Jeremiah 48:1-47
1 Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgaba is confounded and dismayed.
2 There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee.
3 A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction.
4 Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
5 For in the going up of Luhith continualb weeping shall go up; for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.
6 Flee, save your lives, and be like the heathc in the wilderness.
7 For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together.
8 And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken.
9 Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein.
10 Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully,d and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.
11 Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remainede in him, and his scent is not changed.
12 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.
13 And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence.
14 How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war?
15 Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
16 The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast.
17 All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod!
18 Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds.
19 O inhabitantf of Aroer, stand by the way, and espy; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth, and say, What is done?
20 Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled,
21 And judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath,
22 And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Bethdiblathaim,
23 And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Bethgamul, and upon Bethmeon,
24 And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.
25 The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the LORD.
26 Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against the LORD: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.
27 For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedstg for joy.
28 O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth.
29 We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart.
30 I know his wrath, saith the LORD; but it shall not be so; his liesh shall not so effect it.
31 Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kirheres.
32 O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage.
33 And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting.
34 From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as an heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate.i
35 Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the LORD, him that offereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to his gods.
36 Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kirheres: because the riches that he hath gotten are perished.
37 For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped:j upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.
38 There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof: for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the LORD.
39 They shall howl, saying, How is it broken down! how hath Moab turned the backk with shame! so shall Moab be a derision and a dismaying to all them about him.
40 For thus saith the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab.
41 Keriothl is taken, and the strong holds are surprised, and the mighty men's hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
42 And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the LORD.
43 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the LORD.
44 He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.
45 They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of the force: but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuousm ones.
46 Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives.
47 Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
Jeremiah 48:1. Against Moab, saith the Lord. Isaiah had prophesied of the devastation of Moab by Salmaneser: chap. 15, 16. Jeremiah here speaks of the terrible conquest of the country by Nebuchadnezzar, which, according to Josephus, happened five years after the fall of Jerusalem. It was Messiah, the eternal Word, that gave the prophet his commission on this occasion, and inspired him with an elegy on the doom of Moab, an elegy of incomparable beauty, that it might be read with interest in the cities of Moab, and that the style and general character of the composition might not dishonour a minister of the Lord. On the divine presence, when nations are addressed, the words of Zechariah are remarkable. “Thus saith the Lord of hosts: after the Glory hath he sent me to the nations which spoiled you:” Zechariah 2:8. Such is the general testimony of jewish targums, or paraphrases of the prophets, that the Word of Jehovah talked with the holy seers. In short, such also is the faith of the christian fathers. Professor Cocceius, on this grand credential of the prophets, remarks, Nil impedit, quò minus, id ipsius Personæ Divinæ oratio sit. Why should we think otherwise than that the oration is the dictate of the Divine Person?
Woe unto Nebo. A frontier town in the tribe of Reuben, of which the Moabite, in some crisis of weakness, had gained possession. Kiriathaim is confounded, stormed and taken. The prophet, with the sanction of the Lord, speaks of the conquest as already done.
Jeremiah 48:2. Moab shall have no more praise: in Heshbon they have devised evil against her. The princes of Chaldea have decided on the fall of Moab. All the small states of Palestine were agreed to pull down the kingdom of David; but blind in policy, they pulled the building on their own heads.
Jeremiah 48:6. Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness. The word heath is unsuccessful: a heath cannot flee away. On the word כערוער Ke-aroer, we have almost as many readings as versions. Montanus has juniper. The sense seems to be, as thistle-down, which grows in dry places, and is blown far away in the wind. Cocceius has instar myricarum aut ericarum aut carduorum in deserto. Hosea 9:17.
Jeremiah 48:7. Chemosh shall go forth into captivity. This idol was reckoned the titular divinity of the land. Numbers 21:29; Judges 11:24. How mortifying to see the priests and the princes accompanying their gods into captivity.
Jeremiah 48:9. Give wings to Moab. Such is the reading of Kimchi. Others read, give flowers to Moab, which shall soon fade as a garland. The English reading is no doubt correct, and it best agrees with the dispersion of thistle- down.
