Jeremiah 48:18

18 "¹Come down from your glory And sit on the parched ground, O ²daughter dwelling in ³Dibon, For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you, He has ruined your strongholds.

Jeremiah 48:18 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 48:18

Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon
A city in Moab; (See Gill on Isaiah 15:2). The Targum is,

``O kingdom of the congregation of Dibon;''

but this was not a kingdom of itself, though a principal city in the kingdom of Moab: come down from [thy] glory, and sit in thirst;
in a dry and thirsty land; in want of all the necessaries of life; in captivity; who before abounded with all good things, inhabiting a well watered and fruitful soil; see ( Isaiah 15:9 ) ; but now called to quit all their former glory and happiness, their fulness and felicity, and submit to the greatest straits and difficulties: for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, [and] he shall destroy
thy strong holds;
the king of Babylon and his army, who spoiled the other cities of Moab; he should come against this also, and take it, and demolish its fortifications, by reason of which it thought itself secure; but these should not be able to protect it.

Jeremiah 48:18 In-Context

16 "The disaster of Moab will soon come, And his calamity has swiftly hastened.

17 "Mourn for him, all you who live around him, Even all of you who know his name; Say, 'How has the mighty scepter been broken, A staff of splendor!'

18 "Come down from your glory And sit on the parched ground, O daughter dwelling in Dibon, For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you, He has ruined your strongholds.

19 "Stand by the road and keep watch, O inhabitant of Aroer; Ask him who flees and her who escapes And say, 'What has happened?'

20 "Moab has been put to shame, for it has been shattered. Wail and cry out; Declare by the Arnon That Moab has been destroyed.

Cross References

• 1. Isaiah 47:1
• 2. Jeremiah 46:19
• 3. Numbers 21:30; Joshua 13:9, 17; Isaiah 15:2; Jeremiah 48:22

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "in thirst"