XLIX. (1) CONCERNING THE AMMONITES. — The history of this people was, to a great extent, parallel with that of the Moabites. They had been conquered by Sihon, the great Amorite king, and when that monarch was, in his turn, conquered by the Israelites (Numbers 21:21) their territory was assigned to t... [ Continue Reading ]
RABBAH OF THE AMMONITES. — More fully, _of the children of Ammon. — _Rabbah, or Rabbath, the “city of waters” (the word signifies “Great,” and the city was, as it were, the Megalopolis of Ammon), was the capital, and this was its full and formal title (Deuteronomy 3:11; 2 Samuel 11:1; 2 Samuel 12:26... [ Continue Reading ]
HOWL, O HESHBON, FOR AI IS SPOILED. — Heshbon has appeared in Jeremiah 48:2; Jeremiah 48:45, as connected with the fortunes of Moab, but it was strictly an Ammonite city. The “Ai” here is obviously not the city near Jericho of Joshua 8:28, and unless we assume an error in the text (“Ai” for “Ar”= ci... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE VALLEYS. — The word exactly describes the conformation of the Ammonite country, as a high plateau intersected by streams which make their way to the Jordan. For “thy flowing valley” read “thy valley” (this is, of course, the valley in which Rabbah was situated) “that floweth with plenty.” The... [ Continue Reading ]
I wILL BRING A FEAR UPON THEE... — As in the case of Moab, there is the doom of exile for Ammon also, but the sentence of punishment is tempered with mercy, and there is to be a return from the seemingly hopeless captivity.... [ Continue Reading ]
CONCERNING EDOM. — A short survey of the past history is necessary that we may enter into the force of the prophet’s words. On the journey of the Israelites to Canaan the Edomites were left unmolested (Numbers 14:21; Deuteronomy 2:4). Conquered by Saul (1 Samuel 14:47), and yet more completely by Da... [ Continue Reading ]
O INHABITANTS OF DEDAN. — See Note on Jeremiah 25:23. In Ezekiel 25:13 Dedan appears, as here, in company with Edom and Teman. In Isaiah 21:13 the “travelling companies of Dedanim” appear as carrying on the traffic of Edom with other countries. The words “dwell deep” are as a warning, bidding them r... [ Continue Reading ]
IF GRAPEGATHERERS COME TO THEE... — The words are reproduced in Obadiah 1:5. Vine-gatherers leave some bunches for the gleaner; robbers are at last satiated with plunder; but the destroyers of Edom would be insatiable (comp. Isaiah 17:6). Esau (the name stands for Edom) should be laid bare, and peri... [ Continue Reading ]
LEAVE THY FATHERLESS CHILDREN... — Were the words uttered in the stern irony of one who veils _&_ threat in the form of a promise, as some have thought, or was there even in the case of Edom a mingling of pity for the helpless? The latter view seems truer to the prophet’s character (Jeremiah 48:36).... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, THEY WHOSE JUDGMENT... — The imagery is taken up from Jeremiah 25:15. Even those of whom it might have seemed that they were exempted, by God’s decree, from drinking of the cup of His wrath, had drunk. Could Esau hope for immunity? The thought is parallel to that of 1 Peter 4:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
BOZRAH. — This, as in Isaiah 34:6; Isaiah 63:1, was one of the chief cities of Edom, probably identical with the modern _El-Busaireh,_ half-way between Petra and the Dead Sea.... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE HEARD A RUMOUR FROM THE LORD... — The thought is that of Jehovah, as the great King, sending forth His herald or envoy to call the nations to the attack on Edom. (Comp. Jeremiah 46:3.)... [ Continue Reading ]
AMONG THE HEATHEN. — Better here, as no marked contrast with Israel is intended, _among the nations. _... [ Continue Reading ]
THY TERRIBLENESS HATH DECEIVED THEE. — The substantive does not occur elsewhere. Etymo-logically it may mean “terror of,” or “object of terror;” but a cognate word is found in 1 Kings 15:13; 2 Chronicles 15:16 in the sense of an “idol,” probably of the Phallic or Priapus type, and that is probably t... [ Continue Reading ]
EDOM SHALL BE A DESOLATION. — The words did not receive an immediate or even a rapid fulfilment. Idumæa was a populous and powerful country in the time of John Hyrcanus. Petra, as we have seen, was rebuilt by the Romans as a centre of trade and government, and had its baths, and theatres, and temple... [ Continue Reading ]
SODOM AND GOMORRAH AND THE NEIGHBOUR CITIES THEREOF. — The destruction of the two cities named had become proverbial, as in Isaiah 1:9; Jeremiah 13:19; Amos 4:11. What is noticeable here is the mention of the “neighbour cities.” We may connect it with the fact that they are named as Admah and Zeboim... [ Continue Reading ]
LIKE A LION FROM THE SWELLING OF JORDAN. — Better, as in Jeremiah 12:5, _the pride of Jordan_ — _i.e.,_ the thick jungle-forests which were the glory of its banks. AGAINST THE HABITATION OF THE STRONG. — Better, _against the evergreen pasturage._ The word for “habitation” is that used in Jeremiah 6... [ Continue Reading ]
