Jeremiah 48:38

38 On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation; for I have broken Moab like a vessel that no one wants, says the Lord.

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.

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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 Therefore my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the people of Kir-heres; for the riches they gained have perished.

37 For every head is shaved and every beard cut off; on all the hands there are gashes, and on the loins sackcloth.

38 On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation; for I have broken Moab like a vessel that no one wants, says the Lord.

39 How it is broken! How they wail! How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab has become a derision and a horror to all his neighbors.

40 For thus says the Lord: Look, he shall swoop down like an eagle, and spread his wings against Moab;