The praise of Moab is no more. In Heshbon they have devised evil against her: ‘Come! Let’s cut her off from being a nation.’ You also, Madmen, will be brought to silence. The sword will pursue you.
Parallel Translations
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The praise of Moab is no more. In Heshbon they have devised evil against her: ‘Come! Let’s cut her off from being a nation.’ You also, Madmen, will be brought to silence. The sword will pursue you.
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There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee.
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The praise of Moab is no more; in Heshbon they have devised evil against her: 'Come, and let us cut her off from being a nation.' Thou also, O Madmen, shalt be brought to silence; the sword shall pursue thee.
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Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to Jeremiah 48:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 32:37 The children of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,
- Isaiah 16:14 But now Yahweh has spoken, saying, “Within three years, as a worker bound by contract would count them, the glory of Moab shall be brought into contempt, with all his great multitude; and the remnant will be very small and feeble.”
- Jeremiah 31:36 “If these ordinances depart from before me,” says Yahweh, “then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before me forever.”
- Numbers 21:25-30 Israel took all these cities. Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages. For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even to the Arnon. Therefore those who speak in proverbs say, “Come to Heshbon. Let the city of Sihon be built and established; for a fire has gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It has devoured Ar of Moab, The lords of the high places of the Arnon. Woe to you, Moab! You are undone, people of Chemosh! He has given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to Sihon king of the Amorites. We have shot at them. Heshbon has perished even to Dibon. We have laid waste even to Nophah, Which reaches to Medeba.”
- Esther 3:8-14 Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are different from other people’s. They don’t keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not for the king’s profit to allow them to remain. If it pleases the king, let it be written that they be destroyed; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who are in charge of the king’s business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.” The king took his ring from his hand, and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy. The king said to Haman, “The silver is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.” Then the king’s scribes were called in on the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month; and all that Haman commanded was written to the king’s local governors, and to the governors who were over every province, and to the princes of every people, to every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus, and it was sealed with the king’s ring. Letters were sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to plunder their possessions. A copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published to all the peoples, that they should be ready against that day.
- Psalms 83:4-8 “Come,” they say, “let’s destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” For they have conspired together with one mind. They form an alliance against you. The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagrites; Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also is joined with them. They have helped the children of Lot.
- Isaiah 15:1 The burden of Moab. For in a night, Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing. For in a night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing.
- Isaiah 15:5 My heart cries out for Moab! Her nobles flee to Zoar, to Eglath Shelishiyah; for they go up by the ascent of Luhith with weeping; for on the way to Horonaim, they raise up a cry of destruction.
- Isaiah 16:8-9 For the fields of Heshbon languish with the vine of Sibmah. The lords of the nations have broken down its choice branches, which reached even to Jazer, which wandered into the wilderness. Its shoots were spread abroad. They passed over the sea. Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah. I will water you with my tears, Heshbon, and Elealeh: for on your summer fruits and on your harvest the battle shout has fallen.
- Isaiah 25:10 For Yahweh’s hand will rest in this mountain. Moab will be trodden down in his place, even like straw is trodden down in the water of the dunghill.
- Jeremiah 25:15 For Yahweh, the God of Israel, says to me: “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it.
- Jeremiah 25:17 Then I took the cup at Yahweh’s hand, and made all the nations to drink, to whom Yahweh had sent me:
- Jeremiah 33:24 “Don’t consider what this people has spoken, saying, ‘Has Yahweh cast off the two families which he chose?’ Thus they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.”
- Jeremiah 46:28 Don’t be afraid, O Jacob my servant,” says Yahweh; “for I am with you; for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you; but I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.”
- Jeremiah 48:17 All you who are around him, bemoan him, and all you who know his name; say, ‘How the strong staff is broken, the beautiful rod!’
- Jeremiah 48:34-35 From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have uttered their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim, to Eglath Shelishiyah; for the waters of Nimrim will also become desolate. Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab,” says Yahweh, “him who offers in the high place, and him who burns incense to his gods.
- Jeremiah 48:42 Moab will be destroyed from being a people, because he has magnified himself against Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 48:45 “Those who fled stand without strength under the shadow of Heshbon; for a fire has gone out of Heshbon, and a flame from the middle of Sihon, and has devoured the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.
- Jeremiah 49:3 “Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste! Cry, you daughters of Rabbah! Clothe yourself in sackcloth. Lament, and run back and forth among the fences; for Malcam will go into captivity, his priests and his princes together.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The Prophet, as before, does not speak in an…
The Prophet, as before, does not speak in an ordinary way, but declares in lofty terms what God had committed to him, in order that he might terrify the Moabites; not indeed that they heard his threatenings, but it was necessary that he should denounce vengeance in this vehement manner, that the Jews might know that the cruelty and pride of the Moabites, hereafter mentioned, would not go unpunished.
