Jeremiah 48: Summary and Commentary

Verse 1

48:1–49:6 The Lord decreed the destruction and future restoration of Moab and Ammon, the two nations descended from Lot, Abraham’s nephew (Gen 19:36-38).

48:1-47 Moab, one of two nations descended from Abraham’s nephew Lot (Gen 19:36-38), was the next nation brought to trial in the Lord’s courtroom (cp. Isa 15–16). Moab’s territory lay between the Arnon River and the Zered Brook east of the Dead Sea. At the time, the Moabites felt self-assured because they were relatively free from the military reach of the Babylonians. However, the Lord found the Moabites to be greedy and cruel, and their worship was vicious and sensuous.

48:1 The powerful Judge, the God of Israel (see study note on 2:2), introduced the indictments and decrees against Moab. • The city of Nebo was on the side of Mount Nebo (Num 32:3, 38), several miles east of the north end of the Dead Sea. • The city of Kiriathaim was built by the tribe of Reuben (Josh 13:19) in the highlands east of the Dead Sea.

Verse 2

48:2 Heshbon was located between the Jabbok and Arnon rivers, east of the Dead Sea. • Madmen was apparently another name for Dibon, a town near Heshbon; it would also be destroyed.

Verse 3

48:3-4 Little is known about the village of Horonaim (see Isa 15:5); it was probably situated near the southeastern shore of the Dead Sea.

Verse 5

48:5-6 Luhith was another small village near Horonaim. The sorrows of oppression would reach into the smallest places.

Verse 7

48:7 The people of Moab bragged about their wealth and skill, but their most serious sin was devotion to a deity named Chemosh; this false god represented the magical power of reproduction, but it would become clear that Chemosh was powerless.

Verse 8

48:8-10 The Lord sentenced all the towns of Moab to destruction, and he warned the agents of his judgment to faithfully carry out his decree.

Verse 11

48:11-12 Moab had a long history of relative peace and a culture that its people highly valued. Vineyards were plentiful in Moab. After the juice was squeezed from the grapes, the wine was stored in clay flasks until it became fragrant and smooth.

Verse 13

48:13 The Lord’s judgment would make the Moabites ashamed that Chemosh was unable to protect them from harm, just as the Israelites of the northern kingdom were ashamed that the false gods they worshiped in apostasy were not able to protect them from the Assyrians (1 Kgs 12:28-29; 13:33-34; Hos 8:5-6). • ashamed of their gold calf at Bethel: See 1 Kgs 12:28-30.

Verse 18

48:18-19 Dibon and nearby Aroer were key Moabite cities.

Verse 20

48:20 When the news spread that Moab lay in ruins, disgraced and destroyed, panic would rapidly increase in the Arnon Valley.

Verse 21

48:21-25 Eleven Moabite villages would soon hear that the strength of Moab’s arm was broken. This meant that the villages had no one to defend them against the advancing enemy.

Verse 26

48:26-27 Moab’s hatred for Israel was ultimately against the Lord.

Verse 31

48:31 The Lord had to punish Moab and other nations that sinned, but it caused him to mourn. • Kir-hareseth was Moab’s capital city.

Verse 32

48:32 Sibmah and Jazer were conquered and rebuilt by the tribe of Reuben (Num 32:3, 38; Josh 13:19), who transformed the high plateau east of the Dead Sea into vineyards.

Verse 34

48:34-39 These verses describe the effects of the Lord’s judgment on the Moabite people. • The Moabite towns listed here were located along the small rivers that flow from the east into the Dead Sea.

Verse 35

48:35-37 The Moabites expressed their sorrow and grief with customary actions; they shaved their heads and beards, cut their hands, and used burlap for clothing (41:5; Job 1:20).

Verse 39

48:39 The Lord’s judgment of Moab would cause nearby countries to realize that the same kind of ruin might be their punishment.

Verse 40

48:40 The eagle represents speed and surprise; its victim is caught and carried off before it is able to react.

