Jeremiah 48:31

31 Therefore I shall wail on Moab, and I shall cry to all Moab, to the men of the earthen wall, that wail. (And so I shall wail for Moab, and I shall cry for all of Moab, and I shall wail for the people of Kirheres.)

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.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 (hghy) "gemet", Montanus.

Jeremiah 48:31 In-Context

29 We have heard the pride of Moab; he is full proud. I know, saith the Lord, the highness thereof, and pride in word, and pride in bearing, and the highness of heart, (We have heard of the pride of Moab; yea, he is very proud. I know his highness, saith the Lord, and his pride in words, and his pride in bearing, and the highness of his heart,)

30 and the boast thereof, and that the virtue thereof is not nigh, either like it, neither it enforced to do after that that it might. (and his boasting, and that his virtue, if any, is far from apparent, and that he hath not endeavoured to do what he should do.)

31 Therefore I shall wail on Moab, and I shall cry to all Moab, to the men of the earthen wall, that wail. (And so I shall wail for Moab, and I shall cry for all of Moab, and I shall wail for the people of Kirheres.)

32 Of the wailing of Jazer I shall weep to thee, thou vine of Sibmah (Thou vine of Sibmah, I shall weep for thee more than my wailing for Jazer); thy scions passed (over) the sea, those came unto the sea of Jazer; a robber fell in on thy ripe corn, and on thy vintage.

33 Full out joy and gladness is taken away from Carmel, and from the land of Moab, and I have taken away wine from [the] pressers; a stamper of [the] grape shall not sing a customable merry song. (Rejoicing and happiness is taken away from the plentiful land, and from the land of Moab, and I have stopped the flow of wine from the winepresses; yea, a stamper of the grapes shall not sing the customary happy song.)