By naming many cities, he shews that the whole land was doomed to ruin, so
JEREMIAH AND LAMENTATIONS things change) when the Moabites became strong, they took away this city from the
Israelites. Hence the Prophet says, that there would be no more boasting that they possessed that city; for he adds, They have thought, or devised, etc. There is here a striking allusion, for {,}חשבוןchesbon, is derived from {,}חשבchesheb, to devise or to consult, as though it were a place of consultation or devisings. The Prophet then says, that as to Heshbon they consulted against it, {}חשבו{ }עליהcheshbu olie
He uses the root from which the name of the city is derived. Heshbon, then, hitherto called the place of consultation, was to have and find other counselors, even those who would contrive ruin for it. Come ye; the Prophet refers here to the counsel taken by the Chaldeans, Come ye, and let us cut her off from being a nation He then joins another city, And thou, Madmen, 364 shalt be cut off, for a sword shall go after thee, or pursue thee, as though the city itself was fleeing from the sword; not that cities move from one place to another; but when the citizens deliberate how they may drive away their enemies and resist their attacks, --- when they seek aid here and there, --- when they set up their own remedies, they are said to flee. But the
Prophet says, ``Thou shalt gain nothing by fleeing, for the sword shall pursue thee.''
It follows, ---
Jeremiah 48:3
3. A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction.
3. Vox clamoris (id est, sonora) e Choronaim, vastitas et contritio magna.
By naming many cities, he shews that the whole land was doomed to ruin, so that no corner of it would be exempt from destruction. For the Moabites might have suffered some loss without much injury had they been moderately chastised; but the
Prophet shews that they would be so reduced by the power of Nebuchadnezzar, that ruin would extend to every part of the land. We now then see why this catalogue of the cities is given.
By the voice of crying he means howling, a loud lamentation, heard far and wide.
He says that the voice of crying would go forth from Horonaim, which some think was so called, because the city consisted of two parts, a higher and a lower part. He then adds, desolation and great destruction He thus explains himself, for the citizens of Horonaim would in vain cry out, because desolation and breaking or destruction would constrain them, that is, make them cry out so as to howl for the bitterness of their grief. It follows, ---
Jeremiah 48:4
4. Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
4. Afflicta est Moab; audire fecerunt clamorem parvuli ejus.
The Prophet speaks again generally of the whole country. It is said that the land of Moab was afflicted; not that it was so then; but to make certain the prophecy, he speaks of the event as having already taken place; for the prophets, as it is well known, speaking in the person of God, relate things as yet hidden, as though they
364None of the versions renders this a proper name, but as a participle from the verb which follows, and no such place is mentioned elsewhere. They must have read {,{מרמהinstead of .{}מדמן
Then the version would be, Even silenced thou shalt be silenced, After thee shall go the sword. To be silenced, in the language of the prophets, is to be subdued. See Isaiah 15:1, when the same thing is said of Moab. The word silence forms a contrast with the boasting of Moab mentioned at the beginning of the verse. After being subdued and removed elsewhere, still the sword would follow Moab. --- Ed.