spoiler--Nebuzara-dan.
33. the plentiful field--rather, "Carmel": as the parallel "land of Moab" requires, though in [Is 16:10], it is "the plentiful field." Joy is taken away as from the nearer regions (Canaan and Palestine), so from the farther "land of Moab"; what has happened to Judah shall befall Moab, too ([Jr 48:26], ) [Maurer]. However, Moab alone seems to be spoken of here; nor does the parallelism forbid "plentiful field" answering to "Moab." English Version is therefore better.
shouting--repeated; as at the conclusion of the vintage, men sing over and over again the same cry of joy. A shouting shall be heard, but not the joyous shouting of laborers treading the grapes, but the terrible battle cry of the foe.
34. From the cry of Heshbon, &c.--Those who fly from Heshbon on its capture shall continue the cry even as far as Elealeh ... . There will be continued cries in all quarters, from one end to the other, everywhere slaughter and wasting.
as an heifer of three years old--Moab heretofore not having known foreign yoke, and in its full strength, is compared to an heifer of three years old, never yet yoked, nor as yet worn out with many birth-givings (compare Note, see on [Is 15:5]).
waters ... of Nimrim--that is, the well-watered and therefore luxuriant pastures of Nimrim.
desolate--The Hebrew is stronger: not merely shall be "desolate," but desolation itself multiplied: plural, "desolations." The most fertile tracts shall be dried up.
35. him that offereth--namely, whole burnt offerings as the Hebrew requires [Grotius]. Compare the awful burnt offering of the king of Moab ([2Ki 3:27]).
high places--([Is 16:12]).
36. (See on [Is 15:7]; [Is 16:11]).
like pipes--a plaintive instrument, therefore used at funerals and in general mourning.
riches ... gotten--literally, the abundance ... that which is over and above the necessaries of life. Grotius translates, "They who have been left remaining shall perish"; they who have not been slain by the enemy shall perish by disease and famine.
37. (See on [Jr 47:5]; [Is 15:2], ).
upon all ... hands--that is, arms, in which such cuttings used to be made in token of grief (compare [Zec 13:6]).
38. vessel ... no pleasure--(See on [Jr 22:28]); a vessel cast aside by the potter as refuse, not answering his design.
39. it--Moab.
How ... how--prodigious, yet sure to happen.
turned the back--not daring to show her face.
derision ... dismaying to all--a derision to some; a dismaying to others in beholding such a judgment of God, fearing a like fate for themselves.
40. he--Nebuzara-dan, the captain of Nebuchadnezzar.
as ... eagle--not to bear them "on eagles' wings" ([Ex 19:4]; [De 32:11], ), as God does His people, but to pounce on them as a prey ([Jr 49:22]; [De 28:49]; [Ha 1:8]).
41. as ... woman in ... pangs--([Is 13:8]).
42. (See on [Jr 48:26]).
43-44. (See on [Is 24:17], ).
45. under ... shadow of Heshbon--They thought that they would be safe in Heshbon.
because of the force--that is, "they that fled because of the force" of the enemy: they that fled from it. Glassius translates, "through want of strength." So the Hebrew particle is translated ([Psa 109:24]), "faileth of fatness," that is, "faileth through want of fatness"; also [La 4:9].
but a fire, &c.--copied in part from Sihon's hymn of victory ([Nu 21:27], ). The old "proverb" shall hold good again. As in ancient times Sihon, king of the Amorites, issued forth from his city, Heshbon, as a devouring "flame" and consumed Moab, so now the Chaldeans, making Heshbon their starting-point, shall advance to the destruction of Moab.
midst of Sihon--that is, the city of Sihon.
corner of Moab--that is, Moab from one corner to the other.
crown of ... head--the most elevated points of Moab. Making some alterations, he here copies Balaam's prophecy ([Nu 24:17]). Margin there translates "princes" for corners; if so, "crown of ... head" here refers to the nobles.
tumultuous ones--sons of tumult; those who have tumultuously revolted from Babylon. Heshbon passed from the Amorite to the Israelite sway. Moab had wrested it from Israel and helped the Chaldeans against the Jews; but revolting from Babylon, they brought ruin on themselves in turn.
46. Copied from [Nu 21:29].
47. Restoration promised to Moab, for the sake of righteous Lot, their progenitor ([Ge 19:37]; [Ex 20:6]; [Psa 89:30-33]). Compare as to Egypt, [Jr 46:26]; Ammon, [Jr 49:6]; Elam, [Jr 49:39]. Gospel blessings, temporal and spiritual, to the Gentiles in the last days, are intended.
Chapter 49
Jr 49:1-39. Predictions as to Ammon, Idumea, Damascus, Kedar, Hazor, and Elam
The event of the prophecy as to Ammon preceded that as to Moab (see on [Jr 49:3]); and in [Eze 21:26-28], the destruction of Ammon is subjoined to the deposition of Zedekiah.
1. Hath Israel ... no heir?--namely, to occupy the land of Gad, after it itself has been carried away captive by Shalmaneser. Ammon, like Moab, descended from Lot, lay north of Moab, from which it was separated by the river Arnon, and east of Reuben and Gad ([Jos 13:24], ) on the same side of Jordan. It seized on Gad when Israel was carried captive. Judah was by the 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 83:4-7, 8]; [Zep 2:8], ). It had already, in the days of Jeroboam, in Israel's affliction, tried to "enlarge its border" ([2Ki 14:26]; [Am 1:1], ).
their king--([Am 1:15]); referring to Melchom, their tutelary idol ([Zep 1:5]); and so the Septuagint reads it here as a proper name ([1Ki 11:5], ; [2Ki 23:13]). The Ammonite god is said to do what they do, namely, occupy the Israelite land of Gad. To Jehovah, the theocratic "King" of Israel, the land belonged of right; so that their Molech or Melchom was a usurper-king.
his people--the people of Melchom, "their king." Compare "people of Chemosh," [Jr 48:46].
2. Rabbah--"the great," metropolis of Ammon ([2Sa 12:26-30]). Its destruction is foretold also in [Eze 25:5]; [Am 1:14], .
her daughters--the towns and villages, dependencies of the metropolis ([Jos 15:45]).
shall ... be heir--shall possess those who possessed him. The full accomplishment of this is still future; partially fulfilled under the Maccabees (1 Maccabees 5:6).
3. Heshbon ... Ai--Nebuchadnezzar, coming from the north, first attacked Ammon, then its brother and neighbor, Moab. As Ai of Ammon had already suffered destruction, Heshbon of Moab being near it might well fear the same fate.
hedges--Their cities being destroyed, the outcasts have no place of shelter save behind the "hedges" of vineyards and gardens; or else the enclosures of their villages.
their king--Melchom, the idol, as the mention of "his priests" shows (compare [Jr 48:7]).