Jeremiah 48:26

Jer 48:26 Make ye him drunken: for he magnified [himself] against the LORD: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.

Ver. 26. Make ye him drunk.] Ebrietas modis omnibus maledicta. But here is meant a dry drunkenness with the fierce wrath of God. Most things here spoken are to be found in Isaiah, but here more clearly expressed. See Jer 25:17; Jer 25:21.

Moab also shall wallow in his vomit.] As once he did when drunk with wine to the derision of others, so now he shall when drunk with wrath. It will be a woe time with drunkards one day doubtless.

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 48:26-27. Make ye him drunken — God’s judgments are often represented under the metaphor of a cup of intoxicating liquors: see note on Jer 25:15. Moab also shall wallow in his vomit — The judgments which God sends upon him shall expose him to the scorn of his enemies; just as a drunken man is the object of men’s laughter and derision. For was not Israel a derision unto thee? — Didst not thou insult over the calamities of the Jews when they were carried away captive? Israel is here put for Judah. Was he found among thieves? — Though the sins of Israel were great in the sight of God, yet, as he had done no injury to the Moabites, there was no reason why they should use him with the same despite and contempt as if he had been a common thief and robber, whom all men think they have a right to abuse. For since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy — This translation, Blaney observes, seems quite foreign to the purpose, and does not accord with the literal meaning of the Hebrew, מדי דברין בו תתנודד, which, he thinks, may be properly rendered, That thou shouldest insult him with all the power of thy words. The sense then of the sentence will be, “Didst thou find Israel among thieves, coming to rob thee of thy property, that thou shouldest think thyself entitled to break out into all manner of revilings against him? Compare Eze 25:8; Zep 2:8; Zep 2:10. Lowth suggests another interpretation, which the words will very well bear, and which agrees with the Chaldee paraphrase, namely, For the words thou hast spoken against him, thou shalt be carried captive. To this purpose also the Vulgar Latin, propter verba tua quæ adversum ilium locutus es, captivus diceres.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

THE CONTRAST, Jer_48:26-47.

26. Make ye him drunken, etc. — This commission is addressed to those who execute God’s vengeance on Moab. For his haughtiness and arrogance are appointed shame and disgrace. Moab is a laughing-stock because Israel was a derision to her, as is said in Jer_48:27.

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

Moab's haughtiness and deplorable fall. - Jer 48:26. "Make him drunk - for he hath boasted against Jahveh - so that Moab shall splash down into his vomit, and himself become a laughing-stock. Jer 48:27. Was not Israel a laughing-stock to thee, or was he found among thieves? for whenever thou spakest of him, thou didst shake thine head. Jer 48:28. Leave the cities and dwell in the rock, ye inhabitants of Moab; and be ye like a dove [that] builds its nest in the sides of the mouth of a pit. Jer 48:29. We have heard the very arrogant pride of Moab, his haughtiness, and his arrogance, and his high-mindedness, and his elation of mind. Jer 48:30. I know, saith Jahveh, his wrath, and the untruthfulness of his words; they have done what is untrue. Jer 48:31. Therefore will I howl over Moab, and for all Moab will I cry; they mourn for the people of Kir-heres. Jer 48:32. I will weep for thee [with more] than the weeping of Jazer, O vine of Sibmah, thou whose tendrils have gone over the sea, have reached even to the sea of Jazer; on thy fruit-harvest and thy vintage a spoiler has fallen. Jer 48:33. And joy and gladness are taken from the garden, and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the wine-vats: they shall not tread [with] a shout; the shout shall be no shout. Jer 48:34. From the cry of Heshbon as far as Elealeh, as far as Jahaz, they utter their voice; from Zoar as far as Horonaim and the third Eglath; for even the waters of Nimrim shall become desolations. Jer 48:35. And I will destroy from Moab, saith Jahveh, him that offers on a high place and burns incense to his gods."

