Dedan - Was a city of Idumea, not far from Teman.
Verse 9
If grape-gatherers - Both in vintage and harvest every grape and every stalk are not gathered; hence the gleaners get something for their pains: but your enemies shall not leave one of you behind; all shall be carried into captivity.
Verse 10
I have made Esau bare - I have stripped him of all defense, and have discovered his hiding-places to his enemies.
Verse 11
Leave thy fatherless children - The connection of this with the context is not easy to be discerned; but, as a general maxim, it is of great importance. Widows and orphans are the peculiar care of God. He is as the best of fathers to the one, and the most loving of husbands to the other. Even the widows and orphans of Esau, who escape the general destruction, shall be taken care of by the Lord.
Verse 12
Art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? - A similar form of speech appears, [Jer 25:29]. Others, less wicked than thou, have been punished and canst thou expect to escape? Thou shalt not escape.
Verse 13
Bozrah shall become a desolation - Bozrah, a city of Idumea, is here put for the whole country.
Verse 14
I have heard a rumor - The Lord has revealed to me what he is about to do to the Edomites.
An ambassador is sent - I believe this means only that God has given permission, and has stirred up the hearts of these nations to go against those whom he has doomed to destruction.
Verse 16
O thou that dwellest - All Idumea is full of mountains and rocks, and these rocks and mountains full of caves, where, in time of great heats, and in time of war, the people take shelter.
Verse 18
As in the overthrow of Sodom - The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring cities was so terrible, that, when God denounces judgments against incorrigible sinners, he tells them they shall be like Sodom and Gomorrah.
No man shall abide there - It shall be so desolate as not to be habitable. Travellers may lodge on the ground for a night; but it cannot become a permanent dwelling.
Verse 19
Behold, he shall come up like a lion - See the note on [Jer 12:5]. The similitude used here is well illustrated by Dr. Blayney: "When I shall occasion a like commotion in her (Idumea) as a fierce and strong lion may be supposed to do in the sheep-folds, then I will cause him (the man of whom it is said in the preceding verse that he should not dwell in it) to run away from her as the affrighted shepherds and their flocks run from the lion."
A chosen man - Nebuchadnezzar. That is, God has chosen this man, and given him a commission against Idumea.
Verse 20
The inhabitants of Teman - Taken here for the whole of Idumea. These are a kind of synonyms which prevent monotony, and give variety to the poet's versification.
Surely the least or the flock shall draw them out - They shall be like timid sheep; the weakest foe shall overcome them.
Verse 21
The earth is moved - The whole state is represented here as a vast building suddenly thrown down, so as to cause the earth to tremble, and the noise to be heard at a great distance.
Verse 22
He shall come up and fly as the eagle - Nebuchadnezzar. See [Jer 48:40].
Verse 23
Concerning Damascus - This is the head or title of another prophecy. Damascus was one of the principal cities of Syria. It was taken by David, [2Sam 8:6], was retaken in the reign of Solomon, [1Kgs 11:24], etc., and regained its independence. Its kings were often at war with the ten tribes, and once it joined with them for the destruction of Judah. To defend himself against these powerful enemies Ahaz made a league with the king of Assyria, who besieged Damascus, took, and demolished it. From that time we hear nothing of Damascus till we meet with it in this prophecy. It appears to have been rebuilt and restored to some consequence. It made an obstinate resistance to Nebuchadnezzar; but was at last taken and sacked by him. At present it is both a large and populous city, with considerable commerce.
Hamath is confounded - This is a city of Syria, on the Orontes. The Greeks called it Epiphania.
Arpad - Not far from Damascus.
Sorrow on the sea - They are like the troubled sea, that cannot rest.
Verse 25
How is the city of praise not left - Damascus is so ruined that she can no more be called a praiseworthy or happy city.
Verse 27
The palaces of Ben-hadad - Damascus was a seat of the Syrian kings, and Ben-hadad was a name common to several of its kings.
Verse 28
Concerning Kedar, and Concerning the Kingdoms of Hazor - This is the title of another new prophecy.
Kedar was the name of one of the sons of Ishmael ([Gen 25:13]) who settled in Arabia, and who gave name to a powerful tribe of Arabs who used to traffic with the Tyrians in cattle. It appears from this prophecy that Nebuchadnezzar got a commission to go against and reduce them to great misery.
Verse 29
Their tents and their flocks - This description of property shows that they were Scenite or Nomad Arabs; persons who dwell in tents, and whose principal property was cattle, especially camels, of the whole of which they were plundered by the Chaldeans.
Verse 30
Dwell deep - Retire into the depths of the desert. See on [Jer 49:8] (note).