John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Jeremiah 48:1



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.



Ver. 1. Against Moab thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,.... The prophecy concerning Moab is introduced with these epithets of God, partly to observe that the God of Israel was the only true God, in opposition to the gods of Moab, and other nations; and partly to point out his omnipotence, being able to perform what he here predicts and threatens; as also to suggest, that for the enmity of the Moabites to his people Israel, and their contempt of them, which is taken notice of in this chapter, and the ill treatment of them, the Lord would now take vengeance on them. Some render it, "concerning Moab" {z}; because every thing that is here said is not against it; the chapter concludes in favour of it; though the far greater part, and ever, all but the last verse, is against it. This prophecy, according to Josephus {a}, had its fulfilment about five years after the destruction of Jerusalem;



woe unto Nebo, for it is spoiled; its walls broken down; its houses demolished; its inhabitants destroyed, and plundered of their riches; this, in prophetic language, is represented as done, because of the certainty of it. Of this city See Gill on "Isa 15:2"; It is thought to be an oracular one, where was a temple of their idol; and from whence their priests gave out oracles, promising peace, and prosperity and safety, to Moab; and therefore the desolation of that is first prophesied of, to show that no dependence was to be had on those lying oracles;



Kirjathaim is confounded [and] taken; a city in the tribe of Reuben, which afterwards came into the hands of the Moabites, Jos 13:19. The word is of the dual form; and it might be a double city, like Jerusalem, consisting of a lower and upper city; or it might be divided by a river; or, as Kimchi and Ben Melech think, it was so called because it had two towers in it. It seems to be the same with Kir of Moab, Kirharesh, and Kirhareseth, Isa 15:1; when it was taken by the Chaldeans, the inhabitants were confounded, as having looked upon the place, and boasted of it, as impregnable;



Misgab is confounded and dismayed; so called from its being built on a high place, and well fortified; though some think that this is not the proper name of a place; but only signifies a high and fortified place both by nature and art; a place of refuge, where persons thought themselves safe; and so the Targum renders it,



"the house of their confidence;''



this, when besieged and taken by the Babylonians, threw the inhabitants into the utmost consternation and confusion. Some take it to be the same with Bamoth, a name of much the same signification, Jos 13:17; see Isa 15:2.



{z} bawml "ad Moab", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus; "de Moabo", Vatablus, Cocceius. {a} Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 7.







Jeremiah 48:2



Ver. 2. [There shall be] no more praise of Moab,.... It shall be no more commended for a rich, populous, and fruitful country, being now laid waste; though the next phrase,



in Heshbon, or "concerning Heshbon" {b}, should be read in connection with this; and then the sense is, there shall be none any more in Heshbon to praise the country of Moab, what a fine and fertile country it is, since that city will be destroyed also; or there will be no more a Moabite to boast of his being an inhabitant in Heshbon, such an utter destruction will be made of it; or there will be no more boasting of Moab, or of any Moabite concerning Heshbon, what a famous, opulent, or strong city that is, since it is no more. Of this city

See Gill on "Isa 15:4";



they have devised evil against it; that is, the Chaldeans devised evil against Heshbon, to besiege it, take and destroy it: there is in the expression a beautiful allusion to the name of the city of Heshbon, which has its name from a word that signifies to devise and consult {c};



come, and let us cut it off from [being] a nation: this is what the Babylonians consulted together against Heshbon; and not only against that, a principal city; but against the whole country of Moab, to make such an entire desolation of it, that it should be no more a nation: that which the Moabites with others devised against the people of Israel is now devised against them; a just retaliation this; see

Ps 83:4;



also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; or utterly destroyed: it may be rendered, "shall become silent" {d}; the voice of man shall not be heard in it, especially the voice of praise, of boasting, and rejoicing: there is in this clause also an elegant allusion to the name of the place, which comes from a root that signifies to "cut down", or "be silent" {e}. This is thought by Grotius to be the Madiama of Ptolemy {f}:



the sword shall pursue thee; after it has destroyed other cities, it should come in great haste and with great force to Madmen; or it should pursue after the inhabitants, of it, that should make their escape, or attempt to do so. The Targum is,



"after thee shall go out those that slay with the sword.''



{b} Nwbvxb bawm tlht dwe Nya "nulla amplius gloriatio Moab in Chesbon", Calvin; "non ultra laus, Moab in Chesbon", Montanus; to the same purpose Vatablus. {c} Nwbvx a bvx "cogitavit", "excogitavit". {d} ymdt "silebis", Montanus; so R. Judah in Ben Melech; "ad silentium redigeris"; so some in Vatablus. {e} Nmdm wmdt. {f} Geograph. l. 6. c. 7.





Jeremiah 48:3



Ver. 3. A voice of crying [shall be] from Horonaim,.... Another city of Moab. The word is of the dual number; and, according to Kimchi and Ben Melech, there were two Horons, the upper and the lower; of this place See Gill on "Isa 15:5"; this also should be destroyed; and so a cry of the inhabitants of it should be heard out of it:



spoiling, and great destruction; because the city was spoiled, and a great destruction made in the inhabitants and riches of it.





Jeremiah 48:4



Ver. 4. Moab is destroyed,.... Either the whole nation in general; so the Targum,



"the kingdom of Moab is broken;''



and so Abarbinel; or a city so called, which some take to be the city Areopolis. Jerom {g} says, that Moab is a city of Arabia, now called Areopolis; and which also has the name of Rabbathmoab, or "grand Moab";



her little ones have caused a cry to be heard; seeing their parents killed, and they left desolate, and in the hands of the enemy; and not only so, but just going to be dashed in pieces by them. The Targum interprets it, her governors; and so Jarchi, who thinks they are so called, because they are lesser than kings. Kimchi and Ben Melech suggest, that these are called so by way of contempt. The word "tzeir" signifies both "little" and "great", as the learned Pocock {h} has abundantly proved.



{g} De locis Heb. fol. 87. H. & 93. B. {h} Not. Miscell. in Port. Mosis, p. 17, 18.





Jeremiah 48:5



Ver. 5. For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up,.... This is another city, which was built on a high hill, which had a considerable ascent to it, whither those that escaped from Horonaim might flee for safety; but as they went up the hill would weep bitterly, and all the way they went, because of the loss of friends and sustenance, and the danger they themselves were still in. Of this place

See Gill on "Isa 15:5";



for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction; a place before mentioned, which lay low, in the descent of which, the enemies, the Chaldeans, heard the cries of those that fled from Horonaim, and went up from thence to Luhith, which cry was as follows:





Jeremiah 48:6



Ver. 6. Flee, save your lives,.... These are either the words of the Moabites, their cry of destruction mentioned in the latter part of

Jer 48:5; who, seeing nothing but ruin before their eyes, advise one another to flee in all haste, and save their lives if possible, since nothing else could be saved: or else they are the words of the prophet, giving counsel to the Moabites to betake themselves to flight for the safety of their lives, these being in great danger; so Abarbinel; with whom others agree, only think they are spoken ironically; suggesting, that when they had endeavoured by flight to save their lives, it would be to no purpose; they should not escape the hands of their enemies; which seems to be the truest sense:



and be like the heath in the wilderness; which is called "erice", or "ling", which grows in waste places. Kimchi and Menachem in Jarchi interpret it of a tree that grows in dry and desert places; a low, naked, barren, fruitless shrub; signifying, that, when they were fled from their habitations, they should be as solitary and stripped of all their good things as such a bare and naked shrub in a desert. Kimchi's note is, that when they had left their cities and fled, their cities would be as the heath in the wilderness. The Targum is,



"and be ye as the tower of Aroer, "as they" who dwell in tents in the wilderness.''



Jarchi observes that the tower of Aroer was built in the wilderness, and there was no inhabitant round it but those that dwelt in tents; and, the tower standing where there was no inhabitant, it looked like a waste. The Septuagint version is very foreign, "as a wild ass in the wilderness"; which is followed by the Arabic version.





Jeremiah 48:7



Ver. 7. For because thou hast trusted in thy works,.... The strong works and fortifications they had made about their cities, and so thought themselves safe in them; which is the sense of the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions, and those that follow them. Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it of their cattle and other possessions, as the word is rendered in 1Sa 25:2; which they observe. It may very well be understood of their idols, the works of their hands, in which they placed their confidence; and therefore their chief God after mentioned is threatened to be taken and carried away:



and in thy treasures: their gold and silver, and other riches they had heaped together:



thou shalt be taken: some particular city seems to be meant, the city Moab, or Ar of Moab, Jer 48:4; or Horonaim, Jer 48:5;



and Chemosh shall go forth in captivity, [with] his priests and his princes together; this was the god of the Ammonites, Jud 11:24; and of the Moabites, 1Ki 11:7; hence the Moabites are called the people of Chemosh, Nu 21:29; which Philo the Jew {i} explains thus; that is, thy people and power are found blind, and deprived of sight; and says that Chemosh is interpreted "as groping", or feeling, which is the property of one that cannot see. "Mosh" in Hebrew signifies to grope or feel; and "caph" is a servile letter, and a note of similitude; and by another Jewish writer {k} Chemosh is called the god of the blind. Jerom {l} takes it to be the same idol with Baalpeor, thought by some the Priapus of the Heathens. Camus, the god of festivals and merriment, seems to have had his name from hence; very probably the sun was worshipped by the Moabites under this name, which may be so called from its swiftness; for the Arabic word , "camash", signifies swift and hastening {m}; as the sun is to run its race. The Moabites put their trust in this their deity; and to let them see that he would be of no avail unto them, in this time of their distress, he himself should be taken away by the enemy out of his temple, for the sake of the gold or silver that was upon him, and with him the priests that attended his service; or his worshippers, as the Targum; and the princes of the nation that served him, and supported the worship of him, and defrayed the expenses of it.



