Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 48:36
Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kir-heres: because the riches [that] he hath gotten are perished.
36. soundeth for Moab like pipes ] Their use was connected with funerals, so that the word is appropriate as expressing mourning. Isaiah’s word is “an harp” (Jer 16:11).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Like pipes – A wind instrument, used at funerals Mat 9:23.
The riches that he hath gotten – literally, that which remains over, a superfluity.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jer 48:36
Because the riches that he hath gotten are perished.
Riches are ever liable to perish
Prosperity is not to be deemed the greatest security. The lofty unbending cedar is more exposed to the injurious blast than the lowly shrub. The little pinnace rides safely along the shore, while the gallant ship advancing is wrecked. Those sheep which have the most wool are generally the soonest fleeced. Poverty is its own defence against robbery. Who would snake those trees upon which there is no fruit? (T. Secker.).
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
The prophet means such pipes as they were wont to use at funerals, and other sad occasions, to play doleful lessons upon; see Isa 15:5; because of the great change in the state of this poor people, which had got together a great deal of wealth, which is all perished.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
36. (See on Isa15:7; Isa 16:11).
like pipesa plaintiveinstrument, therefore used at funerals and in general mourning.
riches . . .gottenliterally, the abundance . . . that which is over andabove the necessaries of life. GROTIUStranslates, “They who have been left remaining shall perish”;they who have not been slain by the enemy shall perish by disease andfamine.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Therefore my heart shall sound for Moab like pipes,…. That are sounded on mournful occasions, as at funerals, and the like; see Mt 9:23. This the prophet said, as Kimchi observes, in the person of the people, the inhabitants of Moab; whose hearts would yearn and sound for the calamities of their country like the doleful sound of minstrels. So the Targum,
“therefore the Moabites shall sound in their hearts like a harp:”
and my heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kirheres; as for the country of Moab in general, so for this principal city, and the inhabitants of it, in particular; [See comments on Isa 16:11];
because the riches [that] he hath gotten is perished; either Moab or Kirheres; the abundance of goods they had got together were now lost, falling into the hands of the enemy; and which was matter of lamentation. The Targum is,
“for the rest of their substance they had got were spoiled.”
Some understand it of the residue of men that escaped the sword; these perished by famine, or other means; see Isa 15:7.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Further lamentation over the fall of Moab. – Jer 48:36. “Therefore my heart sounds like pipes for Moab, and my heart sounds like pipes for the men of Kir-heres; therefore the savings which he has made are perished. Jer 48:37. For every head is baldness, and every beard is shorn; on all hands there are cuts, and on loins sackcloth. Jer 48:38. On all the roofs of Moab, and in its streets, it is all mourning; for I have broken Moab like a vessel, in which there is no pleasure, saith Jahveh.” The prophet once more lifts up his lamentation over Moab (Jer 48:36 corresponds to Jer 48:31), and gives reason for it in the picture he draws of the deep affliction of the Moabites. Jer 48:36 is an imitation of Isa 16:11; the thought presented in v. 36 b accords with that found in Isa 15:7. Isaiah says, “My bowels sound (groan) like the harp,” whose strings give a tremulous sound when struck with the plectrum. Instead of this, Jeremiah puts the sounding of pipes, the instruments used in dirges (Mat 9:23). Moab and Kir-heres are mentioned together, as in Jer 48:31. , in the second clause, does not stand for , “on this account that” (Kimchi, Hitzig, Graf, etc.), but is co-ordinated with the first . The idea is not, “Therefore my heart mourns over Moab, because the savings are perished;” but because the sentence of desolation has been passed on the whole of Moab, therefore the heart of the prophet makes lament, and therefore, too, all the property which Moab has acquired is lost. , as a collective noun, is joined with the plural verb . On the construction , cf. Gesenius, 123, 3, Rem. 1; Ewald, 332, c. The proof of this is given by the deep sorrow and wailing of the whole Moabite nation, Jer 48:37. On all sides are tokens of the deepest sadness, – heads shorn bald, beards cut off, incisions on the hands, sackcloth round the loins.
Jer 48:37-38 Jer 48:37 is formed out of pieces taken from Isa 15:2-3. is a substantive, “baldness,” i.e., quite bald. , decurtata, instead of (in Isaiah), is weaker, but more suitable for the present connection. , i.e., cuts or scratches inflicted on the body, as signs of mourning; cf. Jer 16:6; Jer 41:5. , “It is all wailing;” nothing is heard but wailing, for God has broken Moab in pieces like a useless vessel. On the simile employed, cf. Jer 22:28.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Here the Prophet, as it has been before stated, does not mourn the calamity of the people of Moab, but assumes the character of others, so that the event might appear more evident, it being set as it were before our eyes; for as we have said, the wealth of the Moabites was so great at that time, that it dazzled the eyes of all. It was then difficult for the faithful to form an idea of this vengeance of God, therefore the Prophet transfers to himself the feelings of others, and relates what the Moabites would do, when God had so grievously afflicted them.
My heart, he says, shall sound like pipes Some think that mournful pipes are meant, but I know not whether or not they were instruments of this kind; and there are those who think that חללים, chellim, were bag-pipes, but what is too refined I leave. The Prophet simply means that such would be the trepidation, that the hearts of the Moabites would make a noise like pipes. He repeats the same thing in different words, that his heart would make a noise, or sound, for the men of Kir-heres, of which city we spoke yesterday.
