Jeremiah 48:15

Jer 48:15 Moab is spoiled, and gone up [out of] her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name [is] the LORD of hosts.

Ver. 15. Moab is spoiled.] Quae hucusque, eadem maiore cum luce repetit. The same again, but with more exornations.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hebrew, gone up, or destroyed.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

gone up . . . gone down--in antithesis.

out of her cities--Rather, "Moab . . . and her cities are gone up," namely, pass away in the ascending smoke of their conflagration (Jos 8:20-21; Jdg 20:40). When this took place, the young warriors would go down from the burning citadels only to meet their own slaughter [GROTIUS]. English Version is somewhat favored by the fact that "gone out" is singular, and "cities" plural. The antithesis favors GROTIUS.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

15. Moab … her cities] The Hebrew is difficult. Dr., followed by Pe., alters the MT. on the model of Jer_48:18, so as to read, “The spoiler of Moab is come up against him, and his, etc.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The calamity of Moab is near to come,.... As it did come within live years after the destruction of Jerusalem, as observed on Jer 48:12; out of Josephus:

and his affliction hasteth fast: or, "his evil" (z) the evil of punishment for his sin; his utter destruction.

(z) "malum ejus", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Schmidt.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Rather, “Moab is spoiled,” and her cities have gone up, i. e., in smoke, have been burned Jos 8:20-21. Others render, “The waster of Moab and of her towns is coming up to the attack, and her chosen youths are gone down to the slaughter.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Moab is spoiled; your country will be wasted and spoiled.

And gone up out of her cities; the inhabitants of it shall be all driven out of their cities. The Hebrew is, and her cities, it, or he, is gone up. So the sense may be, Moab and her cities are all spoiled, and he, that is, the enemy, is gone up.

And his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter; and the strong and mighty men she boasted of, and alerted in, are gone to the battle, as oxen or sheep to a slaughter-house.

Saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts: I do not speak this of myself, I cannot of myself tell things that shall come to pass hereafter, but the words I say are the words of him who is the Lord of all the armies of heaven and earth, who both knoweth what shall be, and is able to effect what he saith.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

15. Gone up… gone down — An evident antithesis. The words out of, inserted by the translators in this verse, are unjustifiable and misleading. The simplest translation is, her cities have gone up, perhaps in smoke and flame. Another rendering is preferred by Keil, and is, perhaps, barely defensible, which leaves the subject of the verb indeterminate: they go up to his cities. The enemy ascends to the cities: the soldiers go down to slaughter.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities. The latter part of this clause in the Hebrew is extremely difficult; the Authorized Version is indefensible. It is even doubtful whether it can be translated at all consistently with grammar, though Hitzig, a good grammarian, has adopted the suggestion of Grotius, rendering, "and her cities have gone up," viz. in smoke, i.e. they have been burnt; comp. Jud_1:20:40, the end of which verso ought to run thus: "The whole city went up to heaven." But even if the verb in third masc. sing. be allowable after the plural noun, it is very harsh to give it such an interpretation, when the context says nothing about fire or smoke. J.D. Michaelis and Ewald, therefore, propose to change the vowel points of the first word, rendering, "The spoiler of Moab and of her cities is gone up;" and Dr. Payne Smith inclines to follow them. We thus obtain a striking antithesis; the enemy has "gone up," and Moab"s young men are gone down, i.e. are felled by murderous hands Isa_34:7.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Moab will be devastated and its cities attacked

This can be stated in active form. AT: "The enemy army will devastate Moab and attack its cities" (See: Active or Passive)

its finest young men have gone down to the place of slaughter

The best men of Moab going to battle and being killed is spoken of as if they were animals taken to a place to be slaughtered. AT: "their fine young men will all be slaughtered" or "the enemy army will kill all of the finest men of Moab" (See: Metaphor)

This is the king's declaration

Here "king" refers to Yahweh. This can be stated in first person. See how you translated this in Jeremiah 46:18. AT: "This is what I, the king, declare" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)

Moab's disaster is soon to happen; calamity is hurrying quickly

These two sentences mean basically the same thing and emphasize that Moab's destruction will happen very soon. AT: "Moab's enemies will destroy her very soon" (See: Parallelism)

calamity is hurrying quickly

Something terrible happening soon is spoken of as if calamity were something that could move quickly to a place. AT: "terrible things will happen very soon" (See: Metaphor)

the strong staff, the honored rod, has been broken

Here the words "staff" and "rod" represent the power and political support that Moab provided to other nations. This can be stated in active form. AT: "Moab's enemies have ended her great power" (See: Metonymy and Doublet and Active or Passive)

translationWords

devastate

slaughter

king

declare

Yahweh of hosts

name

woe

staff

honor

rod

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.