Through his pride, Moab has incurred the sentence of destruction to his power. In arrogance and rage he has exalted himself over Jahveh and His people Israel; therefore must he now be humbled, Jer 48:26-30. The summons to make Moab drunk is addressed to those whom God has charged with the execution of the sentence; cf. Jer 48:10 and Jer 48:21. These are to present to the people of Moab the cup of the divine wrath, and so to intoxicate them, that they shall fall like a drunk man into his vomit, and become a laughing-stock to others (cf. Jer 13:13; Jer 25:15), because they have boasted against Jahveh by driving the Israelites from their inheritance, and by deriding the people of God; cf. Zep 2:8. ספק, to strike, frequently of striking the hands together; here it signifies to fall into his vomit, i.e., to tumble into it with a splash. No other explanation of the word can find support from the language used. Cf. Isa 19:14 and Isa 25:10. In the last clause of Jer 48:26, the emphasis lies on גּם הוּא: "he also (Moab, like Israel before) shall become a laughing-stock." This statement is enforced by the question put in Jer 48:27, "Was not Israel a laughing-stock to thee?" ואם־אם shows a double question, like ה־אם; and ואם in the first clause may be further strengthened by the interrogative ה before שׂחק, as in Gen 17:17. For other forms of the double question, see Psa 94:9; Job 21:4; Jer 23:26. On Dagesh dirimens in השּׂחק, cf. Ewald, 104, b. There is no sufficient reason for questioning the feminine form נמצאה in the Qeri; Israel is personified as a woman, just as Moab in Jer 48:20, where חתּה is found. On מדּי דב, cf. Jer 31:20, where, however, דּבּר בּ is used in another meaning. התנודד, to shake oneself, is a stronger expression than הניד בּראשׁ, to shake the head (Jer 18:16), a gesture denoting mockery and rejoicing over another's injury; cf. Psa 64:9.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

48:26-27 Moab’s hatred for Israel was ultimately against the Lord.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He willed the Chaldeans to lay afflictions enough upon them, till they be like drunken men that fall down to their shame and are derided of all.

Or, shall be full, or clap his hands.

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

drunken--(see on Jer 13:12; Jer 25:17). Intoxicated with the cup of divine wrath, so as to be in helpless distraction.

magnified . . . against . . . Lord--boasted arrogantly against God's people, that whereas Israel was fallen, Moab remained flourishing.

wallow in . . . vomit--following up the image of a drunken man, that is, shall be so afflicted by God's wrath as to disgorge all his past pride, riches, and vainglory, and fall in his shameful abasement.

he also . . . derision--He in his disaster shall be an object of derision to us, as we in ours have been to him (Jer 48:27). Retribution in kind.

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

The Prophet now addresses the Chaldeans, who were to be the executioners of God’s vengeance: hence he says, Make him drunk, because he has magnified himself against Jehovah, that is, raised himself in his pride against God. Then the Prophet, as God’s herald, encouraged the Chaldeans, fully to execute God’s judgment, who had been chosen to be his servants. And the address had more force in it when the Prophet showed that such a command was committed to him, as we have seen elsewhere; for the Prophets showed how efficacious was their doctrine, when they besieged and stormed cities, when they gave orders to armies. This then is the course which Jeremiah now follows, when as God’s herald he summons the Chaldeans, and commands them vigorously to perform what God approved and what he had decreed, even to inebriate the Moabites with evils. The rest to-morrow.

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.

26. Make ye him drunken] For the metaphor of drunkenness see on ch. Jer_25:15.

he magnified himself against the Lord] He resisted Reuben in his occupation of the territory which the Lord had assigned him, but also in much more recent times. See e.g. 2Ki_24:2.

wallow] or, splash into.

he also shall be in derision] just as he derided Israel.

26, 27. Probably post-Jeremianic.

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.

For was not Israel a derision unto thee?.... In the time of his calamity, when the ten tribes were carried captive by the Assyrians some years ago; and of late the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin by the Chaldeans; the Moabites rejoiced at this, which they ought not to have done, upon the common principles of humanity; and especially since they were not only neighbours, but akin; and therefore, according to the law of retaliation, it was but just that they should be had in derision themselves:

was he found among thieves? that is, Israel; that he should be a derision to any, as thieves are when they are taken; men rejoice at it, insult them, and deride them; but was this the case of Israel? had he robbed any? had he done any injury to Moab, or any other? no, verily: why this derision then?

for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy; or, "shookedst thyself" (c); whenever the Moabites spoke of the distresses and calamities of Israel, and of their captivity, they laughed till they shook themselves; not only shook their heads, but their whole bodies. The Vulgate Latin version is, "therefore, because of thy words which thou hast spoken against him, thou shall be carried captive"; and Jarchi mentions such a sense of the words, as given by some of their Rabbins; and to this agrees the Targum,

"and because ye have multiplied words against them, therefore ye shall go into captivity.''

(c) "commovisti te", Vatablus, Calvin; "commoves te", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "motitas te", Schmidt.

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

Make ye him drunken - With the wine-cup of God’s fury, until terror deprive him of his senses.

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

Drunk with the wine of God’s wrath. --- Dash. Hebrew, "roll in," or "they shall clap hands over Moab, in," &c.

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).

Make ye him drunken; either make ye him to stagger like a drunken man, (the cause being put for the effect,) or fill him with the intoxicating wine cup of God’s vengeance, with the effects of God’s wrath. For he magnified himself against the Lord; because of his pride, and exalting himself against the Lord, as if he had been stronger than he, and so ont of the reach of God’s power.

Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision: as drunken men vomit, and stagger, and fall, and wallow in their vomit, so let the Moabites fall by the sword, wallow in their blood, and like drunken men be mocked at and had in derision by all those who see what their vaunts come to, and what vengeance they have pulled upon themselves.

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

Vers. 26-35. And what is Moab"s crime? At an earlier point the prophet said that it was the callousness produced by long prosperity (ver. 11); but here another sin is mentioned Moab"s haughty contempt of Jehovah. "For this it deserves that its contempt should be thrown back upon itself, by its being made, like a drunken man, the scorn of all" (Ewald). The figure is, no doubt, a coarse one, but not unnatural in the oratory (we must put aside inspiration, which leaves the forms of speech untouched) of a rude people like the Jews. It occurs not infrequently elsewhere; see especially Isa_19:14 Hab_2:15, Hab_2:16; and, for milder examples of the figure, Jer_13:13, Jer_13:25.

Make ye him drunken. The command is issued to the agents of the Divine wrath (comp. vers. 10, 21). He magnified himself against the Lord. Offences against Israel being also offences against Israel"s God. (see Jephthah"s striking words in Jud_1:11:23, 24) Shall wallow; rather, shall fall heavily (literally, shall clap a pregnant expression).

Vers. 26, 27. Moab exulting over fallen Israel.

Here is another allusion to a wine country. Moab knew well what it was to drink to excess. The drunkard with his silly talk and behavior is a common object of ridicule everywhere. And Moab shall become to other nations abject and degraded as the drunkard. This is the end of its wrong excitement over the fall of Israel Moab has seen Israel in its days of power and glory and pride, and, cooing, has feared. Could the days of Balak and the prophecies of Balaam be forgotten? Nor is it likely that Israel would be without unseemly exultations and reciprocal jealousies. And now at last Israel falls. And all that Moab can take knowledge of is the fact of the fall. That it has been caused by disobedience and rebellion, that Jehovah is the real Author of it and not the King of Babylon, who is but as Jehovah"s sword, Moab cannot well have means for knowing. All it can see is a rival fallen, and. as it seems permanently fallen. Therefore Moab must be taught a lesson. In exulting over Israel it is exulting against Jehovah. Indeed, there is no reason why we should reject the notion of some open and bold comparison between the weakness of Jehovah, God of Israel, and the strength of Chemosh, god of Moab. As if the people said, "See how strong Chemosh is; for we are still here, though Babylonian armies have not been far from us! and see how weak Jehovah is; for the nation to whom he was God is gone into a distant captivity!" To exult over the fall of those who have been avowedly the servants of God is a dangerous thing to do. The man who is tempted and falls should be an object of pity, one to be helped up and reinstated, even though the work needed for this be one with some loss and risk to ourselves. And surely we should be especially careful not to rejoice over the calamities of those whose calamity seems to give us a better chance. Moab had now to drink to the dregs a cup of shame, because it had failed to comprehend the duty of rejoicing with those who rejoiced and weeping with those who wept. Y.

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

Drunken - Fill him with the intoxicating wine of God's vengeance.

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

Make him drunk, because he acted proudly against Yahweh

Yahweh is speaking. The command "Make him drunk" indicates what Yahweh will cause to happen. Here "him" and "he" refers to Moab which represents the people of Moab. AT: "I, Yahweh, will cause the people of Moab to be drunk, for they acted proudly against me" (See: Imperatives - Other Uses and Metonymy)

Make him drunk

Here people experiencing Yahweh's punishment is spoken of as if they were drunk on wine, acting foolishly so that people laugh at them. AT: "I will cause you to be like a drunk person" (See: Metaphor)

Let Moab wallow in his vomit ... an object for laughter

Yahweh continues speaking of the people of Moab as if they were a drunk person. AT: "Now the people of Moab will be like a person who wallows in his vomit ... an object for laughter (See: Metaphor)

let him be an object of ridicule

"so that people will laugh at him"

For did not Israel become an object for laughter to you?

Yahweh uses a question to remind the people of Moab how they treated the people of Israel. AT: "For you used to mock and laugh at the people of Israel." (See: Rhetorical Question)

Israel ... Was he found ... at him ... about him

Here "Israel" represents the people of Israel. AT: "the people of Israel ... Were they found ... at them ... about them" (See: Metonymy)

Was he found among thieves, so that you shook your head ... about him?

Here Yahweh uses a question to rebuke the people of Moab for treating the people of Israel with shame though they did nothing wrong. AT: "Although they were not thieves, you still shook your head ... about him." (See: Rhetorical Question)

shook your head at him

This is a symbolic action that shows feeling of scorn or disgust towards someone. (See: Symbolic Action)

translationWords

drunk

proud

Yahweh

Moab

Israel

thief

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

Make him drunk Give him to drink [the cup of] weakness until he is drunk.

he too Just as Israel was derided by him [i.e., Moab].

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.