John Gill Commentary Jeremiah 49

Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the Lord Or, "to the Ammonites" ^F21 ; or, "against" them ^F23 ; it will bear to be rendered either way, and all is true; for what is said by the Lord, as follows, is concerning them, their sins, and their punishment, and is directed to them, and is a threatening against them: has Israel no sons? has he no heir ?

Certainly he has, and who ought to possess the land; this is to be understood not of the ten tribes, sometimes called Israel, as distinct from the other two; for these had been long ago carried captive, and left no heirs of their tribes; but of all Israel, including the tribes of Judah and Benjamin; who, though their brethren of the ten tribes were carried captive, and left no children to inherit, yet, being next in blood, were the lawful heirs of their lands and possessions:

Why [then] doth their king inherit Gad ? that part of the land of Israel which belonged to the tribe of Gad; this, when the ten tribes were carried captive by the king of Assyria, and the Gadites among the rest, was seized on by the Ammonites, with their king at the head of them, lying near unto them; who might also pretend relation, as being the children of Lot, the brother's son of Abraham; or claim it, as having been their own formerly, and so were the lawful heirs of it, as they imagined; when it of right belonged to the children of Judah and Benjamin:

or, "why doth Malcam inherit Gad?" ^F24 the same with Milcom or Molech, the abomination of the Ammonites, the idol they worshipped, (1 Kings 11:5 1 Kings 11:7) ; so Jarchi interprets it. The Ammonites having got possession of the land, set up their idol in it, where temples were built for him, and altars erected, and sacrifices offered to him, so that he might be said to inherit it; and which must be very offensive to, and highly resented by, the God of Israel:

and his people dwelt in his cities : the Ammonites dwelt in the cities belonging to the tribe of Gad, as if they were their own; who are called the people of Milcom, or Molech, just as the Moabites are called the people of Chemosh, from the idol they worshipped, (Jeremiah 48:46) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F21: (Nwme ynbl) "ad filios Ammon", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus.
• F23: "Contra filios Ammonis", Schmidt; "de [vel] contra", Vatablus; "contra", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
• F24: (dg ta Mklm vry ewdm) "cur igitur haereditate possedit Melchom Gad?" V. L. Lutherus, Sanctius, Castalio.

Therefore, behold, the days come, says the Lord
Or, "are coming" ^F25 ; as they did, in a very little time after this prophecy: that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the
Ammonites ;
the metropolis of the Ammonites; it was their royal city in the times of David, (1 Kings 11:1) (12:26) ; called by Polybius ^F26 Rabbahamana; and by Ptolemy ^F1 Philadelphia, which name it had from Ptolemy Philadelphus, who rebuilt it; this the Lord threatens with the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war, or the noise of warriors, as the Targum; the Chaldean army under Nebuchadnezzar, who, about five years after the destruction of Jerusalem, subdued the Ammonites, as Josephus ^F2 relates.

and it shall be a desolate heap ;
be utterly destroyed; its walls broken down, and houses demolished, and made a heap of rubbish: and her daughters shall be burnt with fire :
Rabbah was the mother city, and the other cities of the Ammonites were her daughters, which are threatened to be destroyed with fire by the enemy; or it may mean the villages round about Rabbah, it being usual in Scripture for villages to be called the daughters of cities; see (Ezekiel 16:46) ; so the Targum here paraphrases it, ``the inhabitants of her villages shall be burnt with fire:''

then shall Israel be heirs unto them that were his heirs, says the
Lord :
that is, shall inherit their land again, which the Ammonites pretended to be the lawful heirs of; yea, not only possess their own land, but the land of Ammon too: this was fulfilled not immediately upon the destruction of Ammon, but in part upon the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, when they repossessed their own country; and partly in the times of the Maccabees, when they subdued the Ammonites, ``Afterward he passed over to the children of Ammon, where he found a mighty power, and much people, with Timotheus their captain.'' and will more fully in the latter day, when the Jews shall be converted, and return to their own land, and the children of Ammon shall obey them, (Isaiah 11:14) ; so Kimchi interprets it; and other Jewish writers understand it of the days of the Messiah, as Abarbinel observes.

FOOTNOTES:

• F25: (Myab) "sunt venientes", Montanus, Schmidt.
• F26: Hist. l. 5. p. 414.
• F1: Geograph. l. 5. c. 15.
• F2: Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 7.

