Bible Strands
Jeremiah 48:26
“Make him drunk, because he has magnified himself against the LORD; so Moab will wallow in his own vomit, and he will also become a laughingstock.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Jeremiah pronounces a divine judgment against Moab, directly following the declaration that the nation's military strength has been severed. The oracle addresses the surrounding nations and Moab's own pride, framing the coming disaster as a direct response to its arrogance.
The words — הַשְׁכֵּירֻהוּ (hashkeiruhu) commands the act of intoxication, while סָפַק (safak) literally means "it will splash," describing the physical act of wallowing in vomit. These terms ground the metaphor of divine humiliation in physical degradation.
The thread — The intoxication and confusion motif appears in Isaiah 19:14 and Isaiah 29:9, where God pours out a spirit of staggering to blind and disorient nations. Jeremiah 48:42 reiterates that Moab's destruction stems directly from its vaunting against the LORD.
Why it lands — It demands recognition that self-exaltation against God produces self-destruction and public shame. The reader must confront the reality that divine judgment operates through the very mechanisms of human pride.
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
Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against the Lord: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 19:14 The LORD has poured into her a spirit of confusion. Egypt has been led astray in all she does, as a drunkard staggers through his own vomit.
- Isaiah 29:9 Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink.
- Jeremiah 48:42 Moab will be destroyed as a nation because he vaunted himself against the LORD.
- Jeremiah 51:39 While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast, and I will make them drunk so that they may revel; then they will fall asleep forever and never wake up, declares the LORD.
- Exodus 5:2 But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”
- Jeremiah 48:39 “How shattered it is! How they wail! How Moab has turned his back in shame! Moab has become an object of ridicule and horror to all those around him.”
- Jeremiah 51:7 Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.
- Lamentations 4:21 So rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz. Yet the cup will pass to you as well; you will get drunk and expose yourself.
- Daniel 5:23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you have failed to glorify the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways.
- Exodus 9:17 Still, you lord it over My people and do not allow them to go.