SURELY. — Literally, _If not..._” — the strongest Hebrew idiom of asseveration. THE LEAST OF THE FLOCK SHALL DRAW THEM OUT... — The English is obscure, probably because the object of the verb has been taken as its subject. Better, _Surely they_ (_i.e.,_ the Chaldæan invaders) _will vex them, the fe... [ Continue Reading ]
THE NOISE THEREOF WAS HEARD IN THE RED SEA. — Literally, as in the margin, _the Weedy, or Reed sea._ The crash of the fall of Edom, the cries of the slaughtered people, were to be heard far off on the waters of the sea that washed its shores. Elath, on the Gulf of Akaba, was the sea-port of Edom (2... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SHALL COME UP AND FLY AS THE EAGLE. — The prophet passes from one symbol of sovereignty to another, and instead of the lion we have (see Note on Jeremiah 48:40) the eagle. What Kerioth was to Moab, Bozrah was to Edom, and its capture is painted in the same terms.... [ Continue Reading ]
CONCERNING DAMASCUS. — Damascus is named as the capital of Aram, or Syria. The kingdom first became powerful under Rezon after David’s death (1 Kings 11:23). In the history of 1 and 2 Kings we find it engaged in constant wars against Israel and Judah (1 Kings 22:1; 2 Kings 6:8) or in alliance with I... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW IS THE CITY OF PRAISE NOT LEFT...! — The exclamation, half scornful, half ironical, points to the fact that the inhabitants of Damascus had tried in vain to flee (Jeremiah 49:24). The city so fair and glorious, with its rivers Abana and Pharphar (2 Kings 5:12), had not been “left,” would not be... [ Continue Reading ]
IT SHALL CONSUME THE PALACES OF BEN-HA-DAD. — Three kings of the name appear in Old Testament history; one as warring against Omri (1 Kings 20:34), another as a contemporary of Elisha (2 Kings 8:7), a third as the son of Hazael, and therefore belonging to a different dynasty (2 Kings 13:3). It is po... [ Continue Reading ]
CONCERNING KEDAR... — The name belonged to a tribe of the Bedouin type, descended from Ishmael (Genesis 25:13), and at this time conspicuous as supplying the markets of Tyre with sheep and goats (Ezekiel 27:21). In PP. 120:5 it appears as the representative of the fierce nomadic life of the Arabians... [ Continue Reading ]
FEAR IS ON EVERY SIDE. — There is a striking individuality in this reproduction of the _Magor-missabib_ cry which had been so prominent in the prophet’s own life and preaching (Jeremiah 6:25; Jeremiah 20:3; Jeremiah 20:10; Jeremiah 46:5).... [ Continue Reading ]
DWELL DEEP. — See Note on Jeremiah 49:8. The dwellers in the villages of Hazor are told, as those of Dedan had been, to flee into the furthest recesses of the wilderness. The words probably point to the time after the battle of Carchemish, when Nebuchadnezzar established his sovereignty over the low... [ Continue Reading ]
(31-33) ARISE, GET YOU UP... — The command of Jehovah goes forth to the invaders. Their work will be an easy one, for they are sent against a people that dwell defenceless in the open country, with no walls or gates, dwelling alone, without allies, their camels and their flocks offering an easy prey... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WORD OF THE LORD THAT CAME TO JEREMIAH THE PROPHET AGAINST ELAM... — It is noticeable that this is the only prophecy in Jeremiah 48, 49 with a date attached to it. Assuming the date to be rightly given, it indicates a time later than that of those that precede it, which belong probably to the gr... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL BREAK THE BOW OF ELAM. — As in Isaiah 22:6; Herod. vii. 61, Elam was conspicuous for its archers. We are reminded of the account which Herodotus gives (ii. 136) of the three things taught to the youth of Persia — to ride, to draw the bow, and to speak the truth. This weapon was “the chief of... [ Continue Reading ]
UPON ELAM WILL I BRING THE FOUR WINDS... — The words reproduce those of Jeremiah 49:32 as to the extent of the dispersion, but there is an added circumstance of terror in the picture of destruction. The “four winds” whirling round as in a _cyclone_ are to be the instruments of destruction. The image... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL SET MY THRONE IN ELAM. — The throne of Jehovah is, it is clear, the throne of the king who is, for the time, His chosen instrument and servant, in this case therefore the throne of Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 43:10), against whom. Elam, like the other nations in Jeremiah 25:13, and in Jeremiah 4... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL BRING AGAIN THE CAPTIVITY OF ELAM. — Of the special history of Elam, as distinct from the other provinces of the Persian Empire, history records but little. The mention of Elamites among those who were present at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:9) shows that they were a recognised p... [ Continue Reading ]