Jeremiah 48:36

36 "So my heart mourns for Moab and for the people of Kir Heres, like someone playing a funeral song on a flute, because everything they owned is gone.

Jeremiah 48:36 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 48:36

Therefore my heart shall sound for Moab like pipes
That are sounded on mournful occasions, as at funerals, and the like; see ( Matthew 9:23 ) . This the prophet said, as Kimchi observes, in the person of the people, the inhabitants of Moab; whose hearts would yearn and sound for the calamities of their country like the doleful sound of minstrels. So the Targum,

``therefore the Moabites shall sound in their hearts like a harp:''

and my heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kirheres;
as for the country of Moab in general, so for this principal city, and the inhabitants of it, in particular; (See Gill on Isaiah 16:11); because the riches [that] he hath gotten is perished;
either Moab or Kirheres; the abundance of goods they had got together were now lost, falling into the hands of the enemy; and which was matter of lamentation. The Targum is,

``for the rest of their substance they had got were spoiled.''

Some understand it of the residue of men that escaped the sword; these perished by famine, or other means; see ( Isaiah 15:7 ) .

Jeremiah 48:36 In-Context

34 "The people of Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, and their cry can be heard as far as Jahaz; it can be heard by the people in Zoar, and it is heard as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah. Even Nimrim Brook has dried up.

35 I will stop the people of Moab from making burnt offerings at their places of worship and from offering sacrifices to their gods. I, the Lord, have spoken.

36 "So my heart mourns for Moab and for the people of Kir Heres, like someone playing a funeral song on a flute, because everything they owned is gone.

37 All of them have shaved their heads and cut off their beards. They have all made gashes on their hands, and everyone is wearing sackcloth.

38 On all the housetops of Moab and in all its public squares there is nothing but mourning, because I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants.