Bible Strands
Jeremiah 48:18
Come down from your glory; sit on parched ground, O daughter dwelling in Dibon, for the destroyer of Moab has come against you; he has destroyed your fortresses.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — YHWH speaks through Jeremiah to the inhabitants of Dibon, addressing them as the "daughter dwelling in Dibon," at the moment Moab's military defenses are collapsing and its national strength is being dismantled.
The words — The imperative רְדִי (reḏî) commands "come down" from כָּבוֹד (kāḇôḏ, "glory" or "honor"), paired with וּשְׁבִי (ûšĕḇî, "and sit") in צָמָא (ṣāmāʾ, "thirst" or "parched ground").
The thread — This descent from exalted status to desolation mirrors Isaiah 47:1’s command to the "Virgin Daughter of Babylon" to sit in dust, while the specific mention of Dibon recalls Numbers 21:30’s record of Israel’s advance to that city.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to recognize that divine judgment actively strips fortified places of their security, replacing human pride with forced exposure to ruin.
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
Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds.
Cross-references
- Numbers 21:30 But we have overthrown them; Heshbon is destroyed as far as Dibon. We demolished them as far as Nophah, which reaches to Medeba.”
- Isaiah 47:1 “Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of the Chaldeans! For you will no longer be called tender or delicate.
- Isaiah 15:2 Dibon goes up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails over Nebo, as well as over Medeba. Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off.
- Joshua 13:17 to Heshbon and all its cities on the plateau, including Dibon, Bamoth-baal, Beth-baal-meon,
- Jeremiah 48:22 upon Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,
- Genesis 21:16 Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I cannot bear to watch the boy die!” And as she sat nearby, she lifted up her voice and wept.
- Exodus 17:3 But the people thirsted for water there, and they grumbled against Moses: “Why have you brought us out of Egypt—to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”
- Numbers 32:3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,
- Joshua 13:9 The area from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the middle of the valley, the whole plateau of Medeba as far as Dibon,
- Judges 15:18 And being very thirsty, Samson cried out to the LORD, “You have accomplished this great deliverance through Your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”