Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Jeremiah 48:14-28
The Humbling Of Moab And Judgment On Her Cities (Jeremiah 48:14).
“How do you say, ‘We are mighty men,
And valiant men for the war?'
Moab is laid waste, and they are gone up into his cities,
And his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter,
The word of the King,
Whose name is YHWH of hosts.”
In their complacency the people of Moab trusted in their armed forces, in their champions and in their men of valour. They had no doubt that they could cope with anything. (Like many peoples of that day they did not quite realise what they were up against). But the consequence of that trust would be that Moab would be laid waste, her cities possessed and her choice young men slaughtered.
Note the growth of the case against Moab. She had trusted in her accomplishments and her wealth (Jeremiah 48:7), she had trusted in the fact that she had never experienced exile for her people (Jeremiah 48:11), she had trusted in the ability of her god Chemosh (Jeremiah 48:7; Jeremiah 48:13), and now she trusted in her military strength. What she was always unwilling to do was trust in the true and living God, even though her antecedents had been God-worshippers (Genesis 19:37).
And this will occur because it is the word of the true King (melech), YHWH of hosts, in contrast with the false god Melech, who was worshipped both by Moab's neighbour Ammon, and by many throughout Canaan). Thus both Chemosh and Melech (Molech) have been dismissed, for it is YHWH Who is over all the hosts of heaven and earth.
“The calamity of Moab is imminent,
And his affliction hastens speedily,
All you who are round about him, bemoan him,
And all you who know his name, say,
‘How is the strong staff broken,
The beautiful rod!' ”
Because of the word of YHWH Moab's downfall is imminent, her affliction will speedily come. Indeed all who her neighbours who had so admired her would soon mourn for her, having seen her as the strong and reliable one in the area, the strong staff/sceptre, and the beautiful stave. Such staffs were used for sceptres, for weapons, and for assisting men in walking, indicating the strength that Moab was seen to have. Her neighbours had relied on her strength. But soon it would be seen as having come to nothing.
“O you daughter who dwells in Dibon,
Come down from your glory, and sit in thirst,
For the destroyer of Moab is come up against you,
He has destroyed your strongholds.
O inhabitant of Aroer,
Stand by the way, and watch,
Ask him who flees, and her who escapes,
Say, ‘What has been done?' ”
Dibon was an important city (once an Israelite city), probably above the banks of the River Arnon. It belonged to Moab by the time of Mesha (see what was written on the Moabite stone above). There was no shortage of water for them. And it dwelt in splendour and glory, a royal city. But it is to be equally humiliated with all the other towns and cities. It too will sit in thirst in the heat and the dust (compare Isaiah 47:1), possibly awaiting transportation. But the ‘coming down' to the thirst and the dust may also indicate self-humiliation because of what it sees coming on Moab, for the destroyer of Moab is coming against them, and has already destroyed many strongholds. There is therefore no point in her sitting there in her pride.
This was probably the Aroer on the north bank of the Arnon (Deuteronomy 2:36; Deuteronomy 3:12; Deuteronomy 4:48; Joshua 12:2), where its inhabitants were to observe the flight of the once proud Dibonites. They are called on to observe the humiliation of Dibon, and, as the refugees from Dibon stream past, to ask, ‘what has happened?'. It is a theoretical picture. In reality the inhabitants of Aroer would be fleeing as well. It is intended simply to bring out the awfulness of the situation.
“Moab is put to shame,
For it is shattered (broken down),
Wail and cry,
Tell you it by the Arnon,
That Moab is laid waste,
And judgment is come on the plain country (the plateau),
On Holon, and on Jahzah, and on Mephaath,
And on Dibon, and on Nebo, and on Beth-diblathaim,
And on Kiriathaim, and on Beth-gamul, and on Beth-meon,
And on Kerioth, and on Bozrah,
And on all the cities of the land of Moab,
Far or near.
The horn of Moab is cut off,
And his arm is broken.”
The word of YHWH.
Prior to this the emphasis has been on the towns and cities in northern Moab, which had been seized from Israel. But now the whole of Moab is in mind, and its great towns and cities are listed, including many mentioned above. What is now being described is the devastation of the whole of Moab. Its great pride was now to be humbled, and it was to be ‘put to shame'. At the crossing-place of the Arnon the story would be told, ‘Moab is laid waste, and judgment has come on the Plateau'.
The great towns and cities of the Plateau are now listed as being a part of the destruction. Dibon and Nebo have been mentioned above, and along with Kiriathaim and Beth-diblathaim are mentioned in the Moabite Stone (see above) which was discovered at Dibon. A number of them are former levitical cities as named in the Book of Joshua (e.g. Jahzah 21:36; Mephaath 21:37; Bozrah (bezer) Jeremiah 20:8. The names now include those of towns in Moab proper (e.g. Beth-meon).
‘The horn of Moab is cut off.' Wild animals in captivity had their horns cut off so as to render them powerless, and the horn is ever a symbol of strength. The breaking of the arm indicated a similar situation. A man could not fight with a broken sword arm (compare Ezekiel 30:21). In the same way would Moab be rendered powerless by Babylon. And all this in accord with the prophetic word of YHWH.
“You (who are invading), make him drunk,
For he magnified himself against YHWH,
And Moab will wallow in his vomit,
And he also will be in derision.”
For was Israel not a derision to you?
Was he found among thieves?
That as often as you speak of him,
You wag the head.”
The invaders, ‘you', are called on to make Moab so drunk with the wine of the wrath of YHWH (compare Jeremiah 25:15; Isaiah 49:26; Isaiah 51:21) that she wallows in her own vomit, becoming a pitiable sight mocked by the nations, in the same way as she had once mocked Israel. The invaders are to be seen as instruments in God's hands. But we should note that the whole idea of drinking emphasises that Moab themselves deliberately partake of it by their own actions. YHWH's punishments are not direct but are the consequences of man's rebellion connected with man's inhumanity to man. Thus the arrogance of Moab and the cruelty of the Babylonians were both tools in His hands for the fulfilling of His purposes. Indeed had Moab heeded YHWH when He warned against rebellion against the Babylonians she would not have suffered these judgments. She thus brought them on herself. We should always remember that God's judgments are brought about by men's machinations, even though it be under His sovereign hand.
It was, however, because Moab had magnified itself against YHWH by deriding His failure to protect Israel, by not responding to Him and by not heeding YHWH's warning against rebellion against Babylon, that they themselves must be brought low. They had continually wagged their heads in derision at Israel's earlier fate, and the prophet challenges them as to why they had done so. Had they any grounds for suggesting that Israel were deserving of their fate because they had allied themselves with marauding nations (had been found among thieves)? In the Hebrew the question expects the answer ‘no', but some commentators see what is said was indicating that Moab's attitude was due to the consequence of Israel having entered into alliance with bad companions. If that is so they had now done the same thing themselves, for they were not alone in the rebellion which brought Nebuchadrezzar's wrath on them.
‘Wallow --.' The verb literally means ‘clap the hand' or ‘slap the thigh' (compare Jeremiah 31:19; Numbers 24:10). The thought is seemingly of their response to their situation expressed in gesticulation.
“O you inhabitants of Moab,
Leave the cities,
And dwell in the rock,
And be like the dove who makes her nest over the mouth of the abyss.”
So the Moabites are now called on to flee from their cities and become refugees in the mountains. Like the dove who chooses the most inaccessible place for its nest, they are to seek out hiding places where they can be safe, dwelling in caves and holes in the rocks, a contrast with their sophisticated lives in their cities.