Jeremiah 48:38

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.

Jeremiah 48:38 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 48:38

[There shall be] lamentation generally
Or, "all of it [is] mourning" F14; the whole country of Moab is in mourning; or all is full of mourning; all persons, places, and things, express nothing but mourning; go where you will, it is to be seen: upon all the house tops of Moab, and in the streets thereof;
the mourning, as it was general, it was public; it was seen by all, and everywhere; (See Gill on Isaiah 15:3); for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein [is] no pleasure, saith
the Lord;
as an earthen vessel, which the potter does not like, and which is useless and unprofitable to any, and which he takes and dashes into pieces; into a thousand shivers, as the word F15 here signifies, and can never be put together again; or as a filthy unclean vessel a man cannot bear in his sight: Moab is by the Lord called his wash pot, ( Psalms 60:8 ) . The Moabites were vessels of wrath, fitted for destruction by their own this; and now the time of it was come.


FOOTNOTES:

F14 (dpom hlk) "totus luctus (est) vel omnia luctus (sunt)", Schmidt; "totus erit planctus", Junius & Tremellius; "per omnia erit planctus", Piscator.
F15 (ytrbv) "totalis confractio praedicitur", Schmidt.

Jeremiah 48:38 In-Context

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.
39 Moab has been shattered! Cry out! Moab has been disgraced. It is in ruins, and all the surrounding nations make fun of it. I, the Lord, have spoken."
40 The Lord has promised that a nation will swoop down on Moab like an eagle with its outspread wings,
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.