Jeremiah 49:3

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. HOWL, O HESHBON, FOR AI IS SPOILED. Nebuchadnezzar, coming from the north, first attacked Ammon, then its brother and neighbour Moab. As Ai of Ammon had already suffered destruction, Heshbon of Moab, being near it, might well fear the same fate. RUN TO AND FRO BY THE HEDGES. Their cities being destroyed, the outcasts have no place of shelter except behind the "hedges" of vineyards and gardens; or else the enclosures of their villages. THEIR KING SHALL GO INTO CAPTIVITY - Melchom, the idol, as the mention of "his priests" shows (cf. )....

The Prophet now triumphs, as it were, over the land of Ammon, and, according to his accustomed manner, as we have before seen; for had the prophets spoken without metaphors, and simply narrated the things treated of by them, their words would have been frigid and inefficient, and would not have penetrated into the hearts of men. This, then, is the reason why the prophets adopted an elevated style, and adorned with grandeur their prophecies; for they never, like rhetoricians, affected eloquence, but necessity so urged them, that they represented to the eyes those things which they could not otherwise form a conception of in their minds. On this subject we have spoken often already; but I am again constrained briefly to touch on it, because those who are not well acquainted with Scripture, and do not understand the design of the Holy Spirit, may think that words only are here poured forth....

Verse Jeremiah 49:3. _RUN TO AND FRO BY THE HEDGES_] It is supposed that this may refer to the women making lamentations for the dead, that were in general buried by the walls of their _gardens_; but others think that it refers to the _smaller cities_ or _villages_, called here the _daughters of Rabbah_, the metropolis; the inhabitants of which are exhorted to seek safety somewhere else, as none can be expected from them, now that the enemy is at hand....

AI - Not the town on the west of the Jordan Joshua 7:2; a place not mentioned elsewhere. For Ai some read Ar. HEDGES - Fields were not divided by hedges until recent times; the term probably means the walls which enclose the vineyards Numbers 22:24....

EXPOSITION On Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar and Hazer, and Elam. JEREMIAH 49:1 The violence of the Ammonites shall be severely punished. JEREMIAH 49:1 HATH ISRAEL NO SONS! The violent seizure, perpetrated before his eyes, of parts of the sacred territory, forces the indignant question from the prophet, "How can these things be?" It was so on a former occasion (see Jeremiah 2:14), and it is so again, now that the Ammonites are occupying the land of the Gadites. True, the present generation has lost its property, but the next is the heir to all its rights and privileges. THEIR KING; rather, _their King—_the

HOWL, O HESHBON,.... Which was a city of Moab, though it formerly belonged to the Amorites; see Jeremiah 48:2; it was upon the border of Ammon, and near to Ai, now destroyed; and therefore is called upon to howl and lament, because its destruction also was near at hand, and might be expected; hence Kimchi gathers, that the Ammonites were destroyed before the Moabites: but some have thought that Heshbon was a double city, divided by a river, which ran through it; and that that city which was on one side of the river belonged to Moab, and that on the other side to Ammon: FOR AI IS SPOILED; not that which was near Jericho in the land of Canaan, but a city in the land of Ammon, thought to be the Gaia of Ptolemy; this seems to be the first city in the country of Ammon that Nebuchadnezzar would lay waste: CRY, YE DAUGHTERS OF RABBAH; the royal city before m

CHAPTER 49 Concerning Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar, and Elam _ 1. Concerning the Ammonites (Jeremiah 49:1) _ 2. Concerning Edom (Jeremiah 49:7) 3. Concerning Damascus (Jeremiah 49:23) 4. Concerning Kedar and Hazor (Jeremiah 49:28) 5. Against Elam (Jeremiah 49:34) Ammon was the younger brother of Moab, and, like the Moabites, the Ammonites were a wicked people, though they had no cities like Moab, but were restless wanderers; they were also the enemies of Israel. The predic

AMMON. The Ammonite territory lay eastward of part of that assigned to Gad, between Heshbon and the river Jabbok; the Ammonites appear to have occupied the territory of Gad after the deportation of its inhabitants in 734 (2 Kings 15:29). Why has Milcom seized the land of Gad as his inheritance (1 _mg._ 2)_ ?_ As a penalty, there shall be war against Rabbah (the chief city of Ammon, at the upper sources of the Jabbok), and it shall become a desolate mound, its dependent cities (daughters, Numbers 21:25) being burnt. Let there be mourning for the coming exile of the Ammonites (Jeremiah 49:3). Rabbah's pride in her site and in her wealth is rebuked ...

HESHBON. Compare Jeremiah 48:2. AI. An Ammonite town, not yet identified. CRY. cry sadly. HEDGES. fences....

_Howl, O Heshbon_ Heshbon was a Moabite city (Jeremiah 48:2; Jeremiah 48:34; Jeremiah 48:45), and an Ammonite Ai is otherwise unknown. Hence conjectural emendations are (_a_) to read (with Co.) for "Heshbon" _Ammon_(i.e. its inhabitants), and for "Ai" _the city_, or (_b_) emending "Ai" as in (_a_), to read for "Heshbon" (with a considerable change of the word in MT.) _the palace_(Du.). Neither (_a_) nor (_b_) however is quite satisfactory. _among the fences_ The Heb. means walls, such as enclose sheepfolds. Probably it needs emendation, and Gi., Du. and Co. all recognise that what we expect is something indicative of mourning. Co."s conjecture makes the least change