Jeremiah 48:36

36 Therefore, my heart wails for Moab like a mournful flute that plays the dirge; my heart wails for the people of Kir-heres, like a mournful flute. Their abundance is now gone.

Jeremiah 48:36 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 48:36

Therefore my heart shall sound for Moab like pipes
That are sounded on mournful occasions, as at funerals, and the like; see ( Matthew 9:23 ) . This the prophet said, as Kimchi observes, in the person of the people, the inhabitants of Moab; whose hearts would yearn and sound for the calamities of their country like the doleful sound of minstrels. So the Targum,

``therefore the Moabites shall sound in their hearts like a harp:''

and my heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kirheres;
as for the country of Moab in general, so for this principal city, and the inhabitants of it, in particular; (See Gill on Isaiah 16:11); because the riches [that] he hath gotten is perished;
either Moab or Kirheres; the abundance of goods they had got together were now lost, falling into the hands of the enemy; and which was matter of lamentation. The Targum is,

``for the rest of their substance they had got were spoiled.''

Some understand it of the residue of men that escaped the sword; these perished by famine, or other means; see ( Isaiah 15:7 ) .

Jeremiah 48:36 In-Context

34 Screams are heard from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz; their cries resound from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. Even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.

35 I'll put an end to Moab, declares the LORD, for making offerings on the shrines, and worshipping their gods.

36 Therefore, my heart wails for Moab like a mournful flute that plays the dirge; my heart wails for the people of Kir-heres, like a mournful flute. Their abundance is now gone.

37 Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off, every hand is slashed, and everyone wears mourning clothes.

38 On every housetop of Moab and in all its streets, there's nothing but mourning. I have shattered Moab like a pottery vessel no one wants, declares the LORD.

Footnotes

• [a]. Heb lacks mournful.