Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 48:16

The calamity of Moab [is] near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast.

Near to come – Twenty-three years elapsed between the fourth year of Jehoiakim, when this prophecy was spoken, and its accomplishment by the invasion of Moab five years after the capture of Jerusalem. So slowly does Gods justice move onward.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Josephus tells us this destruction came upon the Moabites five years after the siege of Jerusalem; but if it were longer, we must consider that he who speaketh is that God to whom a thousand years is but as one day.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

16. nearto the prophet’s eye,though probably twenty-three years elapsed between the utterance ofthe prophecy in the fourth year of Jehoiakim (2Ki24:2) and its fulfilment in the fifth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

The calamity of Moab [is] near to come,…. As it did come within live years after the destruction of Jerusalem, as observed on

Jer 48:12; out of Josephus:

and his affliction hasteth fast: or, “his evil” z the evil of punishment for his sin; his utter destruction.

z “malum ejus”, V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Schmidt.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Moab’s glory is departed. – Jer 48:16. “The destruction of Moab is near to come, and his trouble hastens rapidly. Jer 48:17. Bewail him, all [ye who are] round about him, and all who know his name! Say, How the rod of strength is broken, the staff of majesty! Jer 48:18. Come down from [thy] glory, and sit in the drought, [thou] inhabitants, daughter of Dibon; for the destroyer of Moab hath come up against thee, he hath destroyed thy strongholds. Jer 48:19. Stand by the way, and watch, O inhabitants of Aroer! ask him who flees, and her that has escaped; say, What has happened? Jer 48:20. Moab is ashamed, for it is broken down: howl and cry out; tell it in Arnon, that Moab is laid waste. Jer 48:21. And judgment hath come upon the country of the plain, upon Holon, and upon Jahzah, and upon Mephaath, Jer 48:22. And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim, Jer 48:23. And upon Kirjathaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth-meon, Jer 48:24. And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, those that are far off and those that are near. Jer 48:25. The horn of Moab is cut off, ad his arm is broken, saith Jahveh.”

The downfall of Moab will soon begin. Jer 48:16 is an imitation of Deu 32:35; cf. Isa 13:22; Isa 56:1. The fall of the Moabite power and glory will be so terrible, that all the nations, near ad distant, will have pity on him. The summons to lament, Jer 48:17, is not a mockery, but is seriously meant, for the purpose of expressing the idea that the downfall of so mighty and glorious a power will rouse compassion. The environs of Moab are the neighbouring nations, and “those who know his name” are those who live far off, and have only heard about him. The staff, the sceptre, is the emblem of authority; cf. Eze 19:11-12, Eze 19:14, and Psa 110:2.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

Here the Prophet expresses something more, that the vengeance of which he spoke was near and hastening. It served to alleviate the sorrow of the faithful, when they understood that the Moabites would shortly be punished; for it was a grievous and bitter trial, when God severely chastened his own children, to see that the wicked were in the meantime spared. As, then, he deferred his judgments as to the wicked, that delay tended to drive the faithful to despair, at least they could not bear with sufficient patience the scourges of God.

This is the reason why the Prophet now says, Near is the destruction of the Moabites, and their calamity hastens And though God did for some time yet bear with the Moabites, so that they remained in a quiet state, and reveled in their pleasures, yet this prophecy was true; for we are to bear in mind that truth, which ought ever to be remembered as to promises and threatenings, that a thousand years are as one day with the Lord: and hence is that exhortation given by the Prophet Habakkuk,

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If the prophecy delays, wait for it; for coming it will come, and will not delay.” (Hab 2:3)

And this mode of speaking occurs often in the prophets. When, therefore, God denounces punishment on the wicked and the despisers of his Law, he says, “Behold, your day hastens,” and he says this, that they might be awakened and begin to fear in due time.

But here, as I have reminded you, Jeremiah had a regard to his own people. For the faithful might have objected, and said, “What can this be? how long will God defer the punishment which he threatens to our enemies?” Hence he says, “Strengthen your minds for a little while, for God will presently stretch forth his hand and show that he is a defender who cares for you and your safety; for he will set himself against the Moabites, because they have been unfaithful and vexatious to you.” It is, then, for this reason that he says, Near is their destruction, and their vengeance hastens

We may hence learn this useful doctrine, that whenever God promises anything, we ought to receive it as a present thing, though yet hidden and even remote. There is no distance which ought to impede our faith; but we ought to regard as certain whatever God promises, and as though it were before our eyes and in our hand. And the same ought to be the case as to threatenings; whenever God denounces anything hard and grievous, it ought to touch and move us the same as though we saw his hand armed with a sword, and as though the very execution of his vengeance was exhibited before our eyes. For we know what the Scripture teaches us elsewhere,

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When the wicked shall say, Peace and security, destruction comes suddenly on them, as the pain of childbearing, which seizes a woman when she thinks nothing of it.” (1Th 5:3)

Let us then learn to set God’s favor ever as present, and also all punishments, so that we may really fear them. It follows —

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

Moab’s Glory Followed by its Deep Fall

v. 16. The calamity of Moab is near to come, so that destruction will soon overtake him, and his affliction hasteth fast, his misfortune coming on apace, with great speed.

