Jeremiah 48:7-10

B. Urgent Exhortation Jeremiah 48:7-10

TRANSLATION

(7) Surely because you trusted in your works and in your treasures, you also shall be captured. Chemosh shall go out into captivity, his priests and his princes together. (8) And the destroyer shall come upon every city and no city shall escape. The valley shall perish and the plain shall be destroyed just as the LORD has said. (9) Give wings to Moab, for she must fly; and her cities shall become a desolation without inhabitant. (10) Cursed be the one who does the work of the LORD negligently; and cursed be the one who withholds his sword from blood.

COMMENTS

Knowing the destruction that awaits Moab Jeremiah urges the inhabitants of that nation to flee for their lives. Be like the heath[384] (desert shrub) in the wilderness (Jeremiah 48:6). Flight is necessary because the judgment of Moab is inevitable. Moab will fall because she has put her trust in her works (some translate strongholds) and in her treasures instead of the living God. Judged by this criteria many nations today would fall under the prophetic indictment. The Moabites should also flee because their national god Chemosh will not be able to save them. Indeed Chemosh will not even be able to prevent his own captivity: Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together (Jeremiah 48:7). The inhabitants of Moab shall flee because the destruction will touch every part of the land. No city shall escape. The Jordan valley which formed part of the boundary of Moab on the west shall perish. The plain or plateau, the Transjordanian highland which stretches from the Arnon north to Heshbon, shall also experience the devastation (Jeremiah 48:8). In order to escape the destroyer Moab will need wings and the prophet prays that she shall be provided with them (Jeremiah 48:9). While the prophet feels sympathy for Moab he realizes that the destruction of the Moabites is the work of the Lord which he has committed to human destroyers. A curse is pronounced upon the destroyer if he is negligent in performing the task which the Lord has given him (Jeremiah 48:10).

[384] The RSV follows the Septuagint version and renders wild ass. Others suggest the translation destitute man. In any case the thought is the same: Get out of the cities and take your chances in the uninhabited areas.