King James Version
Jeremiah 49
39 verses with commentary
Prophecy Against Ammon
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? Concerning: or, Against their king: or, Melcom
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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?</strong> This oracle addresses Ammon's territorial expansion into Israelite land (Gad's territory east of Jordan). The rhetorical questions—"Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir?"—emphasize the injustice. Though northern Israel fell ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
XLIX.
(1) **Concerning the Ammonites.**—The history of this people was, to a great extent, parallel with that of the Moabites. They had been conquered by Sihon, the great Amorite king, and when that monarch was, in his turn, conquered by the Israelites (Numbers 21:21-31) their territory was assigned to the tribes of Gad and Reuben (Numbers 32:34-38). In Judges 11:12-33 we have the record of an uns...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
5. (Eze 24:17, 22, 23).
**house of mourning--**(Mr 5:38). Margin, "mourning-feast"; such feasts were usual at funerals. The Hebrew means, in Am 6:7, the cry of joy at a banquet; here, and La 2:19, the cry of sorrow.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 49
The unbelief and rejection of the Jews. (Is. 49:1-6) Gracious promise to the Gentiles. (Is. 49:7-12) God's love to the church. (Is. 49:13-17) Its increase. (Is. 49:18-23) And deliverance. (Is. 49:24-26)
**Verses 1-6** The great Author of redemption shows the authority for his work. The sword of his word slays the lusts of his people, and all at enmity with them. His sharp arrows w...
Read full commentary →Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites ; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the LORD.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites.</strong> God announces judgment on Ammon with the prophetic formula 'the days come, saith the LORD' (<em>hineh yamim ba'im ne'um-YHWH</em>). The phrase 'alarm of war' translates <em>teru'ah</em> (תְּרוּעָה), a shout or blast—specifically the war cry or trumpet blast s...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Rabbah of the Ammonites.**—More fully, *of the children of Ammon.—*Rabbah, or Rabbath, the “city of waters” (the word signifies “Great,” and the city was, as it were, the Megalopolis of Ammon), was the capital, and this was its full and formal title (Deuteronomy 3:11; 2Samuel 11:1; 2Samuel 12:26). It had been captured by Joab after the siege made memorable by the death of Uriah the Hittite. ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. cut themselves--**indicating extravagant grief (Jr 41:5; 47:5), prohibited by the law (Le 19:28).
**bald--**(Jr 7:29; Is 22:12).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 49
The unbelief and rejection of the Jews. (Is. 49:1-6) Gracious promise to the Gentiles. (Is. 49:7-12) God's love to the church. (Is. 49:13-17) Its increase. (Is. 49:18-23) And deliverance. (Is. 49:24-26)
**Verses 1-6** The great Author of redemption shows the authority for his work. The sword of his word slays the lusts of his people, and all at enmity with them. His sharp arrows w...
Read full commentary →Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together. their king: or, Melcom
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye daughters of Rabbah.</strong> God commands Ammonite cities to lament their coming destruction. 'Howl' (<em>yalal</em>, יָלַל) is a cry of anguish, wailing in grief—often associated with funeral mourning. Heshbon, originally an Amorite city conquered by Israel, had apparently fallen under Ammonite control. 'Ai is spoiled' (<em>shuddad</em>, שֻׁדַּ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled.**—Heshbon has appeared in Jeremiah 48:2; Jeremiah 48:45, as connected with the fortunes of Moab, but it was strictly an Ammonite city. The “Ai” here is obviously not the city near Jericho of Joshua 8:28, and unless we assume an error in the text (“Ai” for “Ar”= city), we must infer the existence of a Trans-jordanic city of the same name.
**Run to and fro b...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. tear themselves--**rather, "break bread," namely, that eaten at the funeral-feast (De 26:14; Job 42:11; Eze 24:17; Ho 9:4). "Bread" is to be supplied, as in La 4:4; compare "take" (food) (Ge 42:33).
**give ... cup of consolation ... for ... father--**It was the Oriental custom for friends to send viands and wine (the "cup of consolation") to console relatives in mourning-feasts, for example...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 49
The unbelief and rejection of the Jews. (Is. 49:1-6) Gracious promise to the Gentiles. (Is. 49:7-12) God's love to the church. (Is. 49:13-17) Its increase. (Is. 49:18-23) And deliverance. (Is. 49:24-26)
**Verses 1-6** The great Author of redemption shows the authority for his work. The sword of his word slays the lusts of his people, and all at enmity with them. His sharp arrows w...
Read full commentary →Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come unto me? thy: or, thy valley floweth away
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter?</strong> God confronts Ammon's arrogant self-confidence. 'Gloriest' (<em>tithallel</em>, תִּתְהַלֵּל) means to boast, praise oneself, glory in—misplaced confidence in military or economic strength. 'The valleys' (possibly the fertile Jordan valley region) were Ammon's pride—'thy flowing valley' (<em>emeq ha...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **In the valleys.**—The word exactly describes the conformation of the Ammonite country, as a high plateau intersected by streams which make their way to the Jordan. For “thy flowing valley” read “thy valley” (this is, of course, the valley in which Rabbah was situated) “that floweth with plenty.” The words admit, however, of being rendered, “Thy valley floweth away,” *i.e., *is wasted and emp...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. house of feasting--**joyous: as distinguished from mourning-feasts. Have no more to do with this people whether in mourning or joyous feasts.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 49
The unbelief and rejection of the Jews. (Is. 49:1-6) Gracious promise to the Gentiles. (Is. 49:7-12) God's love to the church. (Is. 49:13-17) Its increase. (Is. 49:18-23) And deliverance. (Is. 49:24-26)
**Verses 1-6** The great Author of redemption shows the authority for his work. The sword of his word slays the lusts of his people, and all at enmity with them. His sharp arrows w...
Read full commentary →Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those that be about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him that wandereth.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those that be about thee.</strong> God pronounces the reversal of Ammon's false confidence. Instead of the arrogant question 'Who shall come unto me?' (v. 4), God declares 'I will bring fear' (<em>ani mevi pachad</em>, אֲנִי מֵבִיא פַּחַד). The noun <em>pachad</em> (פַּחַד) means terror, dread, or sudden alarm—par...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5, 6) I w**ill bring a fear upon thee . . .**—As in the case of Moab, there is the doom of exile for Ammon also, but the sentence of punishment is tempered with mercy, and there is to be a return from the seemingly hopeless captivity.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
9. (Jr 7:34; 25:10; Eze 26:13).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 49
The unbelief and rejection of the Jews. (Is. 49:1-6) Gracious promise to the Gentiles. (Is. 49:7-12) God's love to the church. (Is. 49:13-17) Its increase. (Is. 49:18-23) And deliverance. (Is. 49:24-26)
**Verses 1-6** The great Author of redemption shows the authority for his work. The sword of his word slays the lusts of his people, and all at enmity with them. His sharp arrows w...
