Jeremiah 49

— the men of the east.] As the Arabians are called in the Scripture dialect. W. Lowth.

Jeremiah 49:14

14. I have heard a rumour from the Lord, &c.] The Prophets often represent God as summoning armies, and setting them in array of battle against those people whom He has decreed to destroy. See chap. 1. 9-21; li. 11; Isa. xiii. 2, 3; xviii. 3. God’s stirring up men’s minds to invade such countries is described here, as if He had sent an ambassador to the Chaldeans and their confederates, to engage them in a war against the Idumeans, according to the methods in which early princes use to engage their allies: compare chap. li. 27, 28. W. Lowth.

Jeremiah 49:16

16. • O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock.] Compare Obad. ver. 4; Numb. xxiv. 21; and see the note there. St. Jerome, who lived in the neighbourhood, tells us, in his commentary upon Obadiah, that Idumea was a rocky mountainous country. W. Lowth.

Jeremiah 49:17

17. • shall kiss] See the note on chap. xix. 8.

Jeremiah 49:18

18. As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah &c.] A proverbial expression denoting an utter desolation: see chap. 1. 40; Isa. xiii. 19. W. Lowth.

We know little more of the history of the Edomites, than as it is connected with that of the Jews: and where is the name or the nation now? They were swallowed up and lost, partly among the Nabathean Arabs, and partly among the Jews: and the very name was abolished and disused about the first century after Christ. Thus were they rewarded for insulting and oppressing their brethren the Jews, and hereby were fulfilled the prophecies of Jeremiah in this chapter; and of the other Prophets enumerated in the note on the seventh verse. Bp. Newton.

Jeremiah 49:19

19. Behold, he shall come up like a lion &c.] A description of Nebuchadnezzar, marching with his army against Idumea. W. Lowth. Upon occasion of the inundations, to which the Jordan is subject, (see the note on chap. xii. 5,) we are told by Maundrell, that several sorts of wild beasts, which are wont to harbour

among the trees and bushes by the river side, are forced out of their covert, and infest the neighbouring plains. To this circumstance the Prophet here alludes. Dr. Blayney.

• I will suddenly make him run away from her:] The most probable sense of these words is, that they indicate the Edomites running away from Nebuchadnezzar out of their own country, which seems to be understood by “her.” Poole. “Him,” namely, “the son of man,” of whom it was said in the preceding verse, that he should not abide or dwell there. Dr. Blayney.

• and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her?] That is, I will single out a man remarkable for his prowess; namely, Nebuchadnezzar, and place him at the head of the army, which shall execute my vengeance upon Edom. W. Lowth.

• who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd &c.] Who will challenge me to meet him in the field, as if we were upon equal terms? Or what leader or general can enter the lists with me? The word “shepherd” often signifies a prince or commander: see chap. vi. 3; xxv. 34. But here it is used in opposition to the “lion,” mentioned before; as if he had said, A shepherd may as well encounter a lion, as the best appointed warriour contend with God Almighty, or those whom He makes the instruments of his vengeance. W. Lowth.

Jeremiah 49:20

20. • Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out:] The very meanest and basest of the Chaldean army shall discomfit and overthrow the proud inhabitants of Teman. Bp. Hall.

Jeremiah 49:21

21. The earth is moved at the noise &c.] The surrounding countries are astonished at its ruin, and the sound of it reaches even to the Red sea, which was at a considerable distance from the land of Edom. The Prophet compares the destruction of a nation to the fall of a great building: see Ezek. xxvi. 15; xxxi. 16. W. Lowth.

The judgment of Damascus, of Kedar, JEREMIAH. of Hazor, and of Elam. Before CHRIST about 600. Heb. sailed. Or, as on the s.a.

Jeremiah 49:23

23. Concerning Damascus.] Damascus was the capital of the kingdom of Syria, and had seemingly at this time swallowed up all the other petty sovereignties of that country. Isaiah had before uttered a prophecy concerning it of calamitous import, chap. xvii; which had been fulfilled by Tiglath-poleser’s taking it, and carrying away the people captives to Kir, 2 Kings xvi. 9. Amos also had foretold the same event, chap. i. 3—5. But it had recovered itself after the fall of the Assyrian empire, and is here doomed to suffer again the like calamities from the resentment of Nebuchadnezzar, probably about the same time with the other nations. See the note on chap. xlviii. 1. Dr. Blayney. — Hamath—and Arpad:] See the note on Isa. x. 9. — there is sorrow on the sea:] The word may be interpreted of the Arabians, who lay on the sea-coast: or, adopting the marginal reading, “as on the sea,” we may understand the sentence in the sense of Isaiah’s words, “They are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest,” chap. lvii. 20. W. Lowth.

Jeremiah 49:25

25. How is the city of praise not left, &c.] How is it, that so goodly and famous a city as Damascus, so praised, so admired, hath not the favour to be spared from sackcloth and vastation? Bp. Hall.

Jeremiah 49:27

27.— Ben-hadad.] This seems to have been a common name for the kings of Syria, as Pharaoh was for those of Egypt. Dr. Blayney. See the note on Gen. xii. 15. 28. Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor.] The kingdoms whose metropolis is Hazor or Petra. Kedar was that part of Arabia inhabited by the posterity of Kedar, Ishmael’s son, Gen. xxv. 13; called likewise “the kingdoms of Hazor,” each division

Jeremiah 49:29

29. Their tents and their flocks &c.] Their substance consisted in their cattle, their furniture, and their tents, from whence the country itself is called “the tents of Kedar,” Ps. cxx. 5: with these they removed from place to place for the convenience of pasture. See Isa. xiii. 20. W. Lowth.

Jeremiah 49:31

31. Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, &c.] Arise, O ye Chaldeans; get ye up to the wealthy nation of the Hazorites, that dwell without care in their tents; abounding with flocks and herds in the desert, where they dwell apart without cities or towns. Bp. Hall.

Jeremiah 49:34

34.— against Elam] Elam was an independent and even powerful kingdom in the days of Abram, Gen. xiv. 1. When the monarchy of Persia was established under Cyrus, Elam was blended into, and formed a part of it: but before that time they were two distinct kingdoms. According to the present prophecy, Elam is spoken of as having actually become a province of the Babylonish empire, Dan. viii. 2: and Daniel appears to have presided over it, having Shushan for the seat of his government. It therefore probably was, as the name would lead us to suppose, the country called by heathen writers Elymais, which Pliny and Strabo, in conformity with Daniel, describe as separated from Susiana by the river Eulacus, or Ulai. On the final subversion of the Babylonish monarchy, Elam was restored again, as is intimated below, ver. 39, to its former possessors, who had fought under the banners of the Medes and Persians. See Isa. xxi. 2. Dr. Blayney.

Jeremiah 49:35

35.— the bow of Elam.] Isaiah thus speaks of the The restoration of Elam. The judgment of Babylon. Before CHRIST 598.

the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.