Albert Barnes Commentary Jeremiah 49:7-22

"Of Edom. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished? Flee ye, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I shall visit him. If grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, would they not destroy till they had enough? But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is destroyed, and his brethren, and his neighbors; and he is not. Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me. For thus saith Jehovah: Behold, they to whom it pertained not to drink of the cup shall assuredly drink; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink. For I have sworn by myself, saith Jehovah, that Bozrah shall become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes. I have heard tidings from Jehovah, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, [saying], Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle. For, behold, I have made thee small among the nations, and despised among men. As for thy terribleness, the pride of thy heart hath deceived thee, 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 Jehovah. And Edom shall become an astonishment: every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof. As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, saith Jehovah, no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein. Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoso is chosen, him will I appoint over it: for who is like me? and who will appoint me a time? and who is the shepherd that will stand before me? Therefore hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely they shall drag them away, [even] the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them. The earth trembleth at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise whereof is heard in the Red Sea. Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread out his wings against Bozrah: and the heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs." — Jeremiah 49:7-22 (ASV)

Edom stretched along the south of Judah from the border of Moab on the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean and the Arabian deserts, and held the same relation to Judah that Moab held toward the kingdom of Israel. Although expressly reserved from attack by Moses (Deuteronomy 2:5), a long feud caused the Edomites to cherish so bitter an enmity against Judah that they exulted with cruel joy over the capture of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, and showed great cruelty toward those who fled to them for refuge.

Of the prophecies against Edom, the first eight verses of Obadiah are also found in Jeremiah (see the marginal references). As Jeremiah wrote before the capture of Jerusalem, and Obadiah apparently after it , it might seem certain that Obadiah copied from Jeremiah. Others held the reverse view, while some consider that the two prophets may both have made common use of some ancient prediction. See the introduction to Obadiah.

The prophecy is divisible into three strophes. In the first (Jeremiah 49:7–13), the prophet describes Edom as terror-stricken.

(Jeremiah 49:7) Teman – A strip of land on the northeast of Edom, put here for Edom generally. Its inhabitants were among those “children of the East” famed for wisdom, because of their skill in proverbs and dark sayings.

(Jeremiah 49:8) Dwell deep (Jeremiah 49:30). The Dedanites, who were used to travel through the Edomite territory with their caravans, are advised to retire as far as possible into the Arabian deserts to be out of the way of the invaders.

(Jeremiah 49:9) Translate it: If vintagers come to you, they will not leave any gleaning: if thieves by night, they will destroy their fill.

(Jeremiah 49:10) But – For. This is the reason why the invaders destroy Edom so completely. His secret places are the hiding-places in the mountains of Seir.

His seed refers to Esau’s seed, the Edomites. His brethren are the nations joined with him in the possession of the land: Amalek, and perhaps the Simeonites. His neighbors are Dedan, Tema, Buz.

(Jeremiah 49:11) As with Moab (Jeremiah 48:47) and Ammon (Jeremiah 49:6), so there is mercy for Edom. The widows will be protected, and in the orphans of Edom the nation will once again revive.

(Jeremiah 49:12) Translate it: Behold they whose rule was not to drink of the cup shall surely drink, and so on. It was not the ordinary manner of God’s people to suffer from His wrath: but now when they are drinking of the wine-cup of fury (Jeremiah 25:15), how can those not in covenant with Him hope to escape?

(Jeremiah 49:14–18) This is the second strophe: Edom’s chastisement.

(Jeremiah 49:14) Rumour – Or, “revelation.” Ambassador – Or, messenger, that is, herald. The business of an ambassador is to negotiate; that of a herald is to carry a message.

(Jeremiah 49:15) Small ... – Rather, small among the nations, that is, of no political importance.

(Jeremiah 49:16) Edom’s “terribleness” consisted in her cities being hewn in the sides of inaccessible rocks, from where she could suddenly descend for predatory warfare and retire to her fastnesses without fear of reprisals. The clefts of the rock – Or, the fastnesses of Sela, the rock-city, Petra . The hill – that is, Bozrah.

(Jeremiah 49:17) Better, And Edom shall become a terror: every passerby shall be terrified, and shudder, and so on.

(Jeremiah 49:18) Neighbour ... – Admah and Zeboim. A son of man – that is, “Any man.” From 536 AD onward, Petra suddenly vanishes from the pages of history. Only in the present century was its real site discovered.

(Jeremiah 49:19–22) This is the concluding strophe. The fall of Edom is compared to the state of a flock worried by an enemy as strong as a lion (Jeremiah 4:7) and as swift as an eagle.

(Jeremiah 49:19) The swelling of Jordan – Or, the pride of Jordan, the thickets on his banks (marginal reference note).

Against the habitation of the strong – Or, to the abiding pasturage. The lion stalks forth from the jungle to attack the fold, sure to find sheep there because of the perennial (evergreen) pasturage: but I will suddenly make him (the flock, Edom) run away from her (or it, the pasturage).

And who is a chosen ... – Better, and I will appoint over it, the abandoned land of Edom, him who is chosen, that is, my chosen ruler Nebuchadnezzar.

Who will appoint me the time? – The plaintiff, in giving notice of a suit, had to mention the time when the defendant must appear (see the margin). Yahweh identifies himself with Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 25:9) and shows the hopelessness of Edom’s cause. For who is like Yahweh, His equal in power and might? Who will dare litigate with Him and question His right? and so on.

(Jeremiah 49:20) Surely the least ... – Rather, Surely they will worry them, the feeble ones of the flock: surely their pasture shall be terror-stricken over them. No shepherd can resist Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 49:19), but all flee and leave the sheep unprotected. Then, the Chaldeans enter and treat the poor, feeble flock so barbarously that the very fold is horrified at their cruelty.

(Jeremiah 49:21) Is moved – Quakes. At the cry ... – The arrangement is much more poetical in the Hebrew: The shriek – to the Sea of Suph (Exodus 10:19 note) its sound is heard.

(Jeremiah 49:22) Nebuchadnezzar will swoop down like an eagle, the emblem of swiftness.