Jeremiah 48:17

Jer 48:17 All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, [and] the beautiful rod!

Ver. 17. All ye that are about him, bemoan him.] And that ye may not want a form, say ye, How is the strong staff broken!

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.

Jer_48:17

How is the strong staff broken.

The strong staff and the beautiful rod

I. The purposes of our Heavenly Father in great bereavements.

1. To teach us that we should not misplace our trust.

2. To convince us of our sins and to sever us from them.

3. To teach us His own independence of the instruments He employs.

4. To remind us of the sovereignty of God.

5. To exhibit His wise and watchful providence.

II. The duties to which we are, and such scenes, specially called.

1. We are to exercise submission.

2. That we should profit by the example of those who have died in the Lord.

3. That we should cease from man and put our trust in God. (W. R. Williams.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

How are they destroyed that put their trust in their strength and riches?

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

bemoan--Not that Moab deserves pity, but this mode of expression pictures more vividly the grievousness of Moab's calamities.

all ye that know his name--those at a greater distance whom the fame of Moab's "name" had reached, as distinguished from those "about him," that is, near.

strong staff . . . rod--Moab is so called as striking terror into and oppressing other peoples (Isa 9:4; Isa 14:4-5); also because of its dignity and power (Psa 110:2; Zac 11:7).

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

Verse 17. How is the strong staff broken] The sceptre. The sovereignty of Moab is destroyed.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Prophet seems indeed to exhort all neighbors to sympathy; but we have stated for what purpose he did this; for it was not his object to show that the Moabites deserved pity, so that their neighbors ought to have condoled with them in their calamities: but by this figurative mode of speaking he exaggerated the grievousness of the evils which were soon to happen to the Moabites; as though he had said, “This judgment of God will be so dreadful as to make all their neighbors to tremble; all who had previously known the state of the people of Moab, will be smitten with such terror as will make them to groan and mourn with them.” In short, the Prophet had nothing else in view than to show that God’s vengeance on the Moabites would not be less severe and dreadful than it had been on the ten tribes, and what it would be on the tribe of Judah.

Say ye, he says, how is the staff broken? He introduces here all their neighbors as astonished with wonder; for the same purpose are other things mentioned, even to show that the calamity of Moab would be deemed a prodigy, for the people thought them unassailable, and no one had ever dared to attempt anything against their land. This, then, was the reason why the Prophet here asks as one astonished, even in the person of all nations, How has it happened that the staff is broken? and the beautiful rod? These are metaphorical words, which refer to the royal dignity and the condition of the whole people. It follows —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

17. For the use of “How” introducing a lament, cp. Lam_1:1; Lam_2:1; Lam_4:1.

the strong staff (mg. sceptre) … the beautiful rod] For these expressions, as implying national glory and power over others, cp. Psa_110:2; Isa_14:29; Eze_19:11-12; Eze_19:14.

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.

Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon,.... A city in Moab; See Gill on Isa 15:2. The Targum is,

"O kingdom of the congregation of Dibon;''

but this was not a kingdom of itself, though a principal city in the kingdom of Moab:

come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; in a dry and thirsty land; in want of all the necessaries of life; in captivity; who before abounded with all good things, inhabiting a well watered and fruitful soil; see Isa 15:9; but now called to quit all their former glory and happiness, their fulness and felicity, and submit to the greatest straits and difficulties:

for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds; the king of Babylon and his army, who spoiled the other cities of Moab; he should come against this also, and take it, and demolish its fortifications, by reason of which it thought itself secure; but these should not be able to protect it.

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

The lamentation over Moab uttered by those “round about him,” i. e., the neighboring nations, and those “that know his name,” nations more remote, who know little more than that, there is such a people, takes the form of an elegy. The metaphorical expressions, “staff of strength,” and “rod” or “scepter of beauty,” indicate the union of power and splendor in the Moabite kingdom.

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

His name, as particular friends, Exodus xxxiii. 12, 17. People in the East had a secret name, which they disclosed to very few, to prevent incantations. --- Rod. This nation was exceedingly vain, ver. 29.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

All ye that are about him, bemoan him: the prophet having spoken of Moab’s calamity as already come upon him, or at least very near, calls to his friends to come and condole with him, as is usually done in case of some calamity befallen to a friend.

All ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod! All ye that know how terrible Moab hath been to others, and how famous for mighty and strong men, say, How is this potent nation, and this people that hath been such a rod against others, or hath ruled over so many others, broken! for both a staff and a rod are as well ensigns of power and government, as instruments to punish offenders.

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

PARTICULARS OF MOAB’S RUIN, Jer_48:16-25.

17. Strong staff… beautiful rod — The power and the splendour of Moab have departed.

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

Vers. 17-25. How lamentable that such a glorious sceptre should be broken! But there is no remedy. Even Dibon, that highly honoured town, is disgraced. There is no hiding the sad fate of the Moabites; the crowds of fugitives sufficiently proclaim it. Judgment has been passed upon all the cities of Moab, a long roll of whose names is recited.

All ye that are about him; i.e. the neighbouring nations. (see on Jer_46:14) The invitation to condolence is not ironical, but in the deepest spirit of human sympathy, as in the parallel prophecy in Isaiah. (see on Isa_15:5) The strong staff; i.e. the sceptre as an image of royal authority. (comp. Eze_19:11-14) Rod; as in Psa_110:2.

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

Staff - A staff and a rod are as well, ensigns of power and government, as instruments to punish offenders.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Lament for them Heb. נדו, an expression of lamentation. Cf. “and do not lament (תָּנוּד) for him.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.