Verse 43

48:43-45 Between the terror (Hebrew pakhad), the traps (Hebrew pakhath), and a snare (Hebrew pakh), there would be no escape for the people of Moab.

Verse 45

48:45 If the Moabites fled north, they would be met by their enemies at Heshbon. • a fire comes from Heshbon: Cp. Num 21:28.

Verse 47

48:47 The Lord would have mercy on Moab; he promised that the people would prosper at some time in the future.

Verse 1

We may observe in these verses,

I. The author of Moab's destruction; it is the Lord of hosts, that has armies, all armies, at his command, and the God of Israel (Jer 48:1), who will herein plead the cause of his Israel against a people that have always been vexatious to them, and will punish them now for the injuries done to Israel of old, though Israel was forbidden to meddle with them (Deu 2:9), therefore the destruction of Moab is called the work of the Lord (Jer 48:10), for it is he that pleads for Israel; and his work will exactly agree with his word, Jer 48:8.

II. The instruments of it: Spoilers shall come (Jer 48:8), shall come with a sword, a sword that shall pursue them, Jer 48:2. "I will send unto him wanderers, such as come from afar, as if they were vagrants, or had missed their way, but they shall cause him to wander; they seem as wanderers themselves, but they shall make the Moabites to be really wanderers, some to flee and others to be carried into captivity." These destroyers stir up themselves to do execution; they have devised evil against Heshbon, one of the principal cities of Moab, and they aim at no less than the ruin of the kingdom: Come, and let us cut it off from being a nation (Jer 48:2); nothing less will serve the turn of the invaders; they come, not to plunder it, but to ruin it. The prophet, in God's name, engages them to make thorough work of it (Jer 48:10): Cursed be he that does the work of the Lord deceitfully, this bloody work, this destroying work; though it goes against the grain with men of compassion, yet it is the work of the Lord, and must not be done by the halves. The Chaldeans have it in charge, by a secret instinct (says Mr. Gataker), to destroy the Moabites, and therefore they must not spare, must not, out of foolish pity, keep back their sword from blood; they would thereby bring a sword, and a curse with it, upon themselves, as Saul did by sparing the Amalekites and Ahab by letting Benhadad go. Thy life shall go for his life. To this work is applied that general rule given to all that are employed in any service for God, Cursed by he that does the work of the Lord deceitfully or negligently, that pretends to do it, but does it not to purpose, makes a show of serving God's glory, but is really serving his own ends and carries on the work of the Lord no further than will suit his own purposes, or that is slothful in business for God and takes neither care nor pains to do it as it should be done, Mal 1:14. Let not such deceive themselves, for God will not thus be mocked.

