What Does Jeremiah 48:24 Mean?

(24) **Kerioth.**—The name, plural in form (= cities), has been identified by Mr. Porter (*Five Years, *&c, ii. 191-198) with *Kureiyeh, *a ruined town lying not far from *Buzrah, *identified with the Bozrah that is coupled with it here, in the Haûran. These are, however, some sixty miles north of Heshbon, and this has been thought adverse to the identification. On the other hand, the expression “far and near” indicates that Jeremiah takes in the more distant cities to which the power of Moab may have extended. From the mention of “the palaces of Kirioth” in Amos 2:2, it appears to have been a place of importance. Mr. Grove (art. *Kerioth *in Smith’s *Dict. Bible*) suggests its possible identity with *Kureiyat, *not far from Dibon and Beth-meon. **Bozrah.**—The name (= fortification) is familiar as belonging to the more famous city of Edom (Jeremiah 49:13). The Moabite town, identified as above with the *Buzrah *of the Haûran, appears in 1 Maccabees 5:26 as Bosora, one of the towns of Galaad or Gilead, and in Roman history as Bostra, the birthplace of the Emperor Philip, known as the Arabian.