{i} Allegor. l. 2. p. 104. {k} R. Iedaia Habadreshi, Bechinat Olam, c. 30. p. 184. {l} Comment in lsaiam, c. 15. 2. {m} Vid. Castell. Lex. Polyglott. col. 1749. & Gol. Lex. Arab. p. 2064.







Jeremiah 48:8



Ver. 8. And the spoiler shall come upon every city,.... That is, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and his army. The Targum is, the spoilers, who came against and took every city of Moab, and wasted them. Josephus {n} makes particular mention of Nebuchadnezzar subduing the Ammonites and Moabites:



and no city shall escape; the spoiler, and destruction by him:



the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the Lord hath spoken; not only the cities, and the inhabitants of them; but the inhabitants of the valleys and plains, as the Targum paraphrases it, should be destroyed; and also the corn that grew upon them, and the flocks and herds that grazed there, exactly as the Lord had foretold.



{n} Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 7.





Jeremiah 48:9



Ver. 9. Give wings unto Moab that it may flee and get away,.... That is, give wings to the inhabitants of Moab; signifying that they were in great danger, and there was no probability of escaping it, unless they had the wings of a swift bird, or were as swift as such, and even that would not do; though perhaps their fleeing, and passing away with wings, may signify not their fleeing from danger, and their attempt to escape; but their swift and sudden destruction, compared to the swift flight of a bird; for the last clause may be rendered, "for in flying it shall fly away" {o}. Some render the first clause, "give a flower to Moab", as the Vulgate Latin version; and so the word sometimes signifies, Isa 40:7; and the sense may be, hold up a flower to Moab, or a feather, such as is light, as the down of a thistle, as an emblem of its destruction; which shall pass away as easily and swiftly as so light a thing before the wind; but Jarchi and Kimchi interpret the word as we do, a wing. The Targum is,



"take away the crown from Moab, for going it shall go away into captivity.''



The word is used of the plate of gold on the high priest's mitre,

Ex 28:36;



for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein; which expresses the utter destruction of them.



{o} aut aun yk "quia volando volabit", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; "quia avolando avolabit", Schmidt; "nam avolabit", Piscator.





Jeremiah 48:10



Ver. 10. Cursed [be] he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully,.... Which is said with respect to the Chaldeans, who were enjoined to destroy the Moabites; which is called the work of the Lord, because he had given them a commission to do it; and which was to be done by them, not by halves, or in a remiss and negligent manner, but fully and faithfully; they were not to spare them, as Saul did the Amalekites, and Ahab Benhadad. This is a general rule, which may be applied to all divine work and service; every man has work to do for God; some in a more public, others in a more private way; all should be done in uprightness and sincerity, with all faithfulness and integrity: it is done deceitfully when men play the hypocrite; and negligently when they are backward to it, lukewarm in it, and infrequent in the performance of it; which brings upon them the curse of God; and which is not a curse causeless, but a legal one; and is no other than the wrath of God in strict justice:



and cursed [be] he that keepeth back his sword from blood; from shedding the blood of the Moabites, when God had given command to do it. The curse is repeated, as Kimchi observes, to confirm the matter, that it might be most assuredly expected; since it would certainly come, if the Lord's work was not done aright.





Jeremiah 48:11



Ver. 11. Moab hath been at ease from his youth,.... Lived in great peace and prosperity from the time they became a kingdom; being very little disturbed with wars by their neighbours, or very rarely; so that they were in very prosperous and flourishing circumstances, which occasioned that pride and haughtiness they were notorious for. This is an emblem of unregenerate men; who, though sinners from their birth, and liable to the curse of the law, subject to the stroke of death, and must come to judgment; yet stupid and quite at ease, having no sight of sin, nor feeling of the burden of its guilt, nor grief or trouble for it; no sense of danger, or fear of hell; but in the utmost security: all which arise from ignorance, hardness of heart, profaneness, and infidelity; thoughtlessness about their immortal souls; putting the evil day far from them; and being under the influence of Satan, who keeps his goods in peace:



and he hath settled on his lees; a metaphor taken from wine; which, the longer it remains on the lees, the better body it has, and the richer and stronger it is; and denotes the great tranquillity of the Moabites; the riches they were possessed of, and in which they trusted. The Targum renders it,



"quiet in their substance;''



herein they were an emblem of unconverted sinners, who are settled and hardened in the corruptions of their nature; and not at all disturbed at the evil of sin; the wrath of God; his judgments on men; the last and awful judgment; or at the terrors of hell; and likewise of such who trust in their own righteousness, and depend upon that for salvation:



and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel; like wine that has never been racked off from the vessel or vessels it was first put into: they were never removed from place to place, but always continued in their land; in which they were an emblem of such who have never seen their own emptiness, and their want of the grace of God, and have never been emptied of sin, nor of self-righteousness:



neither hath he gone into captivity; this explains in proper words the metaphor in the preceding clause: the Moabites had never been carried captive out of their own land into others; an emblem of such who have never seen their captive state to sin and Satan; or ever brought to complain of it, or become the captives of Christ;



therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed; his wealth, riches, and prosperity, continued without any change and alteration; and also his sins and vices, idolatry, pride, luxury, and which were the cause of his ruin; and for that reason are here mentioned; an emblem of unregenerate men, whose taste is vitiated by sin, and continues as it was originally; they relish sin, and disrelish everything that is good; and savour the things that be of man, and not the things of God; and so are in a most dangerous condition.





Jeremiah 48:12



Ver. 12. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord,.... This being their case, they should not continue in it; a change would be made, and that in a very short time, as there was; for, according to Josephus {p}, it was about five years after the destruction of Jerusalem that the Moabites were subdued by the king of Babylon:



that I will send unto him wanderers that shall cause him to wander; the Chaldeans, who wandered out of their own country to Moab, directed by the providence of God to come there to do his work; and who, at first, might be treated by the Moabites with contempt, as vagrants, but would soon be made to know that they would cause them to wander; or would remove them out of their own country into other lands, particularly Babylon, to be vagrants there. The word may be rendered "travellers" {q}; and signifies such that walk with great strength of body, in a stately way, and with great agility and swiftness; in which manner the Chaldeans are described as coming to Moab, and who should cause them to travel back with them in all haste; see word in Isa 63:1. The Targum renders it "spoilers"; according to the metaphor of wine used in

Jer 48:11, it may signify a sort of persons that cause wine to go, or empty it from one vessel to another; such as we call "wine coopers"; and this agrees with what follows:



and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles; depopulate the cities of Moab; destroy the inhabitants of them, and make them barren and empty of men. The Targum is,



"I will send spoilers upon them, and they shall spoil them, and empty their substance, and consume the good of their land;''



see Jer 48:8. The Septuagint version is, "they shall cut in pieces his horns"; which, as Origen {r} interprets them, were a kind of cups anciently used; for in former times they drank out of horns, either of oxen, or other animals; and Pliny {s} says that the northern people used to drink out of the horns of buffaloes, a creature larger than a bull, and which the Muscovites call "thur"; the same is asserted by Athenaeus {t}, and others, that the horns of beasts were drinking vessels before cups were invented.



{p} Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 7. {q} Myeu "viatores", Tigurine version. {r} Apud Drusium in fragmentis in loc. {s} Nat. Hist. l. 11. e. 37. {t} Deipnosoph. l. 11. p. 235. Rhodigin. 1. 30.





Jeremiah 48:13



Ver. 13. And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh,.... His idol; see

Jer 48:7; of his worship of him, prayers to him, and confidence in him; he not being able to save him from the destruction of the Chaldeans, and being carried captive by them; he himself also going into captivity:



as the house of Israel were ashamed of Bethel their confidence; that is, of the golden calf that was set up in Bethel by Jeroboam, and which the ten tribes of Israel worshipped, and in which they trusted; but that could not save them from being carried captive by the Assyrians; and so were ashamed of it, and of their idolatrous worship, and vain confidence.





Jeremiah 48:14



Ver. 14. How say ye, we [are] mighty and strong men for the war?] The Moabites were proud, haughty, and arrogant; boasted much of their strength and valour; of the strength of their bodies, and fitness for war, and skill in it; and of the strength of their fortified cities; and thought themselves a match for the enemy, and secure from all danger: for this their pride, vanity, and self-confidence, they are here reproved, since their destruction was at hand.





