Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 48:20
Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled,
20. broken down ] See on Jer 48:1.
in Arnon ] rather, by the Arnon, i.e. on its banks.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
20 24. The metrical arrangement begun in Jer 48:17 ends in the middle of Jer 48:20. From “tell ye it” onwards to the end of Jer 48:24 is in all probability a later addition. Of the places not already mentioned in the ch. the position of some is quite unknown.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
20 28. See introd. summary to the ch.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Or, Moab is ashamed, because she (Dibon) is broken by her fortifications being battered down.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 20. Tell ye it in Arnon] Apprize the inhabitants there that the territories of Moab are invaded, and the country about to be destroyed, that they may provide for their own safety.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Arnon was the name of a river, Num 21:14; Deu 2:36; Jos 12:1. It was the border of Moab, whither Balak went to meet Balaam, Num 22:36; probably the adjacent country or city might take its name from the river.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. Answer of the fleeingMoabites to the Ammonite inquirers (Jer 48:19;Isa 16:2). He enumerates theMoabite cities at length, as it seemed so incredible that all shouldbe so utterly ruined. Many of them were assigned to the Levites,while Israel stood.
in Arnonthe northboundary between Moab and Ammon (Jer 48:19;Num 21:13).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Moab is confounded, for it is broken down,…. This is the answer returned, by those that had escaped and were fleeing, to those who inquired of them; who report that the whole country of Moab was in the utmost confusion and consternation; not being able to stand before the enemy, who broke down and destroyed all that was in his way: and therefore calls upon them to
howl and cry; because of the general ruin at the nation, and who must expect themselves to share the same fate; and therefore should prepare themselves and their neighbours for it, as follows:
tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled; the country of Arnon, so called from a river of that name, on the banks of which Aroer was situated; the inhabitants of which are desired to spread it all over that part of the country, that Moab was utterly ruined by the Chaldean army; the particulars of which follow:
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
We have stated why the Prophet describes so fully the ruin of the Moabites, and dwells so long on a subject in no way obscure; it was not indeed enough merely to teach and to show what was useful to be known, but it was also necessary to add goads, that the Jews might attend to these prophecies; nay, it was necessary to drive as it were with a hammer into their minds what would have been otherwise incredible; for they deemed it a fable that the Moabites could thus be broken, laid waste, and reduced to nothing. The Prophet then would have labored in vain, or spoken ineffectually, had he described in simple and plain words what we here read. But he added vehemence to his words, as though he would drive in his words with a hammer and fasten them in the minds of the people.
He then says, that Moab was ashamed, because he was smitten And then he turns again to address their neighbors, Howl, cry, and declare in Aroer: but the Prophet ironically exhorted others to howl and cry; for, as we have said, it was not his purpose to show that they deserved pity who had been the most cruel enemies to God’s Church, but to show that God’s vengeance would be so dreadful as to call forth cryings and howlings through the whole neighborhood. And then he adds, Declare it in Aroer; and afterwards he names many cities; as though he had said, that no corner of the land would be free from fear and anxiety, because the enemies, after having made an inroad into one part, would turn to another, so as to make no end of ravaging, until they had destroyed the whole country and all the people. Of these cities and of their situation there is no need of saying much, for it would be a useless labor. For in the last place, the Prophet sufficiently shews that what he had in view was what I have stated; for he says, on all the cities of Moab, remote as well as near: he intimates that no part of the land would be exempted from destruction; for the enemies having begun to attack it, would not cease until they had gone through every part, and desolation had spread everywhere, as though the whole country had been burnt with fire. It follows, —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(20) Tell ye it in Arnon.The name, which means a rushing stream, belonged to the chief river of Moab, now the Mugab, which rises in the Arabian mountains and flows into the Dead Sea. It appears in the war-song quoted, in Num. 21:14, from the Book of the Wars of the Lord, and the high places on either side its course were crowned with the castles of the lords of Moab (Num. 21:28). The verse contains the answer to the question that precedes itThis is what has come to pass, Moab is confounded and spoiled. For the plain country see Note on Jer. 48:8.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(20) Make ye him drunken . . .The image is suggested by the wine-cup of Jehovahs fury in Jer. 25:15, and was familiar in the symbolic language of the prophets (Isa. 51:17; Job. 21:20; Eze. 23:32; Rev. 14:10). The words that follow paint the image in its strongest colours. As men looked with scorn on the drunkard wallowing in his shame, so should they look on Moab, that had been so boastful in its pride, when it was brought low.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 48:20 Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled,
Ver. 20. Moab is confounded. ] See on Jer 48:15 .
Tell it in Arnon.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Arnon. Now Wady Mojib, on the east side of the Dead Sea.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
confounded: Jer 48:1-5, Isa 15:1-5, Isa 15:8, Isa 16:7-11
Arnon: Num 21:13, Num 21:14, Num 21:26-28, Deu 2:36, Jos 13:9, Jdg 11:18, Isa 16:2
Reciprocal: Num 22:36 – the border Jer 4:8 – howl Jer 48:8 – and no Jer 49:3 – Howl Jer 51:8 – howl
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 48:20. This gives the answer to the inquiry, which is that Moab is confounded or confused because it is
broken by the invasion of the Babylonians. Arnon was a Btream on whose banks the city of Aroer was located, and the stream is represented as lamenting the hard fate of the country through which it flowed.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 48:20-28. Enumeration of the cities which are to suffer (Jer 48:20-24). The strength of Moab is destroyed, and Moab is become drunken (with the cup of Yahweh, Jer 25:15), an object of present derision, as Israel formerly was to Moab, when Israel was treated as a detected thief (Jer 2:26). Let the Moabites seek refuge like the dove in the inaccessible crannies of some ravine.
Jer 48:20 ff. Several of these sites are unknown; Bozrah is not the Edomite city of Jer 49:13.
Jer 48:25. horn: a figure of strength, drawn from the bull; cf. Psa 75:10.
Jer 48:26. wallow: rather splash into, but LXX has Moab has clapped his hands, i.e. in derision of others.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
48:20 {m} Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: wail and cry; tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is laid waste,
(m) Thus they who flee will answer.