Jeremiah 48:31-38

F. Bitter Lamentation Jeremiah 48:31-38

TRANSLATION

(31) Therefore, I will wail over Moab, and I will cry out for all of Moab, and I will moan for the men of Kir-heres. (32) With more than the weeping of Jazer I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah. Your branches passed over the sea, they reached unto the sea of Jazer. Upon your summer fruit and your vintage the destroyer has fallen. (33) Gladness and joy have been removed from the fruitful land, the land of Moab. I have caused wine to cease from the vat; no one treads with shouting; shouting is not shouting. (34) From the cry of Heshbon unto Elealeh, unto Jahaz they have uttered their voice; from Zoar unto Horonaim, Eglath-shelishiah; for even the waters of Nimrim shall become desolations. (35) And I will cause to cease in Moab (oracle of the LORD) the one who offers sacrifices on the high places and the one who offers incense to his gods. (36) Therefore, my heart murmurs like the flute, yea my heart murmurs like a flute for the men of Kirheres because the riches he accumulated have perished. (37) For every head is bald, every beard is shorn; on all hands are gashes, and sackcloth on the loins. (38) Upon all the roofs of Moab and in all her streets there is lamentation; for I will shatter Moab as a vessel in which there is no delight (oracle of the LORD).

COMMENTS

Because Moab is doomed to destruction, Jeremiah takes up a lamentation over that land. The lament expresses once more the prophet's sincere sympathy with Moab. The weeping prophet was not only concerned with the destruction of his own people, he was deeply moved by the thought that others would suffer too. Kir-heres (Jeremiah 48:31) is the chief fortress of southern Moab and in mourning the loss of that city the prophet suggests that the conquest of Moab is complete. The prophet's sorrow is deeper than that of the city of Jazer located fifteen miles north of Heshbon. Jeremiah is distressed to think that the luxuriant vineyards of Sibmah (located near Heshbon) which stretch as far as the Dead Sea and the sea of Jazer (location unknown) must now be destroyed. These famous and beautiful vineyards will be hopelessly ruined, ruthlessly trampled down and destroyed by the enemy, together with the summer fruits (Jeremiah 48:32). Joy and gladness, normally characteristic of that plentiful land, shall disappear. Since the vineyards will be destroyed, the winepresses or winevats will contain no wine. The shouting which shall be heard in the land will not be the joyous shoutings of the grape treaders, but the battle shout of the invading soldiers (Jeremiah 48:33). Throughout the land a cry of woe is heard (Jeremiah 48:34). The King James a heifer of three years old is probably a proper name, Eglatshelishliah, as in the ASV. The Hebrew language has no capital letters and it is not always possible to distinguish between common and proper nouns. Since the whole land of Moab is depopulated no longer will sacrifice be offered at the shrines, nor incense burned before the idols (Jeremiah 48:35).

In Jeremiah 48:36 Jeremiah again expresses his personal sorrow over the destruction of Moab. He compares the agony of his heart to the pipes or flutes whose monotonous and mournful sounds filled the air during funeral services. The prophet weeps because the riches, the abundance of Moab, have perished (Jeremiah 48:36). Everywhere he looks the prophet sees signs of mourning: bald heads, clipped beards, cuttings upon the body, sackcloth about the loins (Jeremiah 48:37). On every roof and in every street the lamentation can be heard. The Lord, the God of Israel has broken Moab like a vessel which no longer pleases Him (Jeremiah 48:38). What intense agony in the land of Moab and in the heart of a Judean prophet!