Jeremiah 48:31-33

48:31 So I will weep with sorrow for Moab.

I will cry out in sadness for all of Moab.

I will moan ¹  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. ² 

Their branches once spread as far as the Dead Sea. ³ 

They reached as far as the town of Jazer. ⁴ 

The destroyer will ravage

her fig, date, ⁵  and grape crops.

48:33 Joy and gladness will disappear

from the fruitful land of Moab. ⁶ 

I will stop the flow of wine from the winepresses.

No one will stomp on the grapes there and shout for joy. ⁷ 

The shouts there will be shouts of soldiers,

not the shouts of those making wine. ⁸ 

[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).

[48:32]  ² 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.”

[48:32]  ³ tn Heb “crossed over to the Sea.”

[48:32]  ⁴ 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.

[48:32]  ⁵ 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.

[48:33]  ⁶ 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.

[48:33]  ⁷ tn Heb “no one will tread [the grapes] with shout of joy.”

[48:33]  ⁸ 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.