Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 48:21
And judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath,
21. the plain country ] See Jer 48:8.
Holon ] not known. It is not the H. near Hebron of Jos 15:51; Jos 21:15.
Jahzah ] one of the Levitical cities (the Jahaz of Jos 21:36). There Moses defeated Sihon (Num 21:23).
Mephaath ] also a Levitical city (Jos 21:37). Both M. and Jahzah were in Reuben’s territory.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Holon – This place apparently took its name from caverns in its neighborhood.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 21. Upon Holon, &c.] All these were cities of the Moabites, but several of them are mentioned in no other place.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
21. plain (Jer48:8). Not only the mountainous regions, but also the plain,shall be wasted.
Holon(Compare Jos15:51).
Jahazah (Num 21:23;Isa 15:4).
Mephaath (Jos 13:18;Jos 21:37).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And judgment is come upon the plain country,…. Of Moab, which was for the most part such, especially that which lay near Arnon; the judgment of God’s vengeance, punishment for sin, by the hand of the Chaldeans. The Targum is,
“they that execute vengeance are come:”
upon Holon; a city of Moab; of which see Jos 15:51; it had its name perhaps from the sandy ground on which it stood. Grotius takes it to be the Alabana of Ptolemy:
and upon Jahazah: the same with Jahaz, [See comments on Isa 15:4]; reckoned by Grotius to be the Jadu of Ptolemy; see Jos 13:18;
and upon Mephaath; of which see Jos 13:18; said by Grotius to be the Maipha of Ptolemy.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In Jer 48:21-24 the general idea of Moab’s being laid waste is specialized by the enumeration of a long list of towns on which judgment has come. They are towns of , the table-land to the north of the Arnon, the names of which early all occur in the Pentateuch and Joshua as towns in the tribe of Reuben. But Holon is mentioned only here. According to Eusebius, in the Onomasticon, s.v. , Jahzah was situated between ( Medeba) and ( Dibon); according to Jerome, between Medeba and Debus, or Deblathai; but from Num 21:23, we conclude that it lay in an easterly direction, on the border of the desert, near the commencement of the Wady Wale. Mophaath or Mephaath, where, according to the Onomasticon, a Roman garrison was placed, on account of the near proximity of the desert, is to be sought for in the neighbourhood of Jahzah; see on Jos 13:18. As to Dibon, see on Jer 48:18; for Nebo, see on Jer 48:1. Beth-diblathaim is mentioned only in this passage. It is probably identical with Almon-diblathaim, Num 33:46, and to be sought for somewhere north from Dibon. For Kirjahthaim see Jer 48:1. Beth-gamul is nowhere else mentioned; its site, too, is unknown. Eli Smith, in Robinson’s Palestine, iii. App. p. 153, is inclined to recognise it in the ruins of Um-el-Jemel, lying on the southern boundary of the Hauran, about twenty miles south-west from Bozrah; but a consideration of the position shows that they cannot be the same. Beth-meon, or Baal-meon (Num 32:38), or more fully, Beth-baal-meon (Jos 13:17), lay about three miles south from Heshbon, where Burckhardt (p. 365) found some ruins called Mi-n (Robinson, iii. App. p. 170, Ma-n); see on Num 32:38. Kerioth, Jer 48:24 and Jer 48:41, and Amo 2:2, is not to be identified with the ruins called Kereyath or Kreiyath, mentioned by Burckhardt (p. 367) and Seetzen ( Reisen, ii. 342, iv. 384), as Ritter has assumed; for this Kereyath is more probably Kirjathaim (see on Jer 48:1). Rather, as is pretty fully proved by Dietrich (in Merx’ Archiv. i. 320ff.), it is a synonym of Ar, the old capital of Moab, Num 22:36; and the plural form is to be accounted for by supposing that Ar was made up of two or several large portions. We find two great arguments supporting this position: (1.) When Ar, the capital, occurs among the names of the towns of Moab, as in the list of those in Reuben, Jos 13:16-21, and in the prophecy against Moab in Isaiah, Jer 15 and 16, where so many Moabitic towns are named, we find no mention of Kerioth; and on the other hand, where Kerioth is named as an important town in Moab, Amo 2:2; Jer 48:1, there is no mention of Ar. (2.) Kerioth is mentioned as an important place in the country in Amo 2:2, where, from the whole arrangement of the prophecy, it can only be the capital of Moab; in this present chapter also, Jer 48:24, Kerioth and Bozrah are introduced as two