nation (cf. Jer 48:2), because it has risen up in pride against the God of Israel; cf. Jer 48:26. He who flees from one danger falls into the other. The play on the words פּחד , fear, horror, פּחת , pit, and פּח , spring-trap, as well as the mode in which it is carried out, is taken from Isa 24:17., - a prophecy of the judgment on the world; see a similar idea presented in Amo 5:19, but somewhat differently expressed. The Kethib הניס , perfect Hiphil, "he flees," is less suitable than the Qeri הנּס (after Isaiah). The last clause, "for I will bring," etc., is quite in Jeremiah's peculiar style; cf. Jer 4:23; Jer 23:12. אליה belongs to אל־מואב : the noun is anticipated by the pronoun, as frequently occurs; cf. Jer 9:14; Jer 41:3; Jer 43:11.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jer 48:45-47

Conclusion . - Jer 48:45. "Under the shadow of Heshbon stand fugitives, powerless; for a fire goes out from Heshbon, and a flame from Sihon, and devours the region of Moab, and the crown of the head of the sons of tumult. Jer 48:46. Woe unto thee, Moab! the people of Chemosh are perished! for thy sons are taken away into captivity, and thy daughters into captivity. Jer 48:47. Yet will I turn the captivity of Moab at the end of the days, saith Jahveh. Thus far is the judgment of Moab."

From Heshbon issued the resolution to annihilate Moab (Jer 48:2); to Heshbon the prophecy finally returns. "In the shadow of Heshbon stand fugitives, powerless' ( מכּח , with מן privative), where, no doubt, they were seeking refuge; cf. Isa 30:2-3. The fugitives can only be Moabites. Here it is astonishing that they seek refuge in Heshbon, since the enemy comes from the north, and according to Jer 48:2, it is in Heshbon that the resolution to destroy Moab was formed; and judging from Jer 49:3, that city was then in the hands of the Ammonites. Hence Hitzig and Graf miss the connection. Hitzig thinks that the whole clause was inserted by a glosser, who imagined the town belonged to Moab, perhaps allowing himself to be misled in this by Num 21:27, "Come to Heshbon." Graf, on the other hand, is of opinion that the fugitives are seeking the protection of the Ammonites in Heshbon, but do not find it: hence he would take the כּי which follows in the adversative sense of "however" or "rather;" but this is against the use of the word, and cannot be allowed. The tenor of the words, "Fugitives stand under the shadow of Heshbon," does not require us to assume that people had fled to Heshbon out of the whole of Moab. Let us rather think of fugitives from the environs of Heshbon, who seek refuge in this fortified town, from the enemy advancing from the north, but who find themselves disappointed in their expectation, because from this city there bursts forth the fire of war which destroys Moab. The thought merely serves the purpose of attaching to it the utterances which follow regarding Moab; but from Jer 48:43 and Jer 48:44 alone, it is evident that escape will be impossible. In proof of this he mentions the flight to Heshbon, that he may have an opportunity of introducing a portion of the old triumphal songs of the Mosaic age, with which he wished to conclude his prophecy, Jer 48:45 and Jer 48:46. The fugitives stand powerless, i.e., exhausted and unable to flee any further, while Heshbon affords them no refuge. For there bursts forth from it the fire that is to destroy the whole of Moab. The words from "for a fire," etc., on to the end of Jer 48:46, are a free imitation of some strophes out of an ancient song, in which poets of the Mosaic period celebrated the victory of Israel over Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had conquered the greater portion of Moab; but with this here is interwoven a passage from the utterances of Balaam the seer, regarding the fall of Moab, found in Num 24:17, viz., from ותּאכל to בּני שׁאון . These insertions are made for the purpose of showing that, through this judgment which is now coming upon Moab, not only those ancient sayings, but also the prophecy of Balaam, will find their full accomplishment. Just as in the time of Moses, so now also there again proceeds from Heshbon the fire of war which will consume Moab. The words, "for a fire has gone out from Heshbon," are a verbatim repetition of what we find in Num 21:28, with the single exception that אשׁ is here, as in Psa 104:4, construed as masculine, and thus takes יצא instead of יצאה ; but this change, of course, does not affect the meaning of the words. The next clause runs, in Numbers, l.c. , להבה מקּרית סיחון , but here ולהבה מבּין ; this change into מבּין is difficult to account for, so that J. D. Michaelis and Ewald would alter it into מבּית .

There is no need for refuting the assumption of Raschi and Nägelsbach, that Sihon stands for the city of Sihon; or the fancy of Morus and Hitzig, that an old glosser imagined Sihon was a town instead of a king. When we consider that the burning of Heshbon by the Israelites, celebrated in that ancient song, was brought on by Sihon the Amorite king, since the Israelites were not to make war on Moab, and only fought against Sihon, who had made Heshbon his residence, there can be no doubt that Jeremiah purposely changed מקּרית into מבּין סיחון , in order to show that Sihon was the originator of the fire which consumed Heshbon. By this latter expression Jeremiah seeks to intimate that, in Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldean army, there will arise against the Moabites another Sihon, from whose legions will burst forth the flame that is to consume Moab. מבּין , "from between," is to be explained on the ground that Sion is not viewed as a single individual, but as the leader of martial hosts. This fire will "devour the region of Moab, and the crown of the head of the sons of tumult." These words have been taken by Jeremiah from Balaam's utterance regarding Moab, Num 24:17, and embodied in his address after some transformation. What Balaam announces regarding the ruler (Star and Sceptre) that is to arise out of Israel, viz., "he shall smite the region of Moab, and dash in pieces the sons of tumult," Jeremiah has transferred to the fire: accordingly, he has changed וּמחץ into ותּאכל , and וקרקר into וקדקד . Several commentators understand פאה as signifying the margin of the beard (Lev 19:27; Lev 21:5); but the mention of the crown of the head in the parallel member does not require this meaning, for פאה does not signify the corner of the beard, except when found in combination with ראשׁ or זקן . The singeing of the margin of the beard seems, in connection with the burning of the crown, too paltry and insignificant. As in the fundamental passage פּאתי signify the sides of Moab, so here פאה is the side of the body, and קדקד the head. בּני שׁאון , homines tumultuosi , are the Moabites with their imperious disposition; cf. Jer 48:29.

Jer 48:46

Jer 48:46 is again derived from the ancient poem in Num 21, but the second half of the verse is altered. The bold figure which represents Chemosh the god of the Moabites as delivering his people up to captivity, is continued in the literal statement of the case; Moab's sons and daughters, i.e., its population, are carried away by the enemy into captivity.

Jer 48:47

This infliction of judgment, however, on the Moabites, is not to prove a complete annihilation of them. At the end of the days, i.e., in the Messianic times (see on Jer 23:20), there is in store for them a turn in their fortunes, or a restoration. For שׁוּב שׁבוּת , see on Jer 29:14. Cf. the similar promise for Egypt, Jer 46:26; Ammon and Elam, Jer 49:6 and Jer 49:39. The last clause, "Thus far," etc., is an addition made by the editor, when this oracle was received into the collection of Jeremiah's prophecies; cf. Jer 51:64. משׁפּט means the prophecy regarding Moab with respect to its contents.

As to the fulfilment of the threatened ruin, Josephus ( Antt . x. 9. 7) states that Nebuchadnezzar, in the fifth year after the destruction of Jerusalem, made war on the Moabites and subdued them. This statement is not to be questioned, though the date given should be incorrect. We have no other sources of information regarding this people. After the return of the Israelites from Babylon, the Moabites are no longer mentioned as a people, except in Ezr 9:1; Neh 13:1, Neh 13:23, where it is stated that some Israelites had married Moabitish wives; nor is any mention made of this people in the books of the Maccabees, which, however, relate the wars of Judas Maccabeus with the Ammonites and Edomites (1 Macc. 5:3 and 6, cf. 4:61); neither is there any further notice taken of them in Josephus, who only now and then speaks of Moab, i.e., the country and its towns ( Antt . xiii. 14. 2, 15. 4; Bell. Jud. iii. 3. 3, iv. 8. 2). This name seems to have been merged, after the exile, in that of the Arabians. But the disappearance of the name of this people does not exclude the probability that descendants continued to exist, who, when Christianity spread in the country to the east of the Jordan, were received into the communion of the Christian church.

Constable: Jer 46:1--51:64

III. Prophecies about the nations chs. 46--51

In Jeremiah, prophecies concerning foreign nations come at the end of the book. In the other major prophets, Isaiah and Ezekiel, they come after oracles against Israel and or Judah and before oracles dealing with Israel's restoration. Oracles against foreign nations appear in every prophetical book except Hosea. Collections of them appear in Amos 1-2, Isaiah 13-23, Ezekiel 25-32, and Zephaniah 2:2-15, as well as here. Jeremiah follows a generally geographical order dealing first with a nation in the west and then moving east.⁵⁴² The fact that the prophets of Israel and Judah gave oracles about other nations reflects Yahweh's sovereignty over the whole world.

"The OAN [oracles against nations] had three main purposes: (1) to pronounce doom on a foreign nation, sometimes for mistreatment of Israel; (2) to serve as a salvation oracle or oracle of encouragement for Israel; (3) to warn Israel about depending on foreign alliances for their security . . .

"While in some OAN in the prophetic books foreign nations are condemned for their mistreatment of Israel and Judah, it is remarkable that, with the exception of the Babylon oracle . . ., none of the foreign nations in the OAN in Jeremiah is to be judged for such mistreatment. The oracles are not clearly nationalistically motivated, and thus it cannot be shown that they functioned primarily, if at all, as salvation oracles for Judah. In six of the oracles in Jer 46-49, no reasons are given for judgment. The language about destruction is not strident; it gives no hint of xenophobic hatred. . . ."⁵⁴³

By common scholarly consensus, these chapters contain some of the finest Hebrew poetry in the Old Testament.

Constable: Jer 48:1-47

C. The oracle against Moab ch. 48

This oracle is similar to the one in Isaiah 15 and 16.⁵⁵⁵ Other oracles against Moab appear in Ezekiel 25:8-11, Amos 2:1-3, and Zephaniah 2:9, but this is the longest one. It is very difficult to say when Jeremiah gave this oracle, but it may have been one complete message.

"Moab joined in the marauding bands Nebuchadnezzar sent against Judah in 602 B.C., after Jehoiakim's revolt (cf. 2 Kings 24:2; Jer 12:7-13). They joined in a plot to revolt against Babylon early in Zedekiah's reign (cf. 27:1-11)."⁵⁵⁶

The oracle begins with a general prediction of Moab's destruction (vv. 1-10).

48:1 The Lord announced the destruction of two key cities in Moab, which was Judah's neighbor to the southeast, Nebo (Num. 32:3, 38) and Kiriathaim (Josh. 13:19).⁵⁵⁷ Moab's boundaries were the Arnon River on the north, the Arabian desert on the east, the Zered River on the south, and the Dead Sea on the west. At various times Moab occupied territory to its north, in the old Amorite kingdom of Sihon (Num. 21:21-31).

48:2 Heshbon, the ancient capital of the Amorites (Num. 21:25-30), would be the place where an enemy would plan Moab's destruction. It stood at the northernmost boundary of Moab during periods of Moab's expansion.⁵⁵⁸ Madmen, another important Moabite town two miles northwest of Rabbah, would be the victim of warfare.

48:3-5 The town of Horonaim would also experience great devastation. Moab's children would wail because of the calamity of battle. The hills near Luhith and Horonaim would witness the cries of their inhabitants. These sites were in southwestern Moab.

48:6 The Moabites would need to flee for their lives. They would be as rare, isolated, and forsaken as juniper trees in the desert, and their safety would lie in their isolation.