Hence he says, No more shall be the praise or the boasting of Moab over Heshbon We may learn from this place and from others, that Heshbon had been taken from the Moabites; for it was occupied by God’s people, because the Moabites had lost it, as Moses relates in Numbers 21:30, and in Deuteronomy 2:26, etc. But (as things change) when the Moabites became strong, they took away this city from the Israelites. Hence the Prophet says, that there would be no more boasting that they possessed that city; for he adds, They have thought, or devised, etc. There is here a striking allusion, for חשבון, chesbon, is derived from חשב, chesheb, to devise or to consult, as though it were a place of consultation or devisings. The Prophet then says, that as to Heshbon they consulted against it, חשבו עליה cheshbu olie He uses the root from which the name of the city is derived. Heshbon, then, hitherto called the place of consultation, was to have and find other counselors, even those who would contrive ruin for it. Come ye; the Prophet refers here to the counsel taken by the Chaldeans, Come ye, and let us cut her off from being a nation He then joins another city, And thou, Madmen, shalt be cut off, for a sword shall go after thee, or pursue thee, as though the city itself was fleeing from the sword; not that cities move from one place to another; but when the citizens deliberate how they may drive away their enemies and resist their attacks, — when they seek aid here and there, — when they set up their own remedies, they are said to flee. But the Prophet says, “Thou shalt gain nothing by fleeing, for the sword shall pursue thee.” It follows, —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Thus shall the Babylonians encourage one another.
Thus shall the Babylonians encourage one another.
Read Isa. 25:10.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 48:2 [There shall be] no more praise of…
Jer 48:2 [There shall be] no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from [being] a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee.
Ver. 2. There shall be no more praise of Moab.] This may be taken either of a city so called, {a} or of the whole country, as now Muscovia is oft put for all Russia.
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In Heshbon they have devised evil against it.] Or better thus, De Heshbone, &c. As concerning Heshbon, they, the Chaldees, have devised evil against it. There is an elegant allusion in the original to the names of the places both in Heshben and in Madmen. {b}
{a} Ariopolis dicta.
{b} Alludit fere propheta ad singularum civitatum nomina. - Jun.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Heshbon was formerly the city of Sihon, Num 21:26;…
Heshbon was formerly the city of Sihon, Num 21:26; it became afterward one of the principal cities of the Moabites, as appeareth from Isa 15:4; which maketh the learned author of our English Annotations think our translation not so good; for why should they devise evil in Heshbon against Moab, unless the enemies sat there in council, when they had taken it, against the other parts of the country? But possibly the sense is, they shall no more in Heshbon magnify Moab, or Moab shall no more glory of Heshbon, for the enemies had contrived the ruin of it.
Madmen was another city in the country of Moab. Some think the same with Ptolemy’s Madiama. To that city also the prophet threateneth ruin and destruction by the sword.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain There shall be no more praise of Moab,.... It…
There shall be no more praise of Moab,.... It shall be no more commended for a rich, populous, and fruitful country, being now laid waste; though the next phrase,
in Heshbon, or "concerning Heshbon" (b), should be read in connection with this; and then the sense is, there shall be none any more in Heshbon to praise the country of Moab, what a fine and fertile country it is, since that city will be destroyed also; or there will be no more a Moabite to boast of his being an inhabitant in Heshbon, such an utter destruction will be made of it; or there will be no more boasting of Moab, or of any Moabite concerning Heshbon, what a famous, opulent, or strong city that is, since it is no more. Of this city See Gill on Isa 15:4;
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they have devised evil against it; that is, the Chaldeans devised evil against Heshbon, to besiege it, take and destroy it: there is in the expression a beautiful allusion to the name of the city of Heshbon, which has its name from a word that signifies to devise and consult (c);
come, and let us cut it off from being a nation: this is what the Babylonians consulted together against Heshbon; and not only against that, a principal city; but against the whole country of Moab, to make such an entire desolation of it, that it should be no more a nation: that which the Moabites with others devised against the people of Israel is now devised against them; a just retaliation this; see Psa 83:4;
also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; or utterly destroyed: it may be rendered, "shall become silent" (d); the voice of man shall not be heard in it, especially the voice of praise, of boasting, and rejoicing: there is in this clause also an elegant allusion to the name of the place, which comes from a root that signifies to "cut down", or "be silent" (e). This is thought by Grotius to be the Madiama of Ptolemy (f):
the sword shall pursue thee; after it has destroyed other cities, it should come in great haste and with great force to Madmen; or it should pursue after the inhabitants, of it, that should make their escape, or attempt to do so. The Targum is,
"after thee shall go out those that slay with the sword.''
