Jeremiah 48:36

36 {Therefore} my heart moans for Moab like the flute. It moans for the people of Kir-heres like the flute. {Therefore} [the] wealth they gained has perished.

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 From the cry for help of Heshbon, up to Elealeh, up to Jahaz, they give their voice, from Zoar up to Horonaim, [up to] Eglath-shelishiyah, for even the waters of Nimrim have become as a desolation.

35 And I will cause to disappear for Moab," {declares} Yahweh, "[the] one who presents a sacrifice [at] a high place, and [the one who] burns a smoke offering to his gods.

36 {Therefore} my heart moans for Moab like the flute. It moans for the people of Kir-heres like the flute. {Therefore} [the] wealth they gained has perished.

37 For [on] every head [is] baldness, and every beard is trimmed. On all [the] hands, slashes, and on [the] loins, sackcloth.

38 On all the roofs of Moab, and in its public squares, [there is] wailing everywhere. For I have broken Moab like a vessel, there is no delight in it," {declares} Yahweh.

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "Unto thus"
• [b] Hebrew "flutes"
• [c] Or "men"
• [d] Hebrew "flutes"
• [e] Literally "Unto thus"