48:7 The reason for Moab's destruction was her self-confidence in her deeds and riches. Yet even she would undergo capture. Moab's chief god, Chemosh, would go into captivity along with his priests and the princes of the nation. It was customary for conquerors to carry images of the gods of the people they defeated (cf. 49:3; Isa. 46:1-2; Amos 5:25).

48:8 All the cities, the valley, and the plateau--in short, the whole nation--would fall before the coming enemy, as Yahweh predicted. The valley was the Jordan Valley in which Moab had holdings, and the plateau refers to the tableland from Aroer northward to Heshbon (cf. Josh. 13:15-17). Most of Moab stood on this fertile plateau.

"For defense, Moab had towering cliffs, and for wealth, her enormous flocks of sheep [cf. 2 Kings 3:4]; riches that were self-renewing. But the shelter of these things had bred more complacency than character."⁵⁵⁹

48:9 Moab needed wings since her people were bound to fly away into captivity and her cities would remain desolate. Another translation sees Moab sown with salt, a symbol of destruction in the ancient Near East (cf. Judg. 9:45), either to destroy Moab or to prepare it for the conqueror's occupation. Salt was an abundant material in Moab just east of the Dead (Salt) Sea.

48:10 The Lord uttered a curse on any of the soldiers that would not carry out His will against Moab as He had ordered. Christians often use this verse, appropriately, as a challenge to serve the Lord diligently. The last word in the AV rendering is "slackness."

The emphasis in the next section of the oracle is on the end of Moab's complacency (vv. 11-17).

48:11 The Lord compared Moab to a spoiled child and to wine that had not been poured from one container to another to remove its sediment.⁵⁶⁰ Moab was famous for its wine production (cf. vv. 32-33; Isa. 16:8-11). Its peaceful history had made Moab complacent. It was so isolated geographically that it had not experienced the discipline of frequent invasions and captivity. God sometimes sends trouble to strengthen people.

"Readers of the missionary classic, Hudson Taylor in Early Years, may remember the apt heading, Emptied from Vessel to Vessel', to a chapter describing an unsettled but ultimately fruitful few months in the missionary's second year in China."⁵⁶¹

48:12-13 However the days would come when the Lord would upset Moab's complacency. He would send judgment pictured in terms of foreign "tilters" who would decant her wine, prepare it for distribution, and destroy its casks. Then Moab would be disillusioned with Chemosh for not protecting her even as Israel had been ashamed of the idols she had worshipped at Bethel.

48:14-15 Moab would not be able to boast about her mighty warriors in that day because others would overcome them, slay her young men, and destroy the nation. The sovereign King, Yahweh of hosts, made this promise (cf. 46:18).

48:16-17 Moab's destruction would come soon, so all her neighbor nations should mourn her destruction (cf. Deut. 32; 35). They should bewail the fall of such a strong and splendid rule.

Jeremiah next focused attention on the catastrophe coming on Moab's cities (vv. 18-28).

48:18 The prophet called the residents of Dibon to humble themselves because the destroyer would ruin their strongholds.⁵⁶²

48:19-20 Jeremiah appealed to the inhabitants of Aroer to inquire from fleeing residents what had happened. The answer was that Moab had fallen and was, therefore, humiliated. The news would go out in the Arnon Valley, Moab's northern border. Aroer stood southeast of Dibon on the southern boundary of the old Amorite kingdom, which was the Arnon River (Judg. 11:18-19).

48:21-24 Jeremiah listed 11 other cities of Moab that would experience destruction representing all the towns in the nation.

48:25 Moab would lose its strength, as when an animal lost its horn or when a person broke his arm.

48:26 The nation would also become an object of ridicule, like a drunkard who wallows in his own vomit, because it became arrogant toward Yahweh. Implicit here is the idea of Moab drinking from the cup of Yahweh's wrath that produces drunkenness, staggering, insanity, and vomiting (cf. 25:15-29; 49:12-13; 51:6-10, 39, 57; Isa. 51:17-23; et al.). The nation had not humbled itself under Yahweh's sovereign authority, and now judgment would come.

48:27 Moab would become just as much a laughingstock to other nations as Israel had been to Moab when the Assyrians destroyed the Northern Kingdom. The Moabite had held the Israelites in contempt ever since that defeat.

48:28 The Moabites would head for the hills and hide in the caves in view of the coming destruction of their cities. They would try to hide anywhere.

"The reputed silliness of the dove with its rickety nests is proverbial."⁵⁶³

Moab's pride would finally come to an end (vv. 29-39).

48:29 The sins of Moab were well-known: haughtiness, pride, arrogance, and self-exaltation.

"The sin of pride is one of the principal reasons for Moab's downfall. Had she boasted in the righteous deeds of the Lord (cf. Pss. 20:7; 34:2; Je. 9:24) she would have prospered. The Christian must avoid all false pride (cf. Mk. 7:22; Rom. 1:30; Jas. 3:5, etc.), and must boast instead in God's redemptive work in Christ (I Cor. 1:29f.; Gal. 6:14, etc.), since every human boast has been destroyed in Him (I Cor. 1:25-30)."⁵⁶⁴

48:30 Moab's arrogant anger and baseless boasts would not save her from her judgment.

48:31-33 The prophet would mourn over Moab's fate and for the fate of her people even more than people had wept over the fate of the fall of the town of Jazar. The Israelites had taken Jazar, a town 10 miles north of Heshbon, during their conquest of Transjordan (cf. Num. 21:32). Apparently the mourning over that destruction, or a subsequent one, had become proverbial. Moab was famous for its vineyards and fruit trees. Jeremiah compared the destruction to come to the cutting back of Moab's renowned products and its resulting sadness. The shouting would not be the glad rejoicing of treaders of grapes but the cries of warriors bent on destruction. Moab's tendrils stretching across the (Mediterranean) sea pictures her international trade in wine.⁵⁶⁵

48:34 The Moabites in Heshbon, Elealeh, and Jahaz would mourn her destruction as would those in Zoar, Horonaim, and Eglath-shelishiyah. Even the waters near Nimrim, evidently one of Moab's more popular sites, would become desolate.

48:35 Yahweh promised to destroy Moab because of her idolatry.

48:36 Jeremiah continued to mourn over Moab's destruction. His mourning was like the sound of flute players in that it too sounded like wailing. The abundance of Moab's lost produce was good reason to sorrow.

48:37-38 When the nation fell there would be people expressing their grief in traditional ways everywhere. They would shave their heads, cut their beards short, cut their hands, and wear sackcloth around their hips (cf. 4:8; 16:6; 41:5; 1 Kings 18:28; Amos 8:10; Mic. 1:16). People would be lamenting on their housetops and in the streets--everywhere. Yahweh would destroy Moab as a person smashed an earthenware vessel that he or she no longer desired.

48:39 The nation would suffer defeat, the people would lament, the inhabitants would repent out of shame, and the kingdom would become an object of ridicule and a fearful prospect for onlookers.

The final section of the oracle stresses the full end of Moab (vv. 40-47)

48:40 Yahweh affirmed that like a swift eagle (or vulture) Moab's destroyer would descend on her. This was a fit figure for Nebuchadnezzar (cf. 49:22; Deut. 28:49).

48:41 The hearts of even mighty men in the nation would fail, like the heart of a woman in labor, at the news that Kerieth, one of the strongest of Moab's cities, and other strongholds, had fallen.

48:42 Moab would cease to exist as a nation because it had been arrogant toward Yahweh; it had not humbled itself under the sovereign Lord of all nations.

48:43-44 Escape would be unavoidable. If a person escaped one form of judgment, another one would get him. The Lord's devices would trap the people just as certainly as hunters used terror, pits, and snares to capture animals.⁵⁶⁶ This would happen at the Lord's appointed time.

48:45 Fugitives of the invasion would huddle weak in the shadow of Heshbon, the ancient capital of Sihon, king of the Amorites, because of the devastation planned and executed from there (cf. v. 2). The invasion would rob Moab and its complacent revelers of their glory, as when fire burns someone's hair off.

48:46 Moab would experience woe. The people of Moab, their god Chemosh's people, would perish, and their children would go into captivity (cf. Num. 21:28-29; 24:17).

48:47 Yet Yahweh promised to restore the fortunes of Moab in the distant future (cf. 46:26; 49:6, 39). This happened after the Exile, and it will happen in the eschaton when modern residents of Moab's territory will stream to Jerusalem to worship Messiah in the Millennium.⁵⁶⁷

The reasons for Moab's judgment were not its treatment of Israel or Judah but hubris (overweening pride) against Yahweh (vv. 26, 42), complacency (vv. 11-12), and self-sufficiency (vv. 14, 29-30). She had not bowed in submission to the Lord of all the earth.

The fulfillment of this prophecy evidently came when Nebuchadnezzar returned to Canaan in 581 B.C. to quell a rebellion by Moab and Ammon. He also took more Judahites back to Babylon with him when he returned home (52:30).

"The Moabites were conquered by Nebuchadnezzar and disappeared as a nation."⁵⁶⁸

Introduction / Outline

JFB: Jeremiah (Book Introduction)

JEREMIAH, son of Hilkiah, one of the ordinary priests, dwelling in Anathoth of Benjamin (Jer 1:1), not the Hilkiah the high priest who discovered the book of the law (2Ki 22:8); had he been the same, the designation would have been "the priest", or "the high priest". Besides, his residence at Anathoth shows that he belonged to the line of Abiathar, who was deposed from the high priesthood by Solomon (1Ki 2:26-35), after which the office remained in Zadok's line. Mention occurs of Jeremiah in 2Ch 35:25; 2Ch 36:12, 2Ch 36:21. In 629 B.C. the thirteenth year of King Josiah, while still very young (Jer 1:5), he received his prophetical call in Anathoth (Jer 1:2); and along with Hilkiah the high priest, the prophetess Huldah, and the prophet Zephaniah, he helped forward Josiah's reformation of religion (2Ki. 23:1-25). Among the first charges to him was one that he should go and proclaim God's message in Jerusalem (Jer 2:2). He also took an official tour to announce to the cities of Judah the contents of the book of the law, found in the temple (Jer 11:6) five years after his call to prophesy. On his return to Anathoth, his countrymen, offended at his reproofs, conspired against his life. To escape their persecutions (Jer 11:21), as well as those of his own family (Jer 12:6), he left Anathoth and resided at Jerusalem. During the eighteen years of his ministry in Josiah's reign he was unmolested; also during the three months of Jehoahaz or Shallum's reign (Jer 22:10-12). On Jehoiakim's accession it became evident that Josiah's reformation effected nothing more than a forcible repression of idolatry and the establishment of the worship of God outwardly. The priests, prophets, and people then brought Jeremiah before the authorities, urging that he should be put to death for his denunciations of evil against the city (Jer 26:8-11). The princes, however, especially Ahikam, interposed in his behalf (Jer 26:16, Jer 26:24), but he was put under restraint, or at least deemed it prudent not to appear in public. In the fourth year of Jehoiakim (606 B.C.), he was commanded to write the predictions given orally through him, and to read them to the people. Being "shut up", he could not himself go into the house of the Lord (Jer 36:5); he therefore deputed Baruch, his amanuensis, to read them in public on the fast day. The princes thereupon advised Baruch and Jeremiah to hide themselves from the king's displeasure. Meanwhile they read the roll to the king, who was so enraged that he cut it with a knife and threw it into the fire; at the same time giving orders for the apprehension of the prophet and Baruch. They escaped Jehoiakim's violence, which had already killed the prophet Urijah (Jer 26:20-23). Baruch rewrote the words, with additional prophecies, on another roll (Jer 36:27-32). In the three months' reign of Jehoiachin or Jeconiah, he prophesied the carrying away of the king and the queen mother (Jer 13:18; Jer 22:24-30; compare 2Ki 24:12). In this reign he was imprisoned for a short time by Pashur (Jer. 20:1-18), the chief governor of the Lord's house; but at Zedekiah's accession he was free (Jer 37:4), for the king sent to him to "inquire of the Lord" when Nebuchadnezzar came up against Jerusalem (Jer 21:1-3, &c.; Jer 37:3). The Chaldeans drew off on hearing of the approach of Pharaoh's army (Jer 37:5); but Jeremiah warned the king that the Egyptians would forsake him, and the Chaldeans return and burn up the city (Jer 37:7-8). The princes, irritated at this, made the departure of Jeremiah from the city during the respite a pretext for imprisoning him, on the allegation of his deserting to the Chaldeans (Jer 38:1-5). He would have been left to perish in the dungeon of Malchiah, but for the intercession of Ebed-melech, the Ethiopian (Jer 38:6-13). Zedekiah, though he consulted Jeremiah in secret yet was induced by his princes to leave Jeremiah in prison (Jer 38:14-28) until Jerusalem was taken. Nebuchadnezzar directed his captain, Nebuzar-adan, to give him his freedom, so that he might either go to Babylon or stay with the remnant of his people as he chose. As a true patriot, notwithstanding the forty and a half years during which his country had repaid his services with neglect and persecution, he stayed with Gedaliah, the ruler appointed by Nebuchadnezzar over Judea (Jer 40:6). After the murder of Gedaliah by Ishmael, Johanan, the recognized ruler of the people, in fear of the Chaldeans avenging the murder of Gedaliah, fled with the people to Egypt, and forced Jeremiah and Baruch to accompany him, in spite of the prophet's warning that the people should perish if they went to Egypt, but be preserved by remaining in their land (Jer. 41:1-43:13). At Tahpanhes, a boundary city on the Tanitic or Pelustan branch of the Nile, he prophesied the overthrow of Egypt (Jer 43:8-13). Tradition says he died in Egypt. According to the PSEUDO-EPIPHANIUS, he was stoned at Taphnæ or Tahpanhes. The Jews so venerated him that they believed he would rise from the dead and be the forerunner of Messiah (Mat 16:14).

