Jeremiah 48:46

Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives. WOE BE UNTO THEE, O MOAB! THE PEOPLE OF CHEMOSH PERISHETH ... Copied from ....

Here the Prophet, as he comes to the end of his prophecy, suddenly exclaims, _Woe to thee _! as though he had said, that words failed him to express the grievousness of God’s vengeance. There is then more force in this single expression, than if he had at large described the miseries of that nation. He then adds, _The people of Chemosh have perished _The Prophet again intimates, that the Moabites vainly confided in their idol, Chemosh; they thought that there would be a sure safety to them from their god, who was, as they commonly say, a tutelar god. But the Prophet says, that their superstition would avail them nothing, for they and their idol would perish together. He exults over this fictitious god, that on the other hand he might extol the power of the only true God. For there is here an implied contrast between the God of Israel and Chemosh whom the Moabites worshipped. He then adds...

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 48:46. _THE PEOPLE OF CHEMOSH_] The Moabites, who worshipped _Chemosh_ as their supreme god....

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;...

WOE BE UNTO THEE, O MOAB! THE PEOPLE OF CHEMOSH PERISHETH,.... The inhabitants of Moab, who worshipped the idol Chemosh; of which see Jeremiah 48:7; and so called his people, as Israel were called the people of the Lord; now these, notwithstanding their idol, whom they worshipped, and in whom they trusted, should perish; and sad and deplorable would be their condition and circumstances: FOR THY SONS ARE TAKEN CAPTIVES, AND THY DAUGHTERS CAPTIVES; this explains the woe that should come upon them, and in what sense they should perish; since their sons and daughters, who they hoped would have continued their name and nation, were taken, and would be carried captives into Babylon; see Numbers 21:29....

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

JEREMIAH 40-47. The foe swoops down vulture-like (Jeremiah 4:13) on Moab, destroyed because of pride against Yahweh. One disaster succeeds another in this time of punishment (visitation, Jeremiah 11:23; Jeremiah 23:12), and there is no asylum to be found in Heshbon, for a destructive flame proceeds from the house of Sihon (so read; _cf._ Numbers 21:26; Numbers 21:28) to destroy the temples of Moab's head. Moab goes into exile, but Yahweh will ultimately change her fortunes. The closing sentence ...

WOE, &C. Figure of speech _Maledictio._ App-6. THE PEOPLE OF CHEMOSH. Reference to Pentateuch (Numbers 21:29). PERISHETH. Same word as "undone" in Numbers 21:29. CAPTIVES. in the captivity (masculine) CAPTIVES. Feminine....

IV. THE ORACLE AGAINST MOAB Jeremiah 48:1-47 The Moabites occupied the region east of the Dead Sea and for the most part south of the river Arnon. The Arnon flows through a steep, twisting gorge in the mountains of Moab and was of great strategic importance in antiquity. In times of political decline the kingdom of Moab shrank to the area on the southern side of the river which thus became a natural border on the north. In more vigorous periods the kingdom expanded northward beyond the river. The Israelites first came into contact with the Moabites at the end of the period of wilderness wandering. At that time Balak, king of Moab, hired Balaam to curse Israel (Numbers 22-24). This was the beginning of a long history of enmity between the two nations.[381] The Moabite Stone as well as the Bible reflects the hostility between the Israelites and the Moabites.[382] [381] See...