Bible Strands
Jeremiah 48:2
There is no longer praise for Moab; in Heshbon they devise evil against her: ‘Come, let us cut her off from nationhood.’ You too, O people of Madmen, will be silenced; the sword will pursue you.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD of Hosts declares judgment concerning Moab immediately after announcing the devastation of Nebo and the capture of Kiriathaim. The oracle addresses the Moabite nation as a direct response to their former arrogance and impending collapse.
The words — The Hebrew phrase אֵין עוֹד ('ein 'od) literally renders "there not again," establishing the permanent cessation of Moab’s former renown. The verb חָשְׁבוּ (cha.she.vu) means "they have planned," describing the enemy’s deliberate strategy to erase Moab from nationhood.
The thread — The targeting of Heshbon recalls Numbers 32:37, where the same city was originally fortified by the Reubenites. The theme of a nation’s permanent end contrasts with Jeremiah 31:36, which guarantees Israel’s perpetual existence, and aligns with Isaiah 16:14, which prophesies the complete cessation of Moab’s splendor.
Why it lands — The text records the enemy’s calculated plot to destroy Moab’s identity and the sword’s pursuit of the people of Madmen before drawing theological conclusions. It demands recognition that human strategies to erase a nation operate only within the bounds of divine judgment, requiring the reader to observe how prophetic declarations unfold historically.
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The Hebrew words
King James Version
There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee.
Cross-references
- Numbers 32:37 The Reubenites built up Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,
- Isaiah 16:14 And now the LORD says, “In three years, as a hired worker counts the years, Moab’s splendor will become an object of contempt, with all her many people. And those who are left will be few and feeble.”
- Jeremiah 31:36 “Only if this fixed order departed from My presence, declares the LORD, would Israel’s descendants ever cease to be a nation before Me.”
- Numbers 21:25 Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites and occupied them, including Heshbon and all its villages.
- Esther 3:8 Then Haman informed King Xerxes, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples of every province of your kingdom. Their laws are different from everyone else’s, and they do not obey the king’s laws. So it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.
- Psalms 83:4 saying, “Come, let us erase them as a nation; may the name of Israel be remembered no more.”
- Isaiah 15:1 This is the burden against Moab: Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is devastated, destroyed in a night!
- Isaiah 15:5 My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath-shelishiyah. With weeping they ascend the slope of Luhith; they lament their destruction on the road to Horonaim.
- Isaiah 16:8 For the fields of Heshbon have withered, along with the grapevines of Sibmah. The rulers of the nations have trampled its choicest vines, which had reached as far as Jazer and spread toward the desert. Their shoots had spread out and passed over the sea.
- Isaiah 25:10 For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain. But Moab will be trampled in his place as straw is trodden into the dung pile.