Jeremiah 49

Chapter context

What is happening in Jeremiah 49?

judgmenttearsnew covenantfalse worship

Jeremiah 49 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as fall of Jerusalem and later appendices. Jeremiah combines fierce warning, autobiographical anguish, symbolic action, the promise of a new covenant, and the trauma of Jerusalem’s fall. Read this chapter with the wider themes of judgment, tears, and new covenant in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.

¹ Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the LORD; Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities? ² Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the LORD. ³ Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together. ⁴ Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come unto me? ⁵ Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those that be about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him that wandereth. ⁶ And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the LORD. ⁷ Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished? ⁸ Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I will visit him. ⁹ If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough. ¹⁰ But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not. ¹¹ Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me. ¹² For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it. ¹³ For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes. ¹⁴ I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather ye together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle. ¹⁵ For, lo, I will make thee small among the heathen, and despised among men. ¹⁶ Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD. ¹⁷ Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof. ¹⁸ As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it. ¹⁹ Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me? ²⁰ Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them. ²¹ The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea. ²² Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. ²³ Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet. ²⁴ Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail. ²⁵ How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy! ²⁶ Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts. ²⁷ And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad. ²⁸ Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus saith the LORD; Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east. ²⁹ Their tents and their flocks shall they take away: they shall take to themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry unto them, Fear is on every side. ³⁰ Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith the LORD; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you. ³¹ Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, that dwelleth without care, saith the LORD, which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone. ³² And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds them that are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, saith the LORD. ³³ And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it. ³⁴ The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, ³⁵ Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might. ³⁶ And upon Elam will I bring 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. ³⁷ For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them: ³⁸ And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the LORD. ³⁹ But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.

Study helps

Glossary

Ammon Place v. 1-4, 6: Biblical region. Modern identification: Amman.
Gad Person v. 1: Fortune; luck. (1. ) Jacob’s seventh son, by Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid, and the brother of Asher ( Gen. 30:11-13 ; 46:16 , 18). In the Authorized Version of 30:11 the words, “A troop cometh: and she called,” etc.
Rabbah Place v. 2-3: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Amman.
Ai Place v. 3: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Khirbet Ai.
Heshbon Place v. 3: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Tell Hesban.
Sackcloth People v. 3: Cloth made of black goats’ hair, coarse, rough, and thick, used for sacks, and also worn by mourners ( Gen. 37:34 ; 42:25 ; 2 Sam. 3:31 ; Esther 4:1 , 2; Ps. 30:11 , etc. ), and as a sign of repentance ( Matt. 11:21 ).
Edom Place v. 7-8, 10, 14-15, 17-22: Biblical region. Modern identification: Buseira.
Teman Place v. 7, 20: Id. (1. ) A grandson of Esau, one of the “dukes of Edom” ( Gen. 36:11 , 15, 42). (2. ) A place in Southern Idumea, the land of “the sons of the east,” frequently mentioned in the Old Testament. Modern identification: Tawilan.
Dedan Place v. 8: A rose, an island to the south of the western extremity of Asia Minor, between Coos and Patara, about 46 miles long and 18 miles broad. Modern identification: Al Khuraybah.
Bozrah Place v. 13, 22: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Buseira.
Gomorrah Place v. 18: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: south of the Lisan.
Sodom Place v. 18: Burning; the walled, a city in the vale of Siddim ( Gen. 13:10 ; 14:1-16 ). The wickedness of its inhabitants brought down upon it fire from heaven, by which it was destroyed (18:16-33; 19:1-29; Deut. 23:17 ). Modern identification: south of the Lisan.
Jordan Place v. 19: Biblical river. Modern identification: Jordan River.
Red Sea Place v. 21: Biblical body of water. Modern identification: Gulf of Aqaba.
Arpad Place v. 23: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Tell Rifat.
Damascus Place v. 23-24, 27: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Damascus.
Hamath Place v. 23: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Hama.
City People v. 25: The earliest mention of city-building is that of Enoch, which was built by Cain ( Gen. 4:17 ). After the confusion of tongues, the descendants of Nimrod founded several cities (10:10-12).
Babylon Place v. 28, 30-31: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Babylon.
East Place v. 28: (1. ) The orient (mizrah); the rising of the sun. Thus “the east country” is the country lying to the east of Syria, the Elymais ( Zech. 8:7 ). (2). Modern identification: Amman.
Hazor Place v. 28, 30, 33: Biblical region. Modern identification: Dumat al Jandal.
Kedar Place v. 28: Biblical people group. Modern identification: Dumat al Jandal.
Elam Place v. 34-39: Biblical region. Modern identification: Shush.
Jeremiah Person v. 34: Raised up or appointed by Jehovah. (1. ) A Gadite who joined David in the wilderness ( 1 Chr. 12:10 ). (2. ) A Gadite warrior ( 1 Chr. 12:13 ). (3. ) A Benjamite slinger who joined David at Ziklag ( 1 Chr. 12:4 ).
Zedekiah Person v. 34: Righteousness of Jehovah. (1. ) The last king of Judah.
Bow Tribe v. 35: The bow was in use in early times both in war and in the chase ( Gen. 21:20 ; 27:3 ; 48:22 ). The tribe of Benjamin were famous for the use of the bow ( 1 Chr. 8:40 ; 12:2 ; 2 Chr. 14:8 ; 17:17 ); so also were the Elamites.