Jeremiah 48:31

31 "Therefore * I will 1wail for Moab, Even for all Moab will I cry out; I will moan for the men of 2Kir-heres.

Jeremiah 48:31 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 48:31

Therefore will I howl for Moab
The prophet, being as a man affected with the miseries of a people very wicked, and so deserving of them; though indeed by this he does not so much design to express the affections of his own heart, as to show what reason the Moabites would have to howl for the calamities of their country; for, as Kimchi observes, the prophet here speaks in the person of the people of Moab; see ( Isaiah 16:7 ) ; and I will cry out for all Moab;
the whole country of Moab, which should become desolate: [mine heart] shall mourn for the men of Kirheres;
the same with Kirhareseth, a city of Moab, ( Isaiah 16:7 ) ; whose foundations should be sapped, the city taken, and the men of it put to the sword, or caused to flee; and their case being deplorable, the prophet says his heart should mourn for them like a dove, as Kimchi and Jarchi observe; though it may be rendered, "he shall mourn" F7; that is, Moab; for the destruction of such a principal city, and the men of it. The Targum renders it,

``for the men of the city of their strength.''

FOOTNOTES:

F7 (hghy) "gemet", Montanus.

Jeremiah 48:31 In-Context

29 "We have heard of the pride of Moab -he is very proud - Of his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance and his self-exaltation .
30 "I know his fury," declares the LORD , "But it is futile; His idle boasts have accomplished nothing.
31 "Therefore I will wail for Moab, Even for all Moab will I cry out; I will moan for the men of Kir-heres.
32 "More than the weeping for Jazer I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah! Your tendrils stretched across the sea, They reached to the sea of Jazer; Upon your summer fruits and your grape harvest The destroyer has fallen.
33 "So gladness and joy are taken away From the fruitful field, even from the land of Moab. And I have made the wine to cease from the wine presses; No one will tread them with shouting, The shouting will not be shouts of joy.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Isaiah 15:5; Isaiah 16:7, 11
  • 2. 2 Kings 3:25; Isaiah 16:7, 11; Jeremiah 48:36

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Another reading is "He"
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