Of the children of Ammon. Yahweh says: “Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then does Malcam possess Gad, and his people dwell in its cities?
Parallel Translations
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Of the children of Ammon. Yahweh says: “Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then does Malcam possess Gad, and his people dwell in its cities?
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Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the LORD; Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities?
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Of the children of Ammon. Thus saith the LORD: Hath Israel no sons? Hath he no heir? Why then doth Malcam take possession of Gad, and his people dwell in the cities thereof?
Cross-references (26)
Passages linked to Jeremiah 49:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 23:3 An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly; even to the tenth generation shall no one belonging to them enter into Yahweh’s assembly forever,
- Ezekiel 25:2-10 “Son of man, set your face toward the children of Ammon, and prophesy against them. Tell the children of Ammon, ‘Hear the word of the Lord Yahweh! The Lord Yahweh says, “Because you said, ‘Aha!’ against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was made desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity: therefore, behold, I will deliver you to the children of the east for a possession. They will set their encampments in you, and make their dwellings in you. They will eat your fruit and they will drink your milk. I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the children of Ammon a resting place for flocks. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.” For the Lord Yahweh says: “Because you have clapped your hands, stamped with the feet, and rejoiced with all the contempt of your soul against the land of Israel; therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand on you, and will deliver you for a plunder to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will cause you to perish out of the countries. I will destroy you. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.” “ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Because Moab and Seir say, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations;’ therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim, to the children of the east, to go against the children of Ammon; and I will give them for a possession, that the children of Ammon may not be remembered among the nations.
- Amos 1:13-15 Yahweh says: “For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead, that they may enlarge their border. But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it will devour its palaces, with shouting in the day of battle, with a storm in the day of the whirlwind; and their king will go into captivity, he and his princes together,” says Yahweh.
- Zephaniah 2:8-11 I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the insults of the children of Ammon, with which they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border. Therefore as I live, says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, surely Moab will be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of nettles, and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation. The remnant of my people will plunder them, and the survivors of my nation will inherit them. This they will have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of Yahweh of Armies. Yahweh will be awesome to them, for he will famish all the gods of the land. Men will worship him, everyone from his place, even all the shores of the nations.
- 2 Chronicles 20:1 After this, the children of Moab, the children of Ammon, and with them some of the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
- Jeremiah 25:21 Edom, Moab, and the children of Ammon;
- Jeremiah 49:7 Of Edom, Yahweh of Armies says: “Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished?
- Ezekiel 21:28-32 “You, son of man, prophesy, and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach: “A sword! A sword is drawn! It is polished for the slaughter, to cause it to devour, that it may be as lightning; while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies to you, to lay you on the necks of the wicked who are deadly wounded, whose day has come in the time of the iniquity of the end. Cause it to return into its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your birth, I will judge you. I will pour out my indignation on you. I will blow on you with the fire of my wrath. I will deliver you into the hand of brutish men, skillful to destroy. You will be for fuel to the fire. Your blood will be in the middle of the land. You will be remembered no more; for I, Yahweh, have spoken it.” ’ ”
- Genesis 19:38 The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben Ammi. He is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.
- Deuteronomy 2:19 When you come near the border of the children of Ammon, don’t bother them, nor contend with them; for I will not give you any of the land of the children of Ammon for a possession, because I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession.”
- Judges 10:7-8 Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the children of Ammon. They troubled and oppressed the children of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the children of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.
- Judges 11:13-15 The king of the children of Ammon answered the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel took away my land when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore restore that territory again peaceably.” Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the children of Ammon; and he said to him, “Jephthah says: Israel didn’t take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon;
- 1 Samuel 11:1-3 Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh Gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you.” Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make it with you, that all your right eyes be gouged out. I will make this dishonor all Israel.” The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days, that we may send messengers to all the borders of Israel; and then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you.”
- 2 Kings 10:33 from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.
- 2 Kings 24:2 Yahweh sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to Yahweh’s word, which he spoke by his servants the prophets.
- 2 Chronicles 20:23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. When they had finished the inhabitants of Seir, everyone helped to destroy each other.
- Nehemiah 2:19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite servant, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they ridiculed us, and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?”
- Nehemiah 4:7 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem went forward, and that the breaches began to be filled, they were very angry;
- Nehemiah 13:1-2 On that day they read in the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and it was found written in it that an Ammonite and a Moabite should not enter into the assembly of God forever, because they didn’t meet the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, to curse them; however our God turned the curse into a blessing.
- Psalms 9:6 The enemy is overtaken by endless ruin. The very memory of the cities which you have overthrown has perished.
- Psalms 83:7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
- Jeremiah 25:9 behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,” says Yahweh, “and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations around. I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.
- Jeremiah 27:3 Then send them to the king of Edom, to the king of Moab, to the king of the children of Ammon, to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.
- Jeremiah 48:1 Of Moab. Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo! For it is laid waste. Kiriathaim is disappointed. It is taken. Misgab is put to shame and broken down.
- Jeremiah 49:23 Of Damascus: “Hamath is confounded, and Arpad; for they have heard evil news. They have melted away. There is sorrow on the sea. It can’t be quiet.
- Jeremiah 49:28 Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck. Yahweh says: “Arise, go up to Kedar, and destroy the children of the east.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain We have said that the Ammonites were not only…
We have said that the Ammonites were not only contiguous to the Moabites, but had also derived their origin from Lot, and were thus connected with them by blood. Their origin was indeed base and shameful, for they were, as it is well known, the offspring of incest. There was, however, the bond of fraternity between them, because both nations had the same father. God had spared them when he brought up his people from Egypt; for in remembrance of the holy man Lot, he would have both peoples to remain uninjured. But ingratitude doubled their crime, for these impious men ceased not in various ways to harass the children of Abraham.: For this reason, therefore, does Jeremiah now prophesy against them.
And we see here, again, the object of this prophecy and the design of the Holy Spirit in announcing it, even that the Israelites might know that they were not so completely cast away by God, but that there remained some remnants of his paternal favor; for if the Moabites and the Ammonites had been free from all evils, it would have been a most grievous trial; it would have been enough to overwhelm weak minds to see a people whom God had adopted, miserably oppressed and severely chastised, while heathen nations were remaining quiet in the enjoyment of their pleasures, and exulting also over the calamities of others. God, then, in order to mitigate the grief and sorrow which the children of Israel derived from their troubles and calamities, shews that he would yet show them favor, because he would carry on war against their enemies, and become the avenger of all the wrongs which they had suffered. It was no common consolation for the Israelites to hear that they were still the objects of God’s care, who, nevertheless, seemed in various ways to have poured forth his wrath upon them in a full stream. We now, then, see the reason why Jeremiah denounced destruction on the Ammonites, as he did before on the Moabites.
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Then he says, To the children of Ammon: Are there no children to Israel? Hath he no heir? It was a trial very grievous to the miserable Israelites to see a part of the inheritance promised them by God forcibly taken from them by the Ammonites; for what must have come to their minds but that they had been deceived by vain promises? But it had happened, that the Ammonites had deprived the children of Israel of a part of their inheritance. Hence the Prophet teaches us here, that though God connived for a time, and passed by this robbery, he yet would not suffer the Ammonites to go unpunished for having taken to themselves what justly belonged to others. Hence it is added, Why doth their king inherit Gad?
I know not why Jerome rendered מלכם, melkam, as though it were the name of an idol, as the word is found in the Prophet Amos. But it is evident that Jeremiah speaks here of the king, for immediately after he adds, his people Their king, then, he says, inherits Gad Gad is not the name of a place, as some think, but Mount Gilead, which had been given to that tribe. The Prophet says that they possessed the country of the Gadites; for they had been ejected from their portion, and the children of Ammon had occupied what had been given by God to them. And this is confirmed by the Prophet Amos, when he says,
“For three of the transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not be propitious to them, because they have cut off the mountain of Gilead.” (Amos 1:13)
He speaks there metaphorically, because God had fixed the limits between the tribe of Gad and the children of Ammon, so that both might be satisfied with their own inheritance. But the children of Ammon had broken through and expelled the tribe of Gad from the cities of Mount Gilead. This, then, is what now our Prophet means, even that they had taken to themselves that part of the land which had been allotted to the children of Gad; for it immediately follows, and his people dwell in his cities, even in the cities which had been given by lot to that tribe; for we know that a possession beyond Jordan had been given to the children of Gad. We now, then, perceive the meaning of the words.
God, then, shews that he had not forgotten his covenant, though he had for a time suffered the Ammonites to invade the inheritance which he had conferred on the children of Israel; yet the Gaddites would at length recover what had been unjustly taken from them. For it was a robbery not to be endured, that the Ammonites should have dared to take to themselves that land, which was not the property of men, but rather of God himself, for he had called it his rest, because he would have his people to dwell there. And though God inflicted a just punishment on the Gaddites when he expelled them from their inheritance, yet he afterwards punished the children of Ammon, as he is wont to chastise his own children by the hand of the wicked, and at length to render them also their just reward. It now 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 Meaning, of the Israelites.
Meaning, of the Israelites.
They were separated from the Moabites by the river Arnon, and after that the ten tribes were carried away into captivity, they invaded the country of Gad.
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To wit, of the Ammonites.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 49:1 Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the LORD;…
Jer 49:1 Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the LORD; Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why [then] doth their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities?
Ver. 1. Concerning the Ammonites.] Who are taxed in Scripture for their pride, petulance, and contempt of God’s Israel, whom they had always infested, and now grossly injured, by encroaching upon part of their country, which they had seized on, as if Israel had been heirless, and themselves next of kin, which was nothing so. See Zep 2:8.
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Hath he no heir.] Yes, Judah and Benjamin, not yet captivated.
Why then doth their king inherit gad?] i.e., Gilead (Gad’s portion beyond Jordan), because it lieth convenient to him. This they would have done long before - viz., in Jephtha’s days: but then it would not be. Afterwards, Saul and David subdued them; but in Jehoshaphat’s time they came again, together with the Moabites, and the men of Mount Seir, to make a disturbance; but were defeated. {2Ch 20:1; 2Ch 20:22-24} Now, when those Israelites beyond Jordan were carried away, and their land desolated, first by the Syrians, {2Ki 10:32-33} and afterwards by the Assyrians, {2Ki 15:29} then in likelihood it was that the Ammonites thus invaded the country, and laid it to their own, {cf. Amo 1:13} that they might dwell alone in that part of the earth.
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 The Ammonites were the posterity of Ben-ammi, Lot’s incestuous…
The Ammonites were the posterity of Ben-ammi, Lot’s incestuous child, by his younger daughter, Gen 19:38. Their country was near the Jews’ country. The Jews, in their journey from Egypt to Canaan to possess it, passed by their country, but were by God forbidden to meddle with it, because he had given it to the children of Lot, Deu 2:19; but they proved bad neighbours to the Israelites when in Canaan. They assisted the king of Moab against them, Jdg 3:13, and made war against them, Jdg 10:9; 11:4. Nahash their king made an inroad upon them, 1Sa 12:12. David fought with them in his time, 2Sa 8:12, and destroyed them, 2Sa 11:1. Jehoshaphat also and Jotham fought with them, 2Ch 20:1; 27:5. During the long tract of time that there were wars betwixt the Jews and Ammonites, the laud of Gad and Reuben, which lay beyond Jordan, fell into the hand of the Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites (whence it is that in the former chapter we read of many cities of Moab, which were, upon the division of Canaan, in the lot of Gad and Reuben). This prophecy cannot be well understood without a previous understanding this. Hence it is that the prophet saith, Hath Israel no sons? God had given that country of Gilead to Manasseh, and Reuben, and Gad, Num 32:40; Jos 13:29-31; and as men’s estates ought to descend to their heirs, so this land should have continued and descended to the posterity of these tribes, but the Ammonites had by force taken away a part, and Melcom possessed it. Melcom is their king, or the name of their idol to whom they gave the name of king, as other heathens called their idol Baal, that is, lord. And the people of the king of the Ammonites, or of Melcom the idol of the Ammonites, dwelt in the cities belonging to Gad, which was one of the tribes of Israel.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain The Ammonites were next, both in kindred and neighbourhood,…
The Ammonites were next, both in kindred and neighbourhood, to the Moabites, and therefore are next set to the bar. Their country joined to that of the two tribes and a half, on the other side Jordan, and was but a bad neighbour; however, being a neighbour, they shall have a share in these circular predictions. 1. An action is here brought, in God's name, against the Ammonites, for an illegal encroachment upon the rightful possessions of the tribe of Gad, that lay next them, Jer 49:1. A writ of enquiry is brought to discover what title they had to those territories, which, upon the carrying away of the Gileadites, by the king of Assyria (Kg2 15:29, Ch1 5:26), were left almost dispeopled, at least unguarded, and an easy prey to the next invader. "What! Does it escheat ob defectum sanguinis - for what of an heir? Hath Israel no sons? Hath he no heir? Are there no Gadites left, to whom the right of inheritance belongs? Or, if there were not, are there no Israelites, none left of Judah, that are nearer akin to them than you are?" Why then does their king, as if he were entitled to the forfeited estates, or Milcom, their idol, as if he had the right to dispose of it to his worshippers, inherit Gad, and his people dwell in the cities which fell by lot to that tribe of God's people. Nay, there were sons and heirs of their own body, en ventre de sa mere - in their mother's womb, and the Ammonites, to prevent their claim, most barbarously murdered them (Amo 1:13): They ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border, that, having seized it, none might rise up hereafter to recover it from them. Thus they magnified themselves against their border and boasted it was their own, Zep 2:8. Note, Though among men might often prevails against right, yet that might shall be controlled by the Almighty, who sits in the throne, judging right; and those will find themselves mistaken who think every thing their own which they can lay their hands on, or which none yet appears to lay claim to. As there is justice owing to owners, so also to their heirs, when they are dead, whom it is a great sin to defraud, though they either know not their right or know not how to come at it. This shall be reckoned for particularly, when injuries of this kind are done to God's people. 2. Judgment is here given against them for this violence. (1.) Terrors shall come upon them: God will cause an alarm of war to be heard, even in Rabbah, their capital city and a very strong one, Jer 49:2. The Lord God of hosts, who has all armies at his command, will bring a fear upon them from all that be about them, Jer 49:5. Note, God has many ways to terrify those who have been a terror to his people. (2.) Their cities shall be laid in ruins: Rabbah, the mother-city, shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters, the other cities that have a dependence upon her, and receive law from her as daughters, shall be burnt with fire; so that the inhabitants shall be forced to quit them, and they shall cry, and gird themselves with sackcloth, as having lost all they had, and not knowing whither to betake themselves. (3.) Their country, which they were so proud of, shall be wasted (Jer 49:4): Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, and trustest in thy treasures, O backsliding daughter? They are charged with backsliding or turning away from God and from his worship, for they were the posterity of righteous Lot. It is true, they had never been so in covenant with God as Israel was; yet all idolaters may be called backsliders, for the worship of the true God was prior to that of false gods. They were untoward and refractory (so some read it); and, when they had forsaken their God, they gloried in their valleys, particularly one that was called the flowing valley, because it flowed with all good things. These they had violently taken away from Israel, and gloried in it when they had done so. They gloried in the strength of their valleys, so surrounded with mountains that they were inaccessible, gloried in the products of them, gloried in the treasures they got together out of them, saying, Who shall come unto me? While they bathed themselves in the pleasures of their country, they flattered themselves with a conceit that they should never be disturbed in the enjoyment of them: Tomorrow shall be as this day; therefore they set God and his judgments at defiance; they are proud, voluptuous, and secure; but wherefore dost thou do so: Note, Those who backslide and turn away from God have little reason either to take complacency or to put confidence in any worldly enjoyments whatsoever, Hos 9:1. (4.) Their people, from the least to the greatest, shall be forced out of the country. Some shall flee to seek for shelter, others shall be carried into captivity, so that their land shall be quite evacuated: Their king and his princes, nay, and Milcom, their god, and his priests, shall go into captivity (Jer 49:3), and every man shall be driven out right forth, shall take the next way, and make the best of it in his flight (Jer 49:5), forgetting the valleys, the flowing valleys, which now fail them. And, to complete their misery, none shall gather up him that wanders, none shall open their doors to them, as Jael to Sisera, to entertain them; and those that flee shall be so much in care to secure themselves that they shall not take notice of others, no, not of those that are nearest to them, that wander, and are at a loss which way to go, as Jer 47:3. (5.) Then the country of the Ammonites shall fall into the hands of the remaining Israelites (Jer 49:2): Then shall Israel be heir to those that were his heirs, shall possess himself of their land who had possessed themselves of his, by way of reprisal. Note, The equity of divine Providence is to be acknowledged when the losses of the injured are recompensed out of the unjust gains of the injurious. Though the enemies of God's Israel may make a prey of them for a while, the tables will shortly be turned. 3. Yet there is a prospect given them of mercy hereafter (Jer 49:6), as before to Moab. The day will come when the captivity of the children of Ammon will be brought again; for so it is in human affairs: the wheel goes round.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the Lord,.... Or, "to…
Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the Lord,.... Or, "to the Ammonites" (u); or, "against" them (w); it will bear to be rendered either way, and all is true; for what is said by the Lord, as follows, is concerning them, their sins, and their punishment, and is directed to them, and is a threatening against them:
hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? certainly he has, and who ought to possess the land; this is to be understood not of the ten tribes, sometimes called Israel, as distinct from the other two; for these had been long ago carried captive, and left no heirs of their tribes; but of all Israel, including the tribes of Judah and Benjamin; who, though their brethren of the ten tribes were carried captive, and left no children to inherit, yet, being next in blood, were the lawful heirs of their lands and possessions:
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why then doth their king inherit Gad? that part of the land of Israel which belonged to the tribe of Gad; this, when the ten tribes were carried captive by the king of Assyria, and the Gadites among the rest, was seized on by the Ammonites, with their king at the head of them, lying near unto them; who might also pretend relation, as being the children of Lot, the brother's son of Abraham; or claim it, as having been their own formerly, and so were the lawful heirs of it, as they imagined; when it of right belonged to the children of Judah and Benjamin: or, "why doth Malcam inherit Gad?" (x) the same with Milcom or Molech, the abomination of the Ammonites, the idol they worshipped, Kg1 11:5; so Jarchi interprets it. The Ammonites having got possession of the land, set up their idol in it, where temples were built for him, and altars erected, and sacrifices offered to him, so that he might be said to inherit it; and which must be very offensive to, and highly resented by, the God of Israel:
and his people dwelt in his cities: the Ammonites dwelt in the cities belonging to the tribe of Gad, as if they were their own; who are called the people of Milcom, or Molech, just as the Moabites are called the people of Chemosh, from the idol they worshipped, Jer 48:46.