Jeremiah 48:15



Ver. 15. Moab is spoiled,.... The whole country is ruined; which is spoken of as present, though future, after the manner of prophecy, because of the certainty of it:



and gone up [out of] her cities; the inhabitants of Moab were gone up out of their cities, either through fear and flight; or through force, being made to go out of them, and were carried captive. The Targum is,



"the Moabites are spoiled, and their cities are desolate;''



and so Kimchi interprets it,



"the multitude of her cities is made to cease;''



the people of them. It might be as well rendered, "and he is gone up to her cities" {u}; that is, the spoiler {w}, as Kimchi's father rightly interprets it; see Jer 48:8; or it may be rendered, "and his cities, into which he went up" {x}; that is, those are spoiled and destroyed, into which the Moabites used to go up, being built on high places; or whither they went for safety, the enemy being in their country, but in vain:



and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter; or, "the choice of his chosen ones" {y}; the select of them, for comeliness, strength, and valour; these being taken, when the enemy entered the cities, were had down to some place of slaughter, and there put to death; or were brought down to the grave, the pit of corruption; unless this can be understood of the choice young men of the enemy, the Chaldean army; who, mounting and scaling the walls of the cities of Moab, went down into them to slay the inhabitants of them; but this is submitted to consideration. All this was not barely said by the prophet, who was but a man, though sent of God; but by the Lord himself, as it follows:



saith the King, whose name [is] the Lord of hosts; who is "the King" by way of eminency; the King of kings, and Lord of lords; mightier than the king of Moab, or even than the king of Babylon; and the Lord of greater armies than either; and therefore what he said should certainly be accomplished.



{u} hle hyrew "et civitates ejus conscendit", Montanus; "ascendit super urbes ejus", Gataker. {w} "Sub. hostis", Vatablus, Calvin; "vastator", Gataker. {x} "Et urbes ejus in quas ascendit", Schmidt. {y} wyrwxb rxbm "electio electorum ejus", Gataker.







Jeremiah 48:16



Ver. 16. The calamity of Moab [is] near to come,.... As it did come within live years after the destruction of Jerusalem, as observed on

Jer 48:12; out of Josephus:



and his affliction hasteth fast: or, "his evil" {z} the evil of punishment for his sin; his utter destruction.



{z} wter "malum ejus", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Schmidt.







Jeremiah 48:17



Ver. 17. All ye that are about him, bemoan him,.... The neighbouring nations, such as the Ammonites, and others, are called upon to condole the sad case of Moab; all upon the borders of the country of Moab, either within them or without them:



and all ye that know his name; not only that had heard of his fame and glory, but knew in what grandeur and splendour he lived; these have a form of condolence given them:



say, how is the strong staff broken, [and] the beautiful rod! the mighty men of war, the staff of the nation, in which they trusted, destroyed; their fortified cities demolished; the powerful kingdom, which swayed the sceptre, and ruled in great glory, and was terrible and troublesome to others, now pulled down. The Targum is,



"how is the king broken that did evil, the oppressing ruler!''





Jeremiah 48:18



Ver. 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.





Jeremiah 48:19



Ver. 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.





Jeremiah 48:20



Ver. 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:





Jeremiah 48:21



Ver. 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.





Jeremiah 48:22



Ver. 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

Nu 33:46 and Diblath in Eze 6:14.





Jeremiah 48:23



Ver. 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.





Jeremiah 48:24



Ver. 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.





Jeremiah 48:25



Ver. 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.





Jeremiah 48:26



Ver. 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.



{a} wayqb bawm qpow "plaudat", Junius & Tremellius, Cocceius; "plaudet", Piscator; "complodat", Munster, Tigurine version, Schmidt; "allidet", Lyranus. {b} "Complodet manus [super] Moabum [jacentem] in vomitu suo", Gataker.







Jeremiah 48:27



Ver. 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.''



{c} ddwntt "commovisti te", Vatablus, Calvin; "commoves te", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "motitas te", Schmidt.





Jeremiah 48:28



Ver. 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 So 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.



{d} Iliad. 21. v. 495. {e} Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 92.





Jeremiah 48:29



Ver. 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.





Jeremiah 48:30



Ver. 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.



{f} wve Nk al wydb "vaniloqui ejus non rectum fecerunt", Cocceius. So R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 38. 1.





Jeremiah 48:31



Ver. 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.''



{g} hghy "gemet", Montanus.





Jeremiah 48:32



Ver. 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.''



{h} ykbm "a fletu", Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin, Schmidt. {i} "Supra fletum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Gataker.





Jeremiah 48:33



Ver. 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.



{k} lmrkm "de Carmelo", V. L. "de Charmel", Montanus; "ex Carmelo", Schmidt.







Jeremiah 48:34



Ver. 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.



{l} Aristotel. Hist. Animal. l. 4. c. 11. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 51. {m} Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 45.







Jeremiah 48:35



Ver. 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.





Jeremiah 48:36



Ver. 36. Therefore my heart shall sound for Moab like pipes,.... That are sounded on mournful occasions, as at funerals, and the like; see Mt 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.







Jeremiah 48:37



Ver. 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, De 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.





Jeremiah 48:38



Ver. 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,

Ps 60:8. The Moabites were vessels of wrath, fitted for destruction by their own this; and now the time of it was come.



{n} dpom hlk "totus luctus (est) vel omnia luctus (sunt)", Schmidt; "totus erit planctus", Junius & Tremellius; "per omnia erit planctus", Piscator. {o} ytrbv "totalis confractio praedicitur", Schmidt.





Jeremiah 48:39



Ver. 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.



{p} htx Kya "quomodo consternata est", Piscator, Schmidt. {q} wlylyh "ululate", Munster, Piscator; "ejulate", Junius & Tremellius.







Jeremiah 48:40



Ver. 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.''





Jeremiah 48:41



Ver. 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.





Jeremiah 48:42



Ver. 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".





Jeremiah 48:43



Ver. 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.





Jeremiah 48:44



Ver. 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.







Jeremiah 48:45



Ver. 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 Nu 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.''



{r} Myon xwkm "ex virbus (soil. suis) erunt fugientes", Schmidt. {s} va yk "quia ignis", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius, Schmidt.







Jeremiah 48:46



Ver. 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 Nu 21:29.





Jeremiah 48:47



Ver. 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.



{t} Antiqu. l. 13. c. 13. sect 5.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Jeremiah 49:1



INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 49



This chapter contains prophecies concerning the judgments of God on several nations and kingdoms, chiefly bordering on the land of Israel; on the Ammonites, Jer 49:1; on the Edomites, Jer 49:7; on the kingdom of Damascus, or the Syrians, Jer 49:23; on the Kedarenes or Arabians, Jer 49:28; and on the Elamites or Persians,

Jer 49:34.



Ver. 1. Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the Lord,.... Or, "to the Ammonites" {u}; or, "against" them {w}; it will bear to be rendered either way, and all is true; for what is said by the Lord, as follows, is concerning them, their sins, and their punishment, and is directed to them, and is a threatening against them:



hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? certainly he has, and who ought to possess the land; this is to be understood not of the ten tribes, sometimes called Israel, as distinct from the other two; for these had been long ago carried captive, and left no heirs of their tribes; but of all Israel, including the tribes of Judah and Benjamin; who, though their brethren of the ten tribes were carried captive, and left no children to inherit, yet, being next in blood, were the lawful heirs of their lands and possessions:



why [then] doth their king inherit Gad? that part of the land of Israel which belonged to the tribe of Gad; this, when the ten tribes were carried captive by the king of Assyria, and the Gadites among the rest, was seized on by the Ammonites, with their king at the head of them, lying near unto them; who might also pretend relation, as being the children of Lot, the brother's son of Abraham; or claim it, as having been their own formerly, and so were the lawful heirs of it, as they imagined; when it of right belonged to the children of Judah and Benjamin: or, "why doth Malcam inherit Gad?" {x} the same with Milcom or Molech, the abomination of the Ammonites, the idol they worshipped,

1Ki 11:5; so Jarchi interprets it. The Ammonites having got possession of the land, set up their idol in it, where temples were built for him, and altars erected, and sacrifices offered to him, so that he might be said to inherit it; and which must be very offensive to, and highly resented by, the God of Israel:



and his people dwelt in his cities: the Ammonites dwelt in the cities belonging to the tribe of Gad, as if they were their own; who are called the people of Milcom, or Molech, just as the Moabites are called the people of Chemosh, from the idol they worshipped, Jer 48:46.



{u} Nwme ynbl "ad filios Ammon", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus. {w} "Contra filios Ammonis", Schmidt; "de [vel] contra", Vatablus; "contra", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. {x} dg ta Mklm vry ewdm "cur igitur haereditate possedit Melchom Gad?" V. L. Lutherus, Sanctius, Castalio.







