John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 48:46

"Woe unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh is undone; for thy sons are taken away captive, and thy daughters into captivity." — Jeremiah 48:46 (ASV)

Here the Prophet, as he comes to the end of his prophecy, suddenly exclaims, Woe to thee!—as if to say 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 described at length the miseries of that nation.

He then adds, The people of Chemosh have perished. The Prophet again suggests that the Moabites vainly trusted in their idol, Chemosh. They thought that there would be sure safety for them from their god, who was, as they commonly say, a guardian deity.

But the Prophet says that their superstition would be of no use to them, for they and their idol would perish together. He triumphs over this fictitious god so that, on the other hand, he might praise the power of the only true God. For there is an implied contrast here between the God of Israel and Chemosh, whom the Moabites worshipped.

He then adds, Thy sons and thy daughters shall be carried away into captivity. The Prophet does not seem here to continue the same subject, for he had said before that ruin or destruction was coming on the Moabites. However, he now lessens that punishment and speaks only of exile.

But as captivity is like death, since it abolishes the name of a nation, he speaks correctly and appropriately. Furthermore, we must observe that God, for a time, executed His vengeance on the Moabites in such a way that He left them some hope for the future, according to what follows in the last verse.