The Edomites lived to the southeast of Judah, south of Moab. The Zered River was their northern border, the Gulf of Aqabah (about 100 miles to the south) the southern, the Arabah the western, and the desert the eastern borders. The Edomites were descendants of Esau, and a long history of antagonism with the Israelites that reached back to the days of Jacob and Esau and Israel's wilderness wanderings marked their relationship (cf. Num. 20:14-21; Judg. 11:17).
49:7 Teman (lit. south), a town in Edom about halfway between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqabah, was famous for the wisdom of its inhabitants (cf. Job. 2:11; Obad. 8).572Yet the Edomites had not behaved wisely. The name of this town was a poetic equivalent for the whole nation (cf. Hab. 3:3), and it came from one of Esau's grandsons (Gen. 36:11).
49:8 The people would have to flee because the Lord was going to bring disaster on them. The oasis of Dedan lay in Edom's southeast region close to the Arabian Desert.
49:9-10 Grape pickers and thieves normally left some things behind, but Yahweh would leave no Edomites untouched by the judgment He would bring on this nation. He would remove every covering that protected all the people (cf. Obad. 5-6).
49:11 Yahweh, or perhaps a kindly survivor, promised to care for the widows and orphans left behind during the devastation of the nation.
49:12-13 The Edomites, who formerly had escaped divine judgment, would certainly experience the wrath of God. Bozrah, the capital and chief city in northern Edom, would become a horrible ruin and an embarrassment to the Edomites for their failure to save it, as would all the towns in the nation. People would say, May you become like Bozrah, when they cursed others.
49:14-15 Jeremiah had heard a message that Yahweh had sent out by messenger to the nations ordering them to prepare for battle against Edom. Yahweh would humiliate Edom among the nations and make her an object of contempt.
49:16 Edom had deceived herself by thinking that other nations would be too afraid of her apparently impregnable location to attack her. But the Lord promised to bring her down and to humble her arrogance (cf. Obad. 1-4). "The rock"is a translation of Sela, the site of the city carved out of rock near Bozrah, later called Petra.
49:17-18 Observers would be horrified at Edom's fate, which would be destruction as complete as that of Sodom, Gomorrah, and the other cities of the plain (Gen. 19). People would no longer live in Edom.
49:19 Yahweh promised to invade Edom as a lion attacks a flock of sheep, a figure well-known in Edom. Lions repeatedly ventured out of the dense jungle foliage in the Arabah to attack sheep grazing on the pastures of that valley. Edom's shepherd leaders would not be able to resist the Lord but would run away (cf. 50:44-46). Then Yahweh would appoint over the nation whom He chose, and no one would be able to challenge or overturn His sovereign authority.
49:20-21 God's purposes for Edom were to have enemies drag all the people from their country, even the children, leaving the land desolate of people. News of Edom's destruction would spread far and have major repercussions. Even Egypt would hear of it since the news would cross the Red Sea.
49:22 The enemy would come down on Edom like an eagle (or vulture, cf. 48:40-41). Men would be as fearful as women in labor when the invader struck.
Nebuchadnezzar fulfilled the judgment predicted in this prophecy when he subdued the entire Transjordan region. Like Moab and Ammon, Edom plotted against the Babylonians who had incorporated them into their empire about 605 B.C. However, the Edomites assisted the Babylonians in attacking Judah in 588-586 B.C. (Ps. 137:7; Lam. 4:21; Ezek. 25:12-14; Obad.). Babylonian reprisals against Edom for lack of cooperation, and subsequent invasions of Arab tribes (Nabateans), drove the Edomites into Judah where they settled north of Hebron. This area later became known as Idumea. Herod the Great was an Idumean.
Misplaced trust in herself and in her reputedly inaccessible heights caused Yahweh to judge this nation (v. 16).
