Bible Commentaries
Jeremiah 49

Verse 1

49:1 Concerning the {a} Ammonites, thus saith the LORD; Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why [then] doth their king {b} inherit Gad, and his people dwell in {c} his cities?

(a) They were separated from the Moabites by the river Arnon, and after the ten tribes were carried away into captivity, they invaded the country of Gad.

(b) That is, of the Ammonites.

(c) Meaning, of the Israelites.

Verse 2

49:2 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in {d} Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir to them that were his heirs, saith the LORD.

(d) Which was one of the chief cities of the Ammonites, as were Heshbon and Ai: there was also a city called Heshbon among the Moabites.

Verse 4

49:4 Why gloriest thou in the {e} valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, [saying], Who shall come to me?

(e) In your plentiful country.

Verse 5

49:5 Behold, I will bring {f} a fear upon thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those that are about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him that wandereth.

(f) Signifying that power and riches cannot prevail when God will execute his judgments.

Verse 6

49:6 And {h} afterward I will bring again the captives of the children of Ammon, saith the LORD.

(h) In the time of Christ, when the Gentiles will be called.

Verse 7

49:7 Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts; [Is] wisdom no more in {i} Teman? hath counsel perished from the prudent? hath their wisdom vanished?

(i) Which was a city of Edom, called by the name of Teman Eliphaz’s son, who came from Esau.

Verse 8

49:8 Flee ye, {k} turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time [that] I will punish him.

(k) The enemies that pretend to flee, will turn back and invade your land, and possess it.

Verse 9

49:9 If {l} grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave [some] gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough.

(l) Meaning that God would utterly destroy them and not spare one, though the grape gatherers leave some grapes, and thieves seek but till they have enough, Obadiah 1:5 .

Verse 11

49:11 Leave thy {m} fatherless children, I will preserve [them] alive; and let thy widows trust in me.

(m) The destruction will be so great that there will be none left to take care of the widows and the fatherless.

Verse 12

49:12 For thus saith the LORD; {n} Behold, they whose judgment [was] not to drink of the cup have assuredly drank; and [art] thou he [that] shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink [of it].

(n) I have not spared my own people and how should I pity you?

Verse 13

49:13 For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that {o} Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes.

(o) Which was a chief city of Edom.

Verse 14

49:14 I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent to the nations, [saying], Gather ye together, and come against {p} her, and rise up to the battle.

(p) That is, Bozrah.

Verse 19

49:19 Behold, {q} he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make {r} him run away from her: and who [is] a chosen [man, that] I may appoint over her? for who [is] like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who [is] that {s} shepherd that will stand before me?

(q) That is, Nebuchadnezzar after he has overcome Judah, which is meant by the swelling of Jordan, will come against mount Seir and Edom.

(r) That is, the Israelites whom the Edomites kept as prisoners to hast away from there.

(s) The captain and governor of the army meaning Nebuchadnezzar.

Verse 20

49:20 Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least {t} of the flock shall draw them out: surely {u} he shall make their habitations desolate with them.

(t) They will not be able to resist his petty captains.

(u) To visit the enemy.

Verse 22

49:22 Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, {x} and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

(x) As Jeremiah 48:40 was said of Moab.

Verse 23

49:23 Concerning {y} Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; [there is] sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet.

(y) Which was the chief city of Syria, by which he means the whole country.

Verse 24

49:24 Damascus hath become feeble, [and] turneth herself to flee, {z} and fear hath seized on [her]: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.

(z) When she heard the sudden coming of the enemy.

Verse 25

49:25 How is the {a} city of praise not left, the city of my joy!

(a) He speaks this in the person of the king and of them of the country who will wonder to see Damascus the chief city destroyed.

Verse 27

49:27 And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of {b} Benhadad.

(b) Who was king of Syria, 1 Kings 20:26 and had built these palaces which were still called the palaces of Benhadad.

Verse 28

49:28 Concerning {c} Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus saith the LORD; Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and lay waste the men of the east.

(c) Meaning the Arabians, and their borders.

Verse 29

49:29 Their tents and their flocks shall they take away: they shall take to themselves their {d} curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry to them, Fear [is] on every side.

(d) Because they used to dwell in tents, he names the things that belong to it.

Verse 30

49:30 Flee, go far off, {e} dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith the LORD; for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you.

(e) The enemies will dwell in your places.

Verse 31

49:31 {f} Arise, go up to the wealthy nation, that dwelleth without care, saith the LORD, which have neither gates nor bars, [which] dwell alone.

(f) He shows that they of Hazor will flee to the Arabians for comfort but that will not help them.

Verse 34

49:34 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against {g} Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,

(g) That is Persia, so called for Elam the son of Shem.

Verse 35

49:35 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the {h} bow of Elam, the chief of their might.

(h) Because the Persians were good archers, he shows that the thing in which they put their trust would not profit them.

Verse 38

49:38 And I will set my {i} throne in Elam, and will destroy from there the king and the princes, saith the LORD.

(i) I will place Nebuchadnezzar there, and in these prophecies Jeremiah speaks of those countries which would be subdued under the first of those four monarchies of which Daniel makes mention.

Verse 39

49:39 But it shall come to pass {k} in the latter days, [that] I will bring again the captives of Elam, saith the LORD.

(k) This may be referred to the empire of the Persians and Medes after the Chaldeans or to the time of Christ, as in Jeremiah 48:47 .