III. The woeful instances and effects of this destruction. The cities shall be laid in ruins; they shall be spoiled (Jer 48:1) and cut down (Jer 48:2); they shall be desolate (Jer 48:9), without any to dwell therein; there shall be no houses to dwell in, or no people to dwell in them, or no safety and ease to those that would dwell in them. Every city shall be spoiled and no city shall escape. The strongest city shall not be able to secure itself against the enemies' power, nor shall the finest city be able to recommend itself to the enemies' pity and favour. The country also shall be wasted, the valley shall perish, and the plain be destroyed, Jer 48:8. The corn and the flocks, which used to cover the plains and make the valleys rejoice, shall all be destroyed, eaten up, trodden down, or carried off. The most sacred persons shall not escape: The priests and princes shall go together into captivity. Nay, Chemosh, the god they worship, who, they hope, will protect them, shall share with them in the ruin; his temples shall be laid in ashes and his image carried away with the rest of the spoil. Now the consequence of all this will be, 1. Great shame and confusion: Kirjathaim is confounded, and Misgah is so. They shall be ashamed of the mighty boasts they have sometimes made of their cities: There shall be no more vaunting in Moab concerning Heshbon (so it might be read, Jer 48:2); they shall no more boast of the strength of that city when the evil which is designed against it is brought upon it. Nor shall they any more boast of their gods (Jer 48:13); they shall be ashamed of Chemosh (ashamed of all the prayers they have made to and all the confidence they put in that dunghill deity), as Israel was ashamed of Beth-el, of the golden calf they had at Beth-el, which they confided in as their protector, but were deceived in, for it was not able to save them from the Assyrians; nor shall Chemosh be able to save the Moabites from the Chaldeans. Note, Those that will not be convinced and made ashamed of the folly of their idolatry by the word of God shall be convinced and made ashamed of it by the judgments of God, when they shall find by woeful experience the utter inability of the gods they have served to do them any service. 2. There will be great sorrow; there is a voice of crying heard (Jer 48:3) and the cry is nothing but spoiling and great destruction. Alas! alas! Moab is destroyed, Jer 48:4. The great ones having quitted the cities to shift for their own safety, even the little ones have caused a cry to be heard, the meaner sort of people, or the little children, the innocent harmless ones, whose cries at such a time are the most piteous. Go up to the hills, go down to the valleys, and you meet with continual weeping (weeping with weeping); all are in tears; you meet none with dry eyes. Even the enemies have heard the cry, from whom it would have been policy to conceal it, for they will be animated and encouraged by it; but it is so great that it cannot be hid, 3. There will be great hurry; they will cry to one another, "Away, away! flee; save your lives (Jer 48:6); shift for your own safety with all imaginable speed, though you escape as bare and naked as the heath, or grig, or dry shrub, in the wilderness; think not of carrying away any thing you have, for it may cost you your life to attempt it, Mat 24:16-18. Take shelter, though it be in a barren wilderness, that you may have your lives for a prey. The danger will come suddenly and swiftly; and therefore give wings unto Moab (Jer 48:9); that would be the greatest kindness you could do them; that is what they will call for, O that we had wings like a dove! for unless they have wings, and can fly, there will be no escaping."

IV. The sins for which God will now reckon with Moab, and which justify God in these severe proceedings against them. 1. It is because they have been secure, and have trusted in their wealth and strength, in their works and in their treasures, Jer 48:7. They had taken a great deal of pains to fortify their cities and make large works about them, and to fill their exchequer and private coffers, so that they thought themselves in as good a posture for war as any people could be and that none durst invade them, and therefore set danger at defiance. They trusted in the abundance of their riches and strengthened themselves in their wickedness, Psa 52:7. Now, for this reason, that they may have a sensible conviction of the vanity and folly of their carnal confidences, God will send an enemy that will master their works and rifle their treasures. Note, We forfeit the comfort of that creature which we repose that confidence in which should be reposed in God only. The reed will break that is leaned upon. 2. It is because they have not made a right improvement of the days of the peace and prosperity, Jer 48:11. (1.) They had been long undisturbed: Moab has been at ease from his youth. It was an ancient kingdom before Israel was, and had enjoyed great tranquillity, though a small country and surrounded with potent neighbours. God's Israel were afflicted from their youth (Psa 129:1, Psa 129:2), but Moab at ease from his youth. He has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, has not known any troublesome weakening changes, but is as wine kept on the lees, and not racked or drawn off, by which it retains its strength and body. He has not been unsettled, nor any way made uneasy; he has not gone into captivity, as Israel have often done, and yet Moab is a wicked idolatrous nation, and one of the confederates against God's hidden ones, Psa 83:3, Psa 83:6. Note, There are many that persist in unrepented iniquity and yet enjoy uninterrupted prosperity. (2.) They had been as long corrupt and unreformed: He has settled on his lees; he has been secure and sensual in his prosperity, has rested in it, and fetched all the strength and life of the soul from it, as the wine from the lees. His taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed; he is still the same, as bad as ever he was. Note, While bad people are as happy as they used to be in the world it is no marvel if they are bad as they used to be. They have no changes of their peace and prosperity, therefore fear not God, their hearts and lives are unchanged, Psa 55:19.

Verse 14

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 shalljustly 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.