very important towns which maintained the strength of Moab; and immediately afterwards it is added, “The horn of Moab is cut off,” etc. Further, in Jer 48:41 the capture of Kerioth is put on a level with the taking of the fortresses; while it is added, that the courage of the mighty men has failed, just as in Jer 49:22 the capture of Bozrah is coupled with the loss of courage on the part of Edom’s heroes. Bozrah is not to be confounded with Bozrah in Edom (Jer 49:13), nor with the later flourishing city of Bostra in Hauran: it is the same with Bezer ( ), which, according to Deu 4:43 and Jos 20:8, was situated in the Mishor of the tribe of Reuben, but has not yet been discovered; see on Deu 4:43. For the purpose of completing the enumeration, it is further added, “all the towns of the land of Moab, those which are far off (i.e., those which are situated towards the frontier) and those which are near” (i.e., the towns of the interior, as Kimchi has already explained). Thereby the horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm broken. Horn and arm are figures of power: the horn an emblem of power that boldly asserts itself, and pushes down all that opposes (cf. Psa 75:5, 11); the arm being rather an emblem of dominion.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(21) And judgment is come upon the plain country . . .We enter here upon a list of less known names, of which Jahaz, Beth-diblathaim, Beth-Baal-meon are found on the Moabite Stone inscription (Records of the Past, xi. 165-168). Holon does not appear elsewhere. Jahazah (under the form Jahaz) appears in Num. 21:23; Deu. 2:32; Jdg. 11:20, as the scene of a famous battle between Sihon and the Israelites, and in Isa. 15:4 in connexion with Heshbon and Elealeh. Mephaath was assigned to the Reubenites (Jos. 13:18), and afterwards to the Levites (Jos. 21:37; 1Ch. 6:79), but it had clearly fallen afterwards into the hands of the Moabites. Like the other cities named, it was in the Mishor, or plain, on the north of the Arnon.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
21. Holon Jahazah, etc. This is a list of towns and cities in Moab, most of which are mentioned elsewhere, but this first one, Holon, is found nowhere else.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 48:21 And judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath,
Ver. 21. And judgment is come upon the plain country. ] Such as the most part of Moab was.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 48:21-35
21Judgment has also come upon the plain, upon Holon, Jahzah and against Mephaath, 22against Dibon, Nebo and Beth-diblathaim, 23against Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul and Beth-meon, 24against Kerioth, Bozrah and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. 25The horn of Moab has been cut off and his arm broken, declares the LORD. 26Make him drunk, for he has become arrogant toward the LORD; so Moab will wallow in his vomit, and he also will become a laughingstock. 27Now was not Israel a laughingstock to you? Or was he caught among thieves? For each time you speak about him you shake your head in scorn.
28Leave the cities and dwell among the crags,
O inhabitants of Moab,
And be like a dove that nests
Beyond the mouth of the chasm.
29We have heard of the pride of Moab-he is very proud-
Of his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance and his self-exaltation.
30I know his fury, declares the LORD,
But it is futile;
His idle boasts have accomplished nothing.
31Therefore I will wail for Moab,
Even for all Moab will I cry out;
I will moan for the men of Kir-heres.
32More than the weeping for Jazer
I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah!
Your tendrils stretched across the sea,
They reached to the sea of Jazer;
Upon your summer fruits and your grape harvest
The destroyer has fallen.
33So gladness and joy are taken away
From the fruitful field, even from the land of Moab.
And I have made the wine to cease from the wine presses;
No one will tread them with shouting,
The shouting will not be shouts of joy.
34From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have raised their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim and to Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim will become desolate. 35I will make an end of Moab, declares the LORD, the one who offers sacrifice on the high place and the one who burns incense to his gods.
Jer 48:21-24 The cities of Moab are listed.
Jer 48:25 Two ancient metaphors are used to describe Moab’s total defeat.