Jeremiah 48:13. Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as much as Samaria was of the golden calves in Bethel. The gods of gold and silver are in more danger than gods of wood. Our little silver goddess at Loretto disappeared before the French reached the place. Her right foot, says Dr. Smith in his view of the manners of Italy, was rather shorter than the left, supposed to have been worn away by the kissing of millions of votaries.
Jeremiah 48:16. The calamity of Moab is near approaching. Though we know not the date of these prophecies, yet it is likely that three or four years were the limits of the divine forbearance. When Jerusalem fell, Moab shouted for joy, as in Jeremiah 48:27.
Jeremiah 48:18. Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon. The country of Moab was well watered with streams from the hills, and the vales were exquisitely beautiful. In this modern travellers are agreed. Isaiah bids the daughter of Babylon come down, and sit in dust, the position of mourners; but Moab must leave her limpid streams, and sit in thirst, while crossing the parched deserts. With Dibon, the prophet counts twelve other cities, as sharing the like calamities, and closes this part of the elegy with a full stroke. The horn of Moab is broken.
Jeremiah 48:29. We have heard the pride of Moab. Her riches, her splendour of dress, her beautiful mansions, all the enlivened cosmography, and retiring graces of her palaces were proverbs in the country. Now all must be plundered and lost in the blaze of conflagration. The prophet commands her to leave those inviting abodes, to dwell on the rocks, and mourn like the doves that have lost their mates.
Jeremiah 48:32. The sea of Jazer. This town stood on the dead sea: hence the lake of Sodom is here called after Jazer. All large collections of water are called seas in the Hebrew.
Jeremiah 48:34. From the cry of Heshbon even to Eleàleh, the most western city of Moab, shall be strong and incessant, like the cry of a heifer three years old when she has lost her company. God in anger would cast away the pride of Moab, as the broken pieces of a potter's vase.
Jeremiah 48:40. Behold, he (the Assyrian) shall fly as an eagle, and spread his wings over Moab. Thus Daniel also beheld him: Daniel 7:4. This designates the eagerness of a victorious army for conquest, and the spoils of war. David wisely preferred the pestilence to the sword.
Jeremiah 48:42. Moab shall be destroyed, so as to be no more a people, enjoying national power and glory under her own king. Her wound could only be healed with the loss of limbs.
Jeremiah 48:47. Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the Lord. Whatever reference this promise may have to the Messiah's times, Josephus in his Antiquities, Jeremiah 13:23, says that after the captivity, the Moabites were reduced under the power of the Jews, and received circumcision. They are accused of vacillation: when the affairs of the Jews were prosperous, they claimed kindred with them, but disowned them in adversity. See on Isaiah 15.
REFLECTIONS.
Jeremiah, in this chapter, has borrowed many expressions from Isaiah 15. and 16., it being proper that the prophets should confirm the words of one another. Micah has done the same in chap. 4. It is a maxim of providence to thrust in the sickle when the harvest of the earth is ripe; and when God begins in anger to punish nations, no man knows when the storms of vengeance shall subside. Moab soon recovered from her visitation by Assyria, and enjoyed repose for about a hundred years. She was too weak to fight with great nations, and this weakness was frequently the cause of her safety; she avoided doubtful contests with her powerful neighbours. She was as a cask of wine settled on its lees, and it was high time to draw it off. She saw Jerusalem fall, of which she had been afraid, and rejoiced at the evil, because the storm, for the present, was bought off no doubt, by concessions to the victor. She was therefore fat and at ease; her pride was her leading sin, and proved her utter destruction.
When the severer storms of national visitations come, happy is the man who can fly to a peaceful retreat. Hence, says the prophet, “Give wings to Moab.” But happier still is the sinner who takes refuge in Christ; he is a hidingplace from all the storms of life, and all the fears of a future world. God's indignation ran so high against the sins of Moab, that he sealed the mission of the Chaldeans with a malediction, in case of too much lenity. Cursed be the man that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully; and cursed be the man that keepeth back his sword from blood; and withal he promises mercy to a remnant who should return. How faithful then should ministers of religion be in the discharge of their duty, for theirs is a ministry of grace; a ministry to save both men and nations from destruction and eternal death. Oh preacher, enjoying honours and revenues in the church, do not think that thou shalt escape the curse, if thou art silent concerning the extortions, the adulteries and atheism of thy supporters and patrons.