Bible Strands
Jeremiah 48:3
A voice cries out from Horonaim: ‘Devastation and great destruction!’
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The text records an unattributed voice announcing ruin from the town of Horonaim to Moab during a prophetic oracle of military defeat. This declaration follows the pronouncement that Moab's praise has ended and the sword is pursuing its people.
The words — צְעָקָה (tze'akah) translates as a cry of distress, and שֹׁד (shod) literally denotes devastation or plunder. These terms ground the announcement in immediate, violent ruin rather than abstract warning.
The thread — The same geographic markers and tones of ruin appear in Isaiah 15:5, Jeremiah 48:34, and Jeremiah 48:5. Each reference tracks the spreading lament and flight of Moab's population across the same region.
Why it lands — The verse requires acknowledgment that Moab's national and religious standing has reached its terminus. It demands the reader treat prophetic judgment as a concrete historical event rather than a metaphorical threat.
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
A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction.
Cross-references
- 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.
- Jeremiah 48:34 There is a cry from Heshbon to Elealeh; they raise their voices to Jahaz, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim have dried up.
- Jeremiah 48:5 For on the ascent to Luhith they weep bitterly as they go, and on the descent to Horonaim cries of distress resound over the destruction:
- 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.
- Isaiah 15:8 For their outcry echoes to the border of Moab. Their wailing reaches Eglaim; it is heard in Beer-elim.
- Isaiah 16:7 Therefore let Moab wail; let them wail together for Moab. Moan for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth, you who are utterly stricken.
- Isaiah 22:4 Therefore I said, “Turn away from me, let me weep bitterly! Do not try to console me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
- Jeremiah 4:20 Disaster after disaster is proclaimed, for the whole land is laid waste. My tents are destroyed in an instant, my curtains in a moment.
- Jeremiah 47:2 This is what the LORD says: “See how the waters are rising from the north and becoming an overflowing torrent. They will overflow the land and its fullness, the cities and their inhabitants. The people will cry out, and all who dwell in the land will wail