Bible Strands
Jeremiah 48:8
The destroyer will move against every city, and not one town will escape. The valley will also be ruined, and the high plain will be destroyed, as the LORD has said.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah pronounces judgment against Moab, following the exile of Chemosh and preceding the command to desolate the nation. The prophecy addresses the nation's reliance on fortified cities and territorial strongholds.
The words — שֹׁדֵד (sho.Ded) translates to "destroyer," and תִמּלֵט (ti.ma.Let) means "escape." The Hebrew syntax links the coming destruction directly to every city without exception.
The thread — The destruction of valleys and high plains echoes the territorial boundaries and judgments in Joshua 13:9 and Joshua 13:17. The certainty of escapelessness parallels the inescapable mourning commanded in Jeremiah 6:26.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that fortified geography and accumulated wealth cannot prevent divine judgment. It requires readers to abandon trust in physical security and acknowledge the absolute scope of prophetic warning.
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
And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the Lord hath spoken.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 6:26 O daughter of my people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as you would for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.
- 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,
- Joshua 13:17 to Heshbon and all its cities on the plateau, including Dibon, Bamoth-baal, Beth-baal-meon,
- Joshua 13:21 all the cities of the plateau and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon until Moses killed him and the chiefs of Midian (Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba), the princes of Sihon who lived in the land.
- Jeremiah 15:8 I will make their widows more numerous than the sand of the sea. I will bring a destroyer at noon against the mothers of young men. I will suddenly bring upon them anguish and dismay.
- Jeremiah 25:9 behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.
- 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.
- Jeremiah 48:20 Moab is put to shame, for it has been shattered. Wail and cry out! Declare by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed.
- Jeremiah 51:56 For a destroyer is coming against her—against Babylon. Her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken, for the LORD is a God of retribution; He will repay in full.
- Ezekiel 25:9 therefore I will indeed expose the flank of Moab beginning with its frontier cities—Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim—the glory of the land.