Jeremiah 48:37

37 For [on] every head [is] baldness, and every beard is trimmed. On all [the] hands, slashes, and on [the] loins, sackcloth.

Jeremiah 48:37 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 48:37

For every head [shall be] bald, and every beard clipped
Men, in times of mourning, used to pluck off the hairs of their head till they made them bald, and shaved their beards; which, as Kimchi says, were the glory of their faces; see ( Isaiah 15:2 ) ; upon all the hands shall be cuttings:
it was usual with the Heathens to make incisions in the several parts of their bodies, particularly in their hands and arms, with their nails, or with knives, in token of mourning; which are forbidden the Israelites, ( Deuteronomy 14:1 ) ; and upon the loins sackcloth;
this is a well known custom for mourners, to put off their clothes, and put on sackcloth; all these things are mentioned, to show how great was the mourning of Moab for the calamities of it.

Jeremiah 48:37 In-Context

35 And I will cause to disappear for Moab," {declares} Yahweh, "[the] one who presents a sacrifice [at] a high place, and [the one who] burns a smoke offering to his gods.

36 {Therefore} my heart moans for Moab like the flute. It moans for the people of Kir-heres like the flute. {Therefore} [the] wealth they gained has perished.

37 For [on] every head [is] baldness, and every beard is trimmed. On all [the] hands, slashes, and on [the] loins, sackcloth.

38 On all the roofs of Moab, and in its public squares, [there is] wailing everywhere. For I have broken Moab like a vessel, there is no delight in it," {declares} Yahweh.

39 "How it is filled with terror! [How] they wail! How Moab has turned [his] back! He is disgraced! So Moab has become as a derision, and as a terror for all his surrounding [peoples]."