Read full commentary →And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the LORD.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the LORD.</strong> After pronouncing comprehensive judgment (verses 1-5), God surprisingly promises future restoration. The phrase 'bring again the captivity' translates <em>shavti et-shevut</em> (שַׁבְתִּי אֶת־שְׁבוּת), literally 'I will turn the turning'—an idiom for reversing exile, restoring fortunes, or bri...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
10. (De 29:24; 1Ki 9:8, 9).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 49
The unbelief and rejection of the Jews. (Is. 49:1-6) Gracious promise to the Gentiles. (Is. 49:7-12) God's love to the church. (Is. 49:13-17) Its increase. (Is. 49:18-23) And deliverance. (Is. 49:24-26)
**Verses 1-6** The great Author of redemption shows the authority for his work. The sword of his word slays the lusts of his people, and all at enmity with them. His sharp arrows w...
Read full commentary →Prophecy Against Edom
Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman?</strong> This oracle against Edom opens with a rhetorical question lamenting the disappearance of wisdom from Teman (תֵּימָן), a region in Edom famous for its sages. Teman was home to Eliphaz, one of Job's friends, representing Edom's intellectual tradition. The Hebrew <em>chokmah</em> (חָכְמָה, wisdom) here refers ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Concerning Edom.**—A short survey of the past history is necessary that we may enter into the force of the prophet’s words. On the journey of the Israelites to Canaan the Edomites were left unmolested (Numbers 14:21; Deuteronomy 2:4). Conquered by Saul (1Samuel 14:47), and yet more completely by David (2Samuel 8:14), they made an unsuccessful attempt to throw off the yoke in the time of Solo...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
11. (Jr 5:19; 13:22; 22:8, 9).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-12** The Father is the Lord, the Redeemer, and Holy One of Israel, as sending the Son to be the Redeemer. Man, whom he came to save, put contempt upon him. To this he submitted for our salvation. He is a pledge for all the blessings of the covenant; in him God was reconciling the world to himself. Pardoning mercy is a release from the curse of the law; renewing grace is a release from t...
Read full commentary →Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I will visit him. turn: or, they are turned back
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan</strong>—God commands Dedan (a trading people in northwestern Arabia, descendants of Abraham through Keturah) to flee and hide in remote places. The verb <em>nus</em> (נוּס, flee) suggests urgent escape from imminent danger. <em>Dwell deep</em> translates <em>ha'amiq shevet</em> (הַעֲמִיקוּ שֶׁבֶת), meaning to go down deep, hide in rem...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **O inhabitants of Dedan.**—See Note on Jeremiah 25:23. In Ezekiel 25:13 Dedan appears, as here, in company with Edom and Teman. In Isaiah 21:13 the “travelling companies of Dedanim” appear as carrying on the traffic of Edom with other countries. The words “dwell deep” are as a warning, bidding them retire as far as possible, so as to escape from the Chaldæan invaders.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. ye--**emphatic: so far from avoiding your fathers' bad example, ye have done worse (Jr 7:26; 1Ki 14:9).
**imagination--**rather, "stubborn perversity."
**that they may not hearken--**rather, connected with "ye"; "ye have walked ... so as not to hearken to Me."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-12** The Father is the Lord, the Redeemer, and Holy One of Israel, as sending the Son to be the Redeemer. Man, whom he came to save, put contempt upon him. To this he submitted for our salvation. He is a pledge for all the blessings of the covenant; in him God was reconciling the world to himself. Pardoning mercy is a release from the curse of the law; renewing grace is a release from t...
Read full commentary →If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough. till: Heb. their sufficiency
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes?</strong> This rhetorical question uses agricultural imagery to emphasize the totality of Edom's coming destruction. Normal grape harvesters (<em>botserim</em>, בֹּצְרִים) leave <em>gleanings</em> (<em>'olelot</em>, עֹלֵלוֹת)—the remnant grapes for the poor (Leviticus 19:10, Deuteronomy 24:21). Even thieves take only...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **If grapegatherers come to thee . . .**—The words are reproduced in Obadiah 1:5. Vine-gatherers leave some bunches for the gleaner; robbers are at last satiated with plunder; but the destroyers of Edom would be insatiable (comp. Isaiah 17:6). Esau (the name stands for Edom) should be laid bare, and perish utterly. It is significant that there is no promise to Edom that her captivity should be...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. serve other gods--**That which was their sin in their own land was their punishment in exile. Retribution in kind. They voluntarily forsook God for idols at home; they were not allowed to serve God, if they wished it, in captivity (Da 3:12; 6:7).
**day and night--**irony. You may there serve idols, which ye are so mad after, even to satiety, and without intermission.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-12** The Father is the Lord, the Redeemer, and Holy One of Israel, as sending the Son to be the Redeemer. Man, whom he came to save, put contempt upon him. To this he submitted for our salvation. He is a pledge for all the blessings of the covenant; in him God was reconciling the world to himself. Pardoning mercy is a release from the curse of the law; renewing grace is a release from t...
Read full commentary →But I have made 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 neighbours, and he is not.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places</strong>—God declares His direct action against Edom. <em>Made bare</em> translates <em>chasapti</em> (חָשַׂפְתִּי), meaning to strip, expose, or lay bare. <em>Secret places</em> (<em>mistarim</em>, מִסְתָּרִים) refers to hidden refuges, concealed treasures, or secure fortresses. Edom's rocky terrain provided natural fortresses ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. Therefore--**So severe shall be the Jews' bondage that their deliverance from it shall be a greater benefit than that out of Egypt. The consolation is incidental here; the prominent thought is the severity of their punishment, so great that their rescue from it will be greater than that from Egypt [Calvin]; so the context, Jr 16:13, 17, 18, proves (Jr 23:7, 8; Is 43:18).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-12** The Father is the Lord, the Redeemer, and Holy One of Israel, as sending the Son to be the Redeemer. Man, whom he came to save, put contempt upon him. To this he submitted for our salvation. He is a pledge for all the blessings of the covenant; in him God was reconciling the world to himself. Pardoning mercy is a release from the curse of the law; renewing grace is a release from t...