HAVERNICK observes that the combination of features in Jeremiah's character proves his divine mission; mild, timid, and susceptible of melancholy, yet intrepid in the discharge of his prophetic functions, not sparing the prince any more than the meanest of his subjects--the Spirit of prophecy controlling his natural temper and qualifying him for his hazardous undertaking, without doing violence to his individuality. Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Daniel, and Ezekiel were his contemporaries. The last forms a good contrast to Jeremiah, the Spirit in his case acting on a temperament as strongly marked by firmness as Jeremiah's was by shrinking and delicate sensitiveness. Ezekiel views the nation's sins as opposed to righteousness--Jeremiah, as productive of misery; the former takes the objective, the latter the subjective, view of the evils of the times. Jeremiah's style corresponds to his character: he is peculiarly marked by pathos, and sympathy with the wretched; his Lamentations illustrate this; the whole series of elegies has but one object--to express sorrow for his fallen country; yet the lights and images in which he presents this are so many, that the reader, so far from feeling it monotonous, is charmed with the variety of the plaintive strains throughout. The language is marked by Aramæisms, which probably was the ground of JEROME'S charge that the style is "rustic". LOWTH denies the charge and considers him in portions not inferior to Isaiah. His heaping of phrase on phrase, the repetition of stereotyped forms--and these often three times--are due to his affected feelings and to his desire to intensify the expression of them; he is at times more concise, energetic, and sublime, especially against foreign nations, and in the rhythmical parts.

The principle of the arrangement of his prophecies is hard to ascertain. The order of kings was--Josiah (under whom he prophesied eighteen years), Jehoahaz (three months), Jehoiakim (eleven years), Jeconiah (three months), Zedekiah (eleven years). But his prophecies under Josiah (the first through twentieth chapters) are immediately followed by a portion under Zedekiah (the twenty-first chapter). Again, Jer 24:8-10, as to Zedekiah, comes in the midst of the section as to Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Jeconiah (the twenty-second, twenty-third, twenty-fifth chapters, &c.) So the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth chapters as to Jehoiakim, follow the twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, thirty-third, thirty-fourth chapters, as to Zedekiah; and the forty-fifth chapter, dated the fourth year of Jehoiakim, comes after predictions as to the Jews who fled to Egypt after the overthrow of Jerusalem. EWALD thinks the present arrangement substantially Jeremiah's own; the various portions are prefaced by the same formula, "The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord" (Jer 7:1; Jer 11:1; Jer 18:1; Jer 21:1; Jer 25:1; Jer 30:1; Jer 32:1; Jer 34:1, Jer 34:8; Jer 35:1; Jer 40:1; Jer 44:1; compare Jer 14:1; Jer 46:1; Jer 47:1; Jer 49:34). Notes of time mark other divisions more or less historical (Jer 26:1; Jer 27:1; Jer 36:1; Jer 37:1). Two other portions are distinct of themselves (Jer 29:1; Jer 45:1). The second chapter has the shorter introduction which marks the beginning of a strophe; the third chapter seems imperfect, having as the introduction merely "saying" (Jer 3:1, Hebrew). Thus in the poetical parts, there are twenty-three sections divided into strophes of from seven to nine verses, marked some way thus, "The Lord said also unto me". They form five books: I. The Introduction, first chapter II. Reproofs of the Jews, the second through twenty-fourth chapters, made up of seven sections: (1) the second chapter (2) the third through sixth chapters; (3) the seventh through tenth chapters; (4) the eleventh through thirteenth chapters; (5) the fourteenth through seventeenth chapters; (6) the seventeenth through nineteenth and twentieth chapters; (7) the twenty-first through twenty-fourth chapters. III. Review of all nations in two sections: the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth through forty-ninth chapters, with a historical appendix of three sections, (1) the twenty-sixth chapter; (2) the twenty-seventh chapter; (3) the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth chapters. IV. Two sections picturing the hopes of brighter times, (1) the thirtieth and thirty-first chapters; (2) the thirty-second and thirty-third chapters; and an historical appendix in three sections: (1) Jer 34:1-7; (2) Jer 34:8-22; (3) Jer. 35:1-19. V. The conclusion, in two sections: (1) Jer 36:2; (2) Jer 45:1-5. Subsequently, in Egypt, he added Jer 46:13-26 to the previous prophecy as to Egypt; also the three sections, the thirty-seventh through thirty-ninth chapters; fortieth through forty-third chapters; and forty-fourth chapter. The fifty-second chapter was probably (see Jer 51:64) an appendix from a later hand, taken from 2Ki 24:18, &c.; 2Ki 25:30. The prophecies against the several foreign nations stand in a different order in the Hebrew from that of the Septuagint; also the prophecies against them in the Hebrew (the forty-sixth through fifty-first chapters) are in the Septuagint placed after Jer 25:14, forming the twenty-sixth and thirty-first chapters; the remainder of the twenty-fifth chapter of the Hebrew is the thirty-second chapter of the Septuagint. Some passages in the Hebrew (Jer 27:19-22; Jer 33:14-26; Jer 39:4-14 Jer 48:45-47) are not found in the Septuagint; the Greek translators must have had a different recension before them; probably an earlier one. The Hebrew is probably the latest and fullest edition from Jeremiah's own hand. See on Jer 25:13. The canonicity of his prophecies is established by quotations of them in the New Testament (see Mat 2:17; Mat 16:14; Heb 8:8-12; on Mat 27:9, see on Introduction to Zechariah); also by the testimony of Ecclesiasticus 49:7, which quotes Jer 1:10; of PHILO, who quotes his word as an "oracle"; and of the list of canonical books in MELITO, ORIGEN, JEROME, and the Talmud.

JFB: Jeremiah (Outline)