(u) "ad filios Ammon", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus. (w) "Contra filios Ammonis", Schmidt; "de vel contra", Vatablus; "contra", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. (x) "cur igitur haereditate possedit Melchom Gad?" V. L. Lutherus, Sanctius, Castalio.
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 The judgment of the Ammonites, ver. 1-5. Their restoration,…
The judgment of the Ammonites, ver. 1-5. Their restoration, ver. 6. The judgment of Edom, ver. 7-22. Of Damascus, ver. 23-27. Of Kedar, and Hazor, ver. 28-33. Of Elam, and its restoration, ver. 34-39.
No heir - During the long tract of time that there were wars between the Jews and Ammonites, the land of Gad and Reuben which lay beyond Jordan, fell into the hands of the Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites. Hence it is that the prophet saith, Hath Israel no sons? God had given that country of Gilead to Manasseh, Reuben, and Gad; and as mens estates ought to descend to their heirs, so this land should have descended to their posterity, but the Ammonites had taken and possessed it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain This chapter is a collection of prophecies relating to…
CHAPTER XLIX
This chapter is a collection of prophecies relating to several
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nations in the neighbourhood of Judea; and, like those
preceding, are supposed to have been fulfilled by the ministry
of Nebuchadnezzar during the thirteen years' siege of Tyre. The
chapter opens with a prophecy concerning the Ammonites, whose
chief city, Rabbah, shall be destroyed; and Malcom, the supreme
divinity of the people, with all his retinue of priests and
officers, carried into captivity, 1-5.
Promise that the Ammonites shall be restored to their liberty, 6.
Prophecy against the Edomites, (very like that most dreadful one
in the thirty-fourth chapter of Isaiah against the same
people,) who shall be utterly exterminated, after the
similitude of Sodom and Gomorrah, 7-22.
Prophecy against Damascus, 23-27;
and against Kedar, 28, 29.
Utter desolation of the kingdoms of Hazor foretold, 30-33.
The polity of the Elamites shall be completely dissolved, and
the people dispersed throughout the nations, 34-38.
The Elamites shall be delivered from their captivity in the
latter days, 39.
It wilt be proper here to observe that these predictions should
not be so explained as if they admitted of merely a private
interpretation; for, as Bishop Lowth remarks upon Isaiah's
prophecy concerning the Idumeans, "by a figure very common in
the prophetical writings, any city or people, remarkably
distinguished as enemies of the people and kingdom of God, is
put for those enemies in general;" therefore, it is under the
Gospel dispensation that these prophecies shall be accomplished
to their fullest extent upon all the antichristian nations
that have sinned after the similitude of the ancient enemies of
the people of God under the Mosaic economy.
NOTES ON CHAP. XLIX
Verse 1. CONCERNING THE AMMONITES] This prophetic discourse was also delivered after the capture of Jerusalem.
Hath Israel no sons? - no heir?] The Ammonites, it appears, took advantage of the depressed state of Israel, and invaded their territories in the tribe of Gad, hoping to make them their own for ever. But the prophet intimates that God will preserve the descendants of Israel, and will bring them back to their forfeited inheritances.
Why then doth their king] מלכם Malcom or Milcom, the chief idol of the Ammonites. That the idol Milcom is here meant is sufficiently evident from Jer 49:3, where it is said: "Milcom (not their king) shall go into captivity; his PRIESTS and his princes together." Milcom is also called Molech. Malcom is put here for the Ammonites, as the people of Chemosh in the preceding chapter are put for the Moabites in general.
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 49:1. Hath Israel no sons? Why then doth…
Jer 49:1. Hath Israel no sons? Why then doth their king inherit Gad? — Is there no posterity of Israel, that the king of the Ammonites hath taken possession of Gad, as if he had a right to it, and his people dwell in the cities of it? Instead of their king, here, Blaney reads Milcom, and Dr. Waterland and Houbigant Malkam, the idol of the Ammonites. “God sorely afflicted those parts of the kingdom of Israel that lay eastward of Jordan, first by Hazael, 2Ki 10:33; afterward by Tiglath-pileser, chap. 2Ki 15:29; and then delivered up the whole kingdom to be carried captive by Shalmaneser, chap. 17.; after which, it is probable, the Ammonites took occasion to possess themselves of Gad, that lay near their territories. But God’s dispossessing the Israelites gave the Ammonites no right to invade their inheritance, (see Zep 2:8,) especially as they had been so tender of the Ammonites’ right as not to invade their possessions in their march toward the land of Canaan.” See Lowth, and Deu 4:19; 2Ch 20:10. It is probable, as the king of Ammon had instigated Ishmael to kill Gedaliah, that the reason which induced Nebuchadnezzar to make war upon the Ammonites was to revenge that murder.
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 Hath Israel no sons? - i. e., the Ammonites…
Hath Israel no sons? - i. e., the Ammonites in seizing Gilead have acted as if the country had no rightful owner. The sons of Israel were to return from captivity, and the land was their hereditary property.
Their king - Milcom (and in Jer 49:3), see the margin. The Ammonite god stands for the Ammonites just as Chemosh Jer 48:7 is the equivalent of the Moabites.
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Inherit - i. e., take possession of.
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 Melchom, the idol of the Ammonites. (Challoner) --- Gad,…
Melchom, the idol of the Ammonites. (Challoner) --- Gad, to whom a part of their country was assigned. After the captivity this tribe, the Ammonites seized the country, regardless of God’s appointment. They joined the Chaldeans afterwards; but the latter could not depend upon them, and sent them into captivity, to revenge the death of Godolias, chap. xli. 2., Sophonias ii. 8., and Ezechiel xxv. 3. (Calmet) --- They had taken the country as their right, as if all Israel had perished; which God resents. (Worthington)
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).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain 6. Prophecy against the Ammonites
6. Prophecy against the Ammonites
Jer_49:1-6
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The Ammonites also, the brother nation of the Moabites, (Gen_19:37) after centuries of various conflict (comp. Jdg_3:13; Jdg_10:7 sqq.; Jdg_11:32; 1 Samuel 11; 2 Samuel 10, 11; 2Sa_12:26; 2 Chronicles 20; 2Ch_26:8; 2Ch_27:5) in consequence of the deportation of the East-Jordanic tribes have appropriated a part of their territory. This fact forms the point of departure for the present prophecy. Older prophecies against Ammon are extant only by Amos (Jer_1:13-15) and Zephaniah in consequence of a declaration against Moab, (Jer_2:9-10). Of these Jeremiah has made considerable use of the prophecy of Amos. Comp. the exposition. There is at most an echo of the brief utterance of Zephaniah in the expression desolation, Jer_49:2. coll. Zep_2:9. Since Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans are not named, the prophecy must be older than the battle of Carchemish, and since the beginning agrees in form with the beginning of the first prophecy against Egypt (Jer_46:2), and the prophecies against Moab (Jer_48:1), Edom (Jer_49:7) and Damascus (Jer_49:23), the supposition is natural that the date of its origin is the same as that of these prophecies.
1 Against the children of Ammon.
Thus saith Jehovah: Has then Israel no children, of has he no heir?
Why then does Malcom inherit Gad and his people dwell in his cities?
2 Therefore behold, the days come, saith Jehovah,
That I cause the war-shout to be heard against Rabbah of the children of Ammon;
And she shall become a desolated heap,
And her daughter shall be burned with fire:
And Israel shall be heir to his heirs, saith Jehovah.
3 How Heshbon, for devastated is Ai!
Cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird on sackcloth;
Lament and run to and fro1 on the walls;
For Malcom must go into captivity,
His priests and his princes together.
4 Why boastest2 thou of the valleys?
Thy valley is flowing away,3 thou rebellious daughter,
Who trusted in her treasures;—“Who will come to me?”
5 Behold, I bring fear upon thee, saith the Lord, Jehovah Zebaoth,
From all thy neighbors;
And ye shall be driven away, each one before him;
And there shall be no gatherer of the fugitives.
6 But nevertheless I will turn the captivity of the children of Ammon,
Saith Jehovah.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Four parts may be plainly distinguished. In the first (Jer_49:1-2) the prophet alludes to the fact, from the theocratic point of view regarded as improper, that the Ammonites had taken possession of the Gadite territory (Jer_49:1), and declares that this cannot remain so. Ammon must be involved in war, the capital with the neighboring cities destroyed, and Israel again put into possession of his country (Jer_49:2). In the second part (Jer_49:3) a brief specification follows, in the third (Jer_49:4-5) a reason for the punitive judgment, with express indication, that the recompense would correspond exactly to the inculpation. In the fourth part (Jer_49:6) the prophet concludes with a consolatory outlook into the future.
Jer_49:1-2. Against … saith Jehovah.—The prophet here presupposes the possession of the Gadite territory by the Ammonites in consequence of the deportation of the East-Jordanic tribes by Tiglath-Pileser (2Ki_15:29; 1Ch_5:6; 1Ch_5:26. Comp. Introd. to Jeremiah 48). Amos refers to former attempts by the Ammonites for the same object (Jer_1:13).—Malcom. Jeremiah has Amo_1:15 in view. In this passage Malcom appears to me to be used in a double sense. Why should the king mentioned only with the people of the Ammonites? Why does Amos say of Damascus (Jer_49:5) and Philistia (Jer_49:8), “him that holdeth the sceptre,” and of Moab (Jer_2:3) “the judge?” Did he not wish it to be understood that the expression used only of Ammon, wes to be taken here in a special sense? I believe, then, that Malcom (Am. 1:16) refers primarily to the King, but in such wise that an allusion to the God is also intended. This allusion was all the plainer, if the Ammonites really, as Movers supposes (Phœnic., I., S. 323. Comp. Herzog, Real-Enc., IX., S. 714), called the god מַלְכָּן, i.e., our king. With reference to this he might fitly, when the Ammonites were spoken of, be called מַלְכָּם by the Israelites. It is, therefore, unnecessary here, and in Jer_49:3 to read מִלְכֹּם, as Ewald, Graf and Meier would do, after the example of the LXX. and Syr. Since we cannot express the specific meaning of the word by the translation, we have retained Malcom as if it were a proper name.—The war-shout, etc., is a reminiscence from Amo_1:14.—Rabbah Beni Ammon. This was the complete name of the city (comp. Deu_3:11; 2Sa_11:1; 2Sa_12:26 sqq). It was called Rabbah, the great, the capital, in contrast to the neighboring cities. Comp. Herz., R.-Enc. XII., S. 469.—A desolate heap, literally hill of desolation, therefore, heap of ruins. Comp. Jos_8:28 and Zep_2:9.—Burned with fire. This also reminds us of Amo_1:14 (comp. Olsh., § 242 b).
Jer_49:3. Howl Heshbon … princes together. The immediate consequences of the war-shout being heard are specified. Heshbon is to howl. It was then an Ammonitish city. Comp. rems. on Jer_48:2; Jer_48:45. It is given as a reason that Ai is destroyed. What city this was is not to be ascertained. Venema’s and Ewald’s explanation (Rabba ita vastata est, ut jam sit tumulus ruderum) is forced. Graf would read עָר with reference to Rabbah. But Rabbah could be called ער only in the appellative sense, and then it must have the article. To suppose that Ai is transferred hither from Jos_8:28, because there alone the expression “heap of desolation” occurs, is to attribute to the prophet either ignorance or carelessness. Many commentators therefore (J. D. Michaelis, Hitzig, comp. V. Raumer, S. 168, Anm. 150) are disposed to assume an East-Jordanic Ai, which expedient seems to me thus far the best.—There is no reason for taking daughters of Rabbah in a different sense here from Jer_49:2.—Sackcloth. Comp. rems. on Jer_48:37.—On the walls. I do not see why these should be regarded as the walls of a sheep-fold, as many would do. What is more natural in a city, against which the enemy is advancing, than to run up and down on the walls to take measures for defence? That the city walls may be meant is evident from Psa_89:41 : Eze_42:12—For Malcom, etc. These words are taken from Amo_1:15. Only in the present passage we have his priests for “he,” which is evidently not from misunderstanding, but to emphasize more plainly the intended meaning of Malcom. Comp. rems. on Jer_48:7.
Jer_49:4-5. Why boastest thou …. fugitives. Reason of the primitive judgment. The pride, the stubbornness, the security of Ammon must be correspondingly punished. Comp. Jer_48:26; Jer_48:30.—Rebellious daughter. Comp. Jer_31:22.—Who will come to me? The Ammonites’ boast, Who will come to us? The Lord tells them, the enemies will come upon them, and that from all sides, yea, oven behind them, so that the Ammonites will be driven, straight before them, and because the enemies come from all sides will be so scattered that no one will be in a condition to collect the fugitives again.—Fear. Comp. Jer_48:43-44.—Each one before him. Comp. “every man straight before him,” Jos_6:6; Jos_6:20; Jos_5:13.—Gatherer. Comp. Isa_13:14; Isa_56:8; Nah_3:18.
Jer_49:6. But nevertheless …. Jehovah. Ammon also is to share in the salvation of the future, which is to issue from Israel unto all nations. Comp. rems. on Jer_48:47 and Jer_49:39.
Footnotes:
[1]Jer_49:3.—התשוטט. On the form comp. OLSH ., § 67, Anm., 272, a.
[2]Jer_49:4.—הִתְהַלֵּל. invariably denotes to boast, to brag. The object of the boasting is most frequently connected by בְּ. Comp. Jer_4:2; Jer_9:22-23; Psa_49:7, etc.
[3]Jer_49:4.—זכ עמקך. The explanation of Ewald and Graf, “of the luxuriance, the superfluity of thy valley” would suit the connection, but the abstract rendering of זָכ is an objection, since this form (קָם) elsewhere is used almost wholly in the formation of participles, very rarely of substantives of concrete meaning, as עָכ people, זָב city. זָב occurs (in the masc. form) only of a man with emission of seed (Lev_15:4), in the fem. of a woman with emission of blood (Lev_15:19), and of Canaan as a land flowing with milk and honey (Exo_3:8; Exo_3:17; Lev_20:24; Num_13:27, etc.) Hence the explanation: thy valley flows away, passes away, or redundat sanguine confossorum, does not correspond to the use of the word elsewhere. I would, therefore, explain with Schleussner quid gloriaris vallibus tuis? (quod scilicet) fœcunda sit vallis tua? Thus one idea is expressed independently of the preposition.
7. Prophecy against Edom (Jer_49:7-22)
On account of their relationship to the Israelites, the Edomites, in consequence of an express divine command, were not treated as enemies on the journey to Canaan (Deu_2:4; Deu_23:7). Saul, however, conquered them (1Sa_14:47). David subjected them entirely (2Sa_8:14). In this state of dependence they remained after Hadad’s attempt at revolution had failed (1Ki_11:14-22) till the reign of Joram, when they revolted (2Ki_8:20-22; 2Ch_21:8). Amaziah and Uzziah indeed made by no means unsuccessful attempts to bring them, again into subjection (2Ki_14:7; 2Ki_14:22), but their success was not lasting. In the reign of Ahaz the Edomites again invaded Judea (2Ch_28:17), and in the time of the Chaldeans we also find their ambassadors among those who came to Zedekiah to consult concerning means to be taken in common (Jer_27:3); but at the destruction of Jerusalem they are on the side of the Chaldeans, greeting the destruction of the long hostile city (comp. אֵיבַת עוֹלם, Eze_35:5) with scornful triumph (Lam_4:21; Eze_35:15; Eze_36:5; Psa_137:7).
As regards the date of out prophecy, the construction of the superscription (לֶֽאְדֶוֹם), as well as the nonmention of the Chaldeans, point to the same. date at which the other portions with similar superscription, at the head of which is the first against Egypt (Jer_46:1-12), originated, i.e., the time immediately before the battle of Carchemish. Comp. rems. on Jer_46:1-2, and Introd. to the Prophecies against the Nations.
Of special importance for our prophecy is its relation to the prophecy of Obadiah directed against Edom. They correspond to each other as follows:
Jer_49:7 and Oba_1:8.
Jer_49:9 and Oba_1:5.
Jer_49:10 and Oba_1:6-7.
Jer_49:14 and Oba_1:1.
Jer_49:15 and Oba_1:2.
Jer_49:16 and Oba_1:3-4.