(b) "nulla amplius gloriatio Moab in Chesbon", Calvin; "non ultra laus, Moab in Chesbon", Montanus; to the same purpose Vatablus. (c) a "cogitavit", "excogitavit". (d) "silebis", Montanus; so R. Judah in Ben Melech; "ad silentium redigeris"; so some in Vatablus. (e) . (f) Geograph. l. 6. c. 7.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Heshbon - Heshbon was one of the principal cities…
Heshbon - Heshbon was one of the principal cities of the Moabites. Probably the enemies sat there in counsel, when they had taken it, against the other parts of the country.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. No more praise of Moab] "The glory…
Verse 2. No more praise of Moab] "The glory of Moab, that it had never been conquered," (Dahler,) is now at an end. Dr. Blayney translates: -
"Moab shall have no more glorying in Heshbon;
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They have devised evil against her (saying.)"
And this most certainly is the best translation of the original. He has marked also a double paronomasia in this and the next verse, a figure in which the prophets delight; בחשבון חשבו becheshbon chashebu, "in Cheshbon they have devised," and מדמן תדמי madmen tiddommi, "Madmena, thou shalt be dumb."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jer 48:2-6. There shall be no more praise of…
Jer 48:2-6. There shall be no more praise of Moab — The glory of Moab shall be contemned, as Isaiah speaks, Isa 16:14. Every thing for which it was famous shall be destroyed. In Heshbon they have devised evil against it — Heshbon was the capital city of the Moabites: when the Chaldeans made themselves masters of Heshbon, a place of great importance, they consulted how to carry on their conquests over the rest of the country. Thou shalt be cut down, or, brought to silence, Isa 15:1. O Madmen — A city in Moab. Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard — Or, sent forth a cry. Both small and great were involved in this calamity, but the word צעיר, signifies great as well as little: and the Chaldee paraphrast renders it here lords; which seems to be the sense in which it is used. For in the going up, &c. — The ascent of Luhith is in tears, and their weeping is increased, because, in the descent of Horonaim, the enemies have heard the cry of the sufferers: see Isa 15:5. Flee, &c., and be like the heath — Resort to the most solitary places, and continue in obscurity where no enemy can find you out.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain No more praise of Moab - literally, “The glory…
No more praise of Moab - literally, “The glory of Moab is no more,” i. e., Moab has no more cause for boasting.
Heshbon - This town now belonged to the Ammonites Jer 49:3 but was on the border. The enemy encamped there arranges the plan of his campaign against Moab.
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In the original there is a play of words upon the names Heshbon and Madmen.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Hesebon, at the foot of Phasga, and one of…
Hesebon, at the foot of Phasga, and one of the strongest cities. --- Shalt. Hebrew, "shall Medemena hold her peace." (Calmet) --- "Thou shalt be cut down, O madmen." (Haydock) --- It signifies "silence." Thou silent city, thou shalt be reduced to a mournful silence or destruction.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain no more praise-- (Isa 16:14).
no more praise-- (Isa 16:14).
in Heshbon--The foe having taken Heshbon, the chief city of Moab (Jer 48:45), in it devise evil against Moab ("it") saying, Come," &c. Heshbon was midway between the rivers Arnon and Jabbok; it was the residence of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and afterwards a Levitical city in Gad (Num 21:26). There is a play on words in the Hebrew, "Heshbon, Hashbu." Heshbon means a place of devising or counsel. The city, heretofore called the seat of counsel, shall find other counsellors, namely, those who devise its destruction.
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thou shall be cut down . . . Madmen--rather, by a play on words on the meaning of madmen ("silence"), Thou shalt be brought to silence, so as well to deserve thy name (Isa 15:1). Thou shalt not dare to utter a sound.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 2. No more praise of Moab — Literally, the…
2. No more praise of Moab — Literally, the boasting of Moab is gone.
In Heshbon they have devised evil — Heshbon was the chief city on the border, about ten Roman miles east of the Jordan, opposite Jericho. “Heshbon” literally means devising. Hence there is here a play upon the word. In the following clause, also, there is a similar play on the term.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2. in Heshbon they have devised] There is a…
2. in Heshbon they have devised] There is a play on the two Hebrew words thus rendered (b’Ḥeshbon ḥash’bu) which might be represented in English by in Devizes they have devised. Heshbon, one of the chief cities of Moab, lay to the N. E. of the Dead Sea, and was considered the N. boundary of Moab till Reuben, on entering Palestine, claimed the territory between it and the Arnon which enters the Dead Sea about the middle of its E. side. Of the cities assigned (Jos_13:15 ff.) to Reuben many are here mentioned as occupied by Moab. Hence the constant hostility between Moab and Israel (Jdg_3:12 ff.; 1Sa_14:47, etc.).