• EXPOSTULATION WITH THE JEWS, REMINDING THEM OF THEIR FORMER DEVOTEDNESS, AND GOD'S CONSEQUENT FAVOR, AND A DENUNCIATION OF GOD'S COMING JUDGMENTS FOR THEIR IDOLATRY. (Jer. 2:1-37)
• GOD'S MERCY NOTWITHSTANDING JUDAH'S VILENESS. (Jer. 3:1-25)
• CONTINUATION OF ADDRESS TO THE TEN TRIBES OF ISRAEL. (Jer 4:1-2). THE PROPHET TURNS AGAIN TO JUDAH, TO WHOM HE HAD ORIGINALLY BEEN SENT (Jer. 4:3-31). (Jer. 4:1-31)
• THE CAUSE OF THE JUDGMENTS TO BE INFLICTED IS THE UNIVERSAL CORRUPTION OF THE PEOPLE. (Jer. 5:1-31)
• ZION'S FOES PREPARE WAR AGAINST HER: HER SINS ARE THE CAUSE. (Jer. 6:1-30)
• THE SEVENTH THROUGH NINTH CHAPTERS. DELIVERED IN THE BEGINNING OF JEHOIAKIM'S REIGN, ON THE OCCASION OF SOME PUBLIC FESTIVAL. (Jer. 7:1-34)
• THE JEW'S COMING PUNISHMENT; THEIR UNIVERSAL AND INCURABLE IMPENITENCE. (Jer. 8:1-22) The victorious Babylonians were about to violate the sanctuaries of the dead in search of plunder; for ornaments, treasures, and insignia of royalty were usually buried with kings. Or rather, their purpose was to do the greatest dishonor to the dead (Isa 14:19).
• JEREMIAH'S LAMENTATION FOR THE JEWS' SINS AND CONSEQUENT PUNISHMENT. (Jer. 9:1-26) This verse is more fitly joined to the last chapter, as Jer 9:23 in the Hebrew (compare Isa 22:4; Lam 2:11; Lam 3:48).
• CONTRAST BETWEEN THE IDOLS AND JEHOVAH. THE PROPHET'S LAMENTATION AND PRAYER. (Jer. 10:1-25)
• EPITOME OF THE COVENANT FOUND IN THE TEMPLE IN JOSIAH'S REIGN. JUDAH'S REVOLT FROM IT, AND GOD'S CONSEQUENT WRATH. (Jer. 11:1-23)
• CONTINUATION OF THE SUBJECT AT THE CLOSE OF THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER. (Jer. 12:1-17) (Psa 51:4).
• SYMBOLICAL PROPHECY. (Jer 13:1-7). (Jer. 13:1-27)
• PROPHECIES ON THE OCCASION OF A DROUGHT SENT IN JUDGMENT ON JUDEA. (Jer. 14:1-22) Literally, "That which was the word of Jehovah to Jeremiah concerning the dearth"
• GOD'S REPLY TO JEREMIAH'S INTERCESSORY PRAYER. (Jer. 15:1-21)
• CONTINUATION OF THE PREVIOUS PROPHECY. (Jer. 16:1-21)
• THE JEWS' INVETERATE LOVE OF IDOLATRY. (Jer. 17:1-27) The first of the four clauses relates to the third, the second to the fourth, by alternate parallelism. The sense is: They are as keen after idols as if their propensity was "graven with an iron pen (Job 19:24) on their hearts," or as if it were sanctioned by a law "inscribed with a diamond point" on their altars. The names of their gods used to be written on "the horns of the altars" (Act 17:23). As the clause "on their hearts" refers to their inward propensity, so "on . . . altars," the outward exhibition of it. Others refer "on the horns of . . . altars" to their staining them with the blood of victims, in imitation of the Levitical precept (Exo 29:12; Lev 4:7, Lev 4:18), but "written . . . graven," would thus be inappropriate.
• GOD, AS THE SOLE SOVEREIGN, HAS AN ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO DEAL WITH NATIONS ACCORDING TO THEIR CONDUCT TOWARDS HIM; ILLUSTRATED IN A TANGIBLE FORM BY THE POTTER'S MOULDING OF VESSELS FROM CLAY. (Jer. 18:1-23)
• THE DESOLATION OF THE JEWS FOR THEIR SINS FORETOLD IN THE VALLEY OF HINNOM; THE SYMBOL OF BREAKING A BOTTLE. (Jer 19:1-15)
• JEREMIAH'S INCARCERATION BY PASHUR, THE PRINCIPAL OFFICER OF THE TEMPLE, FOR PROPHESYING WITHIN ITS PRECINCTS; HIS RENEWED PREDICTIONS AGAINST THE CITY, &c., ON HIS LIBERATION. (Jer. 20:1-18)
• ZEDEKIAH CONSULTS JEREMIAH WHAT IS TO BE THE EVENT OF THE WAR: GOD'S ANSWER. (Jer 21:1-14)
• EXHORTATION TO REPENTANCE; JUDGMENT ON SHALLUM, JEHOIAKIM, AND CONIAH. (Jer. 22:1-30)
• THE WICKED RULERS TO BE SUPERSEDED BY THE KING, WHO SHOULD REIGN OVER THE AGAIN UNITED PEOPLES, ISRAEL AND JUDAH. (Jer. 23:1-40)
• THE RESTORATION OF THE CAPTIVES IN BABYLON AND THE DESTRUCTION OF THE REFRACTORY PARTY IN JUDEA AND IN EGYPT, REPRESENTED UNDER THE TYPE OF A BASKET OF GOOD, AND ONE OF BAD, FIGS. (Jer 24:1-10)
• PROPHECY OF THE SEVENTY YEARS CAPTIVITY; AND AFTER THAT THE DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON, AND OF ALL THE NATIONS THAT OPPRESSED THE JEWS. (Jer. 25:1-38)
• JEREMIAH DECLARED WORTHY OF DEATH, BUT BY THE INTERPOSITION OF AHIKAM SAVED; THE SIMILAR CASES OF MICAH AND URIJAH BEING ADDUCED IN THE PROPHET'S FAVOR. (Jer. 26:1-24)
• THE FUTILITY OF RESISTING NEBUCHADNEZZAR ILLUSTRATED TO THE AMBASSADORS OF THE KING, DESIRING TO HAVE THE KING OF JUDAH CONFEDERATE WITH THEM, UNDER THE TYPE OF YOKES. JEREMIAH EXHORTS THEM AND ZEDEKIAH TO YIELD. (Jer. 27:1-22)
• PROPHECIES IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THOSE IN THE TWENTY-SEVENTH CHAPTER. HANANIAH BREAKS THE YOKES TO SIGNIFY THAT NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S YOKE SHALL BE BROKEN. JEREMIAH FORETELLS THAT YOKES OF IRON ARE TO SUCCEED THOSE OF WOOD, AND THAT HANANIAH SHALL DIE. (Jer. 28:1-17)
• LETTER OF JEREMIAH TO THE CAPTIVES IN BABYLON, TO COUNTERACT THE ASSURANCES GIVEN BY THE FALSE PROPHETS OF A SPEEDY RESTORATION. (Jer. 29:1-32)
• RESTORATION OF THE JEWS FROM BABYLON AFTER ITS CAPTURE, AND RAISING UP OF MESSIAH. (Jer. 30:1-24)
• CONTINUATION OF THE PROPHECY IN THE THIRTIETH CHAPTER. (Jer. 31:1-40)
• JEREMIAH, IMPRISONED FOR HIS PROPHECY AGAINST JERUSALEM, BUYS A PATRIMONIAL PROPERTY (HIS RELATIVE HANAMEEL'S), IN ORDER TO CERTIFY TO THE JEWS THEIR FUTURE RETURN FROM BABYLON. (Jer 32:1-14)
• PROPHECY OF THE RESTORATION FROM BABYLON, AND OF MESSIAH AS KING AND PRIEST. (Jer. 33:1-26)
• CAPTIVITY OF ZEDEKIAH AND THE PEOPLE FORETOLD FOR THEIR DISOBEDIENCE AND PERFIDY. (Jer. 34:1-22)
• PROPHECY IN THE REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM, WHEN THE CHALDEANS, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE SYRIANS AND MOABITES, INVADED JUDEA. (Jer. 35:1-19)
• BARUCH WRITES, AND READS PUBLICLY JEREMIAH'S PROPHECIES COLLECTED IN A VOLUME. THE ROLL IS BURNT BY JEHOIAKIM, AND WRITTEN AGAIN BY BARUCH AT JEREMIAH'S DICTATION. (Jer. 36:1-32)
• HISTORICAL SECTIONS, THIRTY-SEVENTH THROUGH FORTY-FOURTH CHAPTERS. THE CHALDEANS RAISE THE SIEGE TO GO AND MEET PHARAOH-HOPHRA. ZEDEKIAH SENDS TO JEREMIAH TO PRAY TO GOD IN BEHALF OF THE JEWS: IN VAIN, JEREMIAH TRIES TO ESCAPE TO HIS NATIVE PLACE, BUT IS ARRESTED. ZEDEKIAH ABATES THE RIGOR OF HIS IMPRISONMENT. (Jer. 37:1-21)
• JEREMIAH PREDICTS THE CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM, FOR WHICH HE IS CAST INTO A DUNGEON, BUT IS TRANSFERRED TO THE PRISON COURT ON THE INTERCESSION OF EBED-MELECH, AND HAS A SECRET INTERVIEW WITH ZEDEKIAH. (Jer. 38:1-28)
• JERUSALEM TAKEN. ZEDEKIAH'S FATE. JEREMIAH CARED FOR. EBED-MELECH ASSURED. (Jer. 39:1-18)
• JEREMIAH IS SET FREE AT RAMAH, AND GOES TO GEDALIAH, TO WHOM THE REMNANT OF JEWS REPAIR. JOHANAN WARNS GEDALIAH OF ISHMAEL'S CONSPIRACY IN VAIN. (Jer. 40:1-16)
• ISHMAEL MURDERS GEDALIAH AND OTHERS, THEN FLEES TO THE AMMONITES. JOHANAN PURSUES HIM, RECOVERS THE CAPTIVES, AND PURPOSES TO FLEE TO EGYPT FOR FEAR OF THE CHALDEANS. (Jer. 41:1-18)
• THE JEWS AND JOHANAN INQUIRE OF GOD, THROUGH JEREMIAH, AS TO GOING TO EGYPT, PROMISING OBEDIENCE TO HIS WILL. THEIR SAFETY ON CONDITION OF STAYING IN JUDEA, AND THEIR DESTRUCTION IN THE EVENT OF GOING TO EGYPT, ARE FORETOLD. THEM HYPOCRISY IN ASKING FOR COUNSEL WHICH THEY MEANT NOT TO FOLLOW, IF CONTRARY TO THEIR OWN DETERMINATION, IS REPROVED. (Jer. 42:1-22)
• THE JEWS CARRY JEREMIAH AND BARUCH INTO EGYPT. JEREMIAH FORETELLS BY A TYPE THE CONQUEST OF EGYPT BY NEBUCHADNEZZAR, AND THE FATE OF THE FUGITIVES. (Jer 43:1-13)
• JEREMIAH REPROVES THE JEWS FOR THEIR IDOLATRY IN EGYPT, AND DENOUNCES GOD'S JUDGMENTS ON THEM AND EGYPT ALIKE. (Jer. 44:1-30)
• JEREMIAH COMFORTS BARUCH. (Jer 45:1-5)
• THE PROPHECIES, FORTY-SIXTH THROUGH FIFTY-SECOND CHAPTERS, REFER TO FOREIGN PEOPLES. (Jer. 46:1-28) General heading of the next six chapters of prophecies concerning the Gentiles; the prophecies are arranged according to nations, not by the dates.
• PROPHECY AGAINST THE PHILISTINES. (Jer 47:1-7) Pharaoh-necho probably smote Gaza on his return after defeating Josiah at Megiddo (2Ch 35:20) [GROTIUS]. Or, Pharaoh-hophra (Jer 37:5, Jer 37:7) is intended: probably on his return from his fruitless attempt to save Jerusalem from the Chaldeans, he smote Gaza in order that his expedition might not be thought altogether in vain [CALVIN] (Amo 1:6-7).
• PROPHECY AGAINST MOAB. (Jer. 48:1-47)
• PREDICTIONS AS TO AMMON, IDUMEA, DAMASCUS, KEDAR, HAZOR, AND ELAM. (Jer. 49:1-39)
• BABYLON'S COMING DOWNFALL; ISRAEL'S REDEMPTION. (Jer. 50:1-46) Compare Isa. 45:1-47:15. But as the time of fulfilment drew nearer, the prophecies are now proportionally more distinct than then.
• CONTINUATION OF THE PROPHECY AGAINST BABYLON BEGUN IN THE FIFTIETH CHAPTER. (Jer. 51:1-64)
• WRITTEN BY SOME OTHER THAN JEREMIAH (PROBABLY EZRA) AS AN HISTORICAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE PREVIOUS PROPHECIES. (Jer. 52:1-34)

TSK: Jeremiah 48 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

Jer 48:1, The judgment of Moab, Jer 48:7, for their pride; Jer 48:11, for their security; Jer 48:14, for their carnal confidence; Jer 48:26, and for their contempt of God and his people; Jer 48:47, The restoration of Moab.

Poole: Jeremiah (Book Introduction)

BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH

THE ARGUMENT

IT was the great unhappiness of this prophet to be a physician to, but that could not save, a dying state, their disease still prevailing against the remedy; and indeed no wonder that all things were so much out of order, when the book of the law had been wanting above sixty years. He was called to be a teacher in his youth, in the days of good Josiah, being sanctified and ordained by God to his prophetical office from his mother’ s womb, Jer 1:5 in a very evil time, though the people afterward proved much worse upon the death of that good king. He setting himself against the torrent of the corruptions of the times, was always opposed and unkindly treated by his ungrateful countrymen, as also by false prophets, and the priests, princes, and people, who encouraged all their impieties and unrighteousness. At length he threatened their destruction and captivity by the Chaldeans, which he lived to see, but foretells their return after seventy years; all which accordingly came to pass. He doth also, notwithstanding his dreadful threatenings, intermix divers comfortable promises of the Messiah, and the days of the gospel; he denounceth also heavy judgments against the heathens nations that had afflicted God’ s people, both such as were near, and also more remote, as Egypt, the Philistines, Moab, Edomites, Ammonites, Damascus, Kedar, Hazor, Elam, but especially Babylon herself, that is made so great a type of the antichristian Babylon in the New Testament. Upon the murder of Gedaliah, whom the Chaldeans had made governor of Judea, he was forcibly against his will carried into Egypt, where (after he had prophesied from first to last between forty and fifty years) probably he died; some say he was stoned.

Whatever else we hear mentioned of his writings, they are either counterfeit, as the Prophecies of Baruch, &c., or it is likely we have the sum of them in this book, though possibly some of his sermons might have had some enlargements in that roll which, by his appointment, was written by Baruch, Jer 36:2 , &c.

Poole: Jeremiah 48 (Chapter Introduction)

CHAPTER 48

The judgment of Moab, Jer 48:1-6 , for their pride, Jer 48:7-10 ; for their security and human confidence, Jer 48:11-25 ; especially for their contempt of God, and insolence towards his people, Jer 48:26-46 . Their restoration, Jer 48:47 .

The prophet having, Jer 46 ; denounced God’ s judgment against Egypt, and against the Philistines, Jer 47 , in this chapter he cometh to do the like against the Moabites. Moab, the father of these Moabites, was the son of Lot, Gen 19:37 . the Moabites’ country lay in the way the Israelites went to Canaan, Num 21:11,13 , near the country of the Ammonites. Balak was king of it when the Israelites passed by it, who sent for the sorcerer Balaam to curse them, Num 22:5 , who, Num 24:5 , &c., blessed them. They seduced the Israelites to adultery and idolatry, Num 25:1 .

