Bible Strands
Jeremiah 48:12
Therefore behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will send to him wanderers, who will pour him out. They will empty his vessels and shatter his jars.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks through the prophet to deliver a declaration of judgment to Moab. This oracle follows a description of Moab's prolonged spiritual stagnation and precedes its national shame.
The words — לָ/כֵ֞ן (la./Khen) translates literally as "therefore," and צֹעִ֖ים (tzo.'Im) means "those who tip" or pour out. These terms establish the coming judgment as a deliberate, physical pouring and emptying.
The thread — The shattered jar motif recurs in Isaiah 30:14 and Jeremiah 48:38, while the contrast between destruction and restoration aligns with Nahum 2:2. The imagery consistently marks complete, irreversible divine action.
Why it lands — The text requires acknowledgment that unexamined comfort inevitably invites decisive judgment. It demands the reader confront the reality that prolonged stagnation precedes irreversible loss.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.
Cross-references
- Nahum 2:2 For the LORD will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel, though destroyers have laid them waste and ruined the branches of their vine.
- Isaiah 30:14 It will break in pieces like a potter’s jar, shattered so that no fragment can be found. Not a shard will be found in the dust large enough to scoop the coals from a hearth or to skim the water from a cistern.”
- Jeremiah 48:38 On all the rooftops of Moab and in the public squares, everyone is mourning; for I have shattered Moab like an unwanted jar,” declares the LORD.
- Ezekiel 25:9 therefore I will indeed expose the flank of Moab beginning with its frontier cities—Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim—the glory of the land.
- Psalms 2:9 You will break them with an iron scepter; You will shatter them like pottery.”
- Isaiah 16:2 Like fluttering birds pushed out of the nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon:
- Jeremiah 14:3 The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; their jars return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads.
- Jeremiah 19:10 Then you are to shatter the jar in the presence of the men who accompany you,
- Jeremiah 25:9 behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.
- Jeremiah 25:34 Wail, you shepherds, and cry out; roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock. For the days of your slaughter have come; you will fall and be shattered like fine pottery.