Jeremiah 49:2



Ver. 2. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord,.... Or, "are coming" {y}; as they did, in a very little time after this prophecy:



that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; the metropolis of the Ammonites; it was their royal city in the times of David, 1Ki 11:1; called by Polybius {z} Rabbahamana; and by Ptolemy {a} Philadelphia, which name it had from Ptolemy Philadelphus, who rebuilt it; this the Lord threatens with the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war, or the noise of warriors, as the Targum; the Chaldean army under Nebuchadnezzar, who, about five years after the destruction of Jerusalem, subdued the Ammonites, as Josephus {b} relates:



and it shall be a desolate heap; be utterly destroyed; its walls broken down, and houses demolished, and made a heap of rubbish: and



her daughters shall be burnt with fire: Rabbah was the mother city, and the other cities of the Ammonites were her daughters, which are threatened to be destroyed with fire by the enemy; or it may mean the villages round about Rabbah, it being usual in Scripture for villages to be called the daughters of cities; see Eze 16:46; so the Targum here paraphrases it,



"the inhabitants of her villages shall be burnt with fire:''



then shall Israel be heirs unto them that were his heirs, saith the Lord: that is, shall inherit their land again, which the Ammonites pretended to be the lawful heirs of; yea, not only possess their own land, but the land of Ammon too: this was fulfilled not immediately upon the destruction of Ammon, but in part upon the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, when they repossessed their own country; and partly in the times of the Maccabees, when they subdued the Ammonites,



"Afterward he passed over to the children of Ammon, where he found a mighty power, and much people, with Timotheus their captain.'' (1 Maccabees 5:6)



and will more fully in the latter day, when the Jews shall be converted, and return to their own land, and the children of Ammon shall obey them, Isa 11:14; so Kimchi interprets it; and other Jewish writers understand it of the days of the Messiah, as Abarbinel observes.



{y} Myab "sunt venientes", Montanus, Schmidt. {z} Hist. l. 5. p. 414. {a} Geograph. l. 5. c. 15. {b} Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 7.





Jeremiah 49:3



Ver. 3. Howl, O Heshbon,.... Which was a city of Moab, though it formerly belonged to the Amorites; see Jer 48:2; it was upon the border of Ammon, and near to Ai, now destroyed; and therefore is called upon to howl and lament, because its destruction also was near at hand, and might be expected; hence Kimchi gathers, that the Ammonites were destroyed before the Moabites: but some have thought that Heshbon was a double city, divided by a river, which ran through it; and that that city which was on one side of the river belonged to Moab, and that on the other side to Ammon:



for Ai is spoiled; not that which was near Jericho in the land of Canaan, but a city in the land of Ammon, thought to be the Gaia of Ptolemy; this seems to be the first city in the country of Ammon that Nebuchadnezzar would lay waste:



cry, ye daughters of Rabbah; the royal city before mentioned;

See Gill on "Jer 49:2"; either the inhabitants of it, particularly the women, especially the younger women, who would be in the utmost distress on hearing the enemy was so near them, and what had befallen Ai; or the villages about Rabbah, as Kimchi interprets it; that is, as the Targum,



"the inhabitants of the villages of Rabbah:''



gird ye with sackcloth; as a token of calamity and mourning for it, as was usual:



lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; which Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, understand of the enclosures or fences of villages, like those of gardens, fields, and folds, in distinction from walls of cities, and fortified places; but rather it signifies the hedges in the fields, whither, being drove from their habitations, they would seek unto for shelter, and run about among them for safety, lamenting their unhappy case:



for their king shall go into captivity; be taken and carried captive; either their principal governor; or rather Milcom their god, since it follows:



[and] his priests and his princes together; both such as offered sacrifices to him, and attended on and supported his worship: the same is said of Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, Jer 48:7.







Jeremiah 49:4



Ver. 4. Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys,.... Of which there were many in the country of Ammon, fruitful and well watered, which were situated by the rivers of Arnon and Jabbok, the borders of this country, and in which was the plain of the vineyards; see

Jud 11:13; and indeed the whole country was a vale. For, as Josephus {c} says, the country both of the Moabites and Ammonites were in the valley of Syria, or Coelesyria; that is, hollow Syria, so called from its lying low, or in a valley; for this country lay between the mountains Libanus and Antilibanus, as Strabo {d} says, and brought forth a large increase; in this they gloried, in the produce of these valleys, in the grass, corn, and vines, that grew upon them, and the flocks that fed there; but now should have no occasion to glory, all being swept away by the enemy:



thy flowing valley, or, "thy valley flows" {e}; is overflowed with water, through abundance of rain, which destroyed the fruits of it, so Jarchi; or rather flowed with the blood of the slain, as Kimchi, Ben Melech, and Abarbinel; the enemy having entered it, and made so great a slaughter of men in it:



O backsliding daughter? the Targum is, O foolish kingdom; the whole kingdom of Ammon is meant, or the people of it; who, descending from righteous Lot, may be called backsliders; and, being also idolaters, have this character; for such revolt from the true God, to worship idols: it may be rendered, "refractory", "rebellious" {f}; as all such persons are:



that trusteth in her treasures, [saying], who shall come unto me? dwelling in valleys encompassed with mountains, and in fortified cities, and abounding in wealth and riches, whereby they were able to procure men and arms to defend themselves; thought they were safe from any enemy, and that none could come nigh them, and so dwelt at ease, and in great security.



{c} Ibid. (Antiqu.) l. 1. c. 11. sect. 5. {d} Geograph. l. 16. p. 519, 520. {e} Kqme bz "defluxit vallis tua", V. L. Schmidt; "fluxit", Pagninus, Montanus; "fluit", Cocceius. {f} hbbwvh tbh "O filia pervesa", Schmidt; "pervicax" vel "temeraria", Grotius; "rebellis", Pagninus, Calvin; "refractaria", Montanus.







Jeremiah 49:5



Ver. 5. Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord God of hosts,.... The terrible army of the Chaldeans, which should strike them with a panic; who thought themselves so secure in their fortresses, trusting in their riches:



from all those that be about thee; meaning either from the Chaldeans, and the neighbouring nations, that should join and surround the Ammonites on all sides; or from all the borders of Ammon round about, where they should come; they would be a "magormissabib", "a fear all round", Jer 20:3:



and ye shall be driven out every man right forth; driven out of their houses, and cities, and villages, and steer their course right forward, and never look behind to see what were become of their families and their friends; everyone having enough to do to provide for his own safety:



and none shall gather up him that wandereth; that is straggling about, and knows not which way to take, and whither to flee for safety; all will be so intent on their own safety, that they will not concern themselves for others, to take them under their care; to take those that are on foot upon their horses or carriages, whom they overtake; or into their houses, as they pass by.





Jeremiah 49:6



Ver. 6. And afterwards I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the Lord. Perhaps by Cyrus; for, in the times of Judas Maccabeus, the children of Ammon were again a large and mighty people,



"Afterward he passed over to the children of Ammon, where he found a mighty power, and much people, with Timotheus their captain.'' (1 Maccabees 5:6)



Justin Martyr {f} says, that in his time there was a large multitude of Ammonites; but Origen {g}, who was later than he, observes, that not only the Idumeans, but the Ammonites and Moabites, were then called by the common name of Arabians; and these are now the present inhabitants of their country; and when these shall be converted in the latter day; see Isa 60:6; who may be called by the name of the ancient inhabitants; then will this be more fully accomplished: for some refer this to the days of the Messiah, and to the conversion of some of these Heathen people, either in the first times of the Gospel, or in the latter day; See Gill on "Jer 49:2". The Jews {h} understand this as fulfilled in Ammonite proselytes to their religion.



{f} Dialog. cum Tryphone Judaeo, p. 347. {g} Comment. in lib. Job, fol. 2. 1. A. {h} Misn. Yadaim, c. 4. sect. 4. T. B. Beracot, fol. 28. 1.





Jeremiah 49:7



Ver. 7. Concerning Edom, thus saith the Lord of hosts,.... Or, "unto Edom" {i}, thus saith the Lord; or, "against Edom" {k}; all which is true, as observed on Jer 49:1; meaning the Idumeans, the posterity of Esau, who was called Edom. Kimchi thinks this respects time yet future, and points at the destruction of Rome, and the Romans, who with the Jews frequently go by the name of Edom; and Abarbinel is of the same mind. And Cocceius is of opinion that the Jews are meant, and their destruction, with whom the Idumeans were incorporated before the coming of Christ, and had Herod, an Idumean, king over them; but it is best to understand the prophecy properly and literally of the Idumeans themselves;



[is] wisdom no more in Teman? a city in Edom, which had its name from Teman, a grandson of Esau, Ge 36:11; whose descendants were called Temanites; one of which was Eliphaz, a friend of Job's, Job 2:11; it was a principal city, famous for men of wisdom; such an one was the person just mentioned: perhaps the grand senate of the country, or the chief counsellors, dwelt here; where schemes were formed for the good of the country in times of war or peace; or schools were kept here for the instruction of persons in various arts and sciences; and which had continued to this time, but now would be no more. The Targum is,



"is there no more wisdom in the south?''



but Jarchi better interprets it of Edom, which lay south to the land of Israel;



is counsel perished from the prudent? it was so, even from those that were the most famous for being prudent and understanding men; they were now at their wits' end, and knew not what course to take, nor what advice to give, in this their time of distress. The Targum renders it "from the children"; the sons of the Temanites, strangely degenerated from their ancestors;



is their wisdom vanished? or corrupted, as the Targum; or does it stink? according to the Rabbinical sense of the word; or infatuated, and become good for nothing? verily it was, it was useless, disregarded and despised.



