Jeremiah 48:31

31 Therefore I wail for Moab; I cry out for all Moab; for the men of Kir-he'res I mourn.

Jeremiah 48:31 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 48:31

Therefore will I howl for Moab
The prophet, being as a man affected with the miseries of a people very wicked, and so deserving of them; though indeed by this he does not so much design to express the affections of his own heart, as to show what reason the Moabites would have to howl for the calamities of their country; for, as Kimchi observes, the prophet here speaks in the person of the people of Moab; see ( Isaiah 16:7 ) ; and I will cry out for all Moab;
the whole country of Moab, which should become desolate: [mine heart] shall mourn for the men of Kirheres;
the same with Kirhareseth, a city of Moab, ( Isaiah 16:7 ) ; whose foundations should be sapped, the city taken, and the men of it put to the sword, or caused to flee; and their case being deplorable, the prophet says his heart should mourn for them like a dove, as Kimchi and Jarchi observe; though it may be rendered, "he shall mourn" F7; that is, Moab; for the destruction of such a principal city, and the men of it. The Targum renders it,

``for the men of the city of their strength.''

FOOTNOTES:

F7 (hghy) "gemet", Montanus.

Jeremiah 48:31 In-Context

29 We have heard of the pride of Moab--he is very proud--of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart.
30 I know his insolence, says the LORD; his boasts are false, his deeds are false.
31 Therefore I wail for Moab; I cry out for all Moab; for the men of Kir-he'res I mourn.
32 More than for Jazer I weep for you, O vine of Sibmah! Your branches passed over the sea, reached as far as Jazer; upon your summer fruits and your vintage the destroyer has fallen.
33 Gladness and joy have been taken away from the fruitful land of Moab; I have made the wine cease from the wine presses; no one treads them with shouts of joy; the shouting is not the shout of joy.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.