Jeremiah 49:10

49:7-22 The Edomites were old enemies to the Israel of God. But their day is now at hand; it is foretold, not only to warn them, but for the sake of the Israel of God, whose afflictions were aggravated by them. Thus Divine judgments go round from nation to nation; the earth is full of commotion, and nothing can escape the ministers of Divine vengeance. The righteousness of God is to be observed amidst the violence of men.

But I have made Esau bare,.... By the hand of the Chaldeans; stripped him of everything that is valuable; of his cities, castles, villages, people, wealth, and treasure: I have uncovered his secret places; where either his substance was hid, or his people; these were made known to their enemies, who seized on both: and he shall not be able to hide himself; even in his deep places, in the caves and dens of the earth, but his enemy shall find him out: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours; his children, as the Targum; and his brethren, the Ammonites and Moabites; and his neighbours, the Philistines; or as many as were with him, and belonged unto him: and he is not: his kingdom is not; he is no more a people and nation, but all destroyed by the sword, or carried captive; or there should be none left of his brethren, and neighbours, and friends, to say to him what follows: "leave thy fatherless children", &c. So Kimchi and Ben Melech say this phrase is in connection with the Jeremiah 49:11.

Verse 10. - But , etc.; rather, for. The verse gives the reason why the destruction is so complete. "It is I, Jehovah, who made Esau bare," etc. "Esau," i.e. Edom ( Genesis 25:30 ). His seed; i.e. the Edomites. His brethren, or kinsmen; i.e. the Amalekites ( Genesis 36:12 ). His neighbours; i.e. the tribes of Dedan, Terns, and Buz ( Jeremiah 25:23 ). Jeremiah 49:10

10 . Parallel with Obadiah 1:6 , which (as 8; see on Jeremiah 49:7 above) is probably an insertion from this passage, where it fits the context much better; especially if, with mg. we introduce, as we should, the v . by For . his secret places ] the retreats and fastnesses of Edom. his seed … he is not ] For metrical reasons we should shorten this part of the v ., reading, e.g. with Co. (who points out that “his seed is spoiled” is inconsistent with Jeremiah 49:11 ), “he is spoiled and is not.”

But - For. The reason why the invaders destroy Edom so completely. His secret places are the hiding-places in the mountains of Seir. His seed - Esau's seed, the Edomites; his brethren are the nations joined with him in the possession of the land, Amalek, and perhaps the Simeonites; his neighbors are Dedan, Tema, Buz.

But the Edomites should be left bare; and though they sought to hide themselves in secret places, yet God would there find them out, and