That Jeremiah drew from Obadiah, and not vice versâ, has been shown by Caspari (Der Proph. Obadja ausgel. Leipzig, 1842) in such an exhaustive manner that there can be no further question on this point. The quotations then from Obadiah extend only to Jer_49:8 of his prophecy. On the other hand, the following context (Oba_1:9 sqq.) has frequent points of contact with Joel, which is not the case in the previous context, and it is just in these verses that the indubitable references to the capture of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans are found (comp. Oba_1:10; Oba_1:16). Hence recently either the old theory has been retained (held by Augusti, Krahmer, Ewald, Meier in Zeller’s Jahrb. I. 3, S. 526) of the use of an older source in common on the part of Jeremiah and Obadiah (comp. Meier, die proph. BB. d. A. T. übersetzt u erk., S. 368 [The proph. Books of the O. T. transl. and explained]), or it is supposed that Oba_1:9-21 was a later addition, composed after the Chaldean catastrophe. This is not the place to enter into this difficult investigation specially or with the precision which it requires. I content myself therefore with putting two questions: Is it then so decidedly demonstrated that Obadiah quotes Joel and not Joel ?Oba_1:2. How is it, that in Jer_49:12-14 Edom is only warned against committing hostilities against Judah “in the day of their calamity?” Such hostilities had certainly been already committed (Jer_49:10-11; Jer_49:15-16). But is it not clear from the turn which the discourse takes (with וְאַל) in Jer_49:12 that the prophet distinguishes two points of time, a past and a future? Once already have the Edomites greeted the calamity of Jerusalem with malicious joy. When now they are warned against doing this again, is it not presupposed that Jerusalem is still by no means wholly destroyed, but that the really great day of calamity is still impending (observe the בָּיוֹם וי repeated eight times in Jer_49:12-14)? Would it not accordingly be exegetically more exact to suppose that the prophet, finding occasion in the hostility displayed by the Edomites in a transient occupation of Jerusalem, warns them from a repetition on the great day of Jerusalem, which he foresees as in evitable, and on the presupposition that this warning will not avail, threatened them with a just recompense?
Of the other older prophecies against Edom (Isa_34:5-17; Amo_1:11-12; Joel 4:19) Jeremiah hat made no use.
The whole prophecy is plainly to be discriminated into three parts. The first (Jer_49:7-13) has for its topic the judgment to be executed on Edom according to the elements of its outward appearance (Jer_49:7-10) and itsobjective inward ground, which is the decree of Jehovah. The second part (Jer_49:14-18) is predominantly occupied with the statement of the subjective ground of the visitation, i.e., with the guilt of Edom. The third part (Jer_49:19-22) brings before us the subject of the destination, that is, the instrument thereof, chosen by Jehovah.
1. The judgment on Edom in its external appearance and objective reason
Jer_49:7-13
7 Against Edom. Thus saith Jehovah Zebaoth:
Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?
Hath counsel vanished from the intelligent?4
Is their wisdom expended?5
8 Flee, turn, bow low,6 ye inhabitants of Dedan! For
the destruction of Esau I bring upon him,
The time, when I visit him.
9 If vintagers come to thee they will leave no gleanings,
If thieves by night they destroy their fill.
10 For I have stript Esau bare, discovered his hiding places,
And he cannot hide himself.7
His seed is destroyed and his brethren and his neighbors.
And he is no more.
11 Leave8 thy orphans, I will preserve their life,
And let thy widows confide9 in me.
12 For thus saith Jehovah, Behold,
They, whose rule it was not to drink the cup, must drink it.
And art thou10 to remain unpunished?
No, but thou shalt drink.
13 For I have sworn by myself, saith Jehovah,
That Bozrah shall become a desolation,
A reproach, a desert11 and a curse;
And all her cities shall become desolate for ever.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
The destruction of Edom is described, 1. as it appears outwardly, 2. according to its inner reason in the divine decree. First the irresistible nature of the attack is set forth, in opposition to which all the renowned wisdom of Edom will be unavailing (Jer_49:7). The Dedanites, the neighbors and commercial allies of Edom, are warned to consult their own safety (Jer_49:8). The enemies will come, and, like vintagers or thieves, make a clean sweep (Jer_49:9). It will turn out that Edom’s material means of defence, his rock fortresses regarded as impregnable, together with his own and his allied offensive forces, cannot avert destruction (Jer_49:10). This must be so, because it is the will of Jehovah. This is seen in Jehovah’s taking charge, as it were, of the widows and children of the Edomites, which presupposes the death of their guardians (Jer_49:11). Jehovah must permit their death, as without being unjust, He cannot spare Edom the cup which Israel had to drink. Edom must therefore drain it irrevocably (Jer_49:12) for Jehovah in accordance with the imperative demands of His justice) has sworn, that Edom will be a prey to everlasting desolation (Jer_49:13). Thus the strophe concludes, and from the similarity of this conclusion with Jer_49:18 it is seen, that in both cases we have a larger section of the discourse.
Jer_49:7. Against Edom … expended. Wisdom and intelligence are necessary in carrying on war (Pro_24:6) and where these fail, all is lost. This lack is observable in Edom. This is the more striking since the wisdom of Edom and especially of Teman was celebrated from of old. Comp. Oba_1:8; Job_2:11 (Teman was the home of Eliphaz); Bar_3:22-23. On Teman comp. Herz., R.-Enc., III., S. 650. [Cowles on this verse.—S. R. A.]
Jer_49:8. Flee … visit him. On Dedan comp. rems. on Jer_25:23. They were not Edomites but neighbors (Eze_25:13), and at all events connected with them by mercantile intercourse (comp. Isa_21:13). Hence they are also threatened by the tempest which is breaking over Edom. They are therefore admonished to look to their own safety.—For, etc. Comp. Jer_49:32; Jer_46:21; Jer_6:15.
Jer_49:9-10. If vintagers … no more. Jer_49:9 is taken from Oba_1:5. The sense is clear. It could not be so if we should render the sentence interrogatively, as many do, in too servile adherence to the passage in Obadiah. Jer_49:10 reminds us of Oba_1:6, though there we read “searched out” and “sought up” for stript bare and discovered. These terms applied to Esau refer to the uncommonly strong fortress-dwellings, occupied by the Edomites. Comp. rems. on Jer_49:16.—His seed is destroyed, etc. “Both the real Edomites and the descendants of related and other nations, which were mingled with them, as the Amalekites, Gen_36:12; Horites, Gen_36:20; Simeonites, 1Ch_4:42 and neighboring tribes, as Dedan, Jer_49:8. Tema and Buz, Jer_25:23” are to be destroyed says Graf. He also justly remarks that the expression his brethren and his neighbors appears to have been occasioned by “men of thy confederacy” and “men of thy peace” in Oba_1:7.—And he is no more. Comp. Isa_19:7.
Jer_49:11-13. Leave thy orphans … desolate forever. Hitzig sees in Jer_49:11 a preliminary conclusion parallel to Jer_49:6; Jer_48:47. But Jer_49:11 is no conclusion, being followed by two sentences with for, Jer_49:12-13, of such a purport that no inference favorable to Edom can possibly be drawn from them. I therefore take Jer_49:11 with Theodoret, Neumann and others, as irony. The Edomites are called upon, the men, namely; to leave their widows and orphans. Observe that it is not said, wives and children. The death of the men is presupposed. When Jehovah immediately adds that He will care for the survivors, this is a poor consolation for the Edomites who do not believe in Jehovah. For what other care but such as slaves receive, can be expected from Him, who announces as his unalterable determination so total a destruction of Edom, as in Jer_49:13; Jer_49:17-18; Jer_49:20-21?—I will preserve, etc. Comp. Exo_1:17-18; 2Sa_12:3; 1Ki_18:5; Isa_7:21. We see from these passages that the meaning of the word is primarily negative: not kill, but secondarily positive: do what is necessary for the preservation of life.—Whose rule it was not, etc. It was an abnormal thing for Israel, the chosen people, to be obliged to drink the cup of wrath. I therefore take מִשְׁבָּט in the sense of norm, law, rule. Comp. Jer_30:11; Jer_8:7.—The cup. Comp. Jer_25:15 sqq.—Unpunished. Comp. Jer_25:29.—Have sworn, etc. Comp. Jer_22:5.—A desolation. Comp. Jer_25:11; Jer_25:18; Jer_44:6; Jer_44:22.—Bozrah (Isa_34:6; Isa_63:1; Amo_1:11-12) was one of the most important cities of Edom (comp. Jer_48:24) of which there are still remains under the name of Besseyra, i.e., Little Bozrah. Comp. Raumer, Pal., S. 278.—Desolate for ever. Comp. Jer_25:9.
Footnotes:
[4]Jer_49:7.—מבנים Part. Kal from בִין Instead of the more usual Part. Niph. נִבֹנים (Gen_41:33; Gen_41:39, etc.). The form does not occur elsewhere.
[5]Jer_49:7.—מָרַח is to overflow, overhang. So Exo_26:12 of the overhanging curtain; Eze_17:6, גֶפֶן סרַֹחַת, vitis patula, late effusa. Part. Pualסָרוּחַ, poured out, stretched out on the couch, Amo_6:4; Amo_6:7. סְרוּחֵי טְבוּלִים, Eze_23:15, redundantes mitris d. i. gestantes mitras longe dependentes. Hence Niph. (which occurs here only), profusum, effusum esse, נָּבַק from בַָקק, Isa_19:3 coll. Jer_19:7.
[6]Jer_49:8.—As נֻסוּ can only be Imperative, הֶֽעֱמִיקוּ and הָפְּנוּ must also be taken as such. The former (on the construction with the Inf. comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 95, e) is also used in Jer_49:30 as an Imperative. Other instances, הֶֽחֱשׁוּ 2Ki_2:3; 2Ki_2:5; הֵאתָיוּ, 2Ki_12:19; comp. Olsh., § 256, a, b. הָפְנוּ is likewise a rare form, but not impossible or without analogy. Comp. הָשְׁכּבָה, Eze_32:19; הַשַּמּוּ, Job_21:5; Olsh., § 260, coll. S. 631.
[7]Jer_49:10.—ונחבה. לה׳ for לא, comp. Olsh., § 263, b. The perfect would hare to be translated: and does he hide himself, he cannot, which is forced. We should expect at least וְלֹא י׳ Ewald and Graf would punctuate נַרְבֹּה,comp. forms like נַהְתּוֹם נרְמהֹ נִקְרֹא (Olsh., § 263, c), and as regards the construction, Jer_49:23. This expedient removes at least the great grammatical difficulties which נֶחְכָּה affords.
[8]Jer_49:11.—On the Imperative form comp. Olshausen, § 234, a.
[9]Jer_49:11.—תכסחו. Comp. Eze_37:7. Except in connection with suffixes, we find only this and אחיה as examples of the abnormal affirmative. Comp. Olsh., S. 452 3.
[10]Jer_49:12.—אתה הוא. Thou, such an one! Jer_14:22; Psa_44:6, comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 79, 3.
[11]Jer_49:13.—Instead of חֹרֶב we find חָרְבָּה in the parallel passages.
2. THE JUDGMENT ON EDOM ACCORDING TO ITS SUBJECTIVE REASON
Jer_49:14-18
14 I have heard a report from Jehovah,
And a messenger is sent among the nations:
“Assemble yourselves and come up against her,
And rise ye for the war.”
15 For behold, I make thee small among the nations;
Despised among men.
16 Thy object of horror12 deceived thee,
The pride of thy heart,
Thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock,
Thou that occupiest the height of the hill.
Even though, like an eagle, thou buildest thy nest high,
I will bring thee down from thence, saith Jehovah.
17 And Edom shall become a wilderness;
Every one that passeth by shall be horrified,
And jeer on account of all her strokes.
18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah,
And their neighboring cities, saith Jehovah,
No man will dwell there,
Nor a son of man sojourn in her.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Jeremiah proclaims in the words of Obadiah, that nations will be summoned to make war upon Edom, to make her small and despised (Jer_49:14-15). To such a procedure has Edom given occasion by her idolatrous abominations and her pride. This pride is now to be punished (Jer_49:16 and Edom is now to become a horrible waste and like Sodom and Gomorrah (Jer_49:17-18). These verses are taken with modifications from Oba_1:1-4. The main thought is evidently expressed in Jer_49:16; the statement of the subjective cause of the punitive judgment, impending over Edom.
Jer_49:14-15. I have heard … among men. Hemistich 1 is taken from Oba_1:1 only with the alteration of “we have heard” (Israel) to “I have heard,” and “arise ye” to “assemble yourselves.” The report which the prophet bears directly from the Lord and the message (עִירviator, nutius, Pro_18:17; Pro_25:13; Isa_18:2; Isa_57:9) which is sent among the nations are of the same purport. We must regard the report however as expressing not only the command itself, but also that it has been issued. Hemist. 2 is extended in Jeremiah. It reads in Obadiah “Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.” Jer_49:15, taken from Oba_1:2, states the object of the war, for the attainment of which the nations are summoned. The words correspond to Jer_49:11-13, expressing the decree of Jehovah concerning Edom, the execution of which is the object of the war. “For” is wanting in Obadiah. In small and despised there is evidently an antithesis to Edom’s pride (Jer_49:16). Hemist. 2 reads in Obadiah, “thou art greatly despised.”
Jer_49:16. Thy object of horror … saith Jehovah. We evidently have here the kernel of the strophe, that by which it is distinguished from the context, viz., the guilt of Edom is here stated, the subjective reason of her destruction. While Obadiah mentions as this reason only “the pride of thine heart” (Jer_49:3), Jeremiah mentions also the “being a terror,” or, as I understand the word, the horror, i.e., the idol. We may well conceive that wishing to extend the text of his source the prophet would insert a word which would state the ground of Edom’s moral corruption. Whence does arise the moral pollution of the heathen world? According to Romans 1. from idolatry. Here also Jeremiah would say that it was really the idol which deceived Edom, pride being involved in idolatry.—The pride of thy heart is then in apposition to horror. It is in accordance with this that inaccessible rock-castles are designated as the ground of pride, for, were not all heathen idols local deities? Was not then the idol who had built these rocks and continually protected them the real lord on whom their proud confidence was founded?—Clefts of the rocks, etc. It appears to me beyond doubt that Jeremiah had here in view the peculiar character of the Edomite cities, especially the capital, which was called Sela (2Ki_14:7; Isa_16:1). Comp, the remarks on Bozrah, Jer_49:13. The second hemistich is abbreviated from Oba_1:4. Comp. Amo_9:2.
[“The descriptive points in this verse are wonderfully accurate. Petra, the ancient capital of Edom, for ages the main thoroughfare of the great trade and travel between India and Mesopotamia on the East, and Egypt and North Africa on the South-West; the seat therefore of wealth and art, perhaps of wisdom also, and culture, held a position of great military strength. It was built in a vast ravine, partly on the broad area inclosed by lofty precipitous walls of rock, which by some of nature’s mighty convulsions had been rent asunder, and partly in those very fronts of lofty rock, chiseled out with immense labor, so that the pillars of the temples and the apartments of its tombs and dwellings were wholly cut from the solid, eternal rock. Here—her nests built high in these crags like the eagle’s—old Petra eat in her pride and her strength, cherishing the vain fancy that no power could ever bring her down. But the Almighty spake and it was done!—The site of ancient Petra, for ages unknown, has been brought to light during the present century. A number of travelers have visited and explored it. Laborde, Dr. Robinson and others, have given full and precise statements of its wonderful ruins, placing Petra in the front rank of those ancient witnesses who bear their silent but resistless testimony to the precision of the old prophetic descriptions, and to the marvellous correspondence in the most minute details between prophecy and history—the prophecy of twenty centuries ago and the history of to-day.” Cowles.—S. R. A.]
Jer_49:17-18. And Edom … sojourn in her. These verses do not contain any reminiscences from Obadiah, but they do from Jeremiah himself and from other writings.—And Edom, etc., is formed after Jer_25:11; Jer_25:38. Comp. Jer_50:13.—Every one that passeth. Comp. Jer_19:8.—As in the overthrow, etc., is from Deu_29:22. Comp. Isa_13:19; Jer_50:40. The expression neighboring cities points to Deu_29:22, where Admah and Zeboim are mentioned with Sodom and Gomorrah. Comp. Hos_11:8.—No man will dwell, etc. Comp. Jer_49:33; Jer_50:40; Jer_51:43.
Footnotes:
[12]Jer_49:16.—תִּפְלֶצֶת does not occur elsewhere. It is usually taken in the sense of terror = פַלָּצוּת (Jer_21:4) and understood to mean the terror which Edom inspires. But because the following verb is in the masc. some have thought it necessary to separate תפלצתך from it and regard it as an isolated exclamation (comp. הפככם, Isa_29:16), which Schleussner renders O arrogantiam tuam; Hitzig, “fear to thee;” Graf, “horror at thee.” But this exclamation appears somewhat exaggerated. Why should a people, who are deceived by pride, be especially inspired with fear? Is not this very common! Was the pride of Edom greater than that of Moab (Jer_48:29)? Or was it threatened with a worse fate? I find it more suitable to take תפלצת in the sense of מפלצת. The latter word in 1Ki_15:13; 2Ch_15:16 designates an idol, an idol-image. This is called a terror, an object of holy horror, as frequently פתַר, Gen_31:42; פַחַר, Isa_8:13; אֵימִים, Jer_50:38 are used in an analogous sense. The LXX. may have the same idea, translating ηπαιγνὶα σου, i.e., risus, jocus tuus. According to Schleussner, they had Priapus in mind, for which also Jerome holds מפּלצת in 1 Kings 15. and 2 Kings 15. Rabbis also, according to Kimchi’s testimony, have understood the word of עֲכֹרָה זָרָה i.e., idolatry. Among the moderns, J. D. Michaelis and Meier adopt this view. The gender of the verb is no hinderance, for the prophet could properly use the masc. when thinking of the person of the idol. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 60, 4.