{i} Mwdal "ad Idumeam", V. L. "ad Edom", Pagninus, Montanus. {k} "Contra", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Schmidt.







Jeremiah 49:8



Ver. 8. Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan,.... Another city in Idumea; though some take it to be a country in Arabia, bordering on Edom, and subdued by the Edomites: the inhabitants of this place are advised to "flee" for their lives, since the enemy was just upon them; and "turn back", lest they should fall into his hands; and hide themselves in some deep caverns of the earth, in holes, and dens of rocks, and such like places. It is a prophecy that they should flee from and turn their backs on their enemies, and betake themselves to some very secret places for safety;



for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him; which was determined concerning him, threatened to him, and was his just desert; even the utter destruction of the whole land:



the time of his visitation; the time fixed to visit him in a way of wrath and punishment being come,





Jeremiah 49:9



Ver. 9. If grape gatherers come to thee, would they not leave [some] gleaning grapes?.... If gatherers of grapes, at the time of the vintage, should come into thy fields to gather the grapes, being ripe, would not they leave some for the poor to glean? certainly they would, and not take every cluster. The Targum renders it,



"if thy spoilers, as grape gatherers, should come to thee,'' &c.



if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough; who break into houses by night, these will eat and drink as much as is sufficient, and carry off what serves their turn; but they seldom take away everything they find in a house; they leave some things behind them; but it is suggested that the Chaldeans should take away all from the Edomites, and leave them nothing; see Ob 1:5.





Jeremiah 49:10



Ver. 10. But I have made Esau bare,.... By the hand of the Chaldeans; stripped him of everything that is valuable; of his cities, castles, villages, people, wealth, and treasure:



I have uncovered his secret places; where either his substance was hid, or his people; these were made known to their enemies, who seized on both:



and he shall not be able to hide himself; even in his deep places, in the caves and dens of the earth, but his enemy shall find him out:



his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours; his children, as the Targum; and his brethren, the Ammonites and Moabites; and his neighbours, the Philistines; or as many as were with him, and belonged unto him:



and he [is] not: his kingdom is not; he is no more a people and nation, but all destroyed by the sword, or carried captive; or there should be none left of his brethren, and neighbours, and friends, to say to him what follows: "leave thy fatherless children", &c. So Kimchi and Ben Melech say this phrase is in connection with the Jer 49:11.





Jeremiah 49:11



Ver. 11. Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve [them] alive,.... Leave them with me; commit them to my care; I will provide for them; they shall have food and raiment, and want nothing to make them comfortable: to have such a friend or friends, promising such things to a man, when he is obliged to flee and leave his family, or is at the point of death, serves to make him easy; but there would be none left of the Edomites to say such kind words, or do such a friendly part. Some think they are the words of God, either spoken ironically or seriously; suggesting that they should have no children or widows to leave, all should be destroyed; or, if any left, they could not expect that he would take care of them, whom they had so provoked; or that such would be their miserable case, unless he had mercy on them, and took care of their fatherless children, there would be none to do it. Others think it respects a remnant of the Edomites that should be preserved, and be converted to Christ in Gospel times. The Targum takes them to be an address to the people of Israel, paraphrasing them thus:



"you, O house of Israel, your orphans shall not be left, I will sustain them, and your widows shall trust in my word:''



which last clause we render,



let your widows trust in me; which, could they be considered as the words of God, agree well with him, who is the Father of the fatherless, and Judge of the widows, Ps 68:5; and a great encouragement to persons, in such circumstances, to place their confidence in him; and it must be right so to do.





Jeremiah 49:12



Ver. 12. For thus saith the Lord,.... This that follows shows that what goes before is not said by way of promise and comfort, but threatening:



behold, they whose judgment [was] not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; meaning either some of the other nations, who had not dealt so ill with the Jews as the Edomites had, at least their sins were not so aggravated as theirs were; they being akin to the Jews, and having used them in a very injurious and scornful manner; or the Jews themselves, who, in comparison of them, had not deserved divine vengeance, signified by a cup, a portion of wrath, and punishment righteously allotted them, and which they had partook of, being carried captive into Babylon: for this is not to be understood strictly of proper justice, but in a comparative sense; for otherwise it was but just and right that they should be treated in the manner they were; only they were not so guilty as these were;



and [art] thou he [that] shalt altogether go unpunished? if lesser sinners are not let go free, how should it be thought that greater ones should? and especially if judgment had begun at God's own people, the wicked Edomite, could not expect to escape;



thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink [of it]; the cup of wrath and vengeance; or have the just punishment inflicted on them threatened them.





Jeremiah 49:13



Ver. 13. For I have sworn by myself, saith the Lord,.... This he did, because he could swear by no greater, and to show the certain and infallible accomplishment of the event, and the importance of it; and which was so extraordinary, that it was scarce thought credible, and therefore an oath is used to confirm it:



that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; not Rome, as Abarbinel; nor Jerusalem, as Cocceius; nor Bozrah of Moab, Jer 48:24; but Bozrah of Idumea, Isa 63:1; the royal city of Edom, as Kimchi; this should be utterly destroyed, and be spoken of contemptibly, and used proverbially, to express a curse; the Lord curse thee as Bozrah is cursed. It may be put for the whole country of Edom, of which it was the metropolis, since it follows,



and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes; either those in the neighbourhood of it, and belonging to it, it being the capital or mother city; or all the cities in the land of Edom; so general should be the desolation.





Jeremiah 49:14



Ver. 14. I have heard a rumour from the Lord,.... "A hearing" {l}; or a report concerning the destruction of Edom, made to him in a dream or vision, by the spirit of God, as a spirit of prophecy:



and an ambassador is sent to the Heathen; or a messenger; Jeremiah the prophet, as some; or an angel, as Kimchi suggests, sent to gather the nations to war against Bozrah; or a divine impulse, as others, with which the Chaldeans were impressed; which was as a voice to them,



[saying], gather ye together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle; get your forces together, and come against Bozrah or Edom, to invade and subdue it; attack it in a military way, not doubting of victory; see Ob 1:1.



{l} hewmv "auditum audivi", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Schmidt.







Jeremiah 49:15



Ver. 15. For, lo, I will make thee small among the Heathen,.... Or, "I have given thee", or "made thee" {m}; as if it respected what Edom was at first, a people few in number, and their country not large, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi, and after them Abarbinel: but it rather intends what Edom should be {n}; and which was the reason of gathering the Chaldeans against them, to reduce their number, weaken their strength, and destroy their substance, and so make them a small, feeble, and contemptible people; as follows:



[and] despised among men: for the fewness of their men, the desolation of their country, the consumption of their wealth and riches, their poverty and meanness; see Ob 1:2.



{m} Kyttn "posui", Munster; "reddidi", Piscator; "dedi", V. L. Cocceius, Schmidt. {n} Dabo, Pagninus, Montanus. So Ben Melech.







Jeremiah 49:16



Ver. 16. Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, [and] the pride of thine heart,.... Some render it, "thine idol" {o}; see 1Ki 15:13; which, being terrible to them, they thought it might be so to others, and protect them. In the place referred to the word "miphlezeth" is used, and comes from the same root with this, which signifies to be terrible and formidable, and cause to tremble, as the idols of the Gentiles were to their worshippers, and others. The Vulgate Latin version of the above place interprets it of Priapus, which was an idol set up in gardens to frighten birds and thieves from coming thither {p}. So Kimchi observes, that some interpret it here of idolatrous worship or superstition; but it is to be understood either of the roughness and terribleness of their country, abounding with rocks and mountains, which made it inaccessible; or rather of that terror which they struck into their neighbouring nations, by their wealth and riches, their power and strength, their courage and valour, and skill in military affairs; and having such strong cities, fortresses, and fastnesses, natural and artificial, of which they were proud; and, on account of all which, fancied that none would dare to invade them; or, if they did, their attempts would be fruitless; and this deceived them, making them careless and secure:



O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock; the land of Idumea being very hilly and rocky. Jerom {q} says, who lived near it, that all the southern part of Idumea, from Eleutheropolis to Petra and Hailah, had their habitations in caves cut out of rocks:



that holdest the height of the hill; that dwelt on the tops of hills and mountains, and in towers and fortified places built upon them, as Kimchi and Ben Melech; who think respect is had particularly to Mount Seir. The Targum is,



"for thou art like to an eagle that dwells in the clefts of the rock, whose high habitation is inn strong place;''



hence it follows:



though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord; signifying, though they might think themselves as safe and as much out of the reach of men as an eagle's nest, and were as high and as secure in their own imaginations; yet they should be come at by their enemies, be fetched out of their strong holds, and reduced to the lowest and most miserable state and condition; of which they might be assured, since the Lord had spoken it, who would do it by the hand of the Chaldeans. The allusion to the eagle is very pertinent to illustrate the self-exaltation and self-security of the Edomites; the eagle being a bird that flies higher than any other, as Kimchi on the place observes, even up to the clouds, and out of sight; hence Homer {r} calls it the high flying eagle; and which builds its nest in high places, in the tops of rocks; so Aristotle {s} says, they make their nests, not in plains, but in high places, especially in cragged rocks; and Pliny {t} relates that they build their nests in rocks; and he also says {u} of the vultures, who seem to be meant by the eagles in Mt 24:28; that they build their nests in the highest rocks, and which no man can reach.