MHCC: Jeremiah (Book Introduction)

Jeremiah was a priest, a native of Anathoth, in the tribe of Benjamin. He was called to the prophetic office when very young, about seventy years after the death of Isaiah, and exercised it for about forty years with great faithfulness, till the sins of the Jewish nation came to their full measure and destruction followed. The prophecies of Jeremiah do not stand as they were delivered. Blayney has endeavoured to arrange them in more regular order, namely, ch. 1-20; 22; 23; 25; 26; 35; 36; Jer 45:1-5; Jer 24:1-10; 29; 30; 31; 27; 28; Jer 21:1-14; 34; 37; 32; 33; 38; 39; (Jer 39:15-18, Jer 39:1-14.) 40-44; 46-52. The general subject of his prophecies is the idolatry and other sins of the Jews; the judgments by which they were threatened, with references to their future restoration and deliverance, and promises of the Messiah. They are remarkable for plain and faithful reproofs, affectionate expostulations, and awful warnings.

MHCC: Jeremiah 48 (Chapter Introduction)

(Jer 48:1-13) Prophecies against Moab for pride and security.

(v. 14-47) For carnal confidence and contempt of God.

Matthew Henry: Jeremiah (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah

The Prophecies of the Old Testament, as the Epistles of the New, are placed rather according to their bulk than their seniority - the longest first, not the oldest. There were several prophets, and writing ones, that were contemporaries with Isaiah, as Micah, or a little before him, as Hosea, and Joel, and Amos, or soon after him, as Habakkuk and Nahum are supposed to have been; and yet the prophecy of Jeremiah, who began many years after Isaiah finished, is placed next to his, because there is so much in it. Where we meet with most of God's word, there let the preference be given; and yet those of less gifts are not to be despised nor excluded. Nothing now occurs to be observed further concerning prophecy in general; but concerning this prophet Jeremiah we may observe, I. That he was betimes a prophet; he began young, and therefore could say, from his own experience, that it is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth, the yoke both of service and of affliction, Lam 3:27. Jerome observes that Isaiah, who had more years over his head, had his tongue touched with a coal of fire, to purge away his iniquity (Isa 6:7), but that when God touched Jeremiah's mouth, who was yet but young, nothing was said of the purging of his iniquity (Jer 1:9), because, by reason of his tender years, he had not so much sin to answer for. II. That he continued long a prophet, some reckon fifty years, others above forty. He began in the thirteenth year of Josiah, when things went well under that good king, but he continued through all the wicked reigns that followed; for when we set out for the service of God, though the wind may then be fair and favourable, we know not how soon it may turn and be tempestuous. III. That he was a reproving prophet, was sent in God's name to tell Jacob of their sins and to warn them of the judgments of God that were coming upon them; and the critics observe that therefore his style or manner of speaking is more plain and rough, and less polite, than that of Isaiah and some others of the prophets. Those that are sent to discover sin ought to lay aside the enticing words of man's wisdom. Plain-dealing is best when we are dealing with sinners to bring them to repentance. IV. That he was a weeping prophet; so he is commonly called, not only because he penned the Lamentations, but because he was all along a mournful spectator of the sins of his people and of the desolating judgments that were coming upon them. And for this reason, perhaps, those who imagined our Saviour to be one of the prophets thought him of any of them to be most like to Jeremiah (Mat 16:14), because he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. V. That he was a suffering prophet. He was persecuted by his own people more than any of them, as we shall find in the story of this book; for he lived and preached just before the Jews' destruction by the Chaldeans, when their character seems to have been the same as it was just before their destruction by the Romans, when they killed the Lord Jesus, and persecuted his disciples, pleased not God, and were contrary to all men, for wrath had come upon them to the uttermost, 1Th 2:15, 1Th 2:16. The last account we have of him in his history is that the remaining Jews forced him to go down with them into Egypt; whereas the current tradition is, among Jews and Christians, that he suffered martyrdom. Hottinger, out of Elmakin, an Arabic historian, relates that, continuing to prophesy in Egypt against the Egyptians and other nations, he was stoned to death; and that long after, when Alexander entered Egypt, he took up the bones of Jeremiah where they were buried in obscurity, and carried them to Alexandria, and buried them there. The prophecies of this book which we have in the first nineteen chapters seem to be the heads of the sermons he preached in a way of general reproof for sin and denunciation of judgment; afterwards they are more particular and occasional, and mixed with the history of his day, but not placed in due order of time. With the threatenings are intermixed many gracious promises of mercy to the penitent, of the deliverance of the Jews out of their captivity, and some that have a plain reference to the kingdom of the Messiah. Among the Apocryphal writings an epistle is extant said to be written by Jeremiah to the captives in Babylon, warning them against the worship of idols, by exposing the vanity of idols and the folly of idolaters. It is in Baruch, ch. 6. But it is supposed not to be authentic; nor has it, I think, any thing like the life and spirit of Jeremiah's writings. It is also related concerning Jeremiah (2 Macc. 2:4) that, when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Chaldeans, he, by direction from God, took the ark and the altar of incense, and, carrying them to Mount Nebo lodged them in a hollow cave there and stopped the door; but some that followed him, and thought that they had marked the place, could not find it. He blamed them for seeking it, telling them that the place should be unknown till the time that God should gather his people together again. But I know not what credit is to be given to that story, though it is there said to be found in the records. We cannot but be concerned, in the reading of Jeremiah's prophecies, to find that they were so little regarded by the men of that generation; but let us make use of that as a reason why we should regard them the more; for they are written for our learning too, and for warning to us and to our land.

Matthew Henry: Jeremiah 48 (Chapter Introduction)

Moab is next set to the bar before Jeremiah the prophet, whom God has constituted judge over nations and kingdoms, from his mouth to receive its doom. Isaiah's predictions concerning Moab had had their accomplishment (we had the predictions Isa 15:1-9 and Isa 16:1-14 and the like Amo 2:1), and they were fulfilled when the Assyrians, under Salmanassar, invaded and distressed Moab. But this is a prophecy of the desolations of Moab by the Chaldeans, which were accomplished under Nebuzaradan, about five years after he had destroyed Jerusalem. Here is, I. The destruction foretold, that it should be great and general, should extend itself to all parts of the country (Jer 48:1-6, Jer 48:8, and again Jer 48:21-25, Jer 48:34), that spoilers should come upon them and force some to flee (Jer 48:9), should carry many into captivity (Jer 48:12, Jer 48:46), that the enemy should come shortly (Jer 48:16), come swiftly and surprise them (Jer 48:40, Jer 48:41), that he should make thorough work (Jer 48:10) and lay the country quite waste, though it was very strong (Jer 48:14, Jer 48:15), that there should be no escaping (Jer 48:42, Jer 48:45), that this should force them to quit their idols (Jer 48:13, Jer 48:35) and put an end to all their joy (Jer 48:33, Jer 48:34), that their neighbours shall lament them (Jer 48:17-19) and the prophet himself does (Jer 48:31, Jer 48:36, etc.). II. The causes of this destruction assigned; it was sin that brought this ruin upon them, their pride, and security, and carnal confidence (Jer 48:7, Jer 48:11, Jer 48:14, Jer 48:29), and their contempt of and enmity to God and his people (Jer 48:26, Jer 48:27, Jer 48:30). III. A promise of the restoration of Moab (v. 48).

Constable: Jeremiah (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Title

The title of this book derives from its writer, the late seventh and early sixth-century Judean prophet Jeremiah. The book occupies the second position in the Latter Prophets section of the Hebrew Bible after Isaiah and before Ezekiel, which accounts for its position in the Septuagint and most modern translations.

The meaning of "Jeremiah" is not clear. It could mean "Yahweh founds or establishes," "Yahweh exalts," "Yahweh throws down," "Yahweh hurls," or "Yahweh loosens (the womb)."

Writer

The composition and structure of Jeremiah, discussed below, have led many scholars to conclude that an editor or editors (redactors) probably put the book in its final form. Many conservatives, however, believe that Jeremiah himself was responsible for the final form, though it is clear that the book went through several revisions before it reached its final canonical form. Jeremiah could even have written the last chapter, which describes events that took place about 25 years after the next latest events, since he would have been approximately 83 years old, assuming he was still alive. Clearly Jeremiah's secretary, Baruch, provided the prophet with much assistance in writing the material and possibly arranging it in its final form (36:17-18; 45:1). Baruch was to Jeremiah what Luke was to Paul: his companion, amanuensis, and biographer. The book bears marks of having been assembled by one person at one time.

"There is no satisfactory reason for doubting that Jeremiah himself was the author of the entire book."¹

The Book of Jeremiah tells us more about the prophet Jeremiah than any other prophetic book reveals about its writer. It is highly biographical and autobiographical.² We know more about his personality than that of any other prophet.

Jeremiah's hometown was Anathoth, a Levitical town in the territory of Benjamin three miles northeast of Jerusalem.³ Jeremiah's father, Hilkiah, was evidently a descendant of Abiathar, a descendant of Eli (1 Sam. 14:3). Thus Jeremiah had ancestral connections to Shiloh, where the tabernacle stood during the judges period of Israel's history (the amphictyony). Jeremiah referred to Shiloh in his Temple Sermon (7:12, 14; 26:6). Abiathar was the sole survivor of King Saul's massacre of the priests at Nob, also only a few miles northeast of Jerusalem (1 Sam. 22:20). Later Solomon exiled Abiathar to Anathoth, where Abiathar had property, because Abiathar had proved unfaithful to David (1 Kings 2:26). Jeremiah's father Hilkiah may have been the high priest who found the book of the Law in the temple during Josiah's reforms (1 Kings 2:26).⁴ Even though Jeremiah came from a priestly family (like Ezekiel and Zechariah), there is no indication that he ever underwent training for the priesthood or functioned as a priest.

Jeremiah's date of birth is a matter of dispute. Most scholars believe he was born about 643 B.C., one year before the end of King Manasseh's reign.⁵ He probably died in Egypt.

"A late, unattested tradition, mentioned by Tertullian, Jerome, and others, claims that the people of Tahpanhes [in Egypt] stoned Jeremiah to death."⁶

His call to the prophetic office came in 627 or 626 B.C. (1:2; 25:3) when he would have been about 20 years old.⁷ His ministry as a prophet may have extended over 40 years.⁸ He evidently exercised his ministry mainly during periods of crisis in Judah's history, though it is impossible to date some of his prophecies. His ministry involved prophesying about Judah and the other ancient Near Eastern nations of his time (1:10).

Judging by Jeremiah's autobiographical remarks and the narrative information about him in this book, his life was a sad one, one long martyrdom. He probably encountered more opposition from more enemies than any other prophet. Much of it stemmed from his message to his own people: unconditional surrender to Babylon.

"No braver or more tragic figure ever trod the stage of Israel's history than the prophet Jeremiah. . . .

"Jeremiah was hated, jeered at, ostracized (e.g., chs. 15:10f., 17; 18:18; 20:10), continually harassed, and more than once almost killed (e.g., chs. 11:18 to 12:6; 26; 36)."⁹

Jeremiah is the only prophet who recorded his own feelings as he ministered, which makes him both very interesting and very helpful to other ministers. Some authorities believe that his greatest contribution to posterity is his personality.

". . . by birth a priest; by grace a prophet; by the trials of life a bulwark for God's truth; by daily spiritual experience one of the greatest exponents of prophetic faith in his unique relation to God; by temperament gentle and timid, yet constantly contending against the forces of sin; and by natural desire a seeker after the love of a companion, his family, friends, and above all, his people--which were all denied him."¹⁰

"He was a weeping prophet to a wayward people."¹¹

There are many similarities between Jeremiah and Hosea. Hosea announced the fall of Samaria, and Jeremiah announced the fall of Jerusalem. Both prophets experienced much personal tragedy. In his ideas as well as in his vocabulary, Jeremiah demonstrates familiarity with Hosea's prophecies. There are also affinities with Job and the Psalter.