3. THE INSTRUMENT CHOSEN BY JEHOVAH FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF EDOM
Jer_49:19-22
19 Behold, as a lion he cometh up
From the pride of Jordan to the evergreen pasturage,
For in a twinkling I drive him (Edom) from thence.13
And who is chosen?14 Him will I set over him.
For who is like me? And who will appoint me the time?
And who is the shepherd that would stand before me?
20 Therefore hear the counsel of Jehovah which He hath counselled against Edom,
And His thoughts, which he has thought concerning the inhabitants of Teman:
Verily they will be dragged along, the feeble little sheep;
Verily their pasturage will be astounded15 at them.
21 At the sound of their fall16 the earth trembles.
Crying!17 The sound of it18 is heard on the Red Sea.
22 Behold, as an eagle he ascends and flies,
And extends his wings over Bozrah;
And the heart of the heroes of Edom on that day
Will be as the heart of a woman in anguish.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
This strophe also describes the destruction of Edom, but in such wise that the instrument in the hand of the Lord is prominent, without being mentioned by name. As a lion from the reed thickets of the Jordan falls upon a flock, which is pasturing on the luxuriant, ever-green meadows of the Gôr, so shall Edom be surprised in his rock-dwelling and be driven away in a twinkling. So shall a new shepherd, chosen ad hoc by the Lord Himself, be set over Edom, for the previous shepherds of Edom have no prerogative to maintain their position in spite of the Lord (Jer_49:19). The new Shepherd, however, will not pasture the flock in the old way peaceably, but will drag them away, so that their pasturage will be astounded at the disappearance of the flock (Jer_49:20). Thus the fall of Edom will be a violent one, so much so that the sound of it will be heard afar (Jer_49:20). Again, in conclusion, the one who is called to the destruction of Edom is compared with an eagle (after Deu_28:49), who will extend his wings over Bozrah, which, is fortified indeed, but powerless against such an enemy, so that on that day even the heroes of Edom will be as faint-hearted as parturient women.
Jer_49:19. Behold as a lion … before me. As in Jer_46:18 with Carmel, and in Jer_48:40 with an eagle, so here the instrument of the Lord is compared with a lion, one who lurks in the reedy margin of the Jordan (the pride of Jordan, “the luxuriant bushes and reeds growing on its banks, by which it is enclosed as by a green garland.” Köhler on Zec_11:3 coll.Jer_12:5; Raumer, Pal. S. 58; Herzog, R.-Enc., VII., S. 8) and from thence makes his inroads on the flocks pasturing on the luxuriant evergreen meadows of the Jordan valley. For the Gor, though in general arid and infertile, where brooks flow down from the mountains to the Jordan has oases, which under the influence of the tropical climate are exceedingly fertile. Comp. Arnold in Herzog, R.-Enc., S. 10, etc. I am therefore of opinion that נְוֵת אֵיתָן does not directly signify the land of Edom, and thus is neither to be taken as “rock-dwelling” nor as “evergreen pasturage” with sole reference to the undisturbed possession of the land for centuries. I take it in the latter meaning, but I think that the expression is chosen because it admits of a double reference, to the oases of the Jordanic valley and to Edom itself, which may be thus designated both as the ancient residence of the Edomite nation, and with reference to the strength and indestructibility of its national defences (comp. Num_24:21; Mic_6:2). In referring the expression at the same time to Edom, a transition is formed from the comparison to the thing compared.—For in a twinkling. From the “For” we see that the prophet has in view the suddenness of the attack as a tertium comparationis. From the thickets of the Jordan lions could easily fall upon herds feeding near the bank (comp. Herzog, R-Enc. XI. S. 29). In like manner shall Edom be suddenly assailed and driven away from his pasturage.—And who is chosen? We see from this expression that the prophet had no definite person in view. He does not yet know who the chosen one is, but only that there will be one. Whoever it is will really obtain the supremacy over Edom, appointed to him. (Jer_15:3; Jer_51:27). The elder commentators understood Nebuchadnezzar, or even (interprete Luthero, as Förster says) Alexander the Great.—For who is like me? Edom’s princes of ancient and illustrious descent (Genesis 36.) might well be caught in the delusion of inviolable security. Here they are told that they have a higher power above them, who can remove them, and set others more pleasing to him in their place—Jehovah, namely, who has none like unto Him, (Comp. Caspari, Micha der Morast, S. 14 sqq.; Exo_15:11), whom no one can bring to an account (Job_9:19), whom no earthly national shepherd (Jer_10:21; Jer_25:34; Jer_23:1) can defy. [“To ‘appoint one the time’ is the ancient phrase for a legal indictment and summons. Who shall prosecute me before the court for this proceeding, i.e., set himself against me as an opponent, or an antagonist.” Cowles—S. R. A.]
Jer_49:20-21. Therefore hear … Red Sea. As it is, therefore, undeniable that the Lord has power over all kingdoms of the nations, it is solemnly made known to all the world as the decree of the highest Majesty; the Edomites shall suffer the same fate from Him, who shall attack them like a lion, as the lion brings upon the weaker animals, i.e., they shall be dragged away (Jer_15:3; Jer_22:19)—carried into captivity. Thus will the land be desolated, as the prophet poetically expresses it in the words, the land will be horrified at the sudden stillness and desolation. There is a similar personification in Job_7:10, (Psa_103:16). From this it follows 1. that the entire representation of these two verses is based on a figure of a place of pasturage; 2. that by the new shepherd, a conqueror is understood who will desolate the land and carry the people into captivity; 3. that the sentence with therefore, occasioned by the emphatic causal sentence of three clauses, Jer_49:19, b, contains no more than an emphatically repeated inference (A, then B, therefore A), consequently the same thought in substance, which was already expressed in I will drive him from thence. On Jer_49:20 a comp. Jer_49:30; Jer_18:11; Jer_29:11; Isa_14:26-27; Isa_19:12—Teman, comp. Jer_49:7. The city lay according to Jerome, five, according to Eusebius, fifteen Roman miles from Petra, comp. Raumer, Pal. S. 279.
The little sheep. Comp. Jer_14:3; Jer_48:4. The “smallest of the flock” are the weakest, most helpless, who are least adapted for flight or resistance, and most for being dragged away.—[Henderson adheres to the A. V., making “the smallest of the flock” the nominative.—S. R. A.]—At the sound, &c., immediate effect of the overthrow of the power of Edom. Comp. Eze_26:15; Eze_31:16; Isa_13:13; Jer_51:29.—The whole passage, Jer_49:19-21, is repeated and applied to Babylon (Jer_50:44-46).
Jer_49:22. Behold … in anguish. That which is in Jer_49:19 declared by means of a figure taken from a lion, is here repeated in the form of a figure derived from an eagle. The first half of the verse is taken from Jer_48:40, the second from Jer_48:41. The reason of the assailer of Bozrah appearing here as an eagle may be that the “castellated rock” of this city is designated as accessible only to an eagle. Comp. Raumer, Pal. S. 278; Schubert, Reise in das Morgenland. II. S. 426.
Footnotes:
[13]Jer_49:19.—The construction as in Zep_3:7 coll. Pro_12:19. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 95 g, Anm.—מֵעָלֶיהִָ is undoubtedly to be referred to נָוֶה, although this word is elsewhere used as a masc. (Isa_27:10; Isa_33:20), since the idea of “country” lies at its basis. Comp. rems, on תפלצת Jer_49:16.
[14]Jer_49:19.—מִי is used as e.g. in Exo_24:14. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 79, 6.—אֵלֶיהָ for עָלֶיהָ. Comp. remarks on Jer_10:1.
[15]Jer_49:20.—ישׁים Hiphil (on. the form comp. Olsh., S. 577, 8; Num_21:30) is to be taken as the direct causative: stuporem efficere, to produce astonishment and horror not in others, but in one’s self, i.e., to be horrified. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 18, 3. [“אִס־לֹא if not, a strong mode of asseveration for the purpose of expressing the certainty of any event.” Henderson.—S. R. A.]
[16]Jer_49:20.—נִפלָם is infinitive. Comp. 2Sa_1:10; Olshausen, § 245 b.
[17]Jer_49:21.—צְעָקָה the main idea placed emphatically in advance, which is more accurately defined in the following context. Comp. Ewald, § 309, b.
[18]Jer_49:21.—[“For קוֹלָהּ which refers to צְָעָקה, we find the less appropriate reading קוֹלָם in eighty-four MSS.: it has been originally in fourteen more; it is in three by correction, and is in the text of twenty-one printed editions. The only version which supports it is the Targum.” Henderson. Hitzig however approves of this reading as the more difficult, referring it to חארץ, the land, i.e. the population thereof.—S. R. A.]
8. Prophecy against Damascus
Jer_49:23-27
Out of a large number of small kingdoms (thirty-two are mentioned in 1Ki_21:1; 1Ki_21:16) with which the Israelites after the period of the Judges had to endure many conflicts, (Jdg_3:8; 1Sa_14:47; 2Sa_8:10.), a large one was formed after David’s death by Rezon, with Damascus for its capital (1Ki_11:23-24). With this great Syrian kingdom also the two kingdoms of Israel had to endure many and severe conflicts, (1Ki_15:18 sqq.;1Ki_20:1 sqq.;1Ki_22:1 sqq.; 2Ki_5:1 sqq.; 1Ki_6:8 sqq.; 1Ki_8:28-29; 1Ki_12:17; 1Ki_13:3; 1Ki_14:25; 1Ki_16:5-6), till at last the Assyrians, solicited by Ahaz of Judah, (2Ki_16:7-10), fell upon Syria and brought the country permanently under their dominion (2Ki_16:9). We need not seek the fulfilment of Jeremiah’s prophecy of the destruction of Damascus in a particular “conquest and devastation of the country by Nebuchadnezzar.” (Graf). For even if Nebuchadnezzar did seize Syria and Damascus and treat them with a certain degree of hostility (whether as an Assyrian province or as an Egyptian tributary) yet the prophet’s perspective extends over the whole future of Damascus (comp. the Introd. to chh. 50, 51.). He sees in one picture what in the fulfilment will be divided into many stages, comp. Herzog R.-Enc. III., S. 260.
As regards the date of the prophecy both the superscription and the purport of it indicate that it formed part of that Sepher, beginning with Jer_46:1, which owes its origin to the period before the battle of Carchemish. Comp. Introd. to the Prophecies against the Nations
23 Against Damascus.
Ashamed are Hamath and Arpad,
For a bad report have they heard: they are dissolved.19
In the sea there is terror,20 it cannot rest.
24 Enfeebled is Damascus, she turns to flee,
And terror21 seizes her,22
Anguish and sorrow lay hold on her like a parturient.
25 How! Is not the city of renown abandoned,
The place of my delight?
26 Hence her youths fall in the streets,
And all men of war shall perish, on that day, saith Jehovah Zebaoth,
27 And I kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus,
Which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
An enemy coming from the north threatens first Hamath and Arpad, which are thus thrown into commotion, like a tempestuous sea (Jer_49:23). This agitation reaches also Damascus, hence discouragement, anxiety, in part flight (Jer_49:24). The city is not abandoned by all the troops (Jer_49:25), hence a great blood-bath and destruction of the army in the streets (Jer_49:26) and destruction of the city by fire (Jer_49:27).
Jer_49:23. Against Damascus … cannot rest. The superscription is as in Jer_46:2; Jer_48:1; Jer_49:1; Jer_49:7. I cannot at all discover that the superscription is too limited, as Graf supposes, for in fact this brief utterance is occupied only with Damascus, the cities Hamath and Arpad being mentioned only to designate the successive advance of the calamity and the direction in which the enemy comes. It is a matter of course that the fall of the capital involves that of the kingdom, hence the superscription is incorrect neither in itself nor in relation to the purport of the passage. According to Num_34:8 Hamath is to be the northern limit of the land to be occupied by Israel. The boundaries were also really extended thus far at times. Comp. 2Ki_14:28 with 2Ch_8:4. The city was situated on the Orontes to the North of Damascus, and was afterwards called Epiphania by the Greeks. Comp. Jerome on Amo_6:2; Amo_6:14. Arpad, which is always named together with Hamath (Isa_10:9, comp. Delitzsch on the passage; Jer_36:19; Jer_37:13), must have been situated in the neighborhood of this city. We thus see that the prophet expects the enemy from the North, as it was natural that the army of the Egyptians then in northern Syria should turn his gaze in that direction. Hamath and Arpad stand confounded in consequence of the evil tidings. They flow away, dissolve, pass away with anguish.—The following words are taken verbatim from Isa_57:20. Jeremiah has doubtless from this passage the idea of the sea in general in his mind. The expression נָמֹגוּ had directed his thoughts to that passage and still exerts some influence. He thus imagines these cities as a wildly agitated sea. In the swaying hither and thither of the waves is mirrored the inward unrest and anguish. It is not then the real sea that is meant (Hitzig), but the human multitude compared to a sea. (Comp. Isa_17:12; Isa_8:7-8).
Jer_49:24-27. Enfeebled … Benhadad. The bad report reaches even the capital, and this in consequence falls into critical agitation. Despair seizes on the inhabitants. A part turns to flight. (Comp. rems. on Jer_46:5; Jer_46:21). Anguish takes hold upon them.—How? Is not, etc. We are not justified in regarding the negative as a strong affirmation, or taking abandoned in the sense of, left free, spared. Rather does the prophet say really: how then is the city not forsaken? (Comp. 2Sa_1:14). He is astonished and complains, that it has not been abandoned. This would have been better for the Syrians. For just because it has not been, their youths fall in their streets and their whole army is destroyed. Flight might have saved them.—City of renown, etc. Comp. Jer_51:41; Isa_60:18; Isa_62:7.—My refers to the prophet and there is no irony in it. He lamented that the city was not abandoned. He has a human pity for the destroyed city as he has a human joy in its beauty. Comp. rems. on Jer_48:31. [The Vulg., Syr., Chald., omit my. Boothroyd maintains that this omission is necessary to make good sense!—S. R. A.].—The youths. Comp. Jer_9:20.
Jer_49:27. And I kindle. The whole verse in its main constituents is taken from Amo_1:2. Comp. Amo_1:4; Amo_1:7; Amo_1:10; Amo_1:12; Amo_1:14; Amo_2:2; Amo_2:5.—In the wall, not on the wall, for the wall itself does not burn, but within the wall, so that all which the wall includes is consumed by the fire. The palaces of Benhadad are the royal palaces, since Benhadad (there were three of them, 1Ki_15:18; 1Ki_15:20; 1Ki_20:1-3; 2Ki_6:24; 2Ki_8:7; 2Ki_8:9; 2Ki_13:3; 2Ki_13:24-25) was the best known name of Syrian kings.
Footnotes:
[19]Jer_49:23.—נָמֹג used frequently of the effect of fear in loosening the compagines corporis; Exo_15:15; Jos_2:9; Jos_2:24; Psa_75:4; Isa_14:31.
[20]Jer_49:23.—בים ראגה Since the following words הַשְׁקֵט לֹא יוּכָל are taken verbatim from Isa_57:20, the previous words in Isaiah may rule the previous words here. There we read וְהָרְשָׁעִים בַּיםָ נִגְרָשׁ. It would now be certainly most convenient to read כַּיָם in the present passage instead of בַּיָם. Jeremiah however does not quote the last words accurately as a whole. And כים also is not without difficulty. We should expect it to be in the construct state. I therefore think that the reading in the text is the correct one.—רְּאָגָה is fear, terror, unrest. Comp. Jos_22:24; Pro_12:25; Eze_4:16; Eze_12:18-19. The subst. in Jeremiah here only; the verb in Jer_17:8; Jer_38:19; Jer_42:16.
[21]Jer_49:24.—רֶטֶט. ἅπ. λεγ. a Syrian word, without doubt chosen purposely. Comp. רְתֵת, Hos_13:1.
[22]Jer_49:24.—הֲגְֶזִיקָהּ is so punctuated by the Masoretes that it is evident they took Damascus for the subject (terrorem prehendit) having in view passages like Isa_13:8; Job_18:20; Job_21:6. But the punctuation הֶֽחֶזִיקָה would correspond better to Jeremiah’s usage. Comp. Jer_6:24; Jer_8:21; Jer_50:43.
9. Prophecy against Kedar and the Kingdoms of Hazor
Jer_49:28-33
From Damascus the prophet turns his gaze eastward to the bordering Arabians, comprised in the designation of the title. In Jer_25:23-24 Jeremiah mentions among the populations to be subdued by Nebuchadnezzar several Arabian tribes. We feel impelled to suppose that the limits of the Arabian conquests of Nebuchadnezzar were undefined in the mind of the prophet, for we shall be obliged to distinguish a real and ideal dominion of that ruler, though the boundary line between the two is a vague one. It is unnecessary to inquire after a special occasion for this prophecy. Nebuchadnezzar being now universal ruler, the Arabs, being the immediate southern neighbors of his native country, cannot possibly be omitted from subjection to his power. Moreover, the Arabs had enough to do with the Israelites from the time of Gideon (comp. Judges 6-8; 2Ch_17:11; 2Ch_21:16-17; 2Ch_26:7).—As regards the date of this prophecy we have in the mention of Nebuchadnezzar’s name a sure proof that it was written later than most of its sisters in chh. 46–49, for only a single one of these (the second against Egypt, Jer_46:13-28) mentions Nebuchadnezzar. If his expedition against the Arabian tribes were really the first, which he made after his ascension to the throne (comp. the exeg. rems. on Jer_49:28-29) this prophecy might be ascribed most fitly to the time in which he was preparing for the undertaking.
