Jeremiah 48:36

36 "Therefore * My ¹heart wails for Moab like flutes; My heart also wails like flutes for the men of Kir-heres. Therefore * they have ²lost the abundance it produced.

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 outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have raised their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim and to Eglath-shelishiyah ; for even the waters of Nimrim will become desolate.

35 "I will make an end of Moab," declares the LORD , "the one who offers sacrifice on the high place and the one who burns incense to his gods.

36 "Therefore My heart wails for Moab like flutes; My heart also wails like flutes for the men of Kir-heres. Therefore they have lost the abundance it produced.

37 "For every head is bald and every beard cut short; there are gashes on all the hands and sackcloth on the loins.

38 "On all the housetops of Moab and in its streets there is lamentation everywhere; for I have broken Moab like an undesirable vessel," declares the LORD .

Cross References

• 1. Isaiah 15:5; Isaiah 16:11
• 2. Isaiah 15:7

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "sounds"
• [b] Lit "sounds"