{o} Ktulpt "simulacrum tuum", Pagninus, Vatablus; "idolum", Grotius. So R. Sol. Urbin Ohel Moed, fol. 12. 1. {p} "--------Deus, inde ego furum, aviumque Maxima formido." Horat. Sermon. l. 1. Satyr. 8. ver. 3, 4. "Et custos furum atque avium cum falce saligna Hellespontiaci servet tutela Priapi". Virgil. Georgic. l. 4. ver. 110, 111. {q} Comment. in Obad. fol. 52. C. {r} Iliad. 22. v. 308. {s} De Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 32. {t} Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 3. {u} Ibid. c. 6.







Jeremiah 49:17



Ver. 17. Also Edom shall be a desolation,.... Not only Bozrah, its principal city, before spoken of, but the whole country of Idumea should be laid waste; its fortified cities destroyed; its riches plundered; and its inhabitants slain with the sword; or carried captive:



everyone that goeth by it shall be astonished; at the desolation made, so suddenly and so universally:



and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof; rejoice at them; clap their hands, and shake their heads, as the Targum; and hiss with their tongues, insulting and deriding them.





Jeremiah 49:18



Ver. 18. As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah,.... Which was so sudden and general, that nothing was left, or any spared; so should it be with Edom:



and the neighbour [cities] thereof, saith the Lord; the cities that were in the plain, Admah and Zeboim:



no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it; that is, of the race of Edom; no Idumean should inhabit it; otherwise those who conquered it should, and doubtless did. There seems to be some allusion to the Dead sea, these cities became, to which Edom is compared, and so were quite uninhabitable.





Jeremiah 49:19



Ver. 19. Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan,.... The Targum rightly interprets it of a king and his army, paraphrasing the words thus,



"behold, a king with his army shall come up against them, as a lion comes up from the height of Jordan;''



not the king of Edom that should come up against Judea, or to defend himself against those that invaded him; but Nebuchadnezzar and his army that should come up against the Edomites from the land of Judea, where Jordan was, having first subdued that; or should come with that strength, fury, and fierceness, as a lion when forced out of its covert near the river Jordan, by the overflowing of its banks, and obliged to betake himself to higher grounds; who, being enraged, roars and tears in pieces all in his way. Monsieur Thevenot {w} says, that Jordan is beset on both sides with little, thick, and pleasant woods; and Mr. Maundrell {x} observes, that



"there is a first and outermost bank to the river, about a furlong, upon a level, before you come to the second bank, to which it may be supposed the river did, and still does, overflow; and the second bank is so beset with bushes and trees, such as tamarisk, willows, and oleanders, &c. that you can see no water till you have made your way through them. In this thicket anciently (and the same is reported of at this day) several sorts of wild beasts were wont to harbour themselves, whose being washed out of the covert, by the over flowings of the river, gave occasion to the allusion,

Jer 49:19.''



So Jerom {y} speaks of lions, in his time, taking up their abode by the river Jordan, near which were desert places, reeds, and sedges:



against the habitation of the strong; the land of Edom, a country well fortified, in which mighty men dwelt; particularly Mount Seir, where their king was, and which was "the fold of the mighty"; either of the mighty shepherd, as it may be rendered {z}; or of the strong place {a}; but what is this to a lion?



but I will make him suddenly run away from her; that is, either the mighty shepherd, the king of Edom, from his fold, upon the approach of the lion, the king of Babylon; or else, as it may be rendered, "and I will cause him to run upon it {b} suddenly": that is, cause the king of Babylon to come speedily into the land of Edom, and seize upon it, overrun it, prevail over it, and be master of it, as Jarchi interprets it:



and who [is] a chosen [man that] I may appoint over her? a choice person in Nebuchadnezzar's army, fit to be made a deputy governor over the land of Edom:



for who [is] like me? for wisdom and power; able to do whatever I please, and to furnish those with proper abilities to perform and accomplish whatever I give them in charge and commission to do:



and who will appoint me the time? set a time to dispute the matter with me, or engage in war against me?



and who [is] that shepherd that will stand before me? or king, as the Targum and Ben Melech; any king, prince, or potentate, who, both in Scripture and in other writings, are often called shepherds; the king of Edom is particularly pointed at, whose habitation or fold is before observed: alas! what could such a shepherd do? or how could he stand before the almighty God, or any lion he should send?



{w} Travels, par. 1. B. 2. ch. 41. p. 193. {x} Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 82. Ed. 7. {y} Comment. in Zech. xi. 3. {z} Ntya hwn la "ad caulam fortis", i.e. "pastoris validi et fortis", Schmidt. {a} "Sub. loci robusti", Vatablus; so Ben Melech. {b} hylem wnuyra heygra yk "nam momento currere faciam cum (nempe Nebuchadanosarem) supra eam", De Dieu, Gataker.







Jeremiah 49:20



Ver. 20. Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord that he hath taken against Edom,.... The decree of the Lord; the purpose and resolution he had taken up in his heart against the Idumeans, which was wisely formed, and upon just and good grounds:



and his purposes that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman; a principal place in Edom, the inhabitants of which were famous for their wisdom, Jer 49:7; and therefore are here particularly mentioned; there being no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord, so as to frustrate his purposes and designs, which have always their effect, Pr 19:21;



surely the least of the flock shall draw them out; not the Persians, the least of the sons of Japheth, as some Rabbins in Jarchi {c}; nor the Israelites, as Kimchi, particularly Rachel's sons, or the posterity of Joseph and Benjamin; but the common soldiers, the weakest and most feeble in the Chaldean army: as princes are compared to shepherds, their people are like flocks; and now the least of these in the king of Babylon's army should be a match for the strongest of the Edomites; and should draw them out of their habitations, as dogs or wolves drag sheep out of the folds, and draw about dead carcasses, and devour them. The words are in the form of an oath, "if the least of the flock do not draw them out"; that is, as I live they shall; or I swear by myself they shall certainly do it; so the Targum,



"if they do not draw and kill the mighty of the people:''



surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them; or, "their folds"; the sheep shall be destroyed, and their folds shall be demolished; that is, the inhabitants of Edom shall be slain with the sword, and their cities, towns, and villages, shall be laid waste.



{c} Vid. T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 10. 1.





Jeremiah 49:21



Ver. 21. The earth is moved at the noise of their fall,.... Of the Edomites; whose fall was from the height of greatness and glory to a very low condition indeed; and as things, the higher they are from whence they fall, the greater noise they make, so it was with the Edomites; perhaps there may be some allusion to the falling of rocks and hills, with which Edom, abounded: this may respect either the noise and shout of the conquerors, when they fell; or the cry of the Edomites, when taken and destroyed; or the report of their destruction, when it came into the world; which struck the inhabitants of the whole earth with terror and amazement, so that they trembled at it; an hyperbolical expression, as Kimchi observes:



at the cry, the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea, or, "sea of Suph", or "weeds"; where weeds and rushes grew in great abundance, from whence it had its name. This is the Arabian gulf, which washed the shores of Edom, and was called the Red sea from thence, Edom signifying red. The meaning is, that the cry of the slain, or of the conquerors at the slaughter of them, should be heard to the borders of the land, to the sea shore, and by those in ships there; who should carry the report of it to each of the parts of the world.







Jeremiah 49:22



Ver. 22. Behold, he shall come up, and fly as the eagle,.... The Targum is,



"behold, as an eagle comes up and flies, so shall a king come up with his army;''



the king of Babylon with his army, compared to an eagle for his swiftness and voraciousness, as before to a lion for his strength and fierceness:



and spread his wings over Bozrah; besiege that city, invest it, and seize upon it; very fitly are the wings of an army expressed by the wings of this bird, denoting both their extent and force; the same is said concerning Moab, Jer 48:40;



and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Moab be as the heart of a woman in her pangs; when just ready to be delivered; not only weak and timorous, but full of anguish, and: quite dispirited;

See Gill on "Jer 48:41".