Read full commentary →Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me.</strong> Amid judgment's severity, this verse reveals God's compassionate character. The command to <em>leave</em> (<em>'azav</em>, עֲזֹב) thy orphans means to entrust them to God's care. <em>I will preserve them alive</em> uses <em>achayeh</em> (אֲחַיֶּה), from the root <em>chayah</em> (חָיָה, to li...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Leave thy fatherless children . . .**—Were the words uttered in the stern irony of one who veils *& *threat in the form of a promise, as some have thought, or was there even in the case of Edom a mingling of pity for the helpless? The latter view seems truer to the prophet’s character (Jeremiah 48:36). If the sentence was passed which left the wives of Edom widows, and their children orphan...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. the north--**Chaldea. But while the return from Babylon is primarily meant, the return hereafter is the full and final accomplishment contemplated, as "from all the lands" proves. "Israel" was not, save in a very limited sense, "gathered from all the lands" at the return from Babylon (see on Jr 24:6; Jr 30:3; Jr 32:15).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-12** The Father is the Lord, the Redeemer, and Holy One of Israel, as sending the Son to be the Redeemer. Man, whom he came to save, put contempt upon him. To this he submitted for our salvation. He is a pledge for all the blessings of the covenant; in him God was reconciling the world to himself. Pardoning mercy is a release from the curse of the law; renewing grace is a release from t...
Read full commentary →For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken.</strong> The <em>cup</em> (<em>kos</em>, כּוֹס) is a common prophetic metaphor for God's wrath and judgment (Jeremiah 25:15-29, Psalm 75:8, Isaiah 51:17). The phrase <em>whose judgment was not to drink</em> refers to Judah—though God's covenant people, they were not exempt from judgment...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Behold, they whose judgment . . .**—The imagery is taken up from Jeremiah 25:15. Even those of whom it might have seemed that they were exempted, by God’s decree, from drinking of the cup of His wrath, had drunk. Could Esau hope for immunity? The thought is parallel to that of 1Peter 4:17.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16. send for--**translate, "I will send many"; "I will give the commission to many" (2Ch 17:7).
**fishers ... hunters--**successive invaders of Judea (Am 4:2; Ha 1:14, 15). So "net" (Eze 12:13). As to "hunters," see Ge 10:9; Mi 7:2. The Chaldees were famous in hunting, as the Egyptians, the other enemy of Judea, were in fishing. "Fishers" expresses the ease of their victory over the Jews as th...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-12** The Father is the Lord, the Redeemer, and Holy One of Israel, as sending the Son to be the Redeemer. Man, whom he came to save, put contempt upon him. To this he submitted for our salvation. He is a pledge for all the blessings of the covenant; in him God was reconciling the world to himself. Pardoning mercy is a release from the curse of the law; renewing grace is a release from t...
Read full commentary →For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.</strong> This verse pronounces irrevocable judgment on Edom, specifically its capital city Bozrah. "I have sworn by myself" (<em>ki bi nishbati</em>, כִּי בִי נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי) is God's most solemn oath formula, used when n...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **Bozrah.**—This, as in Isaiah 34:6; Isaiah 63:1, was one of the chief cities of Edom, probably identical with the modern *El-Busaireh, *half-way between Petra and the Dead Sea.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
17. (Jr 32:19; Pr 5:21; 15:3).
**their iniquity--**the cause of God's judgments on them.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 13-17** Let there be universal joy, for God will have mercy upon the afflicted, because of his compassion; upon his afflicted, because of his covenant. We have no more reason to question his promise and grace, than we have to question his providence and justice. Be assured that God has a tender affection for his church and people; he would not have them to be discouraged. Some mothers do ...
Read full commentary →I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather ye together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I have heard a rumour from the LORD</strong> (שְׁמוּעָה שָׁמַעְתִּי, <em>shemu'ah shamati</em>)—Jeremiah receives divine intelligence about Edom's impending judgment. The <em>tsir</em> (צִיר, ambassador) sent among nations coordinates the coalition against Edom, showing God's sovereignty over international politics. This prophetic eavesdropping on heaven's war council echoes Isaiah's visio...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **I have heard a rumour from the Lord . . .**—The thought is that of Jehovah, as the great King, sending forth His herald or envoy to call the nations to the attack on Edom. (Comp. Jeremiah 46:3-4.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18. first ... double--**Horsley translates, "I will recompense ... once and again"; literally, "the first time repeated": alluding to the two captivities--the Babylonian and the Roman. Maurer, "I will recompense their former iniquities (those long ago committed by their fathers) and their (own) repeated sins" (Jr 16:11, 12). English Version gives a good sense, "First (before 'I bring them again ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 13-17** Let there be universal joy, for God will have mercy upon the afflicted, because of his compassion; upon his afflicted, because of his covenant. We have no more reason to question his promise and grace, than we have to question his providence and justice. Be assured that God has a tender affection for his church and people; he would not have them to be discouraged. Some mothers do ...
Read full commentary →For, lo, I will make thee small among the heathen, and despised among men.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I will make thee small among the heathen</strong> (קָטֹן נְתַתִּיךָ, <em>qaton netattikha</em>)—The perfect tense indicates God's settled decree. Edom's pride in their rocky fortress and strategic trade routes will be inverted into insignificance. The verb <em>natan</em> (give/make) emphasizes divine causation—Edom's diminishment is not natural decline but supernatural judgment.<br><br><st...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **Among the heathen.**—Better here, as no marked contrast with Israel is intended, *among the nations.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
19-20. The result of God's judgments on the Jews will be that both the Jews when restored, and the Gentiles who have witnessed those judgments, shall renounce idolatry for the worship of Jehovah. Fulfilled partly at the return from Babylon, after which the Jews entirely renounced idols, and many proselytes were gathered in from the Gentiles, but not to be realized in its fulness till the final res...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 13-17** Let there be universal joy, for God will have mercy upon the afflicted, because of his compassion; upon his afflicted, because of his covenant. We have no more reason to question his promise and grace, than we have to question his providence and justice. Be assured that God has a tender affection for his church and people; he would not have them to be discouraged. Some mothers do ...
Read full commentary →Thy terribleness hath 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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Thy terribleness hath deceived thee</strong> (הִשִּׁיא אֹתְךָ תִּפְלַצְתְּךָ, <em>hissi otekha tiflatstekkha</em>)—Edom's intimidating reputation became self-deception. The <em>tiphletseth</em> (terror they inspired) created false security. <strong>The pride of thine heart</strong> (זְדוֹן לִבֶּךָ, <em>zedon libbeka</em>)—<em>zedon</em> denotes arrogant presumption, the same sin that felle...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **Thy terribleness hath deceived thee.**—The substantive does not occur elsewhere. Etymo-logically it may mean “terror of,” or “object of terror;” but a cognate word is found in 1Kings 15:13; 2Chronicles 15:16 in the sense of an “idol,” probably of the Phallic or Priapus type, and that is probably the meaning. Such an idol is called scornfully the *horror *of Edom, just as the God of Israel w...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
19-20. The result of God's judgments on the Jews will be that both the Jews when restored, and the Gentiles who have witnessed those judgments, shall renounce idolatry for the worship of Jehovah. Fulfilled partly at the return from Babylon, after which the Jews entirely renounced idols, and many proselytes were gathered in from the Gentiles, but not to be realized in its fulness till the final res...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 13-17** Let there be universal joy, for God will have mercy upon the afflicted, because of his compassion; upon his afflicted, because of his covenant. We have no more reason to question his promise and grace, than we have to question his providence and justice. Be assured that God has a tender affection for his church and people; he would not have them to be discouraged. Some mothers do ...
