Jeremiah 48:18

Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds. THOU DAUGHTER - (, "O virgin daughter of Babylon"). THAT DOST INHABIT - now so securely settled, as if in a lasting habitation. SIT IN THIRST - Dibon, being situated on the Arnon, abounded in water (). In sad contrast with this, and with her "glory" in general, she shall be reduced not only to shame, but to the want of the commonest necessaries ("thirst") in the arid wilderness (). HE SHALL DESTROY THY STRONGHOLDS. There are found by travelers now relics...

Here the Prophet turns to address the city Dibon, which was renowned among that people. The mode of speaking is well known; he calls the people of the city the _daughter of Dibon_; and he calls the daughter an _inhabitant_, because the Moabites, as it has been said, ever rested in safety and quietness in their own habitations, for no one disturbed them. It is, then, the same as though he had said, “Ye who have hitherto been in a quiet state, _descend _now _from your glory, and dwell in thirst_. ” (10) By thirst he means the want of all things. Thirst is set in opposition to glory; but it is more than if the Prophet had mentioned disgrace or poverty; for there are many who are otherwise oppressed by want, and yet find fountains or streams; but when there is no drop of water to quench thirst, it is an extreme misery. We hence see that the Prophet exaggerates the punishment of the Moabites,...

14-47. The destruction of Moab is further prophesied, to awaken them by national repentance and reformation to prevent the trouble, or by a personal repentance and reformation to prepare for it. In reading this long roll of threatenings, and mediating on the terror, it will be of more use to us to keep in view the power of God's anger and the terror of his judgments, and to have our hearts possessed with a holy awe of God and of his wrath, than to search into all the figures and expressions here used. Yet it is not perpetual destruction. The chapter ends with a promise of their return out of captivity in the latter days. Even with Moabites God will not contend for ever, nor be always wroth. The Jews refer it to the days of the Messiah; then the captives of the Gentiles, under the yoke of sin and Satan, shall be brought back by Divine grace, which shall make them free indeed....

Verse Jeremiah 48:18. _THAT DOST INHABIT DIBON_] This was anciently a city of the Reubenites, afterwards inhabited by the Moabites, about two leagues north of the river Arnon, and about six to the east of the Dead Sea.-_Dahler_....

SIT IN THIRST - Jeremiah draws a picture of the conquered inhabitants, collected outside the walls, waiting for their captors to march them away to the slave mart. The enemy occupied with plundering the houses of Dibon thinks little of the hunger and thirst of his prisoners. STRONG HOLDS - The remains of the fortifications of Dibon are still visible....

EXPOSITION This prophecy is so full of repetitions that the question has naturally arisen whether the most prominent of these may not be due to interpolation. For instance: 1.Jeremiah 48:29-24 recur in Isaiah 16:6; Isaiah 15:4, Isaiah 15:5, Isaiah 15:6; Isaiah 16:12, Isaiah 16:11;...

THOU DAUGHTER THAT DOST INHABIT DIBON,.... A city in Moab; Isaiah 15:2. The Targum is, "O kingdom of the congregation of Dibon;'' but this was not a kingdom of itself, though a principal city in the kingdom of Moab: COME DOWN FROM [THY] GLORY, AND SIT IN THIRST; in a dry and thirsty land; in want of all the necessaries of life; in captivity; who before abounded with all good things, inhabiting a well watered and fruitful soil; see Isaiah 15:9; but now called to quit all their former glory and happiness, their fulness and felicity, and submit to the greatest straits and difficulties: FOR THE SPOILER OF MOAB SHALL COME UPON THEE, [AND] HE SHALL DESTROY THY STRONG HOLDS; the king of Babylon and his army, who spoiled the other cities of Mo

CHAPTER 48 Concerning Moab _ 1. The overthrow of Moab (Jeremiah 48:1) _ 2. The humiliation of Moab (Jeremiah 48:11) 3. Reaping what they sowed (Jeremiah 48:20) 4. Destroyed on account of its pride (Jeremiah 48:29) With these divisions the chapter may be studied in detail. Moab was of incestuous off spring Genesis 19:37. Israel is now exhorted to flee and save itself because Moab is to be destroyed. Moab's national deity was Chemosh, who was also worshipped by the sister nation, the

Moab, hitherto undisturbed, is compared with wine left standing on its sediment (Isaiah 25:6), and retaining its flavour and scent (_i.e._ being self-centred and undisciplined; _cf._ the pride of Jeremiah 48:29). But now she is roughly handled, and the jars (Jeremiah 48:12 _mg._ 2) broken. She shall be put to shame through (the helplessness of) Chemosh (so render in Jeremiah 48:13), as Israel was through her false trust in the worship at Bethel (Amos 5:5). In spite of her warriors, she is soon to be ravaged, and a dirge ...

DIBON. Now _Dhiban._ Ruins north of the river Arnon. Compare Jeremiah 48:22....