Jeremiah 49 Study Notes

49:19-22 God is compared to a lion and an eagle. He will drag away the lambs (the Edomites, v. 20) and swoop down on them as his prey. In the midst of this judgment, God asked a question about his incomparability: Who is like me? Obviously, no one is his equal. These themes are similar to Is 40:18,25 and 45:9-11. Verses 19-21 are repeated in 50:44-46 and applied to Babylon. The sound of Edom’s cry will be like that of the cry heard at the Red Sea (Hb yam suph; also called the “Reed Sea”).

49:23-27 Damascus was the capital city of Syria (Aram); therefore, this city stands for the entire nation. While Damascus is not named in the list of cities falling under divine judgment in 25:18-26, this prophecy does have parallels in Is 17:1-6 and Am 1:3-5. It appears that the Syrian/Aramaean armies joined Babylon in its attack on Jerusalem in 597 BC. This may be why Damascus is condemned in these verses.

49:23-24 Hamath and Arpad were two smaller Aramaean/Syrian city-states. Hamath, often called a Canaanite and then later a Hethite city (Gn 10:18), was 110 miles north of Damascus on the Orontes River. Arpad was ninety-five miles north of Hamath. All three cities were conquered by the Assyrian king, Tiglath-pileser, in 738 BC (Is 10:9; 36:19; 37:13). Sargon II crushed a rebellion in 720 BC in Damascus. This city was also captured by Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC. Damascus was agitated and troubled like the . . . sea, even though it had no seacoast. Fear and anguish gripped this city like a woman in labor. Jeremiah used this figure of many nations, including Israel, Moab, Edom, and Babylon (v. 22; 6:24; 48:41; 50:43).

49:25 Damascus was a delight to God. He called it the town that brings me joy. It has been continuously occupied since ancient times.

49:27 The prophecy ends with a virtual quote from Am 1:4. A fire would consume the palaces or citadels of Ben-hadad—a royal name for Aramaean kings stretching from the ninth to the eighth centuries BC.

49:28-33 Kedar was an Ishmaelite tribe in the Arabian desert (Gn 25:13) that is frequently referred to in the OT (Is 21:16,17; 42:11; 60:7; Ezk 27:21). They were known for their sheep-breeding (Is 60:7), their dwelling east of the Ammonites (Is 42:11), their trading with Tyre (Ezk 27:21), and their archery skills (Is 21:16-17).

49:28 This Hazor is not the city in northern Israel (Jos 11:1-13). It was apparently a now-unknown town in a desert region. The Lord gave a command for Nebuchadnezzar to rise up and destroy the people of the east. The “people/sons of the east” are identified with the Midianites and Amalekites in Jdg 6:3 and with other nomadic peoples who often raided Israelite territory (Gn 29:1; Jdg 7:12; 8:10; 1Kg 4:30; Jb 1:3; Is 11:14; Ezk 25:4).

49:29 The five items that will be taken (tents . . . flocks . . . tent curtains . . . equipment, and camels) are what we would expect nomads rather than city dwellers to own. The characteristic phrase terror is on every side is used again by Jeremiah (6:25; 20:3,4,10; 46:5). Here it seems to refer to the shout of the Babylonian army as it fell on the Bedouin camps.

49:30 The Arabian peoples are urged to run and escape quickly. God will provide an escape before the judgment comes (v. 8; 48:6,28; 50:8; 51:6). Nebuchadnezzar had a plan and a strategy, which was not his only but God’s as well (25:9; cp. 26:3; 36:3; 49:20). The exact date of the Babylonian campaign against the desert tribes is unknown, but Nebuchadnezzar did conduct a raid against them in 599-598 BC, before his attack on Jerusalem.

49:33 Conventional expressions are used for the extent of the destruction on these tribes. They will become a jackals’ den (9:11; 10:22; 51:37) and a desolation forever (v. 2; 4:27; 6:8; 9:11; 10:22; 12:10-11; 32:43; 44:6; 50:13). No one will live there (4:7,29; 9:11; 26:9; 33:10; 44:22; 46:19; 51:29,37).

49:34-39 Elam was the first of Shem’s sons (Gn 10:22). It was an ancient kingdom (Gn 14:1) about two hundred miles east of Babylon in modern southwestern Iran. Its capital city was Shushan, also known as Susa (Neh 1:1; Est 1:2,5; Dn 8:2). Elam may be a general name for Persia. It was subdued by Assyria and later came under Babylonian and Persian rule.

49:34 This prophecy came at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah (ca 597 BC).

49:35 Elamites were known for their skill in archery (Is 22:6), but the Lord would take that away. When Elam was absorbed into the Persian Empire about 539 BC, landowners were required to furnish the Persian king with a bowman or to pay a bow tenure—a sum of money to hire an archer in his place.

49:36-37 The expression four winds is used elsewhere to depict military might (Ezk 37:9; Dn 8:8; Zch 2:6; 6:5). God will bring these military powers to destroy Elam.

49:39 As with Israel (29:14), Moab (48:47), Ammon (49:6), and Egypt (46:26), God promised to restore the fortunes of Elam. This Gentile nation would become a recipient of God’s promises.