Jeremiah 49 Study Notes

49:1-6 Ammon was a country east of the Jordan River and north of Moab. Its boundaries were not well fixed, and it often was in conflict with Israel. Its capital city was Rabbah, modern Amman, Jordan, situated in the valley of the Jabbok River. The Ammonites were descended from Ben-Ammi, son of Lot (Gn 19:38). During the days of the judges, Jephthah defeated them (Jdg 11:4-33), and King Nahash of Ammon later opposed King Saul (1Sm 11:1-11). David sought peace with the Ammonites but was rebuffed (2Sm 10), yet Solomon held them in check (1Kg 4:13-19). Amos condemned them in the eighth century BC for their cruel behavior (Am 1:13-15). In the seventh century BC the Ammonites were somewhat free, but they were still a vassal of Assyria. During the reign of the Judean King Zedekiah, the Ammonites participated with Judah in a revolt against Babylon (Jr 27:3); they continued their revolt beyond the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC. Nebuchadnezzar’s army took the country around 582 BC. Ezekiel also condemned Ammon in the sixth century BC (Ezk 25:1-7).

49:1 This verse reflects the territorial dispute between the Ammonites and the tribe of Gad (cp. Jdg 11:23-24). The Lord asked through Jeremiah, Should Ammon and its god have dispossessed Gad, who was still living there and who had been given that territory? (See Nm 21:21-31; 32:1-39.) Milcom, also known as Molech, was the national deity of Ammon. His name meant “the king,” but the Hebrews refused to pronounce it in a way that signified “king.” They substituted the vowels of “o” and “e” from the Hebrew word bosheth, meaning “shame,” thereby stigmatizing the name of Ammon’s deity (see note at 7:31).

49:2 Rabbah was the capital city of the Ammonites. It is identified with modern Amman, Jordan. The archaeological term tell signifies the ruins of a city (see note at 30:18). It appears in the phrase a desolate mound (Hb tel shemana).

49:3 Heshbon was referred to as a Moabite city (48:2), but it must have belonged to Ammon at this time. The Ai referred to here is not the same as the Ai in Israel, but is another town with the same name, meaning “ruin.” The phrase run back and forth within your walls could also be rendered “rush to and fro in confusion among the sheep pens.” The picture is one of people darting about in the open areas of the city in total confusion.

49:4 Ammon was bragging about their valleys, their flowing valley. An alternative translation would render “valleys” as “strength” (see note at 47:5). In either case (“valleys” or “strength”) the Ammonites were complacent and needed rebuffing.

49:5 God would bring terror on the Ammonites. This phrase seems to be a variant of Jeremiah’s (Hb) magor missabib (“terror on every side”; 6:25; 20:3,4,10; 46:5).

49:6 As God would do with Egypt (46:26), Moab (48:47), and Elam (49:39), he would one day restore the fortunes of Ammon as well.

49:7-22 Edom descended from Esau, brother of Jacob. The Edomites were the subject of more judgment prophecies than any other nation (Ps 137:7; Is 34:1-17; 63:1-6; Lm 4:21-22; Ezk 25:12-14; 35:1-15; Am 1:11-12; Obadiah; Mal 1:2-5). Jeremiah was surprisingly softer in his tone against them than he was in his prophecies against other nations. Edom stretched from the Gulf of Aqabah, east of the Sinai Peninsula about a hundred miles north, to the River Zered, which flowed into the southern end of the Dead Sea and marked the border between Moab and Edom. East of Edom was the desert; on the west was the Arabah, the great depression that the Jordan River flowed through to the north. Edom was mostly mountainous. It was settled originally by the Horim (“cave people”) whom Edom expelled (Dt 2:12,22). Edom’s prosperity came from its iron and copper mines as well as its position on the King’s Highway (Nm 20:17,19).

49:7 God began his prophecy against Edom with a set of rhetorical questions. The first was about wisdom in Teman. Edom was famous for wisdom (Ob 8 and possibly the book of Job), but it does not seem to have served them well. Teman was Esau’s first grandson (Gn 36:11,15). Often the name stands for the whole country or as here for a city or province in Edom.

49:8 The residents of Dedan, a region not too far away in north Arabia, are told to steer their caravans away from Edom because of the destruction God will bring on the nation.

49:9-11 These verses are similar to Ob 5-6. Normally gatherers of grapes and thieves left some goods behind, but in this judgment God will strip Esau bare. Esau was the twin brother of Jacob.

49:12 The image of drinking from the cup is a metaphor for the judgment God will bring to the nations (25:12-29; 48:26; cp. Is 34:5-6; Lm 4:21).

49:13 Bozrah was the capital and chief city of Edom in Jeremiah’s time. It is identified with modern el-Buseira, about twenty miles southeast of the Dead Sea. It is not to be confused with the Moabite Bozrah (48:24).

49:14-16 These verses parallel closely Ob 1-4.

49:16 Edom thought they were unconquerable, because the people lived in the clefts of the rock. The rocks were later called Sela or Petra, which became the fortress and capital of the Edomites.

49:17-18 The ruin of Edom will be like that of the five cities of the plain: Sodom . . . Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zobah.