28 Against Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar23 the king of Babylon smote,
Thus saith Jehovah:
Arise, go up against Kedar,
And spoil ye the sons of the east.24
29 Their tents and their flocks shall they take,
Their curtains and all their utensils;
And their camels shall they take for themselves,25
And shall cry over them, “Terror round about.”
30 Flee, run apace, stoop, ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith Jehovah,
For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon hath planned a plan against you,
And hath had thoughts against you.
31 Up! Move against a nation at ease,26
That dwelleth securely, saith Jehovah.
They have neither doors27 nor bolts,
They dwell apart by themselves.
32 And their camels shall become a prey,
And the multitude of their flocks a plunder;
And I scatter to all (the four) winds, those with cropped hair-corners,
And from all sides I bring their destruction, saith Jehovah.
33 And Hazor shall become a habitation for jackals,
A desolation in perpetuity:
Not a man shall dwell there,
Nor a son of man sojourn therein.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Plunder, desolation and dispersion by Nebuchadnezzar are proclaimed to the pastoral tribes living in Arabia to the East of Palestine. First the enemies are called upon to advance, and with war-cries to fall upon the Arabs and spoil them (Jer_49:28-29). The Arabs, however, are admonished to flee and hide themselves, to escape the plans formed against them (Jer_49:30). Hereupon the enemies are summoned anew to the attack, and are told, as if to allure them, that they have to deal with a people at peace and not intrenched behind bulwarks (Jer_49:31). Rich booty is placed before them in prospect. Dispersion on all sides will be the result, corresponding to the attack on all sides (Jer_49:32). The land shall be devastated and cease to be a habitation for man (Jer_49:33).
Jer_49:28-29. Against Kedar … terror round about. Kedar is named in Gen_25:13 as the second son of Ishmael, with which the Arabian tradition agrees. Comp. Herzog, R.-Enc. I. S. 463. [Comp. Keil and Delitzsch, Comm. on the Pentateuch (Eng. Ed) Vol. I. p. 264]. They lived “in the desert between Arabia Petræa and Babylonia” (Knobel, Gen. S. 212), and are frequently mentioned as rich in flocks, living in tents (Son_1:5; Psa_120:5; Isa_42:11; Isa_60:7; Eze_27:21) and celebrated for their skill in archery (Isa_21:16-17). Comp. rems. on Jer_2:10.—Hazor, different from the localities of this name in Palestine (Jos_11:1-3; Jos_12:19; Jos_19:36; Judges 4, 5; 1Ki_9:15; 1Ki_15:29—Jos_15:23; Jos_15:25—Neh_11:33), is mentioned here only as a district in Arabia. According to Niebuhr (Ass. u. Bab., S. 210 coll. 428), Hazor is “the present Hadshar, a district which occupies the whole north-eastern corner of Nedshed, and to which in the wider sense the coast lands of Lachsa also belong.” This corner is formed by the southern course of the Euphrates and the Persian Gulf. With regard to the meaning of the name it is natural to think of Isa_42:11 and to suppose that חָצוֹר denotes the inhabitants of the הֲצֵרִים, i.e. villages without walls and gates (comp. Gen_25:16). Delitzsch remarks on Isa_42:11, “the settled Arabs are still called Hadarije in distinction from Wabarije, the tent Arabs; hadar, חָצֵר is the fixed dwelling-place in contrast to bedû, the steppe, where the tents are erected temporarily now here and now there.” Accordingly קֵדָר and חָצוֹר are related not as opposites, but only as the more limited and more extended idea, and Jeremiah would address his words to Kedar and to all other Arabs dwelling in חֲצֵרִים. With this would accord not only the Chaldean incursion generally, which it is easier to regard as directed against a settled people than against nomads, but especially the description of the devastation in Jer_49:23, which seems to presuppose not the pasturage of a passing horde but the abiding-place of men who build houses. It seems opposed to this, however, that in Jer_49:29 the tents and curtains of the attacked are spoken of, according to which part of them at least were tent-dwellers. It is also surprising that in Isa_42:11 the Kedarenes are inhabitants of חצרים, while elsewhere (comp. the passages cited) they are described as tent-dwellers. I believe that all may be united in the hypothesis that there were some Kedarenes living in tents and some in villages, and that the text has in view both these and also the other tribes settled in villages of northern Arabia.—Which Nebuchadnezzar, etc. These words appear to be a later addition, as otherwise the prophecy characterizes itself as a vaticinium post eventum. Yet even Hitzig remarks, the addition is “contained in the LXX. and preserving the older form of the proper name as in Jer_44:30 is relatively very old, and probably genuine and certainly contains historical truth, which is not handed down elsewhere.” Niebuhr (Ass. u. Bab., S. 209, 10) and Duncker (Genh. des. Alterth., I. S. 827) are of opinion that Nebuchadnezzar, after returning from the victory of Carchemish, had strengthened his internal dominion, first taking into consideration “the extension of his dominion over the Arabs on the lower Euphrates, in North Arabia and the Syrian desert” (Duncker). It is to be remarked in this connection, that according to Ctesias, whose statement Duncker regards as credible (S. 801, 806 Anm. 2, etc.), the Babylonians had already brought Arabs with them to the siege of Nineveh.—The expression “sons of the East” is the “general designation of the Arabs, especially the nomad tribes of northern Arabia” (Arnold in Herz., R.-Enc. I. S. 460). Comp. Jdg_6:3; Jdg_6:33; Jdg_7:12; Jdg_8:10; 1Ki_5:10; Job_1:3; Isa_11:14; Eze_25:4; Eze_25:10.—Curtains are the mats or canvas of which the tents consist. Comp. Jer_4:20; Jer_10:20.—Terror, etc. Magor missabib. Comp. Jer_6:15; Jer_20:3; Jer_20:10; Jer_46:5.
Jer_49:30-33. Flee … therein. On flee, etc., comp. Jer_49:8. On planned a plan comp. Jer_49:20; Jer_18:11.—At ease. Comp. Jdg_18:7.—Apart by themselves. Comp. Jer_15:17; Num_23:9; Deu_33:28.—And I scatter, etc. Comp. Eze_5:12; Eze_12:14.—Cropped hair-corners. Comp. rems. on Jer_9:25; Jer_25:23.—From all sides. Comp. rems. on Jer_48:28; 1Ki_5:4
Jer_49:8; Jer_46:21.—Shall become, etc., Jer_49:33. Comp. Jer_49:18; Jer_9:10; Jer_10:22; Jer_51:37; Jer_50:40.
Footnotes:
[23]Jer_49:28.—The ו with which the king’s name is written in the Chethibh is due to a scriptural error occasioned by the word הָצור standing just before.
[24]Jer_49:28.—ושׁדדו. On the singular imperative form comp. Olsh. § 235, 6.
[25]Jer_49:29.—ישׂאו להם. The pronoun is grammatically more correctly referred to the enemies of the Arabs (comp. Num_16:6; Deu_2:35; Deu_3:7; Naegelsb. Gr., § 81, 1 b) since the reference to the Arabs must have been expressed by מז.
[26]Jer_49:31.—The form שְׁלֵיו formed like זְעֵיר (comp. Olsh. § 180, Anm.) is found here only. Elsewhere שָׁלֶו (Job_16:12; Job_20:20) or שָׁלֵיו (Job_21:23).
[27]Jer_49:31.—לא דלתים by this are meant not house-doors, but city gates. Comp. Deu_3:5; 1Sa_23:7.
10. Prophecy against Elam
Jer_49:34-39
Elam is mentioned in the Old Testament in Gen_10:22; Gen_14:1; Gen_14:9; Isa_11:11; Isa_21:2; Isa_22:6; Jer_25:25 Eze_32:24; Dan_8:2; Ezr_4:9. Comp. supra ad Jer_25:25. It is here mentioned as the representative of the more remote populations, beyond the Tigris, all those who are enumerated in the catalogue of nations beyond the Tigris in Jer_25:25-26. M. Niebuhr assumes as certain a victorious war of Nebuchadnezzar with Elam between the ninth and twentieth years of his reign (Ass. u. Bab. S. 212). In this, however, he relies not on positive historical testimony but only on inferences, the correctness of which may be disputed. We are further in no need of an actual overthrow of Elam by Nebuchadnezzar. The kernel of the prophecy is an idea which retains its truth even if Nebuchadnezzar had never made war on Elam.
Why Jeremiah chose Elam as the representative of the eastern nations is not apparent. The supposition of Ewald (Proph. d. A. B., II. S. 130), that “the wild warlike Elamites had acted as auxiliaries shortly before in the deportation of Jehoiachin and the first great deportation of the people, and in this had shown themselves particularly cruel,” does not appear to be well-founded. For 1. if the Elamites already served in the army of Nebuchadnezzar they needed not to be subjugated; 2. the superscription affords no sure criterion of the date. For it is highly probable that it is placed here by mistake, as we shall show on Jer_49:34. The prophecy does not mention Nebuchadnezzar by name, and we must therefore regard it as of the same date as the others in chh. 46–49. against the nations (except Jer_46:13 sqq. and Jer_49:28-33).
34 The word of Jehovah which came to Jeremiah the prophet with respect to Elam,
in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, saying,
35 Thus saith Jehovah Zebaoth:
Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,
The chief part of their strength.
36 And I will bring upon Elam four winds from the four corners of heaven,
And will scatter them to all those winds;
And there shall be no nation whither the dispersed of Elam28 shall not come.
37 And I will terrify29 Elam before their enemies,
And before those who seek their life;
And I will bring calamity upon them,
The fierceness of my anger, saith Jehovah;
And I will send the sword after them,
Until I have utterly consumed them.
38 And I will set my throne in Elam,
And destroy king and prince from thence, saith Jehovah.
39 And it shall be at the end of days,
I will turn the captivity of Elam, saith Jehovah.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
The bow of the Elamites, wherein their strength consists, shall be broken (Jer_49:35). They shall be attacked and scattered on all sides (Jer_49:36), and be pursued to destruction (Jer_49:37). In the country itself the Lord will hold strict judgment and exterminate all the rulers (Jer_49:38). Yet in the distant future Elam also shall be liberated and obtain salvation (Jer_49:39).
Jer_49:34. The word … Judah. There are well-founded doubts as to the authenticity of this superscription. We have hitherto found without an exception, that in all prophecies which are older than the battle of Carchemish, Jeremiah never mentions Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans, while in all the oracles subsequent to this catastrophe he knows and names Nebuchadnezzar as the Lord’s chosen instrument. If now this prophecy really dates from the beginning of Zedekiah’s reign, why is not Nebuchadnezzar mentioned? Why are the agents of the punishment spoken of in as general a manner as in the older prophecies? Or must not Nebuchadnezzar be necessarily regarded as the agent, as Graf supposes (S. 576)? I hold it quite impossible for Jeremiah in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah to have thought of any other than Nebuchadnezzar as an instrument of the execution, or to have left this point even in suspense. Compare only Jer_27:5 sqq., where the whole earth, with all that is thereon, is given over without exception or reserve to the Chaldean king. Add to this an external circumstance. Unreliable as the Alexandrian translation in general is, yet in some circumstances it may serve to indicate the original form of the text (comp. Graf, Einl. S. LVII.). This is here the case. As is well-known the prophecies against the nations have in the LXX. their place immediately after that indication of a Sepher, containing them, in Jer_25:13, and this prophecy against Elam is at their head. It is introduced with the words: ἅ ἐπροφήτενσεν ‘Ιερμίας ἐπὶ τὰ ἔθνη τὰ Αἰλάμ. It further closes with the words: ἐν ἀρχῆ βασιλεν́οντος Σεδεκίον βασολέως ἐγένετο ὁ λόγος ον̇̄τος περὶ Αὶλάμ, and these words form in addition the beginning of Jeremiah 26. However severely we may judge the arbitrariness of this translator, it must be admitted that this exceeds the customary degree thereof, which is substantially confined to abridgement (comp. Graf, Einl., S. XLIII.). What could have induced him to invent this postscript, since the brief oracle was sufficiently characterized by the prefixed words τά Αἰλάμ (evidently corresponding to the Hebrew לְעֵילָם, but on account of its brevity added as in apposition to the preceding ἐπὶ τὰ ἔθνη? Whence now that postscript? It is remarkable that in the LXX. the first verse of Jeremiah 27. (Heb.) is wanting. It is the verse with the undoubtedly false name of Jehoiakim! Now Jeremiah 27 stands in the closest topical relation to Jeremiah 25. In the symbolic Bending of the yoke it forms an actual commentary to the symbol of the cup of wrath, Jer_25:15 sqq. Ch. 26 on the other hand belongs to a much earlier date, and is merely inserted here, because it likewise (as Jeremiah 27) has for its subject the conflict with the false prophets, and bears as date the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim. Compare the Introduction to the Ninth Discourse (Jeremiah 25), and the rems. on Jer_27:1. This postscript now which the LXX. subjoins to the oracle against Elam suits exactly (only with the omission of the words περὶ Αἰλάμ) in the place of the verse wanting at the beginning of Jeremiah 27, and, which is a matter of importance, it contains the right king’s name, viz., that of Zedekiah. The supposition is thus pressed upon us that the prophecies against the nations originally had place immediately after Jeremiah 25, that Jeremiah 27 was connected directly therewith (without the intervention of Jeremiah 26), that the prophecy against Elam formed the conclusion of the oracle against the nations, and that by mistake the Diaskenast who altered that original order, removed Jer_27:1, and attached it, as a postscript, to the oracle against Elam. In this behalf the words “against Elam,” had to be inserted. This alteration must have been made in very early times, for it makes itself felt in both the Hebrew text and in the LXX. only with this difference, that in the text, on which the LXX. was based, the misplaced words still stood at the close of the word directed against Elam, so that this had a superscription and a postscript, while in our Masoretic recension the postscript is made into the title by the assumption into it of the words אֶל־עֵילָם. For this purpose the form of the sentences must also have been altered, so that it was in correspondence with the superscription, Jer_46:1 and Jer_47:1, while in the Greek text (Jer_26:1) the old form is still perceptible. Thus substantially Movers and Hitzig, with whom I feel compelled to agree in the main.
Jer_49:35-39. Thus saith … saith Jehovah. It seems to me far-fetched to take קֶשֶׁח in the sense of viri fortes as Hitzig and Graf would do, after the example of the Targum and several Rabbis. This meaning also does not seem to me to be proved. For in Isa_21:17 the word is to be understood peculiarly (comp. Delitzsch, ad loc.). In 1Sa_2:4 and Hos_1:5, it stands by synecdoche for all the means of attack and defence. And it is thus to be rendered here the rather as we know from history, that the Elamites were really celebrated as archers (comp. Isa_22:6; Livy 37:27; Herzog, R.-Enc., III. S. 748). The bow was the chief part of their strength (comp. Jer_2:3; Amo_6:1; Amo_6:6). When Hitzig inquires “why limit the breaking to the bow?” the answer is, because it was the main element of their power. To break their bow was to render them defenceless. When this is done, the advance is made upon them positively; from the four corners of the heaven are the four winds to rage against them and drive them one to another, i.e., the four winds shall scatter them to the four winds (comp. Jer_49:32; Zec_2:10; Zec_6:5). Without a figure, they shall be attacked on all sides and scattered on all sides, so that there will be no nation in which such Elamites are not to be found. That this is the sense is clear from Jer_49:37, where the same thing is expressed without a figure.—In the country itself will the Lord erect His throne (comp. the related but not identical expression, Jer_1:15 and Jer_43:10), i.e., He will sit in judgment, and the heads of the people must appear to receive their sentences. But Elam also at the end of days shall share in the salvation which the Lord shall then bring to all nations by the Messiah (comp. Jer_49:6; Jer_48:47). It is also not to be doubted that this word of consolation Applies not to Elam alone, but to all the nations before mentioned.
Footnotes:
[28]Jer_49:36.—עוֹלָם in the Chethibh has expressions such as Jer_49:13; Jer_25:12; Jer_51:26; Jer_51:62, etc., in view.
[29]Jer_49:37.—On הַחְתַּתִּ comp. Olsh., S. 563, 4,–46:26; Jer_9:15.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Jer_49:1. Has then Israel no heir? So the prophet tells the Ammonites. But to Israel himself he speaks differently; I will cast you out from my presence, as I cast out all your brethren, the whole seed of Ephraim (Jer_7:15). Thus the Ammonites have no right in Israel, and Israel, although he has forfeited his claim with respect to Jehovah, still has a right to his country with respect to the Ammonites, which he will one day, through God’s grace, make good again. “Israel will one day possess and rule his possessors and rulers. This is Israel’s eternal calling, which, in spite of every sin, must again be manifested, and is fulfilled in the Christian church to which all nations are given as a possession. Even now Jeremiah by God’s word, of which he is the bearer, has power over Ammon as over all the heathen world. He surveys their whole character, and already holds judgment. In him is Israel’s majesty and triumph even though on this account he is most mocked by the Jews.” (Diedrich). As then the servants of Malcom occupied the territory of Israel, so since then have the servants of Mohammed occupied the territory of the Christian church in Asia and Europe. In both cases it was a judgment on the latter without conferring any right on the former. A time, however, will come when the restoration of Israel and of Christianity to their country, and their right will take place at the same time.