Jeremiah 49:23



Ver. 23. Concerning Damascus,.... Or, "unto Damascus" {d}; or, "against Damascus" {e}; that is, "thus saith the Lord"; which is to be repeated from the foregoing instances, Jer 49:1. This is to be understood, not only of the city of Damascus, but of the whole kingdom of Syria, of which Damascus was the metropolis; see Isa 7:8;



Hamath is confounded, and Arpad; two cities in Syria; the first is generally thought to be Antioch of Syria, sometimes called Epiphania; and the other the same with Arvad, inhabited by the Arvadim, or Aradians; see 2Ki 18:34; these, that is, the inhabitants of them, as the Targum, were covered with shame, thrown into the utmost confusion and consternation:



for they have heard evil tidings; of the Chaldean army invading the land of Syria, and of their coming against them; and perhaps of their taking of Damascus their capital city; all which must be bad news unto them, and give them great uneasiness:



they are fainthearted; or "melted" {f}; their hearts melted like wax, and flowed like water; they had no heart nor spirit left in them, through fear of the enemy;



[there is] sorrow in the sea, it cannot be quiet: the Targum is,



"fear in the sea, carefulness hath taken hold on them, behold, as those that go down to the sea to rest, and cannot rest;''



or, as other copies, cannot flee. So Jarchi, and Kimchi interpret it, as if the note of similitude was wanting, and the sense this, that the inhabitants of the above places were either like the troubled sea itself, which cannot rest; or like persons in a storm at sea, who are in the utmost uneasiness and distress: or else it designs such that belonged to the kingdom of Syria, that dwelt in the isles of the sea; who were in great fright when they heard of the invasion of their country by the Chaldeans, particularly the Antaradians.



{d} qvmdl "ad Damascum", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus. {e} "Contra Damascum", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Schmidt. {f} wgmn "liquefacti sunt", Vatablus, Cocceius, Schmidt.







Jeremiah 49:24



Ver. 24. Damascus is waxed feeble,.... Or, "is become remiss" {g}; her hands hang down, not being able through fear and fright to lift them up against the enemy; that is, the inhabitants of Damascus, as the Targum:



[and] turneth herself to flee; instead of going out to meet the enemy, the inhabitants of this city meditated a flight, and turned their backs upon him in order to flee from him, and escape falling into his hands:



and fear hath seized on [her]: or, "she seized on fear" {h}; instead of seizing on arms, and laying hold on them to defend herself with, she seized on that; or however that seized on her, and made her quite unfit to stand up in her own defence:



anguish and sorrows have taken her as a woman in travail;

See Gill on "Jer 49:22"; A phrase often used to express the sudden and inevitable destruction of a people, and their distress and inability to help themselves.



{g} htpr "remissa erit", Junius & Tremellius; "remissa est", Cocceius, Piscator; "remissa facta est", Schmidt. {h} hqyzxh jjrw "et apprehendit tremorem", Munster; "et horrorem apprehendit", Schmidt; "et horrorem febrilem prehendet", Junius & Tremellius; "apprehendet", Piscator.





Jeremiah 49:25



Ver. 25. How is the city of praise not left,.... The city of Damascus, famous for its antiquity, its wealth and riches, strength and power; and with the Heathens for its devotion and superstition. So Julian {i} the emperor calls it,



"the truly city of Jupiter; the eye of the whole east; Damascus the holy and the greatest;''



but more especially for its delightful and pleasant situation. Benjamin Tudelensis {k} says it was, in his time,



"a very great and beautiful city, surrounded with a wall; and the country about it was full of gardens and orchards, fifteen miles' walk on every side of it; and no city in the whole world appeared with such plenty of fruit as that did.''



Monsieur Thevenot {l} relates, that



"the city of Damascus is in the middle of a spacious plain, surrounded with hills, but all distant from the town, almost out of sight; those on the north side are the nearest, on which side it hath a great many gardens, full of trees, and most fruit trees; these gardens take up the ground from the hill of the forty martyrs, even to the town; so that at a distance it seems to be a forest.''



Mr. Maundrell {m} tells us, that the Turks relate this story of their prophet Mahomet, that,



"coming near Damascus, he took his station at a high precipice, in order to view it; and considering the ravishing beauty and delightfulness of it, he would not tempt his frailty by entering into it; but instantly departed with this reflection on it, that there was but one paradise designed for men, and for his part he was resolved not take his in this world;''



and, adds the same traveller,



"you have indeed from the precipice the most perfect prospect of Damascus; and certainly no place in the world can promise the beholder at a distance greater voluptuousness. It is situate in an even plain of so great extent, that you can but just discern the mountains that compass it on the farther side. In its length it extends near two miles, and is encompassed with gardens, extending no less, according to common estimation, than thirty miles round; which makes it look like a noble city in a vast wood.''



Strabo {n} says of this city, that it is worthy of praise, and almost the most famous city of all near Persia. The sense of it either is, how is it that so famous a city was not spared by the enemy, that they did not leave it untouched, but destroyed and demolished it? or how is it that it was not fortified by the inhabitants of it; that a parapet was not built about the wall all around, to strengthen it, and keep out the enemy? This sense, as well as the former, is mentioned both by Jarchi and Kimchi, who direct to Na 3:8, for the confirmation of this sense of the word:



the city of my joy! these are either the words of the prophet, who had a great regard to the city of Damascus as ancient, well built, and opulent city, and lamented its destruction; or rather of the king of it, as Jarchi; or of the inhabitants of it, who said this to one another as they fled; so Kimchi: but there is no necessity of rendering it "my joy", only "joy"; for the "jod" affixed may not be considered as a pronoun, but as a paragogic, or a Syriac termination, which is common; though some interpret this of the city of Jerusalem, and as spoken by the Lord, or by the prophet in his name, upbraiding the Syrians for their hatred to it, and disturbance they gave it; and which is now mentioned as one cause and reason of their ruin; see Am 1:3.



{i} Opera, par. 2. Ep. 24. p. 145. {k} Itinerarium, p. 54, 55. {l} Travels, par. 2. B. 1. p. I9. {m} Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 121, 122. Ed. 7. {n} Geograph. l. 16. p. 520.







Jeremiah 49:26



Ver. 26. Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets,.... Or "verily" {o} so Jarchi interprets it as an oath; Jehovah swearing that so it should be; that her young men, her choice ones such who were the flower of the city, and on whom its future prosperity depended; these should fall by the sword of the Chaldeans in the streets of the city, when having entered, and taken it:



and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the Lord of hosts; soldiers and officers, men of strength and valour in whom the inhabitants of Damascus trusted for their defence; these should be cut oil by the sword of the enemy at the time of the siege, and taking of it.



{o} Nkl "certe", Gataker.





Jeremiah 49:27



Ver. 27. And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus,.... Signifying either that, a breach being made there the destruction of the city should begin, and be carried on until it was completed; or it may be understood literally, that first the houses built upon the wall should beset on fire by the Chaldeans, through the divine permission, and according to his order and wilt, and therefore ascribed to him, which should proceed further. Compare with this 2Co 11:32;



and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad; not only the houses of the common people in general, but particularly the palaces of their king and his nobles; Benhadad being a name of one of the kings of Syria, 1Ki 20:1; and which, according to Kimchi, was the name of the king of Syria at the time of the destruction of Damascus by Nebuchadnezzar. Some think that this was a common name of the kings of Syria, as Pharaoh and Ptolemy with the Egyptians. It signifies the son of Hadad, which was the name of their idol; from whence their kings might be called, as was usual with the Assyrians and Babylonians.





Jeremiah 49:28



Ver. 28. Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor,.... A new prophecy concerning the Arabians; for Kedar was a son of Ishmael,

Ge 25:13; whose posterity inhabited Arabia Petraea. Hazor was Petra itself, the metropolis of the country, whose king had several petty kings and kingdoms under him; for this is not the Hazor in the land of Canaan destroyed by Joshua, which had been the head of several kingdoms; and where Jabin king of Canaan afterwards reigned, Jos 11:10 Jud 4:2; though some think that some of those Hazorites in Joshua's time made their escape, and fled into these parts, and built a city, and called it after the name of the former:



which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus saith the Lord: that is, "thus saith the Lord concerning", or "unto", or "against Kedar" {p}, &c. as in Jer 49:1; which the king of Babylon "hath smitten"; the past for the future, common in prophetic language: or, "is about to smite" {q}; would do it in a very little time; for the phrase, "thus saith the Lord", is not to be connected with what follows after, but with what goes before; though indeed the next words are the words of the Lord to the Chaldeans:



arise ye, go up to Kedar; in a hostile manner; invade that country, and possess it:



and spoil the men of the east; the Arabians, which lay east of Judea and Babylon: or, "the children of Kedem" {r}; the same with Kedemah, another son of Ishmael, Ge 25:15; whose posterity dwelt still more to the east; so Kimchi; though the Targum renders it "the children of the east".



{p} rdql "ad Cedar", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus; "contra Kedarem", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "contra Arabian", Schmidt. {q} hkx "percussurus est", Junius & Tremellius, Grotius. {r} Mdq ynb "filios Chedem", Montanus, Vatablus.







Jeremiah 49:29



Ver. 29. Their tents and their flocks shall they take away,.... The Kedarenes were a people whose business chiefly lay in feeding flocks, and of which their substance consisted; and they mostly dwelt in tents, which they removed from place to place, for the sake of pasturage for their flocks; hence they were sometimes called Scenites, and sometimes Nomades; see Ps 120:5; but now both their habitations, such as they were, and their flocks too, wherein lay their riches, would be taken away from them:



they shall take to themselves their curtains, and all their vessels,

and their camels; their curtains made of skins of beasts, of which their tents were made; or with which they were covered to protect them from the inclemencies of the weather; and all the furniture of them, their household goods; their vessels for domestic use; and utensils for their calling and employment; and their camels, which were much used in those countries for travelling from place to place; on which they put their tents, curtains, and vessels, when they removed from one pasturage to another; these they, not the Kedarenes, should take to themselves, and flee with them; but the Chaldeans should seize on them for themselves, as their booty and prey:



and they shall cry unto them, fear [is] on every side; or, "magormissabib", "a fear all round", Jer 20:3; this is the word the Chaldeans shall use, and with it frighten the Kedarenes out of their tents; or by the sound of their trumpets, the alarm of war, and by their shouts and cries, and the clashing of their arms, they shall put them in fear all around: or else the Kedarenes and Hazorites, when they shall see the Chaldean army approaching, shall say one to another, fear is on all sides of us; nothing but ruin and destruction attend us from every quarter.







