Jeremiah 48:18

18 Come down from glory; sit on parched ground, resident of the daughter of Dibon,^[a] for the destroyer of Moab has come against you; he has destroyed your fortresses.

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 Moab's calamity is near at hand; his disaster is rushing swiftly.

17 Mourn for him, all you surrounding [nations], everyone who knows his name. Say: How the mighty scepter is shattered, the glorious staff!

18 Come down from glory; sit on parched ground, resident of the daughter of Dibon, for the destroyer of Moab has come against you; he has destroyed your fortresses.

19 Stand by the highway and look, resident of Aroer! Ask him who is fleeing or her who is escaping, What happened?

20 Moab is put to shame, indeed dismayed. Wail and cry out! Declare by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed.

Footnotes

• [a] Jos 13:8-9