2. On Jer_49:4-5. “The real confidence of the world is always on Mammon. They would satisfy the deity with their dead self-devised works, but with desire and the tension of all their powers does the world serve material interests, as they are now-a-days called? Soon, however, Ammon’s corn-fields are overflowed by enemies, then even their confidence gives way to despair.” Diedrich.
3. On Jer_49:7. “We see here, how God puts to shame those who depend on their wisdom and craftiness, so that we may ask: is there no more wisdom or counsel among the wise? Is their wisdom come to naught? Paul also writes of this (1Co_1:19-20) from the prophet Isaiah (Isa_24:14 coll. 9:23-24). Biblische Summarien, etc.
4. On Jer_49:7 sqq. “Although Edom was the nation nearest to Israel both in relationship and acquaintance, it is thus only a precursor of Antichrist, who endeavors to hide a worldly character in Christian forms. Edom is irritated by the existence of Israel, the presence of the pure word of God is always a thorn in his conscience. From Edom came Herod who wanted to murder the child Jesus, and who also mocked the suffering Saviour. Edom was celebrated for wise proverbs; it possessed high mental endowments; but are not even these put to shame, when not accompanied by the fear of God?” Diedrich.
5. On Jer_49:12. Israel was the chosen nation, the son of the house (comp. Exo_4:22; Jer_31:9), and yet he was severely chastised. Further, there were in Israel many just and pious men, who did not share the sins of their people, but zealously contended against them. But even these also had to bear the severe chastening. “Prophets and priests were also carried away to Babylon; Daniel. Ezekiel and pious men like Ananiah, Azariah, Mishael, and probably very many others,” says Theodoret. How then could another nation expect to be treated differently? Comp. Pro_11:31; 1Pe_4:17-18. There will, however, be a similarity also in this that finally the chastisement of both, the chosen nation and the other, will redound to their eternal welfare. Comp. Jer_49:39. “Justus est Dominus et rectum omne judicium ejus! Quæ etiam erat confessio Mauritii imperatoris, quam edebat, cum videret sanctum suam uxorem gladio feriri paulo post feriendus et ipse.” Förster. Psa_119:137.
6. On Jer_49:16. “Fortifications may be constructed and made due use of, but they must not be depended upon. For no fortification is too strong or too high when God is angry, and will punish. And he has various ways of bringing them into the hands of the enemies as, He can cause provisions to fail; or a spark to fall in a powder-magazine; water may be wanting; there may be pestilence or the dysentery or mutiny among the soldiers, or bribes may be used as scaling ladders. Then all is in vain.” Cramer. “What the world calls protection, cannot protect against God’s judgment; death mounts over all rocks.” Diedrich.
7. On Jer_49:19. “God gives all authority and respect, and takes it all away. For He it is, who poureth contempt upon princes, Job_12:21; Psa_107:40; Isa_40:23.” Cramer. [“We need not be surprised by such a searching question as that in the present passage concerning Christ, when we remember that Edom is the prophetical type of Christ’s enemies,” etc. Wordsworth.—S. R. A.]
8. On Jer_49:25, “God can suffer moderate joyousness, but to be joyous from security and in an Epicurean manner, is commonly a preliminary to destruction, Mat_24:39.” Cramer.
9. On Jer_49:30. “Non est quo fugias a Deo irato, nisi ad Deum placatum, Augustin in Psalms 74.”—Förster.
10. On Jer_49:38. Where judgment is held there is the Lord’s throne. For even the idea of judgment is divine, and all judges are the lower representatives of the highest judge. Woe to those judges who proceed so as to efface the idea which they represent. Well for us that there is a superior tribunal which will reverse all unjust judgments, and in all points bring true justice to the light, before which also summum jus will not be summa injuria.
11. On Jer_49:39, “In promissione spondetur Persis vocatio ad regnum Christi, cujus primitiæ fuerunt Magi (Matthew 2.), qui et ob id a Chrysostomo Patriarchæ gentium appellantur.” Förster. [The fulfilment of this prophecy was seen, in part, when the Magi came to our Lord at Bethlehem; and still more on the day of Pentecost, when ‘Parthians, Medes and Elamites’ listened to the preaching of St. Peter at Jerusalem, and were received into the Christian church (Act_2:9; Act_2:14).” Wordsworth.—S. R. A.].
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1. On Jer_49:1-2. Lament and hope of the church with respect to lost territory. 1. The lament (Jer_49:1). 2. The hope (a) with respect to the overcoming of opponents; (b) with respect to the reacquisition of the lost.
2. On Jer_49:4-5. Warning against arrogance. 1. Whereon it depends (Jer_49:4, trusted in her treasures, etc.). 2. What its end will be (destruction of its sources of help, fear, flight).
3. On Jer_49:7. The insufficiency of human Wisdom 1. Its strength (the renowned wisdom of the Edomites was not unfounded). 2. Its weakness (it must fail before the strokes of the Lord).
3. On Jer_49:11. A word of comfort for widows and orphans. 1. They have lost their human protectors and supporters. 2. Their shield is the Lord, if they trust in him.—“How blessed is God’s kind promise to widows and orphans. 1. It calms the heart of every dying father; 2. It comforts the heart of all who are left, orphans; 3. It encourages us all to trust ourselves with our children more faithfully to God. Florey, Biblisch. Wegweiser für geistl. Grabredner, 1861, S. 101.
5. On Jer_49:12. The justice of the Lord. 1. It directs its strokes with strict impartiality against the children of the house and against strangers. 2. It always has in view the true welfare of those who are smitten.
6. On Jer_49:15-16. The folly of those who would contend against God. 1. The ground of it (pride, earthly power). 2. Its fate (overthrow and destruction by divine omnipotence).
7. On Jer_49:38-39. The Lord’s judgments. They are 1, irresistible; 2, directed not to complete destruction, but to amelioration and true well-being.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain PROPHECY AGAINST AMMON, Jer_49:1-6.
PROPHECY AGAINST AMMON, Jer_49:1-6.
1. Concerning the Ammonites — In descent and character the Ammonites were twin people with the Moabites, but probably less civilized, being largely nomadic, while the Moabites were a more settled people. The Ammonites laid claim to a portion of the territory which Sihon, king of the Amorites, had wrested from them, and which at his death was won by the Israelites, and were constantly seeking to recover it from the children of God to whom it had been apportioned. After the Gileadites were carried into captivity by Tiglath-pileser, the Ammonites succeeded to much of their territory, and from that time became more formidable than ever. Hath Israel no sons, etc. — This is a question of reproach against the Ammonites, who had taken possession of Gilead as though the territory did not belong to the Gadites.
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Their king — The leading ancient Versions — the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate — understand by the original here a proper name — Melcom, the chief deity of the Ammonites, as does also the margin of the English Bible. The sense is not materially affected, though it must be confessed that it is more impressive to understand Melcom here as standing in the same relation as Chemosh in the prophecy concerning Moab. (See chap. Jer_48:13.)
Gad — The territory apportioned by Moses to this tribe.
Inherit — Rather, take possession of.
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 1. Hath Israel no sons?] The style is quite…
1. Hath Israel no sons?] The style is quite that of Jeremiah (e.g. Jer_2:14).
Malcam] mg. (less well), their king; and so in Jer_49:3. He was the god of Ammon. See 1Ki_11:5. The word should be written as LXX, Syr., Vulg. Milcom (and so in Jer_49:3).
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possess] better, as mg. inherit; so in Jer_49:3.
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 (1) Concerning the Ammonites.—The history of this people was,…
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 (Num_21:21-31) their territory was assigned to the tribes of Gad and Reuben (Num_32:34-38). In Jdg_11:12-33 we have the record of an unsuccessful attempt to recover their lost territory, and like attempts appear to have been made by Nahash (1Sa_11:1-11), and Hanun (2Sa_10:6-14; 2Sa_12:26-31). On the deportation of the Trans-jordanic tribes by Tiglath-pileser (2Ki_15:29; 1Ch_5:6; 1Ch_5:26), they made a more successful effort, and their king Baalis appears as prompting the conspiracy of Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah (Jer_40:14). The prophecy on which we now enter was probably delivered before that time, in or about the fourth year of Jehoiakim (Jer_25:21). Its opening words recall the long-standing territorial controversy. “Had Israel no heir?” Was the land he had occupied so long to pass into the possession of a stranger?
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Why then doth their king inherit Gad . . .?—Better, with the margin and all the older versions, Melcom. The name, all but identical with the “Malcham” of Zep_1:5, and connected with Moloch, was that of the god of the Ammonites, as Chemosh was that of the Moabite deity. He, as his very name implied, was their true king; and the complaint of the prophet is that he inherits Gad, which had been in the possession of Israel.
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 On Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar and Hazer, and Elam.
On Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar and Hazer, and Elam.
Vers. 1-3. The violence of the Ammonites shall be severely punished.
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Hath Israel no sons! The violent seizure, perpetrated before his eyes, of parts of the sacred territory, forces the indignant question from the prophet, "How can these things be?" It was so on a former occasion, (see Jer_2:14) and it is so again, now that the Ammonites are occupying the land of the Gadites. True, the present generation has lost its property, but the next is the heir to all its rights and privileges. Their king; rather, their King their Melech or Moloch; it is the heavenly, not the earthly king who is referred to. (so in Amo_1:15 Zep_1:5) The Septuagint, the Syriac, and the Vulgate, however, read Milcom, which was the name of the Ammonite deity; this is only a different vocalizing of the consonants of the text. The actual vowel points give "malcam." This reading may, of course, be interpreted of the earthly king of the Ammonites. But this view ignores the obvious parallelism of Jer_48:7, "Chemosh shall go forth into captivity." Inherit. The primary meaning of the word is "to take possession of, especially by force, 1Ki_21:6" (Gesenius, ad voc.), and this is the sense evidently required here. (comp. Jer_8:10)
Ver. 1. Israel"s heirs.
"Hath he no heir?" Most wonderful is the preservation of the Jews as a distinct race amid the strangest vicissitudes of fortune and through centuries of exile surviving the devastating deluge of the successive Oriental monarchies, the captivity in Babylon, the cruelties of Antiochus Epiphanes, the sweep of Roman conquest, the persecution of the Middle Ages, and the cosmopolitan citizenship of our own day. Yet, much as Israel has contributed to the philosophy and trade of the modern world, and great as her future mission may yet be, we cannot blind ourselves to the fact that her lonely glory of religions preeminence has passed away. Others have entered into this proud inheritance.
I THE INHERITANCE.
1. The knowledge of the true God. This, and not the land flowing with milk and honey, was the chief treasure of Israel"s inheritance. When all neighbouring nations were following polytheism, idol worship, and immoral rites, Israel was led by prophetic voices to look to one God a spiritual presence who could only be in the beauty of holiness. That people, therefore, which has the highest worshipped knowledge of God, and the purest religious life and worship, wilt be the true heir of this part of the ancient possession of the Jews.
2. The mission to enlighten the heathen. The Jew was not called to his privileged position wholly for his own sake. He was an elect people that he might be an apostle to the world; that in him there might be developed the revelation of truth which was for the healing of all the nations; that he might cultivate, preserve, transmit, and disseminate this abroad. His was the proud mission of the torch bearer to the nations that sat in darkness, that through his light they might see their light and life. This mission was often ignored, and it was never perfectly developed in Old Testament times; but the work of Jonah and Daniel, and the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah concerning the heathen, are partial accomplishments of it. It waited till Christ came for its full exercise. Then the Jew became the missionary of the gospel. The faith of the new age was given to the world by Jew apostles.
II THE arms. If the Jew has lost his proud religious pre-eminence, who has become his heir?
1. The Christian is the heir of the Jew"s knowledge of the true God. He and he alone, whether he be of the stock of Shem, of Ham, or of Japheth, is the true Israelite, the "royal priesthood," etc. For Christianity is the fulfilment and perfection of the Jewish faith. (Mat_5:17-20) In the New Testament we see a higher knowledge of God, a more spiritual worship, a more devoted service. If this be true, to reject it and rest contented with the lower faith of the Old Testament must be to give way in the race.
2. The most Christian missionary is the truest heir to Israel"s mission to evangelize the world. If there be any one race upon whom the mantle of Israel has fallen, may we not think that this is the great English-speaking peoples of Britain and America? Such an inheritance is not to be made out by ingenious arguments about the fate of the lost ten tribes. If we were the descendants of those apostate Israelites, we should be none the better for the fact, nor are we under any disadvantage because the hypothesis of an Israelite origin proves to be groundless. To make much of such a point is to go back to the lower conceptions of Judaism, and to disregard the higher spiritual conditions of Christianity. The true heir of Israel is the possessor of Israel"s faith in its full development. It is not our birth and descent, but our personal religion, that can secure the inheritance to us.
HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR Vers. 1, 2. The paradox of Israel"s inheritance.
The fittingness of this prediction is very striking. It is Ammon, the appropriator of Gad, who is the special subject of it.
I ITS UNLIKELIHOOD. At the time the prediction was uttered appearances were completely against it. The original promise seemed doomed to failure. The flower and hope of Israel was in exile, and the land lay desolate. Interlopers reaped the benefit of their misfortunes, and seized upon portions of the unoccupied land. In the history of Christianity there may be perceived remarkable correspondences. Vast spaces of the civilized world have lost the spiritual traditions of the gospel in which once they gloried, and vaster regions still amongst the heathen are occupied by ancient faiths that offer a steady and powerful opposition to the missionary efforts of the Church. Yet the whole earth has been promised to the Church of Christ. The utmost zeal, devotion, and watchfulness are needed in order to prevent the inroads of worldliness and unbelief. At times the despairing cry may be heard, "Where is the hope of his coming?
II THE METHOD OF ITS REALIZATION. It is well to ponder these facts in the light of God"s Word, for it suggests an escape from the perplexity they occasion. Where the induction of the natural reason fails to render a hopeful explanation, the Spirit of God sheds an unthought of light. Jeremiah"s interpretation, viz. that present dispossession need not mean utter disinheritance, is full of spiritual light and comfort. This impression is deepened and confirmed when he seals it with prophetic certainty and declares that Israel shall be heir to his heirs. But still remains the mystery to be solved:
1. How this will take place. Israel seems all but annihilated, or in danger of absorption into heathen nations, and his land is unoccupied. But according to promise
(1) a seed shall be preserved and shall be restored; and
(2) through the "seed of David," viz. Christ, a new Israel will be created, in spiritual succession to the ancient people of God, and destined to redeem from heathenism not only Palestine but the whole earth.
2. What will this involve? It will involve
(1) the judgment and overthrow of Israel"s neighbours, especially such as Ammon, the traditional "land thief" of his border;
(2) the purification and discipline of Israel as the heir of the kingdom of God; and
(3) the conversion of many "out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation". (Rev_5:9) In this sense also will God "bring again the captivity" of Moab, of Elam, and even of Ammon.
3. The following lessons are clearly taught by this prophecy, viz.:
(1) A unity of purpose pervades the vicissitudes of Israel"s and the world"s history:
(2) human affairs are governed by a strict and never failing justice; and
(3) a happy future awaits the children of faith the spiritual Israel even on earth. M.
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY Ver. 1. Might not right.
Ammon had taken possession of the territory of Israel (cf. chapter). Had done so as if it were his right, as if they were the lawful heirs of the land. Because of this judgment is denounced against them. They are to learn that might is not right.
I THERE MAY BE RIGHT WITHOUT MIGHT. It was so with Israel at this time. Is so with the trite Church of God. "All things are yours so we are told, but it is only de jure, not de facto. But
II THERE MAY BE MIGHT WITHOUT RIGHT. In the case here given. And it is common enough. Perfect justice is not attainable in this life. Even in the little world of the home, the school, the Church, injustices will occur. And, painful as they are to witness and to bear, they have to be borne. It is hard sometimes to see the justice of the Divine ways; how much more, then, of human ways! Nevertheless
III MIGHT MAY BE RIGHT. "La carriere aux talents," said Napoleon that was to be the law of his empire. "The tools to him who can use them such is our common maxim. The "king," the ruler, the lord paramount of the state, what is he but if the etymology be correct the "can"-ning man, the man who can, the able man? And so not seldom when we see might, we see right too. In the colonization of lands inhabited by savages who are letting the capabilities of glorious territories lie unimproved or running to waste, such colonization is not wrong. Might is right. "The tools," etc. It is a stern law to the incapable, but a just and beneficent one for the human race. "Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him that hath ten talents"; (Mat_25:28) what is this but the sanction of this combination? "To him that hath shall be given." There we have it once more. But
IV GOD"S WILL IS, AND OURS SHOULD BE, TO GIVE MIGHT TO RIGHT. Right one day shall be might as well as right.
1. This is the burden of the promises of God in his Word. "Thy kingdom come; thy will be done the will that is ever righteous earth," etc.
2. The constitution of human nature is in favour of it (cf. Butler"s "Analogy").
3. Conscience ever takes the side of right, whatever our conduct may do or be.
4. And God"s providence is slowly working to this end.
5. Faith" is simply the giving ourselves up to the righteous One, to be "his faithful servant and soldier, and to fight manfully under his banner until our lives shall end.
CONCLUSION. Let us seek to be on the side of right always, let the cost be what it may. C.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG Vers. 1, 2. A usurper in the inheritance.
