Jeremiah 49

Prophecies against Ammon

1 About the Ammonites, this is what the Lord says: Does Israel have no sons? Is he without an heir? Why then has Milcom^[a][b]dispossessed Gad and his people settled in their cities?

2 Therefore look, the days are coming- [this is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration- when I will make the shout of battle^[c] heard against Rabbah of the Ammonites. It will become a desolate mound, and its villages will be burned down. Israel will dispossess their dispossessors, says the Lord.

3 Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is devastated; cry out, daughters of Rabbah! Clothe yourselves with sackcloth, and lament; run back and forth within your walls,^[d] because Milcom will go into exile together with his priests and officials.

4 Why do you brag about your valleys, your flowing valley,^[e] you faithless daughter? You who trust in your treasures [and boast]: Who can attack me?

5 Look, I am about to bring terror on you- [this is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the declaration of the Lord, the God of Hosts- from all those around you. You will be banished, each man headlong, with no one to gather up the fugitives.

6 But after that, I will restore the fortunes^[f] of the Ammonites. [This is] the Lord's declaration.

Prophecies against Edom

7 About Edom, this is what the Lord of Hosts says: Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?^[g] Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom rotted away?^[h]

8 Run! Turn back! Lie low, residents of Dedan,^[i] for I will bring Esau's calamity on him at the time I punish him.^[j]

9 If grape harvesters came to you, wouldn't they leave some gleanings?^[k] Were thieves to come in the night, they would destroy only what they wanted.^[l]

10 But I will strip Esau bare; I will uncover his secret places.^[m] He will try to hide himself, but he will be unable. His descendants will be destroyed along with his relatives and neighbors. He will exist no longer.

11 Abandon your orphans; I will preserve them; let your widows trust in Me.^[n]

12 "For this is what the Lord says: If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, can you possibly remain unpunished? You will not remain unpunished, for you must drink [it] too.

13 For by Myself I have sworn"-the Lord's declaration-"Bozrah^[o] will become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will become ruins forever."^[p]

14 I have heard a message from the Lord; an envoy has been sent among the nations: Assemble yourselves to come against her. Rise up for war!

15 Look, I will certainly make you insignificant among the nations, despised among humanity.

16 As to the terror you cause,^[q] your presumptuous heart has deceived you. You who live in the clefts of the rock,^[r] you who occupy the mountain summit, though you elevate your nest like the eagle, even from there I will bring you down. [This is] the Lord's declaration.^[s]

17 "Edom will become a desolation. Everyone who passes by her will be horrified and scoff because of all her wounds.^[t]

18 As when Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown along with their neighbors,"^[u] says the Lord, "no one will live there; no human being will even stay in it as a resident alien.^[v]

19 "Look, it will be like a lion coming up from the thickets^[w] of the Jordan to the perennially watered grazing land. Indeed, I will chase Edom away from her [land] in a flash. I will appoint whoever is chosen for her. For who is like Me? Who will summon Me?^[x] Who is the shepherd who can stand against Me?"

20 Therefore, hear the plans that the Lord has drawn up against Edom and the strategies He has devised against the people of Teman:^[y] The flock's little lambs will certainly be dragged away,^[z] and their grazing land will be made desolate because of them.

21 At the sound of their fall the earth will quake; the sound of her cry will be heard at the Red Sea.^[aa]

22 Look! It will be like an eagle soaring upward, then swooping down and spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom's warriors will be like the heart of a woman with contractions.^[ab]

Prophecies against Damascus

23 About Damascus: Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, for they have heard a bad report and are agitated; in the sea there is anxiety that cannot be calmed.

24 Damascus has become weak; she has turned to run; panic has gripped her. Distress and labor pains have seized her like a woman in labor.

25 How can the city of praise not be abandoned, the town that brings Me joy?

26 Therefore, her young men will fall in her public squares; all the warriors will be silenced in that day. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.^[ac]

27 I will set fire to the wall of Damascus; it will devour Ben-hadad's citadels.^[ad]

Prophecies against Kedar and Hazor

28 About Kedar^[ae] and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar,^[af] Babylon's king, defeated, this is what the Lord says: Rise up, go against Kedar, and destroy the people of the east!

29 They will take their tents and their flocks along with their tent curtains and all their equipment. They will take their camels for themselves. They will call out to them: Terror is on every side!^[ag]

30 Run! Escape quickly! Lie low, residents of Hazor- [this is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration- for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has drawn up a plan against you; he has devised a strategy against you.

31 Rise up, go up against a nation at ease, one living in security. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration. They have no doors, not even a gate bar; they live alone.^[ah]

32 Their camels will become plunder, and their massive herds of cattle will become spoil.^[ai] I will scatter them to the wind in every direction, those who shave their temples; I will bring calamity on them across all their borders. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration.

33 Hazor will become a jackals' den,^[aj] a desolation forever. No one will live there; no human being will even stay in it as a resident alien.^[ak]

Prophecies against Elam

34 [This is] the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet about Elam^[al] at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah.^[am]

35 This is what the Lord of Hosts says: I am about to shatter Elam's bow,^[an] the source^[ao] of their might.

36 I will bring the four winds against Elam from the four corners of the heavens, and I will scatter them to all these winds. There will not be a nation to which Elam's banished ones will not go.

