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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Jeremiah 49:7 - 49:22
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Against Edom
v. 7. Concerning Edom, thus saith the Lord of hosts, Is wisdom no more in Teman? a city on the boundary of Idumea and Arabia, the home of Eliphaz, Job_2:11. Is counsel perished from the prudent? from those who formerly showed intelligence. Is their wisdom vanished? The rhetorical question has, of course, a strong negative significance: Wisdom and common sense seem to have disappeared entirely.
v. 8. Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, hiding in caves and remote places, O inhabitants of Dedan, a nomad tribe tributary to Edom; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I will visit him, that is, the misfortune which would strike Edom would come upon Dedan as well. Cf Oba_1:1-9.
v. 9. If grape-gatherers, the usual vintagers, come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? according to the custom of the Orient to leave a few berries for the poor; if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough, leaving the rest behind. The Chaldeans, however, would be less considerate in their treatment of Idumea.
v. 10. But I, so Jehovah says, have made Esau bare, by using the Chaldeans as instruments in carrying out His punishment, I have uncovered his secret places, where his treasures were hidden, and he shall not be able to hide himself; his seed is spoiled, his direct descendants ceased from being a nation, and his brethren, the nations related to him, and his neighbors, the nations tributary to him, and he is not. Edom ceased to be a factor politically at the time of the Romans.
v. 11. Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in Me; for Jehovah, whom Edom had forsaken for false gods, would be the Help of the orphans and widows after the men would have fallen in battle. The words imply an exhibition of mercy on the part of the Lord toward all those who, in true sorrow over their sins, turn to Him for help.
v. 12. For thus saith the Lord, Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup, the children of Israel, in whose case it was an abnormal thing to be obliged to drink the cup of God's wrath, since they were Jehovah's own people, have assuredly drunken; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? Even the fact that Israel had been chosen as God's people did not give them exemption and deliverance from God's punishment if they took part in the idolatry of the heathen; how much more, then, would the heathen be subject to the judgment of Jehovah! Thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it; the punishment had fully been determined upon by God.
v. 13. For I have sworn by Myself, saith the Lord, in His most solemn oath, that Bozrah, at that time the capital of Idumea, shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse, an object of execration; and all the cities thereof, the other towns of Edom, shall be perpetual wastes.
v. 14. I have heard a rumor from the Lord, a report from Jehovah, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather ye together, assembling in armies, and come against her, and rise up to the battle, ready for war against Edom.
v. 15. For, lo, so the Lord takes up the message in person, I will make thee small among the heathen and despised among men, in just retribution for Edom's pride.
v. 16. Thy terrible-ness hath deceived thee, the fact that other nations seemed to stand in awe of Edom had caused him to think that he was really formidable, and the pride of thine heart, insolence usually having this influence upon the heart of the proud, to deceive them, wherefore the Lord now calls out, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that boldest the height of the hill, some of the forts of Idumea being situated on almost inaccessible cliffs, though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord, showing that before Him no stronghold is impregnable.
v. 17. Also Edom shall be a desolation; every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, filled with horrified surprise at the total overthrow of the country, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof, with a sound expressing derision and mockery.
v. 18. As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, namely, Admah and Zeboim, saith the Lord, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it, it would be an uninhabited desert.
v. 19. Behold, he, the conqueror sent by Jehovah, shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan, from his den in the thickets of the river, against the habitation of the strong, into the meadow of the rocks, where Idumea was situated; but I will suddenly make him, Edom, run away from her, from the fine meadow which is his home; and who is a chosen man that I may appoint over her? The Lord would make the man of His choice ruler of Idumea. For who is like Me? And who will appoint Me the time? Who will dare to call Him to account for it? And who is that shepherd that will stand before Me? attempting to protect his flock against the wrath of Jehovah.
v. 20. Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord that He hath taken against Edom, a decree which is already firmly resolved upon, and His purposes that He hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman, v. 7: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out, literally, "Most certainly they will be dragged away, the feeble of the flock," the Edomites being helpless before the attack of the invaders; surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them, or, "Certainly their pasturage will be astounded at them," their own land being horrified at the misfortune which had befallen them.
v. 21. The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, quaking with its intensity, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red Sea, or, "a crying—the noise of it is heard at the Red Sea. "
v. 22. Behold, he, the conqueror, shall come up and fly as the eagle and spread his wings over Bozrah, to pounce down upon the whole country; and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. No matter how impregnable the position of God's enemies may seem in the eyes of human beings, they will quickly fall before the attack of the Lord.