1. her horn has been cut off (BDB 154, KB 180, Niphal PERFECT)
2. her arm broken (BDB 990, KB 1402, Niphal PERFECT)
Jer 48:26 The imagery from excessive wine drinking is used as a metaphor for judgment (cf. Jer 52:27; Isa 19:14).
1. make him drunk
2. wallow in his vomit (lit. splash, see BDB 706, Qal #3, meaning used only here, usually the VERB means to clap one’s hands in joy or one’s thigh in grief)
The reasons for YHWH’s judgment of Moab:
1. he is arrogant toward YHWH, Jer 48:26; Jer 48:42
2. he is prideful, Jer 48:29 (cf. Isa 16:6)
3. his idle boasts are futile, Jer 48:30
NASB, NRSV,
NJB, JPSOAlaughingstock
NKJV, REV,
Peshsittaderision
This word (BDB 966) denotes joyous laughter (Job 8:21; Psa 126:2; Ecc 2:2; Ecc 10:19), but when used in sarcasm it denotes derision (cf. Jer 20:7; Lam 3:14; Job 12:4).
Jer 48:27 What Moab did to Israel is now done to them (i.e., reversal)! For an example of this kind of derision see Lam 2:15-17!
Jer 48:28 This verse has three Qal IMPERATIVES. They use imagery involving the inhabitants of Moab, to seek safety in the uninhabited places (i.e., crags, caves, cf. Jer 16:16; Jdg 6:2; 1Sa 13:6; Isa 2:19).
Jer 48:29-39 The Jewish Study Bible (p. 1022) notes that these verses are written in a 3/2 beat, which characterized funeral songs. This is the lament form often used in prophetic literature in the sense of woe.
Jer 48:29 This is similar to Isa 16:6. Moab’s judgment is discussed in Isaiah 15-16. There are many literary parallels and allusions between Jeremiah 48 and Isaiah 15-16. Isaiah wrote before Jeremiah.
The UBS A Handbook on Jeremiah (p. 888) mentions that there are several NOUNS used to describe the pride of Moab.
1. the pride of Moab (BDB 144)
2. he is very proud (BDB 144 and 547)
3. his haughtiness (BDB 147)
4. his pride (BDB 144)
5. his arrogance (BDB 144)
6. his self-exaltation (lit. elevation of his heart, BDB 927 CONSTRUCT BDB 524)
This purposeful repetition is to powerfully communicate the prideful attitude of Moab (cf. Jer 48:7).
Jer 48:31-32 The subject is YHWH (cf. Jer 48:33; Jer 48:36; Jer 31:20; Isa 16:11; Hos 11:8-9). He continuously grieves over the necessity of judgment on Moab, part of the tribal inheritance of His people. Judgment is YHWH’s strange work! He desires to bless, prosper, and restore!
Notice the powerful, remorseful parallel.
1. I wail – BDB 410, KB 413, Hiphil IMPERFECT
2. I cry out – BDB 277, KB 277, Qal IMPERFECT
3. I mourn – BDB 211, KB 237, Qal IMPERFECT (form is THIRD PERSON but parallelism is FIRST PERSON)
The NASB Study Bible (p. 1132) asserts that the FIRST PERSON PRONOUN should refer to the prophet and uses Isa 15:5; Isa 16:9 as examples.
Jer 48:32 Lines 3 and 4 are repeated from Isa 16:8. The MT has sea twice but the LXX does not. The sea would refer to the Dead Sea.
Jer 48:34 The geographical locations are uncertain, but the meaning is obvious the outcry of judgment is heard far and wide!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Holon. Now probably Aleiyan (not Holon or Hilen in Judah).
Jahazah . . . Mephaath. Not yet identified. Compare Isa 15:4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the plain: Jer 48:8, Eze 25:9, Zep 2:9
Jahazah: Jos 13:18, Jahaza, Jos 21:36, Jos 21:37, Isa 15:4, Jahaz
Reciprocal: Jos 13:16 – General 1Ch 6:78 – Jahzah Jer 48:34 – Jahaz
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 48:21. The towns named in this verse were not very important and little is known of them. But the Moabites counted much on their many towns or cities, and the Lord wished them to get some idea of the greatness of His wrath by overthrowing them.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jeremiah listed 11 other cities of Moab that would experience destruction-representing all the towns in the nation.