L2 V1 1-5. The former state.
V2 6. The latter state.
V1 W u 1. Question. Incrimination.
v 2. Answer. Threatening.
X 3. Lamentation.
W u 4. Question. Incrimination.
v 5. Answer. Threatening.
496 B.C.
Jeremiah 49)
1 Concerning (see 47:1) the Ammonites (sons of Ammon, north of Moab. When the tribes east of Jordan were carried away by Tiglath-pileser [2 Kings 15;29], Ammon supplanted Gd. This is the sin dealt with here.), thus says; "Has Israel no sons? has he no heir? why then does their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities?
2 Therefore, behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah (now 'Amman, on the highlands of Gilead. A large Roman city was built there 4 centuries later, called "Philedelphia". Its ruin yet remain) of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap (= tel), and her daughters (i.e. villages, or smaller dependent towns) shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir to them that were his heirs, says the LORD.
3 Howl, O Heshbon (cp. 48:2), for Ai is spoiled: cry sadly, you daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the fences; for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together.
4 Wherefore glory you in the valleys, your valley flowing [with blood], O backsliding daughter? that confided in her treasures, saying, 'Who shall come to me?'
5 Behold, I will bring a fear upon you, says the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those that be about you; and you shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him that wanders.
6 And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the sons of Ammon (see 48:47), says the LORD."
D w 7. The procuring cause. Wisdom.
x 8-13. Desolation.
y 14,15. Instrumentality.
w 16. The procuring cause.
x 17,18. Desolation.
y 19-22. Instrumentality.
7 Concerning Edom (from Esau. Judgment for his unbrotherly conduct to Israel. Cp. Ps. 137:7. Isa. 63:1. Ezek. 25:12-14; and Obadiah), thus says the LORD of hosts; "Is wisdom no more in Teman? (a grandson of Esau. A town of Esau. Cp. Job 2:11. Amos 1:12. Obad. 9. Hab. 3:3) is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?
8 Flee you, turn back, dwell deep (i.e. in out of the way recesses), O inhabitants of Dedan (he was a grandson of Abraham [Gen. 25:1-3]. Cp. Isa. 21:13. Ezek. 25:13. A tribe descended from Abraham by Keturah [Gen. 25:3]); for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I will visit him.
9 If grape-gatherers (cp. Obad. 5) come to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough.
10 But [not so I], for I have laid Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbors, and he is not.
11 Leave your fatherless young children, I will preserve them alive; and let your widows confide in me."
12 For thus says the LORD; "Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and are you he that shall altogether go unpunished? you shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink of it.
13 For I have sworn by Myself (cp. Gen. 22:16), says the LORD, that Bozrah (now el Buseirah, south-east of the Dead Sea) shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes."
14 I have heard a rumor from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent to the nations, saying, "Gather yourselves out [to war], and come against her, and rise up to the battle."
15 For, lo, I will make you small among the heathen, and despised among men.
16 Your monstrous thing (i.e. an Edomite Asherah) has deceived you, and the insolence of your heart, O you that dwell in the clefts of the rock (probably Sela), that hold the height of the hill: though you should make your nest (cp. Obad. 4) as high as the vulture, I will bring you down from there, says the LORD.
17 Also Edom shall be an astonishment: every one that goes by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.
18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof (see Gen. 19:25. Deut. 29:23), says the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.
19 Behold, he (Nebuchadnezzar. See 48:40) shall come up like a lion from the swelling (Heb. pride, put for the proud beasts in the undergrowth of its banks. See 12:5; 50:44. Cp. Job 41) of Jordan against the habitation of a strong one: for I will suddenly make him (i.e. Edom) run away from her (i.e. Idumea. Contrast 4:7, where the assault is against Zion and the feelings are more deeply stirred): and who is a chosen man (i.e. Nebuchadnezzar), that I may appoint over her? (over the pasturage) for who is like Me? (cp. Ex. 15:11) and who will appoint Me the time? (i.e. who will summon or arraign Me?) and who is that ruler that will stand before Me?
20 Therefore hear the counsel (referring to Teman's wisdom. Cp. v.7) of the LORD, that He has counseled against Edom; and His purposes, that He has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out (as a dog drags away and tears a dead body): surely He shall make their habitations (or folds) desolate with them.
21 The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard at the Red sea.
22 Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle (cp. Deut 28:49), and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
D a 23,24. Dismay.
b 25-. City of praise.
b -25. City of joy.
a 26,27. Destruction.
23 Concerning Damascus (the prophecy concern Syria generally, of which Damascus was the principle city). Hamath (in the valley of Orontes, north of Damascus) is confounded, and Arpad (now Tell Erfad, 13 miles north of Aleppo. Cp. 2 Kings 18:34; 19:13. Isa. 10:9; 36:19; 37:13): for they have heard calamitous report: they are fainthearted; there is anxiety (or trouble) on the sea; it cannot rest.
24 Damascus is waxed feeble, and turn herself to flee, and fear has seized on her: anguish and pangs have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25 How is the city of praise not restored (strengthened, or fortified),
the city of my joy!
26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, says the LORD of hosts.
27 And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Ben-hadad." (3 kings of Damascus bore this official name. See 1 Kings 15:18. 2 Kings 13:3,25)
C Y c 28. Command. Invasion.
d 29. Poverty. Tents, &c.
Z 30- Advice.
Z -30. Reason.
Y c 31. Command. Invasion.
d 32,33. Property. Camels, &c.
28 Concerning Kedar (name of the Bedouin dwelling in tents [2:11], east of Palestine), and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor (near the Euphrates and the Persian Gulf), which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus says the LORD; "Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the sons of the east.
29 Their tents and their flocks shall they take away: they shall take to themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry to them, 'Fear is on every side.' (Cp. 6:25; 20:3,10; 46:6. Lam. 2:22.)
30 Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O you inhabitants of Hazor, says the LORD;
for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, and has devised a device against you.
31 Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, that dwells without care, says the LORD, which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone. (Cp. Num. 23:9. Deut. 33:28.)
32 And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all quarters them that have the corners of their hair (or beards) polled (cp. 9:26); and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, says the LORD.
33 And Hazor shall be a dwelling for jackals, and a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it."
B A1 34-38. The former state. A2 39. The latter state.
A1 e 34,35. Debilitation.
f 36. Dispersion.
e 37. Dismay.
f 38. Destruction.
34 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,
35 "Thus says the LORD of hosts; 'Behold, I will break the bow of Elam (the country east of the Tigris. Cp. Deut. Dan. 8:1,2. Its subjugation by Nebuchadnezzar [25:25]. Cp. Hab. 2:8), the chief of their might.
36 And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.
37 For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their soul: and I will bring calamity upon them, even My fierce anger, says the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:
38 And I will set My throne in Elam, and will destroy from there the king and the princes, says the LORD.
39 But it shall come to pass in the end (or afterpart) of the days (see 48:47. Cp. Deut. 30:3), that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, says the LORD.' "