John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 49:3

"Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste; cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth: lament, and run to and fro among the fences; for Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together." — Jeremiah 49:3 (ASV)

The Prophet now triumphs, as it were, over the land of Ammon, and according to his accustomed manner, as we have seen before. For if the prophets had spoken without metaphors and simply narrated the things they addressed, their words would have been frigid and inefficient, and would not have penetrated into the hearts of people.

This, then, is the reason why the prophets adopted an elevated style and adorned their prophecies with grandeur. For they never, like rhetoricians, affected eloquence, but necessity so urged them that they represented to the eyes those things which people could not otherwise conceive in their minds.

We have spoken often on this subject already, but I am again constrained to touch on it briefly, because those who are not well acquainted with Scripture and do not understand the design of the Holy Spirit may think that only words are poured forth here. But when we duly weigh what I have said, then we will readily acknowledge that the Prophet did not, without reason, enlarge on what he had previously said.

Howl, thou Heshbon, he says, for Ai is laid waste. These were two neighboring cities; therefore he exhorts Heshbon to howl on seeing the overthrow of another city. He then adds, Cry, or cry aloud, ye daughters of Rabbah. He again repeats what he had previously touched upon regarding the city Rabbah.

Gird yourselves, he says, with sackcloth, or put on sackcloth. He does not here exhort the citizens of Rabbah to repentance, but he speaks according to the customs of the people, as has been stated elsewhere.

Sackcloth was, indeed, a symbol of penitence; when miserable people wished humbly to flee to God’s mercy and confess their sins, they put on sackcloth. But the unbelieving imitated the faithful without discretion or judgment.

Thus, they scattered ashes on their heads and, without any reason, put on sackcloth. What was then commonly done is now mentioned by Jeremiah: Put on sackcloth, he says, lament and run here and there by the fences.

He afterward adds in the third person, for gone is their king into captivity. He expressed this so that the Israelites might know that, although that kingdom flourished for a time, the day of which the Prophet had spoken would still come.

On that day, the condition of the Ammonites would be no better than that of the Israelites, whose king, as was known, had been driven into exile along with the priests and princes.

The Prophet now denounces the same punishment on the Ammonites: not only would their king be driven into another land as a captive, but also their princes and their priests.