I ACTUAL POSSESSION IS NOT THE ONLY THING TO BE CONSIDERED. Ammon is the actual present possessor of the territory of Gad. But every possessor must be ready upon occasion to show his title. With respect to the most trifling article the possessor must be able to make clear that it is his own, that he bought it, or inherited it, or had it given to him; in short, that it came to him in some entirely lawful way. Ammon had taken Gad by force, probably a very easy thing to do in the depressed condition of Israel"s fortunes. And if it be said in reply that Israel had originally taken this very territory of Gad by force, such a statement is, of course, quite correct. But then we have to keep in mind the typical character of Israel Everything depends on the point of view from which we look. Certain rules of legal ownership are an indispensable necessity of present social order, but at intervals in the course of the world revolutions come more or less extensive, and existing legal ownerships get utterly swept away. The Maker of the world, who is also the Bringer forth of the abundance of the soil, is to be looked to as the real Disposer of what he has made. And therefore, with respect to every actual possession of man, we have the question to ask Is it as the possession of Ammon, or as the possession of Israel? And chiefly we should ask the question with respect to ourselves. Whatever it be, external goods, or office, or reputation, have we got it, proceeding on the very highest principles of action, those which God himself would have us to employ?
II ABIDING POSSESSION, AND HOW IT IS TO BE GAINED. Ammon now holds Gad, as it seems, very firmly. What can Israel now do to get the territory back? That question Jehovah will answer in his own time, and Ammon will have to suffer for violently laying hold of what was not its own. And yet, bear in mind that this very action came through Ammon"s alienation from the true Lord and Guide of men. That alienation may manifest itself in different ways, but all sin and all chastisement of sin are traceable back to the alienation. Ammon was really trying to gratify a right desire in a wrong way. The desire for possession and for increase of possession, continuous and ever expanding, is a right desire. But it must be a possession assimilated to all that is best, all that is most enduring in our nature. Legal ownership is often in inverse proportion to actual enjoyment. The spiritual Israelite, the genuine, devout, habitual believer in Jesus Christ, is to be heir of all things. The things unseen and eternal are his, and they are his because a correspondence has been divinely produced between him and them. (1Co_6:9-11 1Co_15:53) Inheritances gained after the natural fashion very soon turn out delusive. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain
CHAPTER XX
AMMON
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Jer_49:1-6
"Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth Moloch possess Gad, and his people dwell in the cities thereof?"- Jer_49:1
THE relations of Israel with Ammon were similar but less intimate than they were with his twin brother Moab. Hence this prophecy is, mutatis mutandis, an abridgment of that concerning Moab. As Moab was charged with magnifying himself against Jehovah, and was found to be occupying cities which Reuben claimed as its inheritance, so Ammon had presumed to take possession of the Gadite cities, whose inhabitants had been carried away captive by the Assyrians. Here again the prophet enumerates Heshbon, Ai, Rabbah, and the dependent towns, "the daughters of Rabbah." Only in the territory of this half-nomadic people the cities are naturally not so numerous as in Moab; and Jeremiah mentions also the fertile valleys wherein the Ammonites gloried. The familiar doom of ruin and captivity is pronounced against city and country and all the treasures of Ammon; Moloch, like Chemosh, must go into captivity with his priests and princes. This prophecy also concludes with a promise of restoration:-
"Afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon-it is the utterance of Jehovah."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES.—1. Chronology of the Chapter.—The prophecies…
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES.—1. Chronology of the Chapter.—The prophecies against Ammon, Edom, Damascus, and Kedar. Jer_49:1-33 are synchronous with the previous chapter, but the section (Jer_49:34-39) against Elam has its own date given, “In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah;” therefore seven years later than those preceding it, and coinciding with chaps. Jer_27:1, Jer_28:1, which see.
2. Geographical References.—Jer_49:1. “AMMON.” Their country lay north of Moab. “Gad:” the country west of the Ammonites, between them and the Jordan. Jer_49:2. “Rabbah:” the fortified metropolis of Ammon. Jer_49:3. “Ai:” an Ammonite city whose location is not known.
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Jer_49:7. “EDOM:” their country stretched south of Judah. “Teman:” Jerome places it south of Idumea; Keil and Furst suggest N.E. of Edom. Jer_49:8. Dedan: the name of an Arabian tribe bordering on Idumea. Jer_49:13. “Bozrah:” see Gen_36:33; 1Ch_1:44. Jer_49:18. “The neighbour cities” of Sodom and Gomorrah were Admah and Zeboim.
Jer_49:23. “DAMASCUS:” Aram, called by us Syria, was divided into the northern part, of which “Hamath” was the capital; and the territory south-east belonging to “Damascus.” “Arpad:” a Syrian city.
Jer_49:28. “KEDAR:” a wide range of country between the Red Sea and the Euphrates. Vide on chap. Jer_2:10. “Hazor:” a country contiguous to that of the Kedarenes—Arabia Deserta.
Jer_49:34. “ELAM:” The Elymais of the Greeks and Romans, forming part of the ancient Susiana, on the west of Persia, separated from Chaldea by the Tigris.
3. Personal Allusions.—Jer_49:1. Their king: properly Melcom (see marg.): the tutelary idol (Zep_1:5). Jehovah was their true King; this Melchom or Moloch was a usurper-king. Jer_49:27. “Palaces of Benhadad.” “Benhadad” was a common name of several Syrian kings, and should not be identified with the Benhadad of 2Ki_13:3; Amo_1:4. (Cf. 1Ki_15:18).
4. Literary Criticisms.—Jer_49:4. “Thy flowing valley:” or “thy valley flows,” either with abundance or with the blood of the slain. Jer_49:12. “They whose judgment was not to drink:” i.e., whose habit or experience, &c. It was not God’s people’s usual experience to drink of the cup of His wrath.
Jer_49:19. “Against the habitation of the strong:” rather, to the ever-verdant pasturage; for אֵיתָן means durableness, from יָתַן, to be constant, perennial.
Jer_49:23. “Sorrow on the sea:” Many MSS. read “sorrow like the sea,” changing כ for ב; and the corresponding passage in Isa_57:20 reads “like the sea”—in which passage the sea is used for the agitations of men’s hearts. Here it might mean, sorrow in the agitated hearts of the Syrians, for all the versions read “in the sea” in this text.
Jer_49:25. “How is the city of praise not left?” rather, “Would that the city of praise were not abandoned!” So Graf. Damascus was “the city of praise” for its beauty.
HOMILIES ON VERSES OF CHAPTER 49
Note on Jer_49:1. “Hath Israel no sons?” When the Ammonites seized Gad, on Israel’s being carried into captivity by the Assyrians, they acted as if the country had no rightful heir, as if the banished ones should never return to claim their country.
Jer_49:2. Theme: THE VANQUISHED RAISED INTO VICTORS.
I. Scorners revel in Israel’s overthrow. Seize on their treasures as spoil. Exult in their hopeless defeat. Profit by their temporary reverses.
II. The heritage of God’s people is Inalienable. Foes may appropriate it for a while, but Israel shall repossess her lost heritage, and her foes shall be abject.
III. Final triumph to the oppressed Church.
1. They who despoil our peace shall be overthrown.
2. They who arrogantly appropriate the privileges exclusively belonging to the godly shall be driven forth into desolation.
3. They who make gain of our difficulties and sorrows, which God permits for our chastening and profit, shall feel in due time the punishments of Heaven.
Or thus (as Naegelsbach suggests):—
I. The Church’s lament over lost territory. Melcom’s possession of Israel’s inheritance. So now Mohammed’s possession of the territory of the Christian Church in Asia and Europe. And, in general, heathenism in possession of lands and hearts which should be held for Christ.
II. The Church’s hope of ultimate repossession.
1. As to the overcoming of her opponents.
2. As to the reacquisition of the lost.
Jer_49:7. Theme: FUTILITY OF HUMAN WISDOM.
Note.
i. The people of Teman had an ancient and remote fame for their wisdom (Gen_36:15; 1Ki_4:30; Job_2:11. Teman was the home of Eliphaz). Celebrated for their skill in dark sayings and proverbs.
ii. Eminent sagacity affords no security against God’s designs. “Their wisdom vanished.” Thus God puts to shame those who trust to “their own craftiness” (1Co_1:19-20).
Jer_49:11. Theme: A FATHER’S DYING CONSOLATIONS. “Leave thy fatherless children; I will preserve them alive: and let thy widows trust in me.”
I. A most affecting situation is supposed. “Fatherless and widows.”
1. Desertion: their strong human helper gone!
2. Bereavement: who supply the place?
3. Defencelessness: who will be their safeguard?
4. Anguish of spirit: lonely, heart-stricken, home desolated!
II. A most consoling promise annexed.
1. An exhortation precedes the promise. “Leave,” &c. An exhortation which breathes into the dying man the spirit of Resignation.
2. It is an exhortation to confidence. As he is compelled to leave them another POWER springs up to protect those dearer than life—confidence for himself—confidence for his family.
3. The exhortation is full of Comfort. The latter clause addressed not to the dying man but to the widow—“let thy widows trust”—it binds up the heart of the desolate.
III. A most tender appeal is addressed. “Let thy widows trust in Me.”
1. Trust the Divine Faithfulness; 2. the Divine Tenderness; 3. the Divine Vigilance.
IV. A most gracious service is guaranteed. “I will preserve,” &c.
1. Keep them from evil
2. Supply their wants.
3. Carry them through life.
4. Receive them to glory.
Jer_49:11. Theme: COMFORT IN BEREAVEMENT. “Leave thy fatherless children, and let thy widows trust in me.”
We must always regard it as a grand peculiarity of the religion that comes from God that it brings relief and comfort under trials for which the world has no balm, and throws light upon dispensations which would be otherwise clouded with a hopeless and impenetrable gloom. The religion of Jesus comes as a comforter when other oracles are silent; comes as a star of promise and of hope when every other lamp is extinguished; comes to breathe upon our ear its still small voice of mercy, when we hear nothing besides but the earthquake, and the fire, and the great and strong wind; and clothes with a mantle of celestial light the darkest appearances of this lower world.
I. The mournful changes of human life.
The text refers to the overthrow of Edom, to the calamities of war, to the domestic calamities produced by that event, and brings in the father of a family, about to leave his children for ever to the hard mercies of the world. Here are collected around you a sad group of sufferers—a dying father, mourning children, a widowed mother, addressed by a pitying and gracious God.
1. Of these changes God proclaims himself the Author: whether they come by war, by invasion, by pestilence, by famine, or by the ordinary progress of human decay, the hand of God is to be seen and acknowledged in them. “I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him—the time that I will visit him. I have made Esau bare, he shall not be able to hide himself, his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not.”
The worldling often views his calamities as coming unbidden and unblest, as contingent and casual, as evils which he must either resolutely resist or sullenly endure; and the consequence is that he either “despises the chastening of the Lord, or faints when he is rebuked of Him.” But the Christian views them as coming from a Father’s hand, for purposes which he may not be able to fathom, indeed, but which he certainly knows to be sent in love. The Christian knows no such Deity as Chance or Fate, and is at no loss to assign the Author of the trial. Afflictions fall upon mankind in a manner too regular for the agency of chance, but in a manner not stated and regular enough to have a blind Fatality for their author. They are not only consistent with God’s love, but they actually flow from it.
This is the universal creed of the Church of God. Amos says, “Can there be evil in the city and the Lord hath not done it?” Naomi: “I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home empty.” True, the famine was the procuring cause, and the anxiety of that period may have brought on diseases which swept her husband and her two sons into an untimely grave; but she sees the hand of God in all: “The Almighty hath afflicted me; the Lord hath testified against me.” What more uncertain than a casual flight of the arrow in the battlefield? But if a certain man drew a bow at a venture, his hand was strengthened by an Omnipotent Arm, and the arrow directed by an unerring Eye. What we term accident and casualty is in reality Providence accomplishing deliberate designs, but concealing its own interposition. What can be more trivial than the fall of a sparrow? But “not one of these falls to the ground without your Father.” And if a sparrow falls not without God, certainly one of His own children cannot. One is hurried away by a burning fever, one by a lingering consumption, one by some unforeseen accident, one by pestilence, one by war. But God says, “I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him; the time that I shall visit,” &c.
2. From the prospect of these changes feeble human nature shrinks and recoils.
Where is the father who does not tremble at the idea of leaving his children orphans and his home desolate? Where are the children who do not dread the thought of the hour when father and mother shall be removed from their embrace? Think of the picture drawn in the text—the anxiety of a dying father—the breaking-up of family ties—the darkened chamber—the silent home—the waking in the morning to a bereaved and forsaken world—and you bearing a weight of grief in your bosom, in comparison with which a mountain would be light.
Why do we refer to these points, but to teach children to value the privileges they possess in having parents to guide and protect them, and to remind Christian parents of their high responsibilities before it be too late. I can conceive that death will make strange revelations. The light of eternity which glares upon a death-bed, and shows the value of your own soul, may show you the value of the souls of your children, and your own responsibility to the God of the families of the whole earth.
II. The compassion of a gracious God. “Leave thy fatherless children.”
God sympathises with all the fears, all the sorrows, and all the painful emotions of the human bosom. His POWER enables, His LOVE inclines, His FAITHFULNESS pledges Him to your guidance and direction. God, who has made the parent’s heart what it is, knows how to meet its awakened susceptibility and care. God, who sends the calamity, knows how to send the support with it.
The history of the Church tells out wonderful instances of compassion to parents and children. Look at the first mission of an angel to a world; was it not to deserted and widowed Hagar before the birth of her first child? and was not the second visit of an angel to Hagar and Ishmael when the Lord heard the voice of the lad? Did not the angel descend to wrestle with Jacob when involved in trouble for his family, lest Esau come and smite the mother with the children? Was it not to the widow of Zarephath Elisha was sent? Was not Elijah’s greatest miracle employed on behalf of that pious mother mourning for her only Son? Was not the Lord with Joseph when separated from his father? with Moses when left to the bulrushes? Look at our Lord’s miracles.
III. The privilege of enlightened faith. Let your widows trust.
1. Trust in the use of appointed means.
2. Trust when outward means appear to fail.
3. When Providence appears to oppose promises.
4. When death and eternity are at hand.—Rev. S. Thodey, A.D. 1844.
Jer_49:12. Theme: THE CUP OF SUFFERING FOR GODLY AND GUILTY. See Lit. Criticism on verse supra. If the godly are made to drink it, shall the ungodly escape? Will not Jehovah deal judgment to His people’s foes?
I. A fact for Wonder: God’s people suffer punishment. “Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken.”
1. It is not the ordinary experience of God’s people “to drink of the cup.”
2. Yet it has befallen Israel that he has “assuredly drunken.” God’s people are sometimes severely chastened.
3. The good among the people suffered with the disobedient. For there were many pious and righteous men in Israel who zealously strove to keep the nation from apostasy, as with Daniel, Ezekiel, Jeremiah; yet they were entailed in the griefs of exile.
II. A fact full of Admonition: the ungodly shall not escape punishment.
“Art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? Thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it.”
1. How can the wicked expect to escape when the people God loves are made to suffer for their faults?
2. The affections of the righteous are purifying, but those of the guilty are punitive.
3. Surely it may be expected that God will be lenient with and forgive His sons sooner than aliens.
4. If the godly are banished from their land and life’s privileges for their wrong, shall not the “wicked be turned into hell,” and be banished from all the covenant favours of Heaven?
Note—
(a.) The cup of affliction is placed in the hands of us all.
(b.) None can claim to be exempted because of his covenant relationship.
(c.) The Christian’s natural enjoyment of grace leads to surprise when the cup is placed in his hands.
(d.) Yet the justice which will not spare the beloved child forewarns the rebel of certain punishment of wilful sin.
Jer_49:16. Theme: FORTIFIED AGAINST GOD’S POWER. “Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock,” &c.
I. Such startling boastfulness against God can be accounted for only as resulting from remarkable delusions.
A soul must have become strangely elevated in mood and defiance to be capable of such arrogance. Men often wish themselves protected from the reach of God’s power; but few indeed ever become so deluded as to believe and to boast that they are so protected. What explains it?
1. Arrogance fostered by successes. “Thy terribleness hath deceived thee; i.e., at first the fear inspired into others by her power rendered her proudly confident, as if none would dare to assail her; for success and sway over others tend to foster this inflated sense of importance and power. Beware of the “deceiving” influence of success and power!
2. Vanity, which fed itself upon the obsequious subjection of others. “The pride of thy heart.” And such vanity grows as it is gratified.
3. Self-created resources of strength and security. “Clefts of the rock—the height of the hill.” Sinners build their houses against the coming flood, and think themselves safe in them.
II. It is a frequent effort of irreligious men to fortify themselves against the reach of God.
1. Against the reverses of His providence. So they place their fortune in safest securities, in various sure undertakings, in order to have a guarantee that, should one fail, they will be right with the rest. Thus they plan that “riches shall not take to themselves wings and fly away.”
2. Against the afflictions of His hand. They choose healthy localities for their houses, with every sanitary appliance for the security of health. They command ablest physicians in illness. They seek the most salubrious and invigorating climates for the different seasons of the year. They command every luxury and comfort for the ease and security of life.
3. Against the agencies of death. They “make their nest as high as the eagles.” They climb up away from the grim shadow—take great pains to elude the last enemy.
4. Against the penalties of sin. Give money in their wills to religious societies, as a bribe to their consciences. Leave wealth to Popish priests to pray their souls out of purgatory. Fortify themselves in atheism or rationalistic theories, to satisfy themselves that there is no penalty for sin, or no hereafter.
III. God’s mighty hand will be laid upon even the proudest boaster.
1. Misfortunes pursue men in all their sure retreats.
2. Death mounts over all “rocks,” climbs up into all “nests.”
3. Terror will seize and shatter the confidence of every sinner in the day of God’s righteous judgment.
4. There will be an awful “bringing down” of the lofty when the Almighty puts forth His hand to destroy men’s “refuges of lies.” See Isa_2:11-17; Rev_6:15.