Read full commentary →Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Edom shall be a desolation</strong> (לְשַׁמָּה תִּהְיֶה, <em>l'shammah tihyeh</em>)—The noun <em>shammah</em> denotes horrified astonishment at judgment, used frequently in Jeremiah's oracles (see 2:15, 18:16). <strong>Every one that goeth by it shall be astonished</strong> (יִשֹּׁם, <em>yisshom</em>)—travelers will <em>hiss</em> (שָׁרַק, <em>sharaq</em>), a sound expressing derision and h...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **Edom shall be a desolation.**—The words did not receive an immediate or even a rapid fulfilment. Idumæa was a populous and powerful country in the time of John Hyrcanus. Petra, as we have seen, was rebuilt by the Romans as a centre of trade and government, and had its baths, and theatres, and temples. But the end came at last, and there are few lands, once the seat of a thriving nation, mor...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21. Therefore--**In order that all may be turned from idols to Jehovah, He will now give awful proof of His divine power in the judgments He will inflict.
**this once--**If the punishments I have heretofore inflicted have not been severe enough to teach them.
**my name ... Lord--**Jehovah (Psa 83:18): God's incommunicable name, to apply which to idols would be blasphemy. Keeping His threats ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 13-17** Let there be universal joy, for God will have mercy upon the afflicted, because of his compassion; upon his afflicted, because of his covenant. We have no more reason to question his promise and grace, than we have to question his providence and justice. Be assured that God has a tender affection for his church and people; he would not have them to be discouraged. Some mothers do ...
Read full commentary →As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah</strong> (כְּמַהְפֵּכַת סְדֹם וַעֲמֹרָה, <em>k'mahpekat Sedom v'Amorah</em>)—The comparison is devastating: Edom's judgment will be as total and irreversible as the paradigmatic divine catastrophe. The noun <em>mahpekah</em> (overthrow) denotes violent reversal, used throughout Scripture for supernatural destruction (Genesis 19:29, Amos 4:11).<br><...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof.**—The destruction of the two cities named had become proverbial, as in Isaiah 1:9; Jeremiah 13:19; Amos 4:11. What is noticeable here is the mention of the “neighbour cities.” We may connect it with the fact that they are named as Admah and Zeboim in Deuteronomy 29:23.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 18-23** Zion is addressed as an afflicted widow, bereaved of her children. Numbers flock to her, and she is assured that they come to be a comfort to her. There are times when the church is desolate and few in number; yet its desolations shall not last for ever, and God will repair them. God can raise up friends for returning Israelites, even among Gentiles. They shall bring their childre...
Read full commentary →Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me? appoint me: or, convent me in judgment?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan</strong> (כְּאַרְיֵה יַעֲלֶה, <em>k'aryeh ya'aleh</em>)—God depicts Himself as the apex predator bursting from Jordan's dense thickets (<em>ga'on haYarden</em>, the 'pride of Jordan'—dense jungle along the riverbank where lions once lived). This terrifying image of divine warfare overwhelms Edom's 'strong habitation' (<em>nav...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **Like a lion from the swelling of Jordan.—**Better, as in Jeremiah 12:5, *the pride of Jordan*—*i.e.,* the thick jungle-forests which were the glory of its banks.
**Against the habitation of the strong.**—Better, *against the evergreen pasturage. *The word for “habitation” is that used in Jeremiah 6:2 for the place where shepherds encamp, the other substantive conveys the idea of permanence ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 18-23** Zion is addressed as an afflicted widow, bereaved of her children. Numbers flock to her, and she is assured that they come to be a comfort to her. There are times when the church is desolate and few in number; yet its desolations shall not last for ever, and God will repair them. God can raise up friends for returning Israelites, even among Gentiles. They shall bring their childre...
Read full commentary →Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD</strong> (לָכֵן שִׁמְעוּ עֲצַת־יְהוָה, <em>lakhen shim'u atzat-YHWH</em>)—The imperative <em>shim'u</em> demands attention to divine deliberation. <em>Atzah</em> (counsel) appears in divine council contexts (see Jeremiah 23:18, 22), revealing that God's judgments proceed from sovereign deliberation, not capricious wrath. <strong>His purposes against t...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **Surely.**—Literally, *If not** . . .***”—the strongest Hebrew idiom of asseveration.
**The least of the flock shall draw them out . . .**—The English is obscure, probably because the object of the verb has been taken as its subject. Better, *Surely they *(*i.e., *the Chaldæan invaders) *will vex them, the feeble ones of the flock; surely he will make their pasturage terror-stricken at them....
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 17 Jr 17:1-27. The Jews' Inveterate Love of Idolatry.
The the Septuagint omits the first four verses, but other Greek versions have them.
1. The first of the four clauses relates to the third, the second to the fourth, by alternate parallelism. The sense is: They are as keen after idols as if their propensity was "graven with an iron pen (Job 19:24) on their hearts," or as if it we...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 18-23** Zion is addressed as an afflicted widow, bereaved of her children. Numbers flock to her, and she is assured that they come to be a comfort to her. There are times when the church is desolate and few in number; yet its desolations shall not last for ever, and God will repair them. God can raise up friends for returning Israelites, even among Gentiles. They shall bring their childre...
Read full commentary →The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea. Red sea: Heb. Weedy sea
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The earth is moved at the noise of their fall</strong> (רָעֲשָׁה הָאָרֶץ מִקּוֹל נִפְלָם, <em>ra'ashah ha'aretz mikkol niflam</em>)—The verb <em>ra'ash</em> describes seismic trembling, suggesting Edom's collapse has cosmic significance. This hyperbolic language elevates judgment to apocalyptic proportions, indicating that individual nations' fates reveal universal principles of divine jus...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **The noise thereof was heard in the Red sea.**—Literally, as in the margin, *the Weedy, or Reed sea. *The crash of the fall of Edom, the cries of the slaughtered people, were to be heard far off on the waters of the sea that washed its shores. Elath, on the Gulf of Akaba, was the sea-port of Edom (2Chronicles 26:2).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. mountain--**Jerusalem, and especially Zion and the temple.
