Bible Strands
Jeremiah 48:25
The horn of Moab has been cut off, and his arm is broken,” declares the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks through Jeremiah to pronounce judgment on Moab, targeting its cities and ruling class. This oracle sits between the listing of Moabite towns in Jeremiah 48:24 and the prophecy of Moab's drunken humiliation in Jeremiah 48:26.
The words — The text centers on קֶ֣רֶן (keren), literally "horn," and זְרֹעוֹ (zero'o), literally "his arm," both modified by verbs meaning "cut off" and "broken." These concrete terms describe the physical removal of strength and defensive capability.
The thread — The imagery parallels Psalms 75:10, which contrasts the cutting off of the wicked's horns with the exaltation of the righteous, and Psalms 10:15, which commands the breaking of the wicked man's arm. The theme of divine dismantling of prideful power also resonates with the crushing of the vulnerable described in Job 22:9.
Why it lands — It requires the reader to acknowledge that national power and self-exaltation against God are structurally temporary and subject to sovereign judgment. The passage demands a plain recognition that human strength yields to divine action and that pride inevitably produces humiliation.
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
The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the Lord.
Cross-references
- Psalms 75:10 “All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous will be exalted.”
- Psalms 10:15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call him to account for his wickedness until none is left to be found.
- Job 22:9 You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.
- Zechariah 1:19 So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he told me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
- Numbers 32:37 The Reubenites built up Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,
- Psalms 37:17 For the arms of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous.
- Lamentations 2:3 In fierce anger He has cut off every horn of Israel and withdrawn His right hand at the approach of the enemy. He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire that consumes everything around it.
- Ezekiel 30:21 “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. See, it has not been bound up for healing, or splinted for strength to hold the sword.
- Daniel 7:8 While I was contemplating the horns, suddenly another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like those of a man and a mouth that spoke words of arrogance.
- Daniel 8:7 I saw him approach the ram in a rage against him, and he struck the ram and shattered his two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against him, and the goat threw him to the ground and trampled him, and no one could deliver the ram from his power.