v. 17. All ye that are about him, all his neighbors, bemoan him, and all ye that know his name, those living at a distance and knowing only the fame of Moab, say, How is the strong staff broken and the beautiful rod! The breaking of Moab’s scepter of beauty and splendor signifies the total overthrow of his government and rule. The admonition is addressed in a general way, to emphasize the total ruin of the former mighty people.

v. 18. Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, a city some four miles north of the Arnon, come down from thy glory and sit in thirst, her surroundings becoming an arid wilderness; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strongholds, leveling all her proud fortifications in which she trusted.

v. 19. O inhabitant of Aroer, a city on the northern bank of the Arnon, originally belonging to Ammon, Deu 2:36; Deu 3:12, stand by the way and espy, watching, as it were, for the fugitive Moabites coming down from the north to escape the Chaldean invaders; ask him that fleeth and her that escapeth, for both men and women were seeking to save their lives by a hurried flight, and say, What is done? The answer to this question is given in the next verse.

v. 20. Moab is confounded, put to shame and confusion; for it is broken down; howl and cry! Tell ye it in Arnon, the former northern boundary between Moab and Ammon, that Moab is spoiled, the news of its destruction traveling southward with the fugitives.

v. 21. And judgment is come upon the plain country, upon the plateau; north of the Arnon, cities which had been in the possession of the tribe of Reuben for some centuries after the conquest, upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath,

v. 22. and upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim,

v. 23. and upon Kiria-thaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth-meon,

v. 24. and upon Kerioth, probably another name for the capital of the country, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near, most of these being situated in the region east of the Dead Sea. The fact that the judgment has struck Moab is made more specific by the enumeration of the individual cities that have been destroyed.

v. 25. The horn of Moab, emblem of strength and sovereignty, is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the Lord, he has lost all his former great power, his mighty position is shattered. All this, as the prophet now points out, is the result of Moab’s pride.

v. 26. Make ye him drunken, so the prophet addresses all those whom the Lord has made executors of His punishment, for he magnified himself against the Lord, wherefore he must drink the cup of Jehovah’s avenging fury; Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, the consequence of his intoxication, and he also shall be in derision, an object of mockery on the part of all men. This is retribution in kind.

v. 27. For was not Israel a derision unto thee? Did Moab not make a mockery of the people of God? Was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy, or, “Had he been found among thieves that thou, as often as thou spakest of him, shookest thy head?” Moab had given every exhibition of derision and mockery over Israel, while, in truth, this nation, together with other heathen nations nearby, had been the cause of Israel’s criminal conduct.

v. 28. O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, dwellings which no longer offered a sufficient shelter, and dwell in the rock, in caves of inaccessible mountain fastnesses, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole’s mouth, on the walls of the yawning ravine.

v. 29. We have heard the pride of Moab (he is exceeding proud), his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart, the synonymous terms being heaped to express, in a way, the unusual hatefulness of Moab’s sin.

v. 30. I know his wrath, his furious insolence, saith the Lord; but it shall not be so, his boastings are nothingness, idle talk, vain vauntings; his lies shall not so effect it, his deeds being just as vain as his words. All this causes the prophet to give expression to his sympathy for Moab, well as it had deserved its fate.

v. 31. Therefore will I howl for Moab, raise his voice in lamentation, and I will cry out for all Moab; mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kir-heres, the strongest citadel of the country, probably identical with Kir-Moab.

v. 32. O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer, or, “more than Jazer,” since, because the vines of Sibmah excelled in grapes which they produced, their destruction by the enemy was a calamity; thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the Sea of Jazer, to the Dead Sea and beyond, and northward to the pools of Jazer, considerably beyond Heshbon. The spoiler is fallen upon thy summer-fruits and upon thy vintage, so that this entire industry was ruined.

v. 33. And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, from the fertile farm- and garden-land which has just been described, and from the land of Moab, from the entire country; and I have caused wine to fail from the wine-presses, there being no longer a supply of grapes for them; none shall tread with shouting, with the usual cry of “Hedad!” heard in the fields; their shouting shall be no shouting. Cf Isa 16:7-10.

v. 34. From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, that is, throughout the entire country inhabited by the Moabites, from the northern part to the southern end of their land, the cry of distress was heard, from Zoar, in the southwest, even unto Horonaim, as an heifer of three years old, or, “to the third Eglat,” one of three villages bearing the same name; for the waters also of Nimrim, copious springs with the meadow-lands belonging to them, near the southern end of the Dead Sea, shall be desolate, dried up as a result of God’s punishment.

v. 35. Moreover, I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the Lord, him that offereth in the high places and him that burneth incense to his gods, making an end of all idolaters, as He would break down their places of worship. The same fate eventually awaits all idolaters, also those who indulge in the finer forms of the sin only and consider themselves safe in their insolent behavior.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Jer 48:16 The calamity of Moab [is] near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast.

Ver. 16. The calamity of Moab is near to come. ] See on Jer 48:15 .

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

hasteth fast. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 32:35). App-92.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

near: Jer 1:12, Deu 32:35, Isa 13:22, Isa 16:13, Isa 16:14, Eze 12:23, Eze 12:28, 2Pe 2:3

Reciprocal: 2Ki 23:13 – Chemosh

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Jer 48:16. This verse is still a prediction in the present tense, but it is a little more definite as to time and says the fulfillment is soon to come.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Moab’s destruction would come soon, so all her neighbor nations should mourn her destruction (cf. Deu 32:35). They should bewail the fall of such a strong and splendid rule.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)