**in the field--**As Jerusalem was surrounded by mountains (Psa 125:2), the sense probably is, Ye rely on your mountainous position (Jr 3:23), but I will make "My mountain" to become as if it were in a plain (field), so as to give thy substance an easy prey to the enemy [Calvin]. "Field" may, however, mean all Judea; it and "My moun...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 18-23** Zion is addressed as an afflicted widow, bereaved of her children. Numbers flock to her, and she is assured that they come to be a comfort to her. There are times when the church is desolate and few in number; yet its desolations shall not last for ever, and God will repair them. God can raise up friends for returning Israelites, even among Gentiles. They shall bring their childre...
Read full commentary →Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, 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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle</strong> (כַּנֶּשֶׁר יַעֲלֶה וְיִדְאֶה, <em>kanesher ya'aleh v'yid'eh</em>)—After comparing God to a lion (v. 19), now He is a raptor striking from above. <strong>Spread his wings over Bozrah</strong> (פֹּרֵשׂ כְּנָפָיו עַל־בָּצְרָה, <em>pores k'nafav al-Botsrah</em>)—this terrifying image depicts a bird of prey mantling its kill. Bozrah, Edom'...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) **He shall come up and fly as the eagle.—**The prophet passes from one symbol of sovereignty to another, and instead of the lion we have (see Note on Jeremiah 48:40) the eagle. What Kerioth was to Moab, Bozrah was to Edom, and its capture is painted in the same terms.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. even thyself--**rather, "owing to thyself," that is, by thy own fault (Jr 15:13).
**discontinue from--**be dispossessed of. Not only thy substance, but thyself shall be carried off to a strange land (Jr 15:14).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 18-23** Zion is addressed as an afflicted widow, bereaved of her children. Numbers flock to her, and she is assured that they come to be a comfort to her. There are times when the church is desolate and few in number; yet its desolations shall not last for ever, and God will repair them. God can raise up friends for returning Israelites, even among Gentiles. They shall bring their childre...
Read full commentary →Prophecy Against Damascus
Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet. fainthearted: Heb. melted on: or, as on the sea
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Concerning Damascus</strong> (לְדַמֶּשֶׂק, <em>l'Dammeseq</em>)—Jeremiah pivots from Edom to Aram (Syria). Damascus, one of antiquity's oldest continuously inhabited cities, now faces God's tribunal. <strong>Hamath is confounded, and Arpad</strong> (בֹּשָׁה חֲמָת וְאַרְפָּד, <em>boshah Chamat v'Arpad</em>)—northern Syrian cities are 'shamed' (<em>bosh</em>), a term conveying humiliation an...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **Concerning Damascus.**—Damascus is named as the capital of Aram, or Syria. The kingdom first became powerful under Rezon after David’s death (1Kings 11:23-24). In the history of 1 and 2 Kings we find it engaged in constant wars against Israel and Judah (1Kings 22:1; 2Kings 6:8) or in alliance with Israel against Judah (1Kings 15:19; 2Kings 16:5-6). The last of these alliances was the memora...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
5. Referring to the Jews' proneness to rely on Egypt, in its fear of Assyria and Babylon (Is 31:1, 3).
**trusteth--**This word is emphatic. We may expect help from men, so far as God enables them to help us, but we must rest our trust in God alone (Psa 62:5).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 18-23** Zion is addressed as an afflicted widow, bereaved of her children. Numbers flock to her, and she is assured that they come to be a comfort to her. There are times when the church is desolate and few in number; yet its desolations shall not last for ever, and God will repair them. God can raise up friends for returning Israelites, even among Gentiles. They shall bring their childre...
Read full commentary →Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Damascus is waxed feeble</strong> (רָפְתָה דַמֶּשֶׂק, <em>raphtah Dammeseq</em>)—The verb <em>raphah</em> means to become slack, enfeebled. Syria's ancient capital loses military and political vitality. <strong>Turneth herself to flee</strong> (הִפְנְתָה לָנוּס, <em>hiphn'tah lanus</em>)—Damascus personified as a woman turns to escape, but <strong>fear hath seized on her</strong> (וְחִרְדָ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. heath--**In Psa 102:17; Is 32:11; Ha 3:9, the Hebrew is translated, "bare," "naked," "destitute"; but as the parallel in Jr 17:8 is "tree," some plant must be meant of which this is the characteristic epithet (Jr 48:6, Margin), "a naked tree." Robinson translates, "the juniper tree," found in the Arabah or Great Valley, here called "the desert," south of the Dead Sea. The "heath" was one of t...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 24-26** We were lawful captives to the justice of God, yet delivered by a price of unspeakable value. Here is an express promise: Even the prey of the terrible shall be delivered. We may here view Satan deprived of his prey, bound and cast into the pit; and all the powers that have combined to enslave, persecute, or corrupt the church, are destroyed; that all the earth may know that our S...
Read full commentary →How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>How is the city of praise not left</strong> (אֵיךְ לֹא־עֻזְּבָה עִיר תְּהִלָּה, <em>eikh lo-uzzevah ir tehillah</em>)—This exclamation expresses shock that Damascus, the celebrated city (<em>ir tehillah</em>, 'city of praise/renown'), faces destruction. Some interpret this as lament from Damascus's citizens, others as sarcastic divine question: 'Why hasn't this supposedly great city been s...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(25) **How is the city of praise not left . . . !**—The exclamation, half scornful, half ironical, points to the fact that the inhabitants of Damascus had tried in vain to flee (Jeremiah 49:24). The city so fair and glorious, with its rivers Abana and Pharphar (2Kings 5:12), had not been “left,” would not be empty when it was taken. The people would perish with it. Her young warriors and her veter...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7. (Psa 34:8; Pr 16:20; Is 30:18). Jeremiah first removed the weeds (false trusts), so that there might be room for the good grain [Calvin].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 24-26** We were lawful captives to the justice of God, yet delivered by a price of unspeakable value. Here is an express promise: Even the prey of the terrible shall be delivered. We may here view Satan deprived of his prey, bound and cast into the pit; and all the powers that have combined to enslave, persecute, or corrupt the church, are destroyed; that all the earth may know that our S...
Read full commentary →Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets</strong> (לָכֵן יִפְּלוּ בַחוּרֶיהָ בִּרְחֹבֹתֶיהָ, <em>lakhen yippelu bachurehah birchoboteha</em>)—The causal <em>lakhen</em> (therefore) connects Damascus's pride to her punishment. Her elite warriors (<em>bachurim</em>, young men in fighting prime) will lie dead in the public squares. The location—streets/plazas—emphasizes visible, publ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
8. (Psa 1:3).
