Jeremiah 48:38

38 On all the rooftops of Moab and in her public squares, everyone is mourning because I have shattered Moab like a jar no one wants."^[a] [This is] the Lord's declaration.

Jeremiah 48:38 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 48:38

[There shall be] lamentation generally
Or, "all of it [is] mourning" ^F14; the whole country of Moab is in mourning; or all is full of mourning; all persons, places, and things, express nothing but mourning; go where you will, it is to be seen: upon all the house tops of Moab, and in the streets thereof;
the mourning, as it was general, it was public; it was seen by all, and everywhere; (See Gill on Isaiah 15:3); for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein [is] no pleasure, saith
the Lord;
as an earthen vessel, which the potter does not like, and which is useless and unprofitable to any, and which he takes and dashes into pieces; into a thousand shivers, as the word ^F15 here signifies, and can never be put together again; or as a filthy unclean vessel a man cannot bear in his sight: Moab is by the Lord called his wash pot, ( Psalms 60:8 ) . The Moabites were vessels of wrath, fitted for destruction by their own this; and now the time of it was come.

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 (dpom hlk) "totus luctus (est) vel omnia luctus (sunt)", Schmidt; "totus erit planctus", Junius & Tremellius; "per omnia erit planctus", Piscator.
F15 (ytrbv) "totalis confractio praedicitur", Schmidt.

Jeremiah 48:38 In-Context

36 Therefore, My heart moans like flutes for Moab, and My heart moans like flutes for the people of Kir-heres. And therefore, the wealth he has gained has perished.

37 Indeed, every head is bald and every beard clipped; on every hand is a gash and sackcloth around the waist.

38 On all the rooftops of Moab and in her public squares, everyone is mourning because I have shattered Moab like a jar no one wants." [This is] the Lord's declaration.

39 "How broken it is! They wail! How Moab has turned his back! He is ashamed. Moab will become a laughingstock and a shock to all those around him."

40 For this is what the Lord says: He will swoop down like an eagle and spread his wings against Moab.

Footnotes

• [a] Jr 22:28