Jeremiah 48:39-46

G. Inescapable Destruction Jeremiah 48:39-46

TRANSLATION

(39) How sad the dismay! They howl! How sad that Moab has turned the back in shame! Moab shall become an object of derision and terror to those round about! (10) For thus says the LORD: Be-hold, he shall fly as an eagle and spread his wings ever Moab. (41) The cities are captured and the strongholds are seized and the heart of the mighty men of Moab shall be In that day like the heart of a woman in travail. (42) Moab shall be destroyed from being a people because he has exalted himself against the LORD. (43) Terror and pit and trap are upon you, O inhabitant of Moab (oracle of the LORD). (44) The one who climbs out of the pit shall be captured by the trap; for I will bring upon her, upon Moab, the year of their punishment (oracle of the LORD). (45) In the shadow of Heshbon the fugitives stand without strength; for a fire has come forth from Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and it has devoured the corner of Moab, and the head of the son of tumult. (46) Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished; for they have taken your sons into captivity, and your daughters into exile.

COMMENTS

Surrounding nations will observe the fate of once proud Moab and will themselves take up a mocking lamentation: Moab has turned the back with shame i.e., fled before the enemy. But Moab will not only be an object of derision to neighboring nations, she will also be an object of terror or dismay. If Moab falls to the enemy, what chances do the less powerful nations have for survival? (Jeremiah 48:39). The reason for their terror is completely justified. The conqueror of Moab will swoop down like an eagle and spread his wings over the whole land (Jeremiah 48:40). No doubt Jeremiah is here referring to Nebuchadnezzar who is reported to have conquered Moab, Ammon and the neighboring peoples in 582-581 B.C.[390] The figure of an eagle is a favorite description of a victorious conqueror.[391] Victoriously the conqueror sweeps through the land. Kerioth (already mentioned in Jeremiah 48:24) and the strongholds of the land fall before him. The defenders of the land will be as terrified as a woman experiencing the pangs of childbirth (Jeremiah 48:41). When the conquest is complete Moab will be destroyed and eventually will cease to be a nation. All of this must happen because Moab has magnified himself against the Lord, the God of Israel (Jeremiah 48:42). The meaning of this expression, which was used previously in this oracle (Jeremiah 48:26), is perhaps clarified by a verse in Zephaniah. I have heard the reproach of Moab and the revilings of the children of Ammon, wherewith they have reproached My people, and magnified themselves against their border (Zephaniah 2:8). The phrase magnify themselves against seems to mean that Moab and Ammon sought to dominate Israel, sought to regain possession of land which the Lord had taken from them and given to Israel. By so harassing Israel they were challenging the Lord himself.

[390] Josephus, Antiquities X. 9. 7.

[391] See Jeremiah 49:22; Isaiah 46:11; Ezekiel 17:3.

The judgment coming upon Moab will be inescapable. To make this point Jeremiah again borrows from Isaiah (Isaiah 24:17-18). In that day of divine visitation the Moabites will be confronted by fear, the pit and the snare (Jeremiah 48:43). The one who flees from the terror will fall into the pit; the one who climbs up out of the pit will be captured by the snare (Jeremiah 48:44). These verses seem to reflect a popular proverb meaning that men would go from one danger into another until they are finally, inescapably trapped, Some fugitives of Moab will attempt to seek safety in Heshbon, the neighboring city of the Ammonites. But Heshbon can offer no refuge. In the words of an ancientproverb[392] Afire shall come forth out of Heshbon which will consume the corner or side of Moab and the crown of his head (Jeremiah 48:45). Far from being a place of safety, Heshbon will be the spot from which the Chaldean flame will spread southward through Moab (cf. Jeremiah 48:2) just as centuries earlier the Amorite king Sihon launched his attack against Moab from the city of Heshbon (Numbers 21:28-30). The Moabites are called tumultuous ones because of their noisy and boastful opposition to the people of Israel and their God. The prophecy ends as it began with a woe against Moab. Those who worship the god Chemosh will go into exile. Their deity would not be able to save them from this fate (Jeremiah 48:46).

[392] The proverb quoted in Numbers 21:28 is here given a new application.