**shall not see--**that is, feel. Answering to Jr 17:6; whereas the unbelievers "shall not see (even) when good cometh," the believer "shall not see (so as to be overwhelmed by it even) when heat (fiery trial) cometh." Trials shall come upon him as on all, nay, upon him especially (He 12:6); but he shall not sink under them, because the Lord is his secret strength, just as the "roo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 24-26** We were lawful captives to the justice of God, yet delivered by a price of unspeakable value. Here is an express promise: Even the prey of the terrible shall be delivered. We may here view Satan deprived of his prey, bound and cast into the pit; and all the powers that have combined to enslave, persecute, or corrupt the church, are destroyed; that all the earth may know that our S...
Read full commentary →And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus</strong> (וְהִצַּתִּי אֵשׁ בְּחוֹמַת דַּמֶּשֶׂק, <em>v'hitsatti esh b'chomat Dammeseq</em>)—God personally ignites (<em>yatsath</em>, kindle/set ablaze) Damascus's fortifications. Fire is God's signature judgment weapon, purifying and consuming (Deuteronomy 4:24, Hebrews 12:29). The walls, representing military security and civic pride, will...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(27) **It shall consume the palaces of Ben-ha-dad.**—Three kings of the name appear in Old Testament history; one as warring against Omri (1Kings 20:34), another as a contemporary of Elisha (2Kings 8:7), a third as the son of Hazael, and therefore belonging to a different dynasty (2Kings 13:3). It is possible, as the name was thus associated with the greatness of the kingdom, that it may have been...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. deceitful--**from a root, "supplanting," "tripping up insidiously by the heel," from which Jacob (Ho 12:3) took his name. In speaking of the Jews' deceit of heart, he appropriately uses a term alluding to their forefather, whose deceit, but not whose faith, they followed. His "supplanting" was in order to obtain Jehovah's blessing. They plant Jehovah for "trust in man" (Jr 17:5), and then thi...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 49
The unbelief and rejection of the Jews. (Is. 49:1-6) Gracious promise to the Gentiles. (Is. 49:7-12) God's love to the church. (Is. 49:13-17) Its increase. (Is. 49:18-23) And deliverance. (Is. 49:24-26)
**Verses 1-6** The great Author of redemption shows the authority for his work. The sword of his word slays the lusts of his people, and all at enmity with them. His sharp arrows w...
Read full commentary →Prophecy Against Kedar and Hazor
Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus saith the LORD; Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor</strong> (לְקֵדָר וּלְמַמְלְכוֹת חָצוֹר, <em>l'Qedar ul'mamlkhot Chatzor</em>)—Jeremiah shifts to Arabian kingdoms. Kedar, descended from Ishmael (Genesis 25:13), represented Bedouin tribes renowned for black tents, flocks, and archery (Isaiah 21:16-17). Hazor here isn't the Canaanite city but refers to unwalled settlements (<em>chatse...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(28) **Concerning Kedar . . .**—The name belonged to a tribe of the Bedouin type, descended from Ishmael (Genesis 25:13), and at this time conspicuous as supplying the markets of Tyre with sheep and goats (Ezekiel 27:21). In PP. 120:5 it appears as the representative of the fierce nomadic life of the Arabians. Hazor appears as the name of many cities in Palestine (Joshua 11:1; Joshua 15:23; Joshua...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
10. Lest any should infer from Jr 17:9, "who can know it?" that even the Lord does not know, and therefore cannot punish, the hidden treachery of the heart, He says, "I the Lord search the heart," &c. (1Ch 28:9; Psa 7:9; Pr 17:3; Re 2:23).
**even to give--**and that in order that I may give (Jr 32:19).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 49
The unbelief and rejection of the Jews. (Is. 49:1-6) Gracious promise to the Gentiles. (Is. 49:7-12) God's love to the church. (Is. 49:13-17) Its increase. (Is. 49:18-23) And deliverance. (Is. 49:24-26)
**Verses 1-6** The great Author of redemption shows the authority for his work. The sword of his word slays the lusts of his people, and all at enmity with them. His sharp arrows w...
Read full commentary →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 unto them, Fear is on every side.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Their tents and their flocks shall they take away</strong> (אָהֳלֵיהֶם וְצֹאנָם יִקָּחוּ, <em>aholeihem v'tsonam yiqqachu</em>)—Nomadic wealth consisted of mobile assets: tents (housing), flocks (livestock economy). God specifies Kedar's particular vulnerabilities. <strong>They shall take to themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels</strong>—even fabric dividers, u...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(29) **Fear is on every side.**—There is a striking individuality in this reproduction of the *Magor-missabib *cry which had been so prominent in the prophet’s own life and preaching (Jeremiah 6:25; Jeremiah 20:3; Jeremiah 20:10; Jeremiah 46:5).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11. partridge--**(1Sa 26:20). Hebrew, korea, from a root, "to call," alluding to its cry; a name still applied to a bustard by the Arabs. Its nest is liable, being on the ground, to be trodden under foot, or robbed by carnivorous animals, notwithstanding all the beautiful manoeuvres of the parent birds to save the brood. The translation, "sitteth on eggs which it has not laid," alludes to the an...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 49
The unbelief and rejection of the Jews. (Is. 49:1-6) Gracious promise to the Gentiles. (Is. 49:7-12) God's love to the church. (Is. 49:13-17) Its increase. (Is. 49:18-23) And deliverance. (Is. 49:24-26)
**Verses 1-6** The great Author of redemption shows the authority for his work. The sword of his word slays the lusts of his people, and all at enmity with them. His sharp arrows w...
Read full commentary →Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith the LORD; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you. get: Heb. flit greatly
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor</strong> (נֻסוּ נֻדוּ מְאֹד הֶעְמִיקוּ לָשֶׁבֶת יֹשְׁבֵי חָצוֹר, <em>nusu nudu me'od he'amiqu lashevet yoshvei Chatzor</em>)—Three urgent imperatives: flee (<em>nus</em>), wander far (<em>nud</em>), dwell deep/hidden (<em>amaq</em>). God Himself warns Hazor to seek maximum distance and concealment. This isn't permission to escape...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(30) **Dwell deep.**—See Note on Jeremiah 49:8. The dwellers in the villages of Hazor are told, as those of Dedan had been, to flee into the furthest recesses of the wilderness. The words probably point to the time after the battle of Carchemish, when Nebuchadnezzar established his sovereignty over the lower Euphrates, Northern Arabia, and the Syrian desert.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. throne--**the temple of Jerusalem, the throne of Jehovah. Having condemned false objects of trust, "high places for sin" (Jr 17:3), and an "arm of flesh," he next sets forth Jehovah, and His temple, which was ever open to the Jews, as the true object of confidence, and sanctuary to flee to. Henderson makes Jehovah, in Jr 17:13, the subject, and this verse predicate, "A throne of glory, high ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 49
The unbelief and rejection of the Jews. (Is. 49:1-6) Gracious promise to the Gentiles. (Is. 49:7-12) God's love to the church. (Is. 49:13-17) Its increase. (Is. 49:18-23) And deliverance. (Is. 49:24-26)
**Verses 1-6** The great Author of redemption shows the authority for his work. The sword of his word slays the lusts of his people, and all at enmity with them. His sharp arrows w...