There are also remarkable parallels between Jeremiah and the Lord Jesus Christ. No other prophet bears as many striking similarities to the Savior, which makes him the most Christ-like of the prophets. The people of Jesus' day noted these similarities (Matt. 16:14). In both cases Jerusalem was about to fall, the temple would suffer destruction soon, the worship of Yahweh had become a formalistic husk, and there was need for emphasis on individual relationship with God. Both men had a message for Israel and the whole world. Both of them used nature quite extensively for illustrative purposes in their teaching. Both came from a high tradition: Jeremiah from a priestly prophetic heritage and Jesus from a divine royal position. Both were very conscious of their call from God. Both condemned the commercialism of temple worship in their day (7:11: Matt. 21:13). Their enemies charged both of them with political treason. Both experienced persecutions, trials, and imprisonments. Both foretold the destruction of the temple (7:14; Matt. 13:2). Both wept over Jerusalem (9:1; Luke 19:41). Both condemned the priests of their day. Both experienced rejection by members of their own families (12:6; John 1:11). Both were so tenderhearted that some Jewish leaders identified them with the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53. Both loved Israel deeply. Both were lonely (15:10; Isa. 53:3). And both enjoyed unusually intimate fellowship with God (20:7; John 11:41-42).¹²

"It has often been remarked that Jeremiah's life was finally a failure. He was alone for most of his ministry. It seemed that no one gave any heed to his words. He was dragged off finally to live his last days in exile against his own will. He was a failure as the world judges human achievement. But a more balanced assessment of him would be that his very words of judgment saved Israel's faith from disintegration, and his words of hope finally helped his people to gain hope in God's future for them."¹³

"The character of Jeremiah is also reflected in his writings. His speech is clear and simple, incisive and pithy, and, though generally speaking somewhat diffuse, yet ever rich in thought. If it lacks the lofty strain, the soaring flight of an Isaiah, yet it has beauties of its own. It is distinguished by a wealth of new imagery which is wrought out with great delicacy and deep feeling, and by a versatility that easily adapts itself to the most various objects, and by artistic clearness' (Ewald)."¹⁴

Historical Background

The biblical records of the times in which Jeremiah ministered are 2 Kings 21-25 and 2 Chronicles 33-36. His contemporary prophets were Zephaniah and Habakkuk before the Exile, and Ezekiel and Daniel after it began.

King Manasseh had been Judah's most ungodly king, but toward the end of his life he repented (2 Chron. 33:15-19). He was responsible for many of the evil conditions that marked Judah in Jeremiah's earliest years (cf. 15:4; 2 Kings 23:26). His long life was not a blessing for faithfulness, as his father Hezekiah's had been, but an instrument of chastening for Judah.

King Amon succeeded Manasseh and reigned two years (642-640 B.C.). Rather than perpetuating the repentant attitude that his father had demonstrated, Amon reverted to the policies of Manasseh's earlier reign and rebelled against Yahweh completely. This provoked some of his officials to assassinate him (2 Kings 21:23).

Josiah was eight years old when his father Amon died. He began reigning then and continued on the throne for 31 years (640-609 B.C.). Josiah was one of Judah's best kings and one of the four reforming kings of the Southern Kingdom. He began to seek the Lord when he was 16 years old and began initiating religious reforms when he was 20 (2 Chron. 34:3-7). Jeremiah received his call to minister in the thirteenth year of Josiah when the king was 21, namely, 627 B.C. (1:6). Josiah's reforms were more extensive than those of any of his predecessors. He began the major projects when he was 26. During these years Assyria was declining as a world power and Neo-Babylonia was not yet the dominant empire it soon became. One of Josiah's projects was the repairing of Solomon's temple (v. 5; cf. 12:4-16). During its renovation Hilkiah, the high priest and possibly Jeremiah's father, discovered the Mosaic Law, which had been lost for a long time (cf. 2 Kings 22:8). This discovery spurred a return to the system of worship that the Book of Deuteronomy specified (2 Kings 23). Josiah also did much to clear the land of idolatry, sacred prostitution, child sacrifice, and pagan altars not only in Judah but also in some formerly Israelite territory. He also reinstituted the Passover. Unfortunately for Judah, Josiah felt compelled to travel to Megiddo to try and block Pharaoh Necho II from advancing north to assist the Assyrians in resisting the westward expanding Babylonians. Josiah died at Megiddo in 609 B.C. at the age of 39. His death was a tragic loss for Judah.

Some of Jeremiah's prophecies date from Josiah's reign.¹⁵ Zephaniah also ministered in Judah during the reign of Josiah as did the prophetess Huldah (2 Kings 22:14-20).

Three of Josiah's sons and one of his grandsons ruled Judah after his death. The first of these, though he was the second son, was Jehoahaz who ruled for only three months in 609 B.C. The Judean people favored Jehoahaz, but Pharaoh Necho, who by slaying Josiah gained control over Judah, found him uncooperative. Therefore, Pharaoh deported Jehoahaz to Egypt as a prisoner where he died (22:10-12). God gave Jeremiah a few prophecies during this king's brief reign.

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Jehoahaz's older brother Jehoiakim succeeded him on Judah's throne, thanks to Pharaoh Necho. He reigned for 11 years (609-598 B.C.). Jehoiakim was a weak king who changed allegiances between Egypt and Babylon whenever he thought a change might be to Judah's advantage. During his tenure Prince Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeated the allied Egyptian and Assyrian forces at Carchemish thus establishing Babylonian supremacy in the ancient Near East (605 B.C.). Shortly thereafter King Nebuchadnezzar, as he had become, invaded Palestine, conquered some cities, and took some of the nobles, including Daniel, as exiles to Babylon (Dan. 1:1-3). Jehoiakim refused to follow Jeremiah's counsel to submit to the Babylonians. Instead he showed his contempt for the prophet by burning his prophecies (ch. 36). Jeremiah despised this king for his wickedness (22:18-19; 26:20-23; 36). Jehoiakim rebelled against Babylon in 601 B.C., so the Babylonians deposed him and took him to Babylon (2 Chron. 36:6). Later they allowed him to return to Jerusalem where he died in 561 B.C. (cf. 22:19). Several of Jeremiah's prophecies apparently date from Jehoiakim's reign. Habakkuk probably also ministered at this time, as the content of his book suggests.

Jehoiakim's son Jehoiachin succeeded his father but only reigned for three months (598-597 B.C.). During that time Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem and carried off a large portion of the city's population (in 597 B.C.). The king was evil, and Jeremiah predicted that none of his sons would rule over the nation (22:30). He ended his days in Babylon enjoying the favor of the Babylonian king Evilmerodach (52:31-34).

Zedekiah was the third son of Josiah to rule Judah, and he too ruled under Nebuchadnezzar's sovereignty (597-586 B.C.). The Babylonian monarch summoned Zedekiah to Babylon in 593 B.C. (51:59), but he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar by making a treaty with Pharaoh Hophra (589-570 B.C.) under pressure from Judean nationalists (chs. 37-38). This resulted in the final siege of Jerusalem in 588 and its fall two years later in 586 B.C. (ch. 39).¹⁶ The Babylonians took Zedekiah captive to Riblah in Syria where they slew his sons and put out his eyes. He died later in Babylon. Since Jeremiah advocated surrender to the Babylonians, Nebuchadnezzar allowed him to choose where he wanted to live when Jerusalem fell, and the prophet elected to stay where he was.

Shortly after he defeated Zedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar set up a pro-Babylonian Judean named Gedaliah as his governor (40:5-6). But a group of Jewish nationalists under Ishmael's leadership assassinated Gedaliah within the year (586 B.C.; 41:2). This ill-advised act resulted in the rebels having to flee to Egypt for safety from Nebuchadnezzar. They forced Jeremiah to accompany them against his will (chs. 42-43). There the prophet evidently spent the remaining years of his life and produced his final prophecies.¹⁷

Important Dates for Jeremiah
Years	Events	References
643	Probable date of Jeremiah's birth
640	Josiah becomes king of Judah at age 8	2 Chron. 34:1
628	Josiah begins his reforms	2 Chron. 34:3
627	Jeremiah begins his ministry	Jer. 1:2; 25:3
626	Nabopolassar founds the Neo-Babylonian Empire
622	The book of the Law discovered in the temple	2 Chron. 34:8, 14
612	The fall of Nineveh, Assyria's capitol
609	Josiah killed in battle by Egyptians at Megiddo	2 Chron. 35:20-25
	Jehoahaz reigns over Judah for 3 months	2 Chron. 36:1-3
	Jehoiakim made king of Judah by Pharaoh Necho	2 Chron. 36:4
605	Nebuchadnezzar defeats the Egyptians at Carchemish	Jer. 46:2
	The first deportation of exiles (including Daniel) to Babylon	Dan. 1:1-7
604	Jehoiakim burns Jeremiah's first scroll	Jer. 36
601	Jehoiakim rebels against Babylon	2 Kings 24:1
598	Jehoiakim is deposed and dies	2 Chron. 36:3
	Jehioachin reigns over Judah for 3 months	2 Kings 24:8
597	The second deportation of exiles (including Jehoiachin) to Babylon	2 Kings 24:12-16
	Zedekiah made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar	2 Kings 24:17
593	Zedekiah summoned to Babylon	Jer. 51:59
588	Zedekiah is besieged in Jerusalem for treachery	Jer. 52:3-4
586	Fall of Jerusalem	Jer. 39
	Gedaliah appointed governor of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar	Jer. 40:5-6
	Gedaliah assassinated by Ishmael	Jer. 41:2
	Judean refugees flee to Egypt taking Jeremiah with them	Jer. 42-43
581	The third deportation of exiles to Babylon	Jer. 52:30
568	Nebuchadnezzar invades Egypt	Jer. 43:8-13; 46:13-26
561	Jehoiachin released from prison in Babylon	Jer. 52:31-34
539	Fall of Babylon to Cyrus the Persian	Dan. 5:30
538	Cyrus issues his decree allowing the Jews to return to Palestine	Ezra 1:1-4

Date

As has already been pointed out, Jeremiah gave the prophecies and composed the narratives that constitute this book at various times during his long ministry. The date at which the book reached the state in which it is today is debatable. Most scholars believe that editors continued to add and rearrange the material long after Jeremiah's day. However, the tradition that Jeremiah was responsible for the book is old and has encouraged conservative scholars to view it as the product of the prophet himself or perhaps his scribe Baruch. If Jeremiah was the final editor of the work, as well as its writer, he completed this editorial task after his last historical reference and before his death. The last historical reference is Jehoiachin's release from captivity in Babylon (561 B.C.; 52:31-34). We do not know when Jeremiah died, but if he was born about 643 B.C., he probably did not live much beyond 560 B.C. Some scholars believe Jeremiah wrote this account himself and or that Baruch provided it. Others believe the writer of the Book of Kings added it to the collections of Jeremiah's writings.¹⁸ One writer speculated that the final canonical form of the book was in circulation not later than 520 B.C.¹⁹ Another believed it was available shortly after Jeremiah's death, which he guessed was about 586 B.C.²⁰

Audience

Jeremiah ministered to the people of Judah during the last days of the monarchy and the early part of the captivity. Almost all of his ministry took place in Jerusalem. He spoke to kings, priests, and prophets, as well as the ordinary citizens, and he delivered oracles against foreign nations.

"The book of Jeremiah and the book of Lamentations show how God looks at a culture which knew Him and deliberately turned away."²¹

Purpose

Jeremiah's purpose was to call his hearers to repentance in view of God's judgment on Judah, which would come soon from an army from the north (chs. 2-45). Judgment was coming because God's people had forsaken Yahweh and had given themselves to idolatry. Jeremiah spoke more about repentance than any other prophet. He also assured his audience that God had a future for Israel and Judah (chs. 30-33). Once it became clear that the people would not repent, he advocated submission to Babylon to minimize the destruction that was inevitable. As God's prophetic spokesman, he also uttered oracles against the nations that opposed God's chosen people (chs. 46-51).