Jeremiah 49:30



Ver. 30. Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor,

saith the Lord,.... The same is said to the inhabitants of Dedan,

See Gill on "Jer 49:8";



for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you: had determined upon their destruction, and had consulted and contrived ways and means to effect it; and therefore, since so powerful an enemy had such a design upon them, it was high time to flee, and get as far off as they could, and hide themselves in the caverns of the earth.





Jeremiah 49:31



Ver. 31. Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation,.... Or, "to the nation [that is] at ease" {s}; the people that live quietly and in peace; have no wars with their neighbours, nor any among themselves; which seems to be the better sense of the word, for these Kedarenes were not a very wealthy people: these words do not express the counsel and purpose of Nebuchadnezzar; or are an address of his to his army, commanding them to arise, and invade the country of Arabia; for they are the words of the Lord, and are addressed to him and his army to go up in a hostile manner against the Kedarenes, here described:



that dwelleth without care, saith the Lord; not without the care of their flocks, or without providing things necessary for themselves and families; they were not an indolent people, that lived an idle and inactive life; but they dwelt "confidently", or "securely" {t}, as it may be rendered; they had no thought nor care to defend themselves from an enemy; they had no fear of any, imagining that no one would think it worth while to give themselves any trouble to invade them; their meanness they supposed was a protection to them:



which have neither gates nor bars; to their cities, or to their houses, being in no fear of an enemy to come and plunder them:



[which] dwell alone; being in no alliance with other nations; nor dwelling together in cities, towns, and villages, at least the common people; the greater part of them being scattered up and down, a few in one place, and a few in another; they dwelt for the convenience of feeding their flocks.



{s} wylv ywg la "ad gentem quietam", V. L. Munster, Schmidt; "tranquillam", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "pacificam", so some in Vatablus, Pagninus, Montanus. {t} hjbl bvwy "habitantem confidenter", V. L. Pagninus; "in fiducia", Montanus; "in fiducia magna", Vatablus; "secure", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Schmidt.







Jeremiah 49:32



Ver. 32. And their camels shall be a booty,.... To the Chaldean army, as before, Jer 49:29;



and the multitude of their cattle a spoil; to the same; the Kedarenes had large flocks of sheep, as well as a multitude of camels, on which they lived, and in which their substance lay; see Isa 60:6;



and I will scatter into all winds them [that are] in the utmost corners; them that were gone with their flocks to feed them in the uttermost parts of their land; who, on hearing of the Chaldean army being entered and ravaging their country, would leave their flocks, and flee and be dispersed in the several parts of the world: or, "them that are cut in the corner" {u}; in the corners of their beard; that have their hair cut all around, as the Arabians had; See Gill on "Jer 9:26";



and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, saith the Lord; suggesting that Nebuchadnezzar should surround them with his army, and so dispose of his troops, by placing them some in one part, and some in another, that they should not be able to escape on any side. It denotes their utter destruction and desolation.



{u} hap yuwuq "attonsi comam", V. L. "praecisi lateribus", Piscator.







Jeremiah 49:33



Ver. 33. And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, [and] a desolation for ever,.... The city of Hazor, as well as the kingdoms of it; the royal city, where their king and principal men dwelt; even this should be no more inhabited by men, but by dragons, and the wild beasts of the field, and so remain for ever, at least a long time; see Isa 13:20;



there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it: signifying the utter desolation of it; See Gill on "Jer 49:18".





Jeremiah 49:34



Ver. 34. The word of the Lord that came unto Jeremiah the prophet against Elam,.... The Persians, as it is commonly understood, who descended from Elam the son of Shem, Ge 10:22; according to Josephus {w}; but rather the country of Elymais is here designed; which, though in the times of Cyrus, was added to, and made a part of, the Persian empire, yet was a country distinct both from Persia and Media; and as such is spoken of by Pliny {x}; though as near unto Persia, and bordering on Media; according to Stephanus {y}, the Elymaites were a country that belonged to the Assyrians; and so Strabo {a} places the Elymaeans in Aturia or Assyria; and it seems very manifest that Elam served under Sennacherib, king of Assyria, when he besieged Jerusalem,

Isa 22:6; and afterwards fell into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and became subject to him, which is the calamity here threatened them; for certain it is, that, in Belshazzar's time, Shushan in Elam was the royal seat of the kings of Babylon, Da 8:2; now this prophecy against Elam was delivered out



in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah; perhaps in the first year of his reign, ten or eleven years before the destruction of Jerusalem; how long before it had its accomplishment is not certain:



saying: as follows:



{w} Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 4. {x} Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 25, 26, 27. {y} De urbibus apud Cocceium in loc. {a} Geograph. l. 16. in principio, 507.







Jeremiah 49:35



Ver. 35. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I will break the bow of Elam,.... The inhabitants of this country were famous for their skill in archery; See Gill on "Isa 22:6"; this the Lord threatens to break, so that it, should be useless, and of no more service to them to defend themselves, or annoy others. Their strength, as the Targum; that in which their great strength and security lay; in which they put their trust and confidence, as follows:



the chief of their might; which may be interpreted, by way of apposition, of their bow, the chief instrument of their might and power; or may design their mighty men, the archers themselves, who should be destroyed, even Elam itself, and all the inhabitants of it; especially their warriors, who should be slain or carried captive.





Jeremiah 49:36



Ver. 36. And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven,.... The Targum interprets it the four kingdoms; see Da 7:2. Some think this had its accomplishment in the times of Alexander; or else after his death, in the times of his four successors; but rather in the times of Nebuchadnezzar, who should bring with him, in his army, people that dwelt in the several parts of the world, comparable to the winds for their swiftness and strength; whose blast would be so great as to drive the Elamites to every part of the world, as every light thing is by the wind:



and will scatter them towards all those winds; those four winds, east, west, north, and south:



and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come; those that are driven out of it, forced to flee from it, or are taken captive, should come into the several nations of the world; so that there would not be any in which an Elamite was not.







Jeremiah 49:37



Ver. 37. For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies,.... Frightened; thrown into the utmost consternation, so that they shall have no heart nor spirit to go out against them, and meet them, and defend themselves; but make all haste imaginable to flee from them, such a panic would seize them:



and before them that seek their life; a further description of their enemies; they being such, who, not content with their substance, sought to take away their lives; nothing less would satisfy them, being: cruel and blood thirsty ones:



and I will bring evil upon them, [even] my fierce anger, saith the Lord; and a greater evil than that cannot be; signifying that the destruction that should be made among them would be the effect of the wrath of God upon them for their sins:



and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them; that is, those that slay with the sword, as the Targum; these should go after those that fled, and destroy them, till the greater part of them were consumed; for all of them that were taken were not destroyed; or otherwise there would have been none to return from captivity, as is promised at the close of this prophecy.





Jeremiah 49:38



Ver. 38. And I will set my throne in Elam,.... Either when Alexander subdued it, or Cyrus, or rather Nebuchadnezzar, whose palace probably was, as it is certain his successors was, in Shushan in Elam, as before observed from Da 8:2. This is called the Lord's throne, because he gave it to him; his conquest of Elam, and his dominion over it, were from him:



and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the Lord; so that there should be no more kings of Elam, and princes and nobles of their own, after this time; and because mention is made of the kings of Elam in the times of Nebuchadnezzar, Jer 25:25; though that is observed in the first year of his reign, some have thought that it is best to understand it or Cyrus, the Lord's servant and anointed; and whose throne might well be called the throne of God, which he gave him, and set him on in an eminent manner, not only there, but elsewhere; see Ezr 1:2; and when this country of Elam, or Elymais, became at part of the Persian empire, and never had any more kings to reign over it separately. Some of the Jewish Rabbins {b}, as Kimchi observes, interpret the king and princes of Vashti of Haman and his sons; but very wrongly.



{b} In T. Bab. Megillah, fol. 10. 2.







Jeremiah 49:39



Ver. 39. But it shall come to pass in the latter days,.... Not in the times of Cyrus, when these people enjoyed their liberty, as the Jews and other nations did, freed by him from the Babylonian yoke; which cannot with propriety be called the latter days, being but seventy or eighty years at most after this prophecy; but in the times of the Messiah, often in prophecy called the latter days:



[that] I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the Lord: which was accomplished in a spiritual sense, when some of these people, the Elamites, were converted to Christ, and delivered by him from the captivity of sin and Satan, and were brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God; see Ac 2:9.



 

↑ Back to top