49:19-22 God is compared to a lion and an eagle. He will drag away the lambs (the Edomites, v. 20) and swoop down on them as his prey. In the midst of this judgment, God asked a question about his incomparability: Who is like me? Obviously, no one is his equal. These themes are similar to Is 40:18,25 and 45:9-11. Verses 19-21 are repeated in 50:44-46 and applied to Babylon. The sound of Edom’s cry will be like that of the cry heard at the Red Sea (Hb yam suph; also called the “Reed Sea”).

49:23-27 Damascus was the capital city of Syria (Aram); therefore, this city stands for the entire nation. While Damascus is not named in the list of cities falling under divine judgment in 25:18-26, this prophecy does have parallels in Is 17:1-6 and Am 1:3-5. It appears that the Syrian/Aramaean armies joined Babylon in its attack on Jerusalem in 597 BC. This may be why Damascus is condemned in these verses.

49:23-24 Hamath and Arpad were two smaller Aramaean/Syrian city-states. Hamath, often called a Canaanite and then later a Hethite city (Gn 10:18), was 110 miles north of Damascus on the Orontes River. Arpad was ninety-five miles north of Hamath. All three cities were conquered by the Assyrian king, Tiglath-pileser, in 738 BC (Is 10:9; 36:19; 37:13). Sargon II crushed a rebellion in 720 BC in Damascus. This city was also captured by Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC. Damascus was agitated and troubled like the . . . sea, even though it had no seacoast. Fear and anguish gripped this city like a woman in labor. Jeremiah used this figure of many nations, including Israel, Moab, Edom, and Babylon (v. 22; 6:24; 48:41; 50:43).

49:25 Damascus was a delight to God. He called it the town that brings me joy. It has been continuously occupied since ancient times.

49:27 The prophecy ends with a virtual quote from Am 1:4. A fire would consume the palaces or citadels of Ben-hadad—a royal name for Aramaean kings stretching from the ninth to the eighth centuries BC.

49:28-33 Kedar was an Ishmaelite tribe in the Arabian desert (Gn 25:13) that is frequently referred to in the OT (Is 21:16,17; 42:11; 60:7; Ezk 27:21). They were known for their sheep-breeding (Is 60:7), their dwelling east of the Ammonites (Is 42:11), their trading with Tyre (Ezk 27:21), and their archery skills (Is 21:16-17).

49:28 This Hazor is not the city in northern Israel (Jos 11:1-13). It was apparently a now-unknown town in a desert region. The Lord gave a command for Nebuchadnezzar to rise up and destroy the people of the east. The “people/sons of the east” are identified with the Midianites and Amalekites in Jdg 6:3 and with other nomadic peoples who often raided Israelite territory (Gn 29:1; Jdg 7:12; 8:10; 1Kg 4:30; Jb 1:3; Is 11:14; Ezk 25:4).

49:29 The five items that will be taken (tents . . . flocks . . . tent curtains . . . equipment, and camels) are what we would expect nomads rather than city dwellers to own. The characteristic phrase terror is on every side is used again by Jeremiah (6:25; 20:3,4,10; 46:5). Here it seems to refer to the shout of the Babylonian army as it fell on the Bedouin camps.

49:30 The Arabian peoples are urged to run and escape quickly. God will provide an escape before the judgment comes (v. 8; 48:6,28; 50:8; 51:6). Nebuchadnezzar had a plan and a strategy, which was not his only but God’s as well (25:9; cp. 26:3; 36:3; 49:20). The exact date of the Babylonian campaign against the desert tribes is unknown, but Nebuchadnezzar did conduct a raid against them in 599-598 BC, before his attack on Jerusalem.

49:33 Conventional expressions are used for the extent of the destruction on these tribes. They will become a jackals’ den (9:11; 10:22; 51:37) and a desolation forever (v. 2; 4:27; 6:8; 9:11; 10:22; 12:10-11; 32:43; 44:6; 50:13). No one will live there (4:7,29; 9:11; 26:9; 33:10; 44:22; 46:19; 51:29,37).

49:34-39 Elam was the first of Shem’s sons (Gn 10:22). It was an ancient kingdom (Gn 14:1) about two hundred miles east of Babylon in modern southwestern Iran. Its capital city was Shushan, also known as Susa (Neh 1:1; Est 1:2,5; Dn 8:2). Elam may be a general name for Persia. It was subdued by Assyria and later came under Babylonian and Persian rule.

49:34 This prophecy came at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah (ca 597 BC).

49:35 Elamites were known for their skill in archery (Is 22:6), but the Lord would take that away. When Elam was absorbed into the Persian Empire about 539 BC, landowners were required to furnish the Persian king with a bowman or to pay a bow tenure—a sum of money to hire an archer in his place.

49:36-37 The expression four winds is used elsewhere to depict military might (Ezk 37:9; Dn 8:8; Zch 2:6; 6:5). God will bring these military powers to destroy Elam.

49:39 As with Israel (29:14), Moab (48:47), Ammon (49:6), and Egypt (46:26), God promised to restore the fortunes of Elam. This Gentile nation would become a recipient of God’s promises.