"The theme of this prophet consists largely in a stern warning to Judah to turn from idolatry and sin to avoid the catastrophe of exile."²²

Theological Emphases

The Book of Jeremiah is not theologically organized in the sense that it develops a certain theological emphasis as it unfolds, as Isaiah does. Rather it presents certain theological truths in greater or lesser degree throughout its 52 chapters. The dominant theological emphases are as follows.

The prophet paid more attention to God and the Israelites than to any other subjects of revelation. His appreciation for God as the Lord of all creation is noteworthy. In contrast to Isaiah, Micah, Zechariah, and Daniel, Jeremiah did not reveal much about the coming Messiah, though he did record some significant messianic predictions. A coming revealer would outshine the ark of the covenant (3:14-17), and the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant promises would come (33:14-26).

Regarding the Israelites, Jeremiah stressed the fact that immorality always accompanies idolatry. Israel's present problems were the result of her past and present apostasy. The priests, Jeremiah asserted, were primarily responsible for the degeneration of worship from spiritual to merely formal, though several false prophets also misled the people. The Judahites could not escape going into captivity because they refused to repent. Therefore, they needed to accept the inevitable and not resist the Babylonians. Jerusalem and Judah would suffer destruction, the Davidic kings would not rule (for some time), and the Israelites would lose their land (temporarily). But there would be a return from exile (25:11; 29:10). Israel had hope of a glorious future in view of God's faithfulness to His promises (32:1-15). In the distant future, Israel would return in penitence to the Lord (32:37-40). Messiah would rule over her (23:5-8).

". . . Jeremiah placed an enormous emphasis on the sins and misdeeds of Israel. . . .

"The evil deeds in which Israel was involved were of two broad classes--the worship of false gods, and the perpetration of personal and social sins of an ethical and moral kind."²³

"The theology of the book of Jeremiah may be summarized as follows: God's judgment would fall on Judah because she had broken His covenant."²⁴

The nations were God's agents in executing His will, particularly Nebuchadnezzar (27:6). But Babylon would fall (chs. 50-51). The nations, as well as Israel, needed to demonstrate righteousness (chs. 46-51). God had a concern for the nations as well as for His people (29:1-14). In the distant future, the remnant of the nations would enjoy blessing from the Lord (3:17; 16:19).

There is also a strong emphasis on the biblical covenants in Jeremiah, particularly the Mosaic and New Covenants. Jeremiah viewed Israel as the chosen people of God adopted by Him for a special relationship with Himself and for a special purpose in the world. The Mosaic Covenant was pure grace, and Yahweh had made it with a redeemed people. It involved promises from God and responsibilities for the Israelites that required trust, obedience, and holiness. Obedience would result in blessing from God, and disobedience would yield divine cursing. The prophet knew the Mosaic Law and compared the conduct of the people to what it required.²⁵ Jeremiah anticipated the appearing of the promised Davidic Messiah and the fulfillment of the kingdom promises that God had made to David. He also predicted that God would make a new covenant with the Israelites sometime in the future that would involve new provisions and conditions for living (31:31-34). It would replace the old Mosaic Covenant and would feature personal relationship with God to an extent never experienced before.

"Probably the outstanding emphasis in Jeremiah's ministry was the priority of the spiritual over everything else. He saw how secondary the temporal features of Judah's faith were. . . .

"The lasting value of Jeremiah's book lies not only in the allusions (between forty and fifty of them) in the NT (over half are in Revelation) but also in its being a wonderful handbook for learning the art of having fellowship with God."²⁶

Composition

The present canonical form of the book was probably the result of a long and complex process of collection. The Book of Psalms also underwent compilation in a similar fashion over many years. The compilation is not chronological, but it did occur in stages.

"Precisely how the final form of the prophecy arose is unknown."²⁷

In some cases key words link units of material together. There is also some grouping of subject matter according to genre within the larger sections of the book.²⁸

The attempt to identify the original sources of material in Bible books is a worthy subject of study, but the purpose of these notes is to expound the text.²⁹ The book itself indicates that King Jehoiakim destroyed some of Jeremiah's earlier written prophecies and that Baruch rewrote them and added more to form another collection (ch. 36). This information explains to some extent the anthological structure of the book and suggests that Jeremiah, Baruch, and perhaps others added even more prophecies as time passed and that the final product is what we have.

"It is clear that the book assumed its present form either very late in the prophet's lifetime, or more probably after his death."³⁰

Genre

About half of Jeremiah is poetry and half prose. But poetry and prose appear side by side in many sections of the book; several literary units contain both forms of composition.

Scholars have identified three types of literature (genre) in Jeremiah: poetic sayings or oracles (so-called Type A material), prose narratives that are largely biographical and historical (so-called Type B material), and prose speeches or discourses (so-called Type C material).³¹

Several generations of scholars have held that the poetic oracles toward the first part of the book represent Jeremiah's original sayings, and the historical and biographical narratives that follow were the product of Baruch, Jeremiah's scribe. This view, while a common one, contains serious problems, and many competent authorities have pointed out the inconsistencies of this position. I mention it here because it is a common view, not because I accept it. I do not.

Structure

Like most other prophetic books of the Old Testament, Jeremiah is a collection of oracles and other materials. It is an anthology of Jeremiah's speeches and writings, really an anthology of anthologies. It is not like a novel that one may read from start to finish discovering that it unfolds in a logical fashion as it goes.

"No commentator, ancient or modern, has seriously posited a chronological arrangement of its prophecies."³²

This book, even more than most of the other prophetic books, strikes the western mind initially as not following any consistently logical order, especially within the body of the book. The difficulty that students of Jeremiah have had in discovering its underlying plan is clear from the fact that commentators have offered so many different outlines of it.³³

"When we come to inquire whether any principles of arrangement can be observed in the book of Jeremiah, we have to admit that any consistent principles escape us."³⁴

". . . it is often difficult to see why certain passages occur at precisely the point where they do occur."³⁵

Distinctive Features

In addition to the lack of a clear organizing plan, Jeremiah is quite repetitive. The repetition is for emphasis, no doubt, and many very similar passages occur two and even three times.

The last chapter is unique because someone must have written it long after the rest of the book. The options are that Jeremiah or Baruch wrote it or that some other writer added it later. There is no way to tell for sure who wrote it or when, but it's purpose seems clear enough. It provides hope at the end of a record of discouraging circumstances.

The biographical and autobiographical sections of the book are also distinctive. No other prophet wrote as much about himself and his experiences as Jeremiah did, and no other prophet let us into his head and his heart as much as he did by sharing how he thought and felt.

Jeremiah used object lessons to communicate spiritual truth more than the other prophets. He made his prophecies concrete and vivid by this means. He did not delight to paint word pictures as much as Isaiah did, but he did acts and spoke of real situations far more than that earlier prophet did.

Text

The history of the textual transmission of Jeremiah is unusual. The Septuagint (Greek) translation, made in the third and second centuries B.C. in Alexandria, Egypt, is about one-eighth shorter than the Masoretic Text (the Hebrew text formalized in the fifth century A.D. that is the basis for the modern Hebrew Bible and our English translations). In addition to its being shorter, the arrangement of material in the book is in a different order in several places. The Septuagint version of Jeremiah differs from the Hebrew more widely than is true of any other Old Testament book. There are omissions, additions, transpositions, alterations, and substitutions.³⁶

Probably the Septuagint translators worked from a different version of Jeremiah than the one that was the basis for the Masoretic Text.³⁷ The Septuagint was the Bible of most of the early Christians, especially those who lived outside Palestine. Which version is more reliable, the shorter one that they used (and quoted in the New Testament) or the longer one that we have? Most conservative scholars believe that the Masoretic Text has a solid history and is more reliable than the Septuagint. The differences between these two versions are not significant in terms of theology. We do not have contradictions between what the New Testament writers quoted as being from Jeremiah and what we read in our English translations of Jeremiah.³⁸

Message³⁹

The reader of Jeremiah must have a knowledge of the times in which this prophet lived and ministered to appreciate the message of this book. This is more important for understanding Jeremiah than it is for understanding any other prophetic book.

Jeremiah lived in days of darkness and disaster. He ministered about a century after Isaiah had finished prophesying. The Northern Kingdom was no more; it had ceased to exist with the Assyrian invasion of 722 B.C. Only the Southern Kingdom of Judah remained.

Two strong nations greatly affected life in Judah when Jeremiah began his ministry: Egypt on the southwest, and Assyria on the northeast. Judah was the jelly in this sandwich and found herself pressed on both sides. Instead of looking to God for their security, the people looked either to Egypt or to Assyria. There were two parties in Jeremiah's day: the pro-Egyptian party and the pro-Assyrian party. Each vied with the other trying to gain supporters for alliances with their particular favorite superpower, trying to outwit their opponents and trick their enemy.

The internal condition of Judah was the result of 52 years of rule by the apostate King Manasseh who reacted to godly King Hezekiah's trust in Yahweh.

Manasseh, and King Amon who ruled after him for two years, set up pagan altars all over Judah. These kings encouraged idolatry of every sort, even in the Jerusalem temple. The people departed farther and farther from the Lord. It was a condition very much like the one in North America today.

The next king was Josiah. Josiah tried to turn the people back to the Lord, but his reforms were more external than internal. The people just did not want to submit to Yahweh. They had gone their own way for so long that they viewed following the Mosaic Law as a step backward rather than forward. Jeremiah began to minister during Josiah's reign. Unfortunately Josiah died prematurely, so his reforms did not last very long or have much effect.

The four kings who followed Josiah, the last four in Judah's history, were all weak men who lacked spiritual conviction. They just played politics and tried to win Judah's security through political intrigue and alliances. Three of these sad rulers were sons of Josiah: Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah. The fourth was Josiah's grandson, Jehoiachin, the son of Jehoiakim. The last of these kings was Zedekiah, the most spineless of them all. He was a chameleon, a double-minded man who was unstable in all his ways. Jeremiah ministered during the reigns of these four kings until Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 586 B.C., and he ministered beyond that from Egypt.

Throughout Jeremiah's entire ministry he was never blessed to see the people of Judah turn back to God. Repentance was one of his greatest pleas, but the kings, priests, false prophets, and ordinary citizens did not return to the Lord. He did not check the deterioration of his nation. He was very unpopular in his day because he was always preaching to the people to do the opposite of what they wanted to do. Even after the fall of the nation the Judahites proved unresponsive to his preaching. There was no encouraging revival in his day, as there was in Isaiah's day with the appearance of King Hezekiah. Things just kept going from bad to worse.

The meaning of "Jeremiah" is not clear. It could mean "Yahweh founds or establishes," "Yahweh exalts," "Yahweh throws down," "Yahweh hurls," or "Yahweh loosens." All of these meanings reflect aspects of Jeremiah's ministry as a prophet. He announced that Yahweh founds or establishes those who trust in Him rather than trusting in other people or nations. He announced that Yahweh eventually exalts those whom He has chosen and that He throws down and humbles those who disregard Him. He also announced that Yahweh hurls into captivity people who depart from Him and loosens from their captivity those whom He has disciplined.

Just as God had foreordained Jeremiah to his ministry (1:5), so He had foreordained Israel to a royal priestly ministry on the earth (Exod. 19:5-6). Just as Jeremiah felt inadequate for his ministry (1:6), so Israel was inadequate to fulfill her calling without divine enablement. And just as Jeremiah received divine enablement for his ministry (1:7-8), so Israel received divine enablement for hers.

What was true for Jeremiah on the personal level and for Israel on the national level is also true for Christians on the personal level and for the church on the corporate level.