Howl, O Heshbon
Which was a city of Moab, though it formerly belonged to the Amorites; see (Jeremiah 48:2) (Numbers 21:26) ; 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, you daughters of Rabbah ;
the royal city before mentioned; (See Gill on Jeremiah 49:2); either the inhabitants of it, particularly the women, especially the younger women, who would be in the utmost distress on hearing the enemy was so near them, and what had befallen Ai; or the villages about Rabbah, as Kimchi interprets it; that is, as the Targum, ``the inhabitants of the villages of Rabbah:''

gird you with sackcloth ;
as a token of calamity and mourning for it, as was usual:

lament, and run to and fro by the hedges ;
which Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, understand of the enclosures or fences of villages, like those of gardens, fields, and folds, in distinction from walls of cities, and fortified places; but rather it signifies the hedges in the fields, whither, being drove from their habitations, they would seek unto for shelter, and run about among them for safety, lamenting their unhappy case:

for their king shall go into captivity ;
be taken and carried captive; either their principal governor; or rather Milcom their god, since it follows: [and] his priests and his princes together ;
both such as offered sacrifices to him, and attended on and supported his worship: the same is said of Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, (Jeremiah 48:7) .

Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys
Of which there were many in the country of Ammon, fruitful and well watered, which were situated by the rivers of Arnon and Jabbok, the borders of this country, and in which was the plain of the vineyards; see (Judges 11:13Judges 11:33) ; and indeed the whole country was a vale. For, as Josephus ^F3 says, the country both of the Moabites and Ammonites were in the valley of Syria, or Coelesyria; that is, hollow Syria, so called from its lying low, or in a valley; for this country lay between the mountains Libanus and Antilibanus, as Strabo ^F4 says, and brought forth a large increase; in this they gloried, in the produce of these valleys, in the grass, corn, and vines, that grew upon them, and the flocks that fed there; but now should have no occasion to glory, all being swept away by the enemy.

your flowing valley ,
or, "your valley flows" ^F5 ; is overflowed with water, through abundance of rain, which destroyed the fruits of it, so Jarchi; or rather flowed with the blood of the slain, as Kimchi, Ben Melech, and Abarbinel; the enemy having entered it, and made so great a slaughter of men in it.

O backsliding daughter ?
the Targum is, O foolish kingdom; the whole kingdom of Ammon is meant, or the people of it; who, descending from righteous Lot, may be called backsliders; and, being also idolaters, have this character; for such revolt from the true God, to worship idols: it may be rendered, "refractory", "rebellious" ^F6 ; as all such persons are.

that trusteth in her treasures, [saying], who shall come unto me ?
dwelling in valleys encompassed with mountains, and in fortified cities, and abounding in wealth and riches, whereby they were able to procure men and arms to defend themselves; thought they were safe from any enemy, and that none could come nigh them, and so dwelt at ease, and in great security.

FOOTNOTES:

• F3: Ibid. (Antiqu.) l. 1. c. 11. sect. 5.
• F4: Geograph. l. 16. p. 519, 520.
• F5: (Kqme bz) "defluxit vallis tua", V. L. Schmidt; "fluxit", Pagninus, Montanus; "fluit", Cocceius.
• F6: (hbbwvh tbh) "O filia pervesa", Schmidt; "pervicax" vel "temeraria", Grotius; "rebellis", Pagninus, Calvin; "refractaria", Montanus.

Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord God of
hosts
The terrible army of the Chaldeans, which would strike them with a panic; who thought they were so securein their fortresses, trusting in their riches:

from all those that be about thee ;
meaning either from the Chaldeans, and the neighbouring nations, that would join and surround the Ammoniteson all sides; or from all the borders of Ammon round about, from where they would come; they would be a"magormissabib", "a fear all round", (Jeremiah 20:3) :

and ye shall be driven out every manright forth ;
driven out of their houses, and cities, and villages, and steer their course right forward, and never lookbehind to see what had become of their families and their friends; everyone having enough to do to providefor his own safety:

and none shall gather up him that wandereth ;
that is straggling about, and does not know which way to take, and where to flee for safety; all will be sointent on their own safety, that they will not concern themselves for others, to take them under their care;to take those who are on foot onto their horses or carriages when they overtake them, or into their houses asthey pass by.