He now adds, for the residue which they have made, or which Moab has made, for the verb is in the singular number; and then, they have perished, where also there is a change of number; but the reference is to the word “residue,” יתרת, iteret, which included hidden treasures, as we have stated. (20) Whatever then the Moabites had gained for themselves, and whatever they thought would be always safe, the Prophet declares that it would perish. Isaiah adds, “their substance,” פקותם, pekotem, and says, that they would carry it to the willows, that is, to deserted places; as though he had said, that all the wealth of the Moabites would be scattered, as though it were, as they say, a thing forsaken. It now follows —
(20) As to this clause, widely different are all the versions; the Targ. gives the general sense. The word יתרת is evidently plural, the ו being wanting. “Reserves,” as given by Blayney, is an exact rendering, —
Because the reserves he had made have perished.
Connected with this word is another in Isa 15:7, which means “deposits;” both signify the wealth or treasures they had laid up. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(36) Mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes . . .The words reproduce Isa. 16:11. His heart becomes, as it were, musical in its groans and sighs. He cannot look on the panic-stricken and mourning city without sharing in its misery. In the baldness (Jer. 7:29; Jer. 16:6), the clipped beard, the cuttings (Jer. 16:6; Jer. 41:5), the sackcloth (Jer. 4:8; Jer. 6:26; Joe. 1:8) we have the wonted signs of mourning for the dead. The pipe is chosen rather than the harp, as in Isa. 16:11, because it had come to be the recognised music for funerals (so in Mat. 9:23).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
36. Pipes In Isaiah it is harp. Jeremiah says “pipes” for the plaintive and dirge-like quality of the music.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lamentation over Moab
v. 36. Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, v. 37. For every head shall be bald, v. 38. There shall be lamentation generally, v. 39. They shall howl, v. 40. For thus saith the Lord, Behold, he, v. 41. Kerioth, v. 42. And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, v. 43. Fear and the pit, v. 44. He that fleeth from the fear, v. 45. They that fled, v. 46. Woe be unto thee, O Moab! The people of Chemosh perisheth, v. 47. Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the Lord,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Jer 48:36. Therefore, &c. The music of pipes was used at funerals. See Sir Norton Knatchbull’s notes on Mat 9:23. See Isa 16:11. Galen compares the hoarse and dead sound of the bowels when they are empty to that of the flutes used at funerals. See lib. 3: de Symtomat. Causis.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jer 48:36 Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kirheres: because the riches [that] he hath gotten are perished.
Ver. 36. Therefore my heart. ] See Isa 15:5 ; Isa 16:11 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 48:36-39
36Therefore My heart wails for Moab like flutes; My heart also wails like flutes for the men of Kir-heres. Therefore they have lost the abundance it produced. 37For every head is bald and every beard cut short; there are gashes on all the hands and sackcloth on the loins. 38On all the housetops of Moab and in its streets there is lamentation everywhere; for I have broken Moab like an undesirable vessel, declares the LORD. 39How shattered it is! How they have wailed! How Moab has turned his back-he is ashamed! So Moab will become a laughingstock and an object of terror to all around him.
Jer 48:37-38 These were signs of mourning (cf. Jer 4:8, see Special Topic: Grieving Rites ). It is possible they were also denoting idol rituals (i.e., gashes on their hands, cf. Jer 16:6, or on house tops, cf. Jer 19:13; Jer 32:29) or possibly even the corrupted worship of YHWH (cf. Jer 41:5).
Jer 48:39 turned back This VERB (BDB 815, KB 937, Hiphil PERFECT) can refer to
1. humiliation
2. retreat in battle
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
like pipes. Used in mourning at funerals. Compare Mat 9:23.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
mine heart: Jer 4:19, Isa 15:5, Isa 16:11, Isa 63:15
Kirheres: Jer 48:31
the riches: Jer 17:11, Pro 11:4, Pro 13:22, Pro 18:11, Ecc 5:13, Ecc 5:14, Isa 15:7, Luk 12:20, Luk 12:21, Jam 5:2, Jam 5:3
Reciprocal: 2Ki 3:25 – Kirharaseth Isa 15:1 – Kir Jer 31:20 – are troubled Lam 1:20 – my bowels Mic 1:8 – I will wail 1Pe 1:7 – that
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 48:36. The distressful situation of Moab is described figuratively in this passage. The prophet (speaking for the Lord) expresses a pitiable attitude toward the sad fate decreed to come upon the land. The figure is based upon an instrument called a pipe. The appropriateness of such a comparison will bo apparent in the following quotation from Smith’s Bible Dictionary: The sound of the pipe was apparently a soft, wailing note, which made it appropriate to be used in mourning and at funerals. This explains to us the reason for the language in Mat 9:23.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
48:36 Therefore my heart shall sound for Moab like {u} pipes, and my heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kirheres: because the riches [that] he hath gotten have perished.
(u) Their custom was to play on flutes or instruments, heavy and grave tunes at burials and in the time of mourning, as in Mat 9:23 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Jeremiah continued to mourn over Moab’s destruction. His mourning was like the sound of flute players in that it, too, sounded like wailing. The abundance of Moab’s lost produce was good reason to sorrow.