Read full commentary →Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, that dwelleth without care, saith the LORD, which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone. wealthy: or, that is at ease
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, that dwelleth without care</strong> (קוּמוּ עֲלוּ אֶל־גּוֹי שְׁלֵיו יוֹשֵׁב לָבֶטַח, <em>qumu alu el-goy sh'lev yoshev lavetach</em>)—God commands Babylon to attack a <em>shalev</em> (at ease, tranquil) people living <em>lavetach</em> (securely). This is biting irony: Kedar's security becomes the reason for attack. Prosperity without vigilance inv...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(31-33) **Arise, get you up . . .**—The command of Jehovah goes forth to the invaders. Their work will be an easy one, for they are sent against a people that dwell defenceless in the open country, with no walls or gates, dwelling alone, without allies, their camels and their flocks offering an easy prey. Compare the description of Laish in Judges 18:7. The prophet repeats the characteristic term ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. me--**"Jehovah." Though "Thee" precedes. This sudden transition is usual in the prophetic style, owing to the prophet's continual realization of Jehovah's presence.
**all that forsake thee--**(Psa 73:27; Is 1:28).
**written in the earth--**in the dust, that is, shall be consigned to oblivion. So Jesus' significant writing "on the ground (probably the accusers' names)" (Joh 8:6). Names wr...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 49
The unbelief and rejection of the Jews. (Is. 49:1-6) Gracious promise to the Gentiles. (Is. 49:7-12) God's love to the church. (Is. 49:13-17) Its increase. (Is. 49:18-23) And deliverance. (Is. 49:24-26)
**Verses 1-6** The great Author of redemption shows the authority for his work. The sword of his word slays the lusts of his people, and all at enmity with them. His sharp arrows w...
Read full commentary →And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds them that are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, saith the LORD. in: Heb. cut off into corners, or, that have the corners of their hair polled
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And their camels shall be a booty</strong> (וְהָיוּ גְמַלֵּיהֶם לָבַז, <em>v'hayu g'malleihem lavaz</em>)—Camels were Arabia's economic engine: transportation, trade, wealth storage. Their seizure means total economic collapse. <strong>And the multitude of their cattle a spoil</strong> (וַהֲמוֹן מִקְנֵיהֶם לְשָׁלָל, <em>vahamon miqneihem l'shalal</em>)—livestock herds become plunder (<em>s...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
14-18. Prayer of the prophet for deliverance from the enemies whom he excited by his faithful denunciations.
**Heal ... save--**not only make me whole (as to the evils of soul as well as body which I am exposed to by contact with ungodly foes, Jr 15:18), but keep me so.
**my praise--**He whom I have to praise for past favors, and therefore to whom alone I look for the time to come.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 49
The unbelief and rejection of the Jews. (Is. 49:1-6) Gracious promise to the Gentiles. (Is. 49:7-12) God's love to the church. (Is. 49:13-17) Its increase. (Is. 49:18-23) And deliverance. (Is. 49:24-26)
**Verses 1-6** The great Author of redemption shows the authority for his work. The sword of his word slays the lusts of his people, and all at enmity with them. His sharp arrows w...
Read full commentary →And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons</strong> (וְהָיְתָה חָצוֹר לִמְעוֹן תַּנִּים, <em>v'hay'tah Chatzor lim'on tannim</em>)—<em>Tannim</em> (jackals/desert creatures) will inhabit formerly human settlements. This fate parallels Edom's (v. 17) and Babylon's (50:39), indicating total desolation. Where humans thrived, only scavengers prowl—a reversal of creation's order signaling uncrea...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
14-18. Prayer of the prophet for deliverance from the enemies whom he excited by his faithful denunciations.
**Heal ... save--**not only make me whole (as to the evils of soul as well as body which I am exposed to by contact with ungodly foes, Jr 15:18), but keep me so.
**my praise--**He whom I have to praise for past favors, and therefore to whom alone I look for the time to come.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 49
The unbelief and rejection of the Jews. (Is. 49:1-6) Gracious promise to the Gentiles. (Is. 49:7-12) God's love to the church. (Is. 49:13-17) Its increase. (Is. 49:18-23) And deliverance. (Is. 49:24-26)
**Verses 1-6** The great Author of redemption shows the authority for his work. The sword of his word slays the lusts of his people, and all at enmity with them. His sharp arrows w...
Read full commentary →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,
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam</strong> (אֲשֶׁר הָיָה דְבַר־יְהוָה אֶל־יִרְמְיָהוּ הַנָּבִיא אֶל־עֵילָם, <em>asher hayah d'var-YHWH el-Yirmeyahu hannavi el-Elam</em>)—A new oracle begins. Elam (southwest Iran) was an ancient civilization east of Babylon, periodically allied with or against Mesopotamian powers. The prophetic word specifically <em>against...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(34) **The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam . . .**—It is noticeable that this is the only prophecy in Jeremiah 48, 49 with a date attached to it. Assuming the date to be rightly given, it indicates a time later than that of those that precede it, which belong probably to the group of predictions connected with Jeremiah 25. It has been maintained, however, by many cr...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
14-18. Prayer of the prophet for deliverance from the enemies whom he excited by his faithful denunciations.
**Heal ... save--**not only make me whole (as to the evils of soul as well as body which I am exposed to by contact with ungodly foes, Jr 15:18), but keep me so.
**my praise--**He whom I have to praise for past favors, and therefore to whom alone I look for the time to come.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 49
The unbelief and rejection of the Jews. (Is. 49:1-6) Gracious promise to the Gentiles. (Is. 49:7-12) God's love to the church. (Is. 49:13-17) Its increase. (Is. 49:18-23) And deliverance. (Is. 49:24-26)
**Verses 1-6** The great Author of redemption shows the authority for his work. The sword of his word slays the lusts of his people, and all at enmity with them. His sharp arrows w...
Read full commentary →Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam</strong> (הִנְנִי שֹׁבֵר אֶת־קֶשֶׁת עֵילָם, <em>hineni shover et-qeshet Elam</em>)—<em>Hineni</em> ('behold, I am about to') signals imminent divine action. Elam was famed for archers (Isaiah 22:6), making the bow their military pride and economic strength (archery skills were marketable as mercenaries). God's breaking of t...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(35) **I will break the bow of Elam.**—As in Isaiah 22:6; Herod. vii. 61, Elam was conspicuous for its archers. We are reminded of the account which Herodotus gives (ii. 136) of the three things taught to the youth of Persia—to ride, to draw the bow, and to speak the truth. This weapon was “the chief of their might.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
14-18. Prayer of the prophet for deliverance from the enemies whom he excited by his faithful denunciations.
