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jeremiah 49:7-22

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Jeremiah 49:7-22

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”

— D.L. Moody

Scripture focus

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.

Jeremiah 49:7-22 — KJV

Commentary

Commentary on Jeremiah 49:7

Theological / Devotional

Edom. The land of the Edomites, known also as “mount Seir” (see Gen. 36:8), lay south of Moab, extending from the brook Zered southward toward the Gulf of Aqabah. It included the country on both sides of the Arabah, the great geological fault that continues the rift of the Jordan valley, south of the Dead Sea. The country to the east of the Arabah is characterized by colorful limestone formations. Though it is semidesert and sparsely populated today, there is ample archeological evidence that Edom in Biblical times supported an extensive population. It was important for two reasons: first, it contained valuable copper and iron deposits (cf. Deut. 8:9), which its rulers exploited; and second, it controlled the trade route from the desert to western Palestine and the Mediterranean, as well as the great King’s Highway running north into Syria.

The people of Edom were more closely related to the Israelites than were either the Moabites or the Ammonites; they were descended from Esau, “who is Edom” (Gen. 36:1). For this reason Israel was commanded to show them special consideration (see Deut. 23:7). Although relations between the two nations appear at first to have been reasonably friendly (see Deut. 2:4-6, 29), they later deteriorated into bitter animosity.

The Edomites took particular delight in the fact that Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians (see Ps. 137:7).

Jeremiah’s prophecy against Edom closely parallels that of Obadiah. Several passages are so strikingly similar (Jer. 49:7; cf. Obadiah 8; Jer. 49:9, 10a; cf. Obadiah 5, 6; Jer. 49:14-16; cf. Obadiah 1-4) that it appears that one writer quoted the other. However, it is impossible to determine which represents the original and which a quotation, or whether, indeed, the two prophets may have collaborated on these passages and then each included them in his own utterance.

Teman. Either one of the tribal districts of Edom, taking its name from Teman, the grandson of Esau (see Gen. 36:15), or as a poetic synonym for Edom.

By SdaBc

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