37 I will devastate Elam before their enemies, before those who want to take their lives. I will bring disaster on them, My burning anger. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration. I will send the sword after them until I finish them off.

38 I will set My throne in Elam, and I will destroy the king and officials from there. [This is] the Lord's declaration.

39 In the last days, I will restore the fortunes^[ap] of Elam. [This is] the Lord's declaration.

Jeremiah 49 Commentary

Chapter 49

Prophecies relative to the Ammonites. (1-6) The Edomites. (7-22) The Syrians. (23-27) The Kedarenes. (28-33) The Elamites. (34-39)

1-6. Might often prevails against right among men, yet that might shall be controlled by the Almighty, who judges aright; and those will find themselves mistaken, who, like the Ammonites, think every thing their own on which they can lay their hands. The Lord will call men to account for every instance of dishonesty, especially to the destitute.

Verses 7-22 The Edomites were old enemies to the Israel of God. But their day is now at hand; it is foretold, not only to warn them, but for the sake of the Israel of God, whose afflictions were aggravated by them. Thus Divine judgments go round from nation to nation; the earth is full of commotion, and nothing can escape the ministers of Divine vengeance. The righteousness of God is to be observed amidst the violence of men.

Verses 23-27 How easily God can dispirit those nations that have been most celebrated for valour! Damascus waxes feeble. It was a city of joy, having all the delights of the sons of men. But those deceive themselves who place their happiness in carnal joys.

Verses 28-33 Nebuchadnezzar would make desolation among the people of Kedar, who dwelt in the deserts of Arabia. He who conquered many strong cities, will not leave those unconquered that dwell in tents. He will do this to gratify his own covetousness and ambition; but God orders it for correcting an unthankful people, and for warning a careless world to expect trouble when they seem most safe. They shall flee, get far off, and dwell deep in the deserts; they shall be dispersed. But privacy and obscurity are not always protection and security.

Verses 34-39 The Elamites were the Persians; they acted against God's Israel, and must be reckoned with. Evil pursues sinners. God will make them know that he reigns. Yet the destruction of Elam shall not be for ever. But this promise was to have its full accomplishment in the days of the Messiah. In reading the Divine assurance of the destruction of all the enemies of the church, the believer sees that the issue of the holy war is not doubtful. It is blessed to recollect, that He who is for us, is more than all against us. And he will subdue the enemies of our souls.

Footnotes

• [a]. LXX, Syr, Vg; MT reads Malkam
• [b]. Molech; 1 Kg 11:5
• [c]. Jr 4:19
• [d]. Or sheep pens
• [e]. Or about your strength, your ebbing strength
• [f]. Or will end the captivity
• [g]. southern Edom, or Edom; Ezk 25:13; Ob 9
• [h]. Ob 8-9
• [i]. Gn 25:1-3; Ezk 25:13
• [j]. Jr 6:15; 8:12; Ob 8-13
• [k]. Dt 24:21
• [l]. Ob 5
• [m]. Jr 23:24; Ob 6
• [n]. Dt 10:18; Ps 68:5
• [o]. Edom's capital; Am 1:12
• [p]. Jr 25:28-29
• [q]. Lit Your horror
• [r]. Petra; Jdg 1:36; 2 Kg 14:7; Isa 16:1
• [s]. Ob 1-4
• [t]. Jr 19:8
• [u]. Gn 19:24-25
• [v]. Jr 49:33; 50:40; Zph 2:9
• [w]. Lit pride; Jr 12:5; 50:44; Zch 11:3
• [x]. Jb 9:19
• [y]. Jr 49:30
• [z]. Jr 15:3; 22:19
• [aa]. Jr 50:40,44-46
• [ab]. Jr 48:40-41
• [ac]. Jr 50:30
• [ad]. Am 1:4
• [ae]. Jr 2:10; Ps 120:5; Isa 21:16-17
• [af]. 2 Kg 24:11; 25:22; 2 Ch 36:6-13
• [ag]. Jr 6:25; 20:3-4,10; Ps 31:13
• [ah]. Jdg 18:7-10; Ezk 38:10-11
• [ai]. Isa 10:6; Ezk 25:7; Nah 2:9
• [aj]. Jr 9:11; 10:22; 51:37
• [ak]. Jr 49:18; 50:40
• [al]. modern Iran; Ezr 4:9; Dn 8:2; Ac 2:9
• [am]. Jr 27:12; 28:1; 29:3
• [an]. Isa 22:6
• [ao]. Lit first
• [ap]. Or will end the captivity

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 49

This chapter contains prophecies concerning the judgments of God on several nations and kingdoms, chiefly bordering on the land of Israel; on the Ammonites, Jer 49:1-6; on the Edomites, Jer 49:7-22; on the kingdom of Damascus, or the Syrians, Jer 49:23-27; on the Kedarenes or Arabians, Jer 49:28-33; and on the Elamites or Persians, Jer 49:34-39.