Verse 2

no more praise— (Isa 16:14).

in Heshbon—The foe having taken Heshbon, the chief city of Moab (Jer 48:45), in it devise evil against Moab ("it") saying, Come," &c. Heshbon was midway between the rivers Arnon and Jabbok; it was the residence of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and afterwards a Levitical city in Gad (Num 21:26). There is a play on words in the Hebrew, "Heshbon, Hashbu." Heshbon means a place of devising or counsel. The city, heretofore called the seat of counsel, shall find other counsellors, namely, those who devise its destruction.

thou shall be cut down . . . Madmen—rather, by a play on words on the meaning of madmen ("silence"), Thou shalt be brought to silence, so as well to deserve thy name (Isa 15:1). Thou shalt not dare to utter a sound.

Verse 3

Horonaim—the same as the city Avara, mentioned by PTOLEMY. The word means "double caves" (Neh 2:10; Isa 15:5).

Verse 4

little ones . . . cry—heightening the distress of the scene. The foe does not spare even infants.

Verse 5

going up of Luhith . . . going down of Horonaim—Horonaim lay in a plain, Luhith on a height. To the latter, therefore, the Moabites would flee with "continual weeping," as a place of safety from the Chaldeans. Literally, "Weeping shall go up upon weeping."

Verse 6

They exhort one another to flee.

heath—or the juniper (see on Jer 17:6). MAURER translates, "Be like one naked in the wilderness." But the sense is, Live in the wilderness like the heath, or juniper; do not "trust in" walls (Jer 48:7) [GROTIUS]. (Compare Mat 24:16-18).

Verse 7

thy works—namely, fortifications built by thy work. Moab was famous for its fortresses (Jer 48:18). The antithesis is to Jer 48:6, "Be . . . in the wilderness," where there are no fortified cities.

thou . . . also—like the rest of the surrounding peoples, Judah, &c.

Chemosh—the tutelary god of Moab (Num 21:29; Jdg 11:24; Kg1 11:7; Kg2 23:13). When a people were vanquished, their gods also were taken away by the victors (Jer 43:12).

Verse 8

the valley . . . shall perish—that is, those dwelling in the valley.

Verse 9

Give wings, &c.— (Psa 55:6). Unless it get wings, it cannot escape the foe. "Wings," the Hebrew root meaning is a "flower" (Job 14:2); so the flower-like plumage of a bird.

Verse 10

work of . . . Lord—the divinely appointed utter devastation of Moab. To represent how entirely this is God's will, a curse is pronounced on the Chaldeans, the instrument, if they do it negligently (Margin) or by halves (Jdg 5:23); compare Saul's sin as to Amalek (Sa1 15:3, Sa1 15:9), and Ahab's as to Syria (Kg1 20:42).

Verse 11

settled on . . . lees—(See on Isa 25:6; Zep 1:12). As wine left to settle on its own lees retains its flavor and strength (which it would lose by being poured from one vessel into another), so Moab, owing to its never having been dislodged from its settlements, retains its pride of strength unimpaired.

emptied from vessel, &c.—To make it fit for use, it used to be filtered from vessel to vessel.

scent—retaining the image: the bouquet or perfume of the wine.

Verse 12

wanderers—rather, "pourers out," retaining the image of Jer 48:11, that is, the Chaldeans who shall remove Moab from his settlements, as men pour wine from off the lees into other vessels. "His vessels" are the cities of Moab; the broken "bottles" the men slain [GROTIUS]. The Hebrew and the kindred Arabic word means, "to turn on one side," so as to empty a vessel [MAURER].

Verse 13

ashamed—have the shame of disappointment as to the hopes they entertained of aid from Chemosh, their idol.

Beth-el— (Kg1 12:27, Kg1 12:29) —that is, the golden calf set up there by Jeroboam.

Verse 15

gone up . . . gone down—in antithesis.

out of her cities—Rather, "Moab . . . and her cities are gone up," namely, pass away in the ascending smoke of their conflagration (Jos 8:20-21; Jdg 20:40). When this took place, the young warriors would go down from the burning citadels only to meet their own slaughter [GROTIUS]. English Version is somewhat favored by the fact that "gone out" is singular, and "cities" plural. The antithesis favors GROTIUS.