O Madmen, shalt be brought to silence] Here again there is a play on the sound in the Hebrew which is, Madmên, tiddômmi. But perhaps we should read with the LXX and Syr. thou (i.e. Moab) shalt be utterly brought to silence.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (2) There shall be no more praise of Moab.—The…
(2) There shall be no more praise of Moab.—The self-glorifying boasts of Moab (of which the Moabite Inscription discovered at Dibân in 1868 is a conspicuous instance, see Ginsburg’s Moabite Stone and Records of the Past, xi. p. 163) seem to have been almost proverbial (Jer_48:29; Isa_16:6). Heshbon (the city is perhaps chosen on account of the similarity of sound with the word for “devise “) was on the Ammonite or northern frontier of Moab (Jer_49:3), and is represented therefore as the scene of the plans and hopes of the invading Chaldæans. The site of Madmen is unknown, but the cognate form Madmenah is translated “dunghill” in Isa_25:10, and may have been chosen by each prophet on account of its ignominious meaning. The name appears as belonging to a town in Benjamin (Isa_10:31) and in Judah (Jos_15:31). Here again there is an obvious assonance or paronomasia, the verb “thou shalt be cut down,” or better, thou shalt be brought to silence, reproducing the chief consonants of the noun. The LXX., Vulgate, and Syriac, indeed, take the words with this meaning, “In silence thou shalt be made silent,” but are probably wrong in doing so. If we take the word in somewhat of the same sense as in Isaiah, the words may point to the place being filled with the mouldering carcases of the silent dead.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain There shall be no more praise of Moab; rather,…
There shall be no more praise of Moab; rather, Moab"s glory (or, glorying) is no more (comp. ver. 29). In Heshbon they have devised evil, etc. There is a word play in the Hebrew, which may be reproduced thus: "In Plot-house they plot evil against it" (so J. F. Smith"s Ewald). Against it (literally, her) means "against Moab." Heshbon was at the time an Ammonitish town; (it had in days gone by been Amoritish, Num_21:26) see Jer_49:3; but was on the border of Moab. O Madmen. There seems to be again a word play, which has been to some extent reproduced thus: "Thou shalt become still, O Still house." The name Madmen does not occur again, though an allusion to it has been fancied in Isa_25:10, where the Hebrew for "dunghill" is madmenah.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG Ver. 2. The departed praise of Moab.
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I NOT FOR WANT OF DISPOSITION TO PRAISE. If the things had still remained which people had been in the habit of praising, they would have gone on praising. But the God of righteousness takes them away, and then there is necessary silence. Instead of praise there is humiliation, astonishment at a change so complete, but no insight into the hollowness and instability of that which had been praised. If it had all come back again, it would have been praised as much as ever. Thus we see
II A THING MAY BE PRAISED WITHOUT BEING PRAISEWORTHY. This can easily be understood from the experience of many who once praised things to which they are now indifferent, which they may even utterly condemn. Why this change? It may be to some extent from change in the things, but it more frequently comes from growth and increase of light and the reception of higher principles. We have ever to be on ore: guard against what is merely popular. Not in a cynical way, as if we grudged any one success, but recollecting what power belongs to fashion and to the love of pleasure. Let our effort be to discern, measure, and profit by intrinsic excellence.
III THINGS NOT PRAISEWORTHY MAY GET THE HIGHEST PRAISE. Mere cleverness and astuteness, the exercise of power irrespective of ends, visible and material success on a large scale, these attract the laudations of inconsiderate men. This is just what we may expect. If things the most praiseworthy, fullest of virtue and blessing, are yet neglected by the eyes of those who have opportunity to see them, then it is little wonder that the things most approved by the common multitude are those which God has branded as utterly bad. What changes need to be effected in human judgments, that we may be willing to burn what we adored and adore what we would have burned!
IV GOD GIVES FRESH TOPICS OF PRAISE IF THERE BE A DISPOSITION TO CONSIDER THEM. Those whose tongues had been full of the praises of Moab needed not to be silent. The very overthrow of Moab would be a signal for praise and congratulation among the good. When the unhallowed praises of men are silenced by destruction of the things they praised, then angels begin to sing. And they who praise low, earthly things may have their thoughts introduced to heavenly ones, and then they will discover what man was made to praise. How the words that are exaggerated and altogether disproportioned when applied to the works of men, have in them an exquisite fitness when we speak of the works of God or of Christ, or of men properly engaged in Christian service! Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 48:2 Heshbon was located between the Jabbok and Arnon…
48:2 Heshbon was located between the Jabbok and Arnon rivers, east of the Dead Sea. • Madmen was apparently another name for Dibon, a town near Heshbon; it would also be destroyed.
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