**Heal ... save--**not only make me whole (as to the evils of soul as well as body which I am exposed to by contact with ungodly foes, Jr 15:18), but keep me so.
**my praise--**He whom I have to praise for past favors, and therefore to whom alone I look for the time to come.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 49
The unbelief and rejection of the Jews. (Is. 49:1-6) Gracious promise to the Gentiles. (Is. 49:7-12) God's love to the church. (Is. 49:13-17) Its increase. (Is. 49:18-23) And deliverance. (Is. 49:24-26)
**Verses 1-6** The great Author of redemption shows the authority for his work. The sword of his word slays the lusts of his people, and all at enmity with them. His sharp arrows w...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven</strong> (וְהֵבֵאתִי אֶל־עֵילָם אַרְבַּע רוּחוֹת מֵאַרְבַּע קְצוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם, <em>v'heveti el-Elam arba ruchot me'arba q'tsot hashamayim</em>)—The four winds symbolize comprehensive, omnidirectional judgment from all compass points. God weaponizes cosmic forces against Elam. <strong>And will scatter them toward al...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(36) **Upon Elam will I bring the four winds . . .**—The words reproduce those of Jeremiah 49:32 as to the extent of the dispersion, but there is an added circumstance of terror in the picture of destruction. The “four winds” whirling round as in a *cyclone *are to be the instruments of destruction. The imagery of the threshing-floor seems once more brought before us, and the Elamites are as the c...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
14-18. Prayer of the prophet for deliverance from the enemies whom he excited by his faithful denunciations.
**Heal ... save--**not only make me whole (as to the evils of soul as well as body which I am exposed to by contact with ungodly foes, Jr 15:18), but keep me so.
**my praise--**He whom I have to praise for past favors, and therefore to whom alone I look for the time to come.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 49
The unbelief and rejection of the Jews. (Is. 49:1-6) Gracious promise to the Gentiles. (Is. 49:7-12) God's love to the church. (Is. 49:13-17) Its increase. (Is. 49:18-23) And deliverance. (Is. 49:24-26)
**Verses 1-6** The great Author of redemption shows the authority for his work. The sword of his word slays the lusts of his people, and all at enmity with them. His sharp arrows w...
Read full commentary →For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies</strong> (וְהַחְתַּתִּי אֶת־עֵילָם לִפְנֵי אֹיְבֵיהֶם, <em>v'hachtattti et-Elam lifnei oy'veihem</em>)—The verb <em>chatat</em> means to shatter, terrify, dismay. God personally engineers psychological collapse. Elam's warriors will lose courage, fulfilling covenant curse patterns (Leviticus 26:36-37). <strong>And before them that s...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
19-27. Delivered in the reign of Jehoiakim, who undid the good effected by Josiah's reformation, especially as to the observance of the Sabbath [Eichorn].
**gate of ... children of ... people--**The gate next the king's palace, called the gate of David, and the gate of the people, from its being the principal thoroughfare: now the Jaffa gate. It is probably the same as "the gate of the fountain"...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 49
The unbelief and rejection of the Jews. (Is. 49:1-6) Gracious promise to the Gentiles. (Is. 49:7-12) God's love to the church. (Is. 49:13-17) Its increase. (Is. 49:18-23) And deliverance. (Is. 49:24-26)
**Verses 1-6** The great Author of redemption shows the authority for his work. The sword of his word slays the lusts of his people, and all at enmity with them. His sharp arrows w...
Read full commentary →And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the LORD.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And I will set my throne in Elam</strong> (וְשַׂמְתִּי כִסְאִי בְּעֵילָם, <em>v'samtii khis'i b'Elam</em>)—Stunning imagery: God establishes His judicial/royal throne in Elam's territory. This echoes Ancient Near Eastern conquest ideology where victorious kings 'set their throne' in defeated capitals, but here the King is Yahweh Himself. God's throne symbolizes His sovereign rule and judic...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(38) **I will set my throne in Elam.**—The throne of Jehovah is, it is clear, the throne of the king who is, for the time, His chosen instrument and servant, in this case therefore the throne of Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 43:10), against whom. Elam, like the other nations in Jeremiah 25:13-25, and in Jeremiah 48, 49, had apparently risen in rebellion. Of this we have, perhaps, a trace in the stateme...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
19-27. Delivered in the reign of Jehoiakim, who undid the good effected by Josiah's reformation, especially as to the observance of the Sabbath [Eichorn].
**gate of ... children of ... people--**The gate next the king's palace, called the gate of David, and the gate of the people, from its being the principal thoroughfare: now the Jaffa gate. It is probably the same as "the gate of the fountain"...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 49
The unbelief and rejection of the Jews. (Is. 49:1-6) Gracious promise to the Gentiles. (Is. 49:7-12) God's love to the church. (Is. 49:13-17) Its increase. (Is. 49:18-23) And deliverance. (Is. 49:24-26)
**Verses 1-6** The great Author of redemption shows the authority for his work. The sword of his word slays the lusts of his people, and all at enmity with them. His sharp arrows w...
Read full commentary →But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But it shall come to pass in the latter days</strong> (וְהָיָה בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים, <em>v'hayah b'acharit hayyamim</em>)—The eschatological formula 'latter days' points beyond immediate judgment to future restoration. This phrase appears throughout prophetic literature for messianic/end-times contexts. For Elam specifically, it anticipates reversal of exile and return to blessing.<br><br...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(39) **I will bring again the captivity of Elam.—**Of the special history of Elam, as distinct from the other provinces of the Persian Empire, history records but little. The mention of Elamites among those who were present at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:9) shows that they were a recognised province under the Parthian monarchy, and that Jews had settled among them in large numbers, a...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
19-27. Delivered in the reign of Jehoiakim, who undid the good effected by Josiah's reformation, especially as to the observance of the Sabbath [Eichorn].
**gate of ... children of ... people--**The gate next the king's palace, called the gate of David, and the gate of the people, from its being the principal thoroughfare: now the Jaffa gate. It is probably the same as "the gate of the fountain"...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 49
The unbelief and rejection of the Jews. (Is. 49:1-6) Gracious promise to the Gentiles. (Is. 49:7-12) God's love to the church. (Is. 49:13-17) Its increase. (Is. 49:18-23) And deliverance. (Is. 49:24-26)
**Verses 1-6** The great Author of redemption shows the authority for his work. The sword of his word slays the lusts of his people, and all at enmity with them. His sharp arrows w...
Read full commentary →