Verse 16

near—to the prophet's eye, though probably twenty-three years elapsed between the utterance of the prophecy in the fourth year of Jehoiakim (Kg2 24:2) and its fulfilment in the fifth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

Verse 17

bemoan—Not that Moab deserves pity, but this mode of expression pictures more vividly the grievousness of Moab's calamities.

all ye that know his name—those at a greater distance whom the fame of Moab's "name" had reached, as distinguished from those "about him," that is, near.

strong staff . . . rod—Moab is so called as striking terror into and oppressing other peoples (Isa 9:4; Isa 14:4-5); also because of its dignity and power (Psa 110:2; Zac 11:7).

Verse 18

(Isa 47:1).

dost inhabit—now so securely settled as if in a lasting habitation.

thirst—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).

Verse 19

Aroer—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 Sa1 4:13, Sa1 4:16).

Verse 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.

in Arnon—the north boundary between Moab and Ammon (Jer 48:19; Num 21:13).

Verse 21

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

Holon—(Compare Jos 15:51).

Jahazah— (Num 21:23; Isa 15:4).

Mephaath— (Jos 13:18; Jos 21:37).

Verse 22

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

Verse 23

Beth-gamul—meaning "the city of camels."

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

Verse 24

Kerioth— (Jos 15:25; Amo 2:2).

Bozrah—(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).

Verse 25

horn—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).

Verse 26

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

magnified . . . against . . . Lord—boasted arrogantly against God's people, that whereas Israel was fallen, Moab remained flourishing.

wallow in . . . vomit—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.

he also . . . derision—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.

Verse 27

(Zep 2:8).

a derision—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 (Kg2 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).

was he . . . among thieves— (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.

since—"since ever" thou didst begin speaking of him.

skippedst for joy—at Israel's calamity [CALVIN]; or, "thou didst shake thy head" in "derision" [MAURER].

Verse 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; Sol 2:14).

Verse 29

pride— (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.

Verse 30

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

it shall not be so—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.

Verse 31

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

Kir-heres—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.

Verse 32

with the weeping—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.

plants . . . gone over . . . sea of Jazer—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.

spoiler—Nebuzara-dan.

Verse 33

the plentiful field—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.

shouting—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.

Verse 34

From the cry of Heshbon, &c.—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.

as an heifer of three years old—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).

waters . . . of Nimrim—that is, the well-watered and therefore luxuriant pastures of Nimrim.

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

Verse 35

him that offereth—namely, whole burnt offerings as the Hebrew requires [GROTIUS]. Compare the awful burnt offering of the king of Moab (Kg2 3:27).

high places— (Isa 16:12).

Verse 36

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

like pipes—a plaintive instrument, therefore used at funerals and in general mourning.

riches . . . gotten—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.

Verse 37

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

upon all . . . hands—that is, arms, in which such cuttings used to be made in token of grief (compare Zac 13:6).

Verse 38

vessel . . . no pleasure—(See Jer 22:28); a vessel cast aside by the potter as refuse, not answering his design.

Verse 39

it—Moab.

How . . . how—prodigious, yet sure to happen.

turned the back—not daring to show her face.

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

Verse 40

he—Nebuzara-dan, the captain of Nebuchadnezzar.

as . . . eagle—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).

Verse 41

as . . . woman in . . . pangs— (Isa 13:8).

Verse 42

(See on Jer 48:26).

Verse 43

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

Verse 44

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

Verse 45

under . . . shadow of Heshbon—They thought that they would be safe in Heshbon.

because of the force—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.

but a fire, &c.—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.

midst of Sihon—that is, the city of Sihon.

corner of Moab—that is, Moab from one corner to the other.

crown of . . . head—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.

tumultuous ones—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.

Verse 46

Copied from Num 21:29.

Verse 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.

Next: Jeremiah Chapter 49