Jeremiah 48:4

4 Moab is defouled, tell ye [out the] cry to (the) little children thereof. (Moab is defiled, tell ye out the cry of its little children.)

Jeremiah 48:4 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 48:4

Moab is destroyed
Either the whole nation in general; so the Targum,

``the kingdom of Moab is broken;''

and so Abarbinel; or a city so called, which some take to be the city Areopolis. Jerom ^F7 says, that Moab is a city of Arabia, now called Areopolis; and which also has the name of Rabbathmoab, or "grand Moab"; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard;
seeing their parents killed, and they left desolate, and in the hands of the enemy; and not only so, but just going to be dashed in pieces by them. The Targum interprets it, her governors; and so Jarchi, who thinks they are so called, because they are lesser than kings. Kimchi and Ben Melech suggest, that these are called so by way of contempt. The word "tzeir" signifies both "little" and "great", as the learned Pocock ^F8 has abundantly proved.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 De locis Heb. fol. 87. H. & 93. B.
F8 Not. Miscell. in Port. Mosis, p. 17, 18.

Jeremiah 48:4 In-Context

2 And full out joying is no more in Moab; they thought evil against Heshbon. Come ye, and lose we it from [the] folk. Therefore thou being still, [thou] shalt be stilled, and sword shall follow thee. (And rejoicing is no longer in Moab; they plotted evil against Heshbon. Come ye, and let us destroy them from being a nation. And so thou shalt be silenced, O town of Madmen, yea, the sword shall follow after thee.)

3 A voice of cry(ing) from Horonaim, destroying, and great sorrow.

4 Moab is defouled, tell ye [out the] cry to (the) little children thereof. (Moab is defiled, tell ye out the cry of its little children.)

5 For a man weeping, ascended with weeping, by the ascending of Luhith; for in the coming down of Horonaim, [the] enemies heard the yelling of (that) sorrow. (For people wept, as they went up by the ascent of Luhith; and on the coming down, or the descent, of Horonaim, their enemies heard their cries of distress.)

6 Flee ye, save ye your lives; and ye shall be as brooms in desert. (Flee ye, save ye your lives; and ye shall be like the heath in the wilderness.)