The Book of Jeremiah also reveals more about the person of the prophet than any other prophetic book. Jeremiah shared his life with His Lord, and the Lord shared the record of Jeremiah's life with the reader. Four things characterized Jeremiah: his simplicity, his sensitivity, his strength, and his spirituality.

We see the first indication of Jeremiah's simplicity in his response to the Lord's call when he was a teenager. He realized that he was an inadequate child (1:7). He never lost that sense of inadequacy. He was poor in spirit in that he sensed his own personal lack of resources to carry out the task God had given him (cf. Matt. 5:3).

We see his sensitivity in the way he shrunk from his work. He confessed to his Lord how much he disliked having to proclaim messages of judgment to the people he loved. He felt the pain of the prophecies he delivered. He mourned over the fate of his hardhearted and stubborn fellow Judahites (cf. Matt. 5:4).

We see Jeremiah's strength in his willingness to stand alone against the popular opinions and opinion makers of his day. He always delivered the whole message that God had given him to proclaim, and he never stopped speaking what God told him to say. He was persecuted for the sake of righteousness (cf. Matt. 5:10). His contemporaries reviled him, persecuted him, and said all kinds of evil things against him falsely (Matt. 5:11). Nevertheless through it all Jeremiah followed God faithfully, and undoubtedly his reward in heaven will be great (Matt. 5:12).

No prophet in the Old Testament was more like our Lord Jesus Christ than Jeremiah. He faithfully represented the true King of Israel, Yahweh, when the Judahites rejected His authority and neglected His grace. He was God's representative on the earth when people were acting like there was no Sovereign in heaven. God knew him and chose him before his birth, equipped him by giving him His word, led him to practice a simple and solitary lifestyle, strengthened him to love his people, enabled him to oppose the apostasy of his day, and preserved his life until his work was done.

One of the great values of the Book of Jeremiah is that it reveals how God behaves when His people fail Him and depart from Him.

When His people fail Him and depart from Him, God judges their sin. As Isaiah emphasizes the salvation of God, Jeremiah stresses the judgment of God. God enabled Jeremiah to see what the Judahites did not see, namely that all the bad things that were happening to them were divine discipline on them for their apostasy. The people interpreted these calamities as the result of their failure to continue worshipping the Queen of Heaven and their other pagan idols (44:18). Jeremiah saw that sin leads to death. He came to appreciate the devastating effects of sin. Ever since the Fall Satan has been convincing people that they can sin with impunity. Jeremiah shows that the sin of God's people will find us out, and when it does there is a terrible price to pay.

Jeremiah also reveals how human sin causes great suffering for God. It breaks His heart when His people sin. Not only did God explain to Jeremiah how sin hurt Him, but Jeremiah reflected God's pain over sin with his own tears and terror at the prospect of the fall of Jerusalem and its attending horrors. We see God's attitude toward the people in the prophet's attitude.

Jeremiah also reveals that there is life beyond sin, there is victory over sin. In the prophet's life we see how God blessed him and preserved His faithful servant in the midst of what we might compare to the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City. In Jeremiah's messages to Judah, Israel, and the nations we see how bright the distant future is beyond the present judgment for sin. God's plans for humankind are plans for blessing ultimately. Judgment is His immediate response to sin, but blessing is His ultimate purpose. The politicians in Jeremiah's day blamed the nation's troubles on the nations around them. Jeremiah blamed them on the internal condition of Judah herself.

We need voices and lives like Jeremiah's today calling people to recognize the fact that all ruin and loss and national decay are due to forgetting God who lifts up or breaks down according to how we relate to Him. Though Jeremiah lived 2, 600 years ago, his voice continues to challenge us today. We appear to be ministering in a context very similar to Jeremiah's. The study of his life and ministry encourages and motivates us to remain faithful. He enables us to understand what Christ-like ministry in such a context looks like.

What is the message of Jeremiah? Jeremiah teaches us that God's judgment falls when people break His covenant. There are constant references to Judah's covenant unfaithfulness to her sovereign suzerain. Judgment is inevitable unless there is repentance. But when there is repentance, God is rich in mercy. One of Jeremiah's favorite words was shub, meaning "return." God and he held out the possibility of return and release from judgment as long as possible. However, as with Pharaoh, repentance is not always possible when one resists Yahweh continually (cf. Heb. 6:4-6). It was not possible eventually for Judah.

There are at least three abiding lessons of this book.

Sin brings destruction. No policy can outmaneuver God. National rebellion is national ruin. Sin brings with it its own destruction and retribution.

Sin wounds the heart of God. He weeps over the doom of a city and its people. He does not delight in bringing devastation and ruin, and neither should His servants.

The ultimate victory is with God. He made again the vessel that He destroyed because of its flaws. The stump of David will sprout. Though the last Davidic king died in exile, God promised that another Davidic King would emerge (23:5; 30:9). There is hope of a new covenant and enabling grace that will replace the old covenant that no one could keep (31:31-34).

Constable: Jeremiah (Outline)

Outline

I. Introduction ch. 1

A. The introduction of Jeremiah 1:1-3

B. The call of Jeremiah 1:4-19

1. The promise of divine enablement 1:4-10

2. Two confirming visions 1:11-19

II. Prophecies about Judah chs. 2-45

A. Warnings of judgment on Judah and Jerusalem chs. 2-25

1. Warnings of coming punishment because of Judah's guilt chs. 2-6

2. Warnings about apostasy and its consequences chs. 7-10

3. Warnings in view of present conditions 11:1-15:9

4. Warnings in view of Judah's hardheartedness 15:10-25:38

B. Controversies concerning false prophets chs. 26-29

1. Conflict with the people ch. 26

2. Conflict with the false prophets in Jerusalem chs. 27-28

3. Conflict with the false prophets in exile ch. 29

C. The Book of Consolation chs. 30-33

1. The restoration of all Israel chs. 30-31

2. The restoration of Judah and Jerusalem chs. 32-33

D. Incidents surrounding the fall of Jerusalem chs. 34-45

1. Incidents before the fall of Jerusalem chs. 34-36

2. Incidents during the fall of Jerusalem chs. 37-39

3. Incidents after the fall of Jerusalem chs. 40-45

III. Prophecies about the nations chs. 46-51

A. The oracle against Egypt ch. 46

B. The oracle against the Philistines ch. 47

C. The oracle against Moab ch. 48

D. The oracle against Ammon 49:1-6

E. The oracle against Edom 49:7-22

F. The oracle against Damascus 49:23-27

G. The oracle against the Arab tribes 49:28-33

H. The oracle against Elam 49:34-39

I. The oracle against Babylon chs. 50-51

IV. Conclusion ch. 52.

A. The fall of Jerusalem and the capture of Zedekiah 52:1-16

B. The sacking of the temple 52:17-23

C. The numbers deported to Babylon 52:24-30

D. The release of Jehoiachin from prison 52:31-34

Constable: Jeremiah

Jeremiah

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

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Haydock: Jeremiah (Book Introduction)

THE PROPHECY OF JEREMIAS.

INTRODUCTION.

Jeremias was a priest, a native of Anathoth, a priestly city, in the tribe of Benjamin, and was sanctified from his mother's womb to be a prophet of God; which office he began to execute when he was yet a child in age. He was in his whole life, according to the signification of his name, great before the Lord, and a special figure of Jesus Christ, in the persecutions he underwent for discharging his duty, in his charity for his persecutors, and in the violent death he suffered at their hands; it being an ancient tradition of the Hebrews, that he was stoned to death by the remnant of the Jews who had retired into Egypt, (Challoner) at Taphnes. His style is plaintive, (Worthington) like that of Simonides, (Calmet) and not so noble as that of Isaias and Osee. (St. Jerome) --- He was the prophet of the Gentiles, as well as of the Jews, predicting many things which befell both, and particularly the liberation of the latter, the year of the world 3485, after the seventy years' captivity, dating from the year of the world 3415, (Calmet) or 3398, the 4th of Joakim. (Usher) (Chap. xxv.) (Haydock) --- He began to prophesy when he was very young, the year of the world 3375, in the 13th year of Josias, (Calmet) before that prince had brought his reformation to any great perfection. (Haydock)

Gill: Jeremiah (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH

The title of the book in the Vulgate Latin version is, "the Prophecy of Jeremiah"; in the Syriac and Arabic versions, "the Prophecy of the Prophet Jeremiah". According to a tradition of the Jews ^a, this book stands the first of the Prophets, the order of which is, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and the twelve. Kimchi makes mention of it in a preface to his comment on this book; and Dr. Lightfoot from hence concludes, that this is the reason why a passage in Zechariah is cited under the name of Jeremy, Mat 27:9, because he standing first in the volume of the Prophets gave name to the whole; just as the book of Psalms, being the first of the Hagiographa, they are called the Psalms from it, Luk 24:44. The name of the writer of this book, Jeremiah, signifies, "the Lord shall exalt", or "be exalted"; or, "exalting the Lord"; being composed of ירם, "he shall exalt", and יה, "Jehovah", according to Hillerus ^b. Though others ^c take it to be a composition of יה, and ירמה, "the Lord shall cast down"; as he did his enemies, and also himself, he being greatly afflicted; and which suits with the argument of his book, foretelling the casting away of the people of the Jews. His style of writing, according to the opinion of Jerom ^d, is more rustic than that of Isaiah and some other prophets, and which he attributes to his being born and brought up in a country village; and Abarbinel to his age, being a child when he began to prophesy. The duration of his prophesying was forty years and upwards. He began to prophesy in the thirteenth year of Josiah's reign; in 3375 A.M. or before the era of Christ 629, according both to Bishop Usher ^e and Mr. Whiston ^f, and the Universal History ^g; and according to Mr. Bedford ^h 627. If any credit can be given to Epiphanius ⁱ, or to the writer that bears his name, he was stoned to death by the people at Taphnas in Egypt, and was buried where Pharaoh dwelt. Abulpharagius, an Arabic writer ^k, says, that he went to Egypt, where some of the Jews took him and put him into a well, and afterwards took him out and stoned him, so that he died, and he was buried in Egypt; and was from thence removed by Alexander, in his time, to Alexandria, and buried there. And both Tertullian ^l and Jerom ^m affirm that he was stoned by the people. This prophecy contains several discourses delivered to the people of the Jews; charging them with many sins they were guilty of; exhorting them to repentance; threatening them with the destruction of their city and temple, and with captivity in Babylon; and comforting the saints, not only with a promise of deliverance from thence, but of spiritual redemption by the Messiah. And it also has in it several predictions of judgments upon other nations; and gives a particular account of the destruction of Jerusalem, and of the carrying of the Jews captive into Babylon; which he lived to see, as the fulfilment of his prophecies.

Gill: Jeremiah 48 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 48

This chapter contains a prophecy of the destruction of Moab, and of the mourning that should be for it; and not only its destruction in general is predicted, but particular places are mentioned, on which it should fall, Jer 48:1; the causes of which were their confidence in their works and riches, their carnal ease and security, and their idolatry, they should now be ashamed of, Jer 48:6; and this destruction is represented both as certain and as near, notwithstanding their mighty warriors and choice young men, Jer 48:14; and then other cities are particularly named, that should share in the calamity, Jer 48:18; and all this because of their insolence to the Lord; their contempt of his people; their pride, arrogance, and haughtiness; their wrath, and their lies, Jer 48:26; and this destruction is further exaggerated by the lamentation of the prophet over Moab in general, and over several particular cities; and by the lamentation of the inhabitants of them, because of the spoiling of their vines, their fruits, and their riches, Jer 48:31; and this is confirmed by the Lord, as to the swiftness of the enemy that should destroy them; the consternation and fear that should seize them; the flight they should be put to; and the consumption and captivity of them, Jer 48:40; and the chapter is concluded with a promise of the return of their captivity in the latter day, Jer 48:47.