Jeremiah 48:18-28

D. Complete Degradation Jeremiah 48:18-28

TRANSLATION

(18) Go down from your glory! Sit in thirst, O delicate daughter of Dibon; for the destroyer of Moab has gone up against you; he will destroy your fortifications. (19) Stand by the way and watch, O inhabitress of Aroer! Ask the fleeing man and the fugitive woman, What has happened? (20) Moab is put to shame for it is dismayed! Howl and cry out! Declare in Arnon that Moab is plundered. (21) Judgment has come upon the land of the plain, upon Holon, Jahzah, Mephaath, (22) Dibon, Nebo, Bethdiblathaim (23) Kiriathaim, Bethgamul, Beth-meon, (24) Kerioth, Bozrah and upon all the cities of the land of Moab both far and near. (25) The horn of Moab is cut off and his arm is broken (oracle of the LORD). Moab shall wallow in his own vomit and he also shall be an object of derision. (27) Was not Israel an object of derision to you? Was he found among thieves so that as often as you spoke of him you wagged the head? (28) Forsake the cities and dwell in the rock, O inhabitants of Moab, and he like the dove that makes her nest on the far sides of a gorge.

COMMENTS

Even Dibon, the highly honored royal city (cf. 2 Kings 3:4-5), will be disgraced in the coming calamity. Dibon, personified as a delicate damsel, is bidden by the prophet to descend from her glory and sit in thirst i.e., in the dust. Why this ignominy and shame for the proud city built on two hills? The mighty strongholds of Moab are destroyed by the invader (Jeremiah 48:18). The inhabitants of Aroer spot the fugitives from the north coming down the King's Highway which passed through Dibon and Aroer and ask them what has happened (Jeremiah 48:19). In anguished cries the refugees reply: Moab is confounded; Moab is shattered! Jeremiah urges the inhabitants of Moab to howl and cry i.e., take up a lamentation for their land. He urges the fugitives and inhabitants of Aroer to spread the word that Moab has been destroyed (Jeremiah 48:20) and that the judgment of God has come upon the land. City after city has fallen (Jeremiah 48:21-24).[388] The horn of Moab (symbol of power) is cut off and the arm (symbol of authority) has been broken (Jeremiah 48:25).

[388] The location of most of the cities in these verses is uncertain. Several of them are named in the famous Moabite Stone which was found at Dibon in 1868.

The divine command has been issued: Moab must drink the wine of God's wrath. Like a drunken man, Moab reels and totters, vomits and then falls into his own filth. Neighboring nations who observe Moab in this helpless and debased condition will make that nation the object of derision. But is this not exactly the attitude which Moab had toward Israel? From the very beginning of their dealings with one another the Moabites had treated the Israelites with the same contempt which one has for a thief caught in the act of stealing (Jeremiah 48:27). As often as the name Israel was mentioned the Moabites would wag their heads (ASV)[389] in a gesture of contempt (cf. Matthew 27:39). By so despising the people of God the Moabites had in effect magnified themselves against the Lord (Jeremiah 48:26). Because of the impending judgment Moab is advised to seek refuge where the dove or wild pigeon makes its nest in the inaccessible rocky crevices of the mountains (Jeremiah 48:28).

[389] The rendering of the KJV is: thou skippedst for joy. The ASV rendering is preferred by most commentators.