Bible Strands
Jeremiah 49:9
If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleanings? Were thieves to come in the night, would they not steal only what they wanted?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks through Jeremiah regarding the coming disaster on Esau, immediately following a command for the dwellers of Dedan to flee. The oracle addresses Edom directly, contrasting its fate with the partial losses of neighboring groups.
The words — בֹּֽצְרִים (bo.tze.Rim) denotes grape gatherers, while עֽוֹלֵל֑וֹת (o.le.Lot) refers to the leftover clusters they normally leave behind. These terms frame the rhetorical questions about partial versus total loss.
The thread — Obadiah 1:5 repeats the identical rhetorical questions concerning thieves and gleanings, while Isaiah 17:6 applies the gleanings imagery to a beaten olive tree. Both passages use the same agricultural metaphor to describe unavoidable, targeted judgment.
Why it lands — The text states that normal harvesters and night thieves always leave something behind, but God will strip Esau bare and uncover every hiding place. It demands recognition that divine judgment will exceed ordinary partial losses, leaving no room for survival or concealment.
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
If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough.
Cross-references
- Obadiah 1:5 “If thieves came to you, if robbers by night—oh, how you will be ruined—would they not steal only what they wanted? If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleanings?
- Isaiah 17:6 Yet gleanings will remain, like an olive tree that has been beaten—two or three berries atop the tree, four or five on its fruitful branches,” declares the LORD, the God of Israel.