Note—There is a cleft of a Rock in which the soul may securely hide.
“Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee!”
Jer_49:19. “Like a lion from the swelling of Jordan,” See Homily on chap. Jer_12:5, and Notes on chap. Jer_4:7.
Jer_49:23. Theme: THE SEA: ITS RAVAGES AND TRAGEDIES. “They have heard eviltidings: they are faint-hearted; there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet.”
I. The sea has its stories of heartrending disaster.
II. The stories of the sea’s ravages fill us with trembling and grief.
III. The perils of the deep witness to the awful power and presence of God.
IV. How urgently should prayer be made for and by those who traverse the ocean.
“When through the torn sails the wild tempest is streaming,
When o’er the dark wave the red lightning is gleaming,
Nor hope lends a ray the poor seaman to cherish,
We fly to our Saviour:—‘Save, Lord, or we perish!”
“O Jesus, once rocked on the breast of the billow,
Aroused by the shriek of despair from Thy pillow,
Now seated in glory, the mariner cherish,
Who cries in his anguish, ‘Save, Lord, or we perish!’
“And oh, when the whirlwind of passion is raging,
When sin in our hearts its wild warfare is waging,
Then send down Thy grace Thy redeemed to cherish;
Rebuke the destroyer:—‘Save, Lord, or we perish!’ ”
—Heber.
V. The sea’s wildest tumult is under the control of God. “It cannot be quiet,” says this text: but once over the furious sea, where terror-stricken men dreaded death, Jesus sent out His word—and “there was a great calm.” “Then are they glad because they be quiet; so He bringeth them to their desired haven” (Psa_107:28-29).
Comments.
Jer_49:27. “PALACE OF BENHADAD:” whence so many cruelties against Israel emanated: thus indicating the reason for the overthrow of Damascus. God traces guilt to its source!
Jer_49:29. “CRY, FEAR IS ON EVERY SIDE.” Jeremiah’s watchword again, “Magor-Missabib:” cf. chap. Jer_20:3; Jer_20:10; Psa_31:13. The mere “cry” of the foe—“Fear,” &c., shall discomfort the Kedarenes.
Jer_49:31. “ARISE, GET YOU UP UNTO THE WEALTHY NATION,” &c.
Notes—
i. They who possess worldly plenty do not have all advantages on their side, for their “wealth” courts the envy of the covetous and the assaults of the spoiler.
ii. An easy self-security lays men open to the invasions of trouble and loss. Better to be secure in Christ, “your life hid with Christ in God,” than to enjoy a fancied security in the wealth and possessions of earth.
Jer_49:34. “THE WORD OF THE LORD AGAINST ELAM.” “In the cuneiform inscriptions we find the Elamites in perpetual war with Nineveh, with whom they contested possession of the country of Rasi (probably the country mentioned in Eze_38:2; Eze_39:1). With Babylon, on the contrary, they were on friendly terms, and they appear perpetually as the allies of Merodach-Baladan and his sons in their struggles for independence. The suggestion, therefore, of Ewald, that they served as auxiliaries in the Chaldean army in the expedition which ended in the fall of Jehoiakim and the deportation of Jeconiah and the best of the land to Babylon, is not improbable, though there is nothing to justify us in laying to their charge any extraordinary cruelty.”—Dr. Payne Smith.
“When the monarchy of Persia was established under Cyrus, Elam was blended into and formed a part of it; but before that time they were two distinct kingdoms. According to the present prophecy, Elam is spoken of as having actually become a province of the Babylonish empire (Dan_8:2); and Daniel appears to have presided over it, having Shushan for the seat of his government.”—Dr. Blayney.
Jer_49:38. “I WILL SET MY THRONE IN ELAM:” God would show Himself the Ruling and Omnipotent King by His judgments there.
Jer_49:39. “IN THE LATTER DAYS, I will bring again the captivity of Elam.” The full restoration belongs to Gospel times: and “Elamites” were among the first who heard and accepted the Gospel. Their presence at the Pentecost shows that the Elamites were still preserved by the Divine Providence, and were there among the representatives of the Gentile world to whom the Evangel of Christ was proclaimed.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain Jer 49:30-31
Jer 49:30-31
I. "Dwell deep." Have great principles as the base of your character; have root in yourselves; see that you are not mere waifs and strays, the sport of every wind, but that you have laid hold of the very substance of life so firmly that not even storms may be able to shatter or destroy your being. Depth of life is not mystery of life; it is not unreasoning hope; it is intelligence, it is faith, it is reality. No life can be deep that is not truly religious. Religion leads us to the infinite; it challenges our strongest powers; it lures even weakness itself towards might and courage; it speaks the word of hope and inspiration when we imagine that our whole task is exhausted. To dwell in Christ is to dwell deeply.
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II. "Dwell without care." We may accept this exhortation in two different yet coincident senses. We are not to dwell carelessly, yet are not to dwell fearfully; our independence of care is to arise from trust in the love and sufficiency of God. It is possible to dwell without care, simply because we undervalue life; it is possible to dwell without care, because we hold life in subjection to the Divine will and in perfect confidence in Divine love. Our care begins and ends with God. We must be right with Him. To be right with God is to sit upon His throne, and to view the affairs of life as God views them; to regard them in their entirety and to be superior to their influence. The uncarefulness to which the Christian is called is an expression of profound trust in his heavenly Father.
III. "Dwell alone. By this exhortation is not intended a call to hermitic seclusion, to misanthropy, to churlish loneliness, or the like. Yet it may be so interpreted as to make its application of the most excellent advantage to us. Solitude is needful to the highest culture of life. When we seek to be alone, it should be that our view of the Father may be more distinct and impressive. We must never seek for the loneliness which shuns the Divine Presence, for if we find it we find the devil clothed in redoubled power. Beware of Godless solitude; it is as the very gate of hell.
Parker, City Temple, 1870, p. 341.
Reference: Jer 50:4, Jer 50:5.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxix., No. 1752.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain Against Ammon, Edom, and other Nations
Against Ammon, Edom, and other Nations
1-6. The territory of Ammon was N. of Moab, and the two peoples were connected by descent. The carrying away of the tribes on the E. of Jordan by Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria (2Ki_15:29), strengthened the hands of Ammon, and it is their occupation of the portion of Gad upon that occasion that forms the crime which is dwelt on in this prophecy, and which shall bring on them judgment.
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1. Their king] RV 'Malcam,'or Moloch, the god of the Ammonites, and so in Jer_49:3. So in Jer_48:7 Chemosh is used for 'Moab.'
2, 3. Rabbah.. Heshbon.. Ai] Ammonite towns.
Hedges] fences, inclosures of vineyards.
4. Thy flowing valley] Ammon was full of valleys and streams running into Jordan.
7-22. Concerning Edom] The bitterness of the tone in which Edom is addressed in this prophecy is doubtless to be ascribed to the affinity between them and the Jews, which made the unnatural exultation of Edom over the fallen fortunes of their kinsmen the more offensive.
Much of the earlier part of this prophecy is almost verbally the same as Oba_1:1-8, while in Obadiah the vv. come in more natural sequence. Obadiah seems to have written (see his Jer_49:11) after the destruction of Jerusalem, whereas the prophecy in Jeremiah is connected by its grouping with the 4th year of Jehoiakim (see intro. to Jeremiah 46-49). To meet this difficulty it has been suggested either (a) that the earlier part of Obadiah's prophecy was written before Nebuchadnezzar's overthrow of Jerusalem, and only the latter part after that event; or, (b) that both prophets embodied in their writings an earlier prediction. Another suggested solution is that Obadiah is referring to an earlier overthrow, viz. in the time of Jehoram (2Ch_21:17).
7. Is wisdom no more in Teman?] Wisdom seems to have been a special characteristic of Edom: see Jer_49:20, Oba_1:8, and cp. (apocryphal) book of Bar_3:22.
8. Dedan] a tribe descended from Abraham by his wife Keturah (Gen_25:3), and dwelling SE. of Edom. They are bidden to keep well out of the way lest they should be involved in the overthrow of their neighbours: cp. Jer_49:30. Esau] i.e. Edom.
9. Would they not leave some?] RM 'they will leave no,' etc. In Oba_1:6 the words are interrogative, but probably not so here. The enemy, under the simile of grapegatherers and of thieves, will bring about complete desolation.
10. Secret places] retreats and fastnesses.
11. The widows and orphans of the slain may, however, look to God's protection.
12. Whose judgment was not] RV 'to whom it pertained not.' If Israel itself has not escaped the cup of woe, how should Edom?
16. Thy stern mountain fastnesses have persuaded thee thou art impregnable.
Rock] Heb. Selah, is probably an allusion to the precipice-protected town of that name (identical with Petra), the capital of Edom: see 2Ki_14:7.
17. A desolation] RV 'an astonishment.'
19. He] the enemy of Edom. Like a lion from the swelling of Jordan] see on Jer_12:5. Against the habitation of the strong] RM 'unto the permanent pastures,' as the spot where a lion would be most likely to find his prey. But I will suddenly, etc.] RM 'for I will suddenly drive them away,' i.e. the Edomites. And who is a chosen man, that I may, etc.] RV 'and whoso is chosen' (viz. my servant Nebuchadnezzar) 'him will I,' etc. The time] RV 'a time.' God identifies Himself with His human agent for punishment. The reference is to the right of the plaintiff in a suit to appoint the time of trial. Who shall dare to claim such a right here? cp. Job_9:19. Who is that shepherd?] What ruler will attempt to defend his flock against Me?
20. The least, etc.] RV 'They shall drag them away, even the little ones of the flock.' Edom shall be as helpless before the foe as sheep.
21. Red sea] probably the Gulf of Akaba, to the S. of Edom, not the Gulf of Suez.
23-27. Concerning Damascus] The prophecy relates to Syria generally, of which this was the most important city.
23. On the sea] If with some Heb. MSS we read 'as' for 'on' it will refer to the hearts trouble-tossed by conquest.
25. How is.. not left] i.e. how sad it is that the inhabitants, paralysed with fear, have not saved themselves by fleeing in time!
27. Ben-hadad] Three kings of Damascus bore this name (1Ki_15:18.; 1Ki_20:1; 2Ki_13:25).
28-33. Concerning Kedar. Kedar] see on Jer_2:10. Hazor] perhaps in Arabia.
30. Dwell deep] see on Jer_49:8.
31. Addressed to the invaders. Wealthy] RV 'that is at ease,' feeling secure against invasion.
32. Corners] see on Jer_9:26.
33. Dragons] RV 'jackals.'
34-39 Against Elam] RV 'concerning Elam,' a country to the E. of Chaldea. For the date, as compared with the other prophecies, see intro. to Jeremiah 46-49.
35. The bow] their chief weapon: cp. Isa_22:6.
36. The four winds] i.e. invasion from all sides.
39. See on Jer_48:47.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain Concerning Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar, and Elam
CHAPTER 49
Concerning Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar, and Elam
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1. Concerning the Ammonites (Jer 49:1-6)
2. Concerning Edom (Jer 49:7-22)
3. Concerning Damascus (Jer 49:23-27)
4. Concerning Kedar and Hazor (Jer 49:28-33)
5. Against Elam (Jer 49:34-39)
Ammon was the younger brother of Moab, and, like the Moabites, the Ammonites were a wicked people, though they had no cities like Moab, but were restless wanderers; they were also the enemies of Israel. The predicted judgment has come. Where is Ammon today? In what tribe or nation is a remnant preserved? Only the Omniscient One knows. But their captivity, like that of Moab, will be brought back again in the days when Israel becomes the head of the nations.
Edom, springing from Esau, was the most outspoken enemy of Israel. In our annotations on the prophecy of Obadiah we return to this chapter. Their complete judgment is here announced. “For, lo, I will make thee small among the nations and despised among men. Thy terribleness has deceived thee and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill. Though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD” (Jer 49:15-16). Here at least the critics concede that this is a true description of the dwelling places of Edom of old. “Its capital, Petra, lay in an amphitheater of mountains, accessible only through a narrow gorge, called the Sik, winding in with precipitous sides from the west; and the mountain sides round Petra, and the ravines about it, contain innumerable rock-hewn cavities, some being tombs, but others dwellings in which the ancient inhabitants lived” (Canon Driver). No restoration for Edom is promised.
Damascus’s anguish and sorrow is predicted next, followed by a prophecy concerning various Arabian tribes; Kedar and Hazor are to be smitten.
The final prediction is as to Elam. Elam was east of South Babylonia and the lower Tigris, later known as Susians. This prophecy was given at the beginning of Zedekiah’s reign. Elam became an ally of the Persian kingdom. Here her overthrow is foretold as well as her restoration “in the latter days.”
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Against Ammon
Against Ammon
v. 1. Concerning the Ammonites, literally, "Against the children of Ammon," thus saith the Lord, Hath Israel no sons? Hath he no heir? someone who may legitimately take possession of the land which was now left vacant, since Israel had been led away into exile. Why, then, doth their king, the ruler of the Ammonites, inherit Gad, the territory of this tribe, east of the Jordan, and his people dwell in his cities? "Judah was by right of kindred the heir, not Ammon; but Ammon joined with Nebuchadnezzar against Judah and Jerusalem, 2Ki 24:2, and exulted over its fall, Psa 83:4-8; Eph 2:8-9. It had already in the days of Jeroboam, in Israel’s affliction, tried to enlarge its border, 2Ki 14:26; Amo 1:1. "
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v. 2. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites, their capital; and it shall be a desolate heap, literally, "a hill of desolation," a pile of ruins; and her daughters, her suburbs, the smaller cities and towns within her sphere of influence, shall be burned with fire; then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the Lord, be in a position once more to occupy the land which the Ammonites had gotten by unfair means. On account of this misfortune, wailing and lamenting would be in order in the land of the Ammonites.
v. 3. Howl, O Heshbon, at that time occupied by the Ammonites, for Ai is spoiled, had already been subdued by the invaders; cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, the towns and villages near the capital, gird you with sackcloth, in token of deep mourning; lament and run to and fro by the hedges, in the fenced encampment, such as were quickly erected out in the open fields, since the cities no longer offered any protection; for their king shall go into captivity, in this case their idol Melchom, with whom the heathen king was pleased to identify himself, and his priests and his princes together. Cf Amo 1:15. The reason for the Lord’s punishment upon Ammon is now set forth, as the prophet pictures the pride, the stubbornness, and the security of its inhabitants.
v. 4. Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, flowing with abundance, with milk and honey, O backsliding daughter? so called because the children of Ammon had denied their descent from Lot and had turned to idolatry, that trusted in her treasures, in her wealth of resources and goods, saying, Who shall come unto me? namely, in a hostile attack. The Ammonites boasted that no enemy could successfully launch a campaign against their land.
v. 5. Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord God of hosts, from all those that be about thee, whose misfortune and overthrow would bring terror upon them; and ye shall be driven out, every man, right forth, straight ahead, without turning; and none shall gather up him that wandereth, make any attempt to bring about so much as a semblance of order among the scattered fugitives. According to secular accounts the overthrow of Ammon took place in the fifth year after the destruction of Jerusalem, after King Baalis had executed the murder of Gedaliah, Jer 40:14.
v. 6. And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the Lord, for in their case also the Messianic promises were held out to all those who would return to the Lord in true repentance.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
See: Poetry and Parallelism
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Yahweh says this
Jeremiah often uses these words to introduce an important message from Yahweh. See how you translated a similar phrase in Jeremiah 6:6.
Does Israel have no children? Is there no one to inherit anything in Israel? Why does Molech occupy Gad, and his people live in its cities?
Yahweh uses a question to express that the people of Israel should be living in Gad rather than those who worship Molech. This question can be translated as a statement. AT: "There are plenty of Israelites to inherit the land of Israel. The people who worship the false idol, Molech, should not live in Gad." (See: Rhetorical Question)
Why does Molech
Here "Molech" represents the people who worship Molech. AT: "Why do the people who worship Molech" (See: Metonymy)
So look
This adds emphasis to what follows. AT: "Look and listen"
days are coming ... when I will
Future time is spoken of as if the "days are coming." See how you translated this in Jeremiah 7:32. AT: "in the future ... I will" or "there will be a time ... when I will" (See: Metaphor)
this is Yahweh's declaration
Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated this in Jeremiah 1:8. AT: "this is what Yahweh has declared" or "this is what I, Yahweh, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
when I will sound the signal for battle
Yahweh causing an army to attack is spoken of as if he would sound the signal for the battle to start. AT: "when I will cause the enemy army to sound the signal for battle" (See: Metaphor)
its villages will be set on fire
This can be stated in active form. AT: "the enemy army will burn their villages"
For Israel will possess those who possessed him
Here "Israel" represents the people of Israel. "Those" refers to people of Ammon, who represent the land that they took from Israel. AT: "Then the people of Israel will again possess the land that the people of Ammon took away from them" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
people group
Ammon
Yahweh
kingdom of Israel
children
inherit
Molech
Gad
life
declare
Rabbah
fire
possess
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 49:1-6 Ammon was the next nation brought to trial…
49:1-6 Ammon was the next nation brought to trial in the Lord’s courtroom. Ammon was the second of Lot’s descendants (see study note on 48:1-47); its territory was north of Moab and east of Israel. The destruction of Ammon occurred shortly after the fall of Jerusalem.
49:1 After the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC, the Ammonites moved into territory that had been vacated by the tribe of Gad. • The Ammonites worshiped a fertility god named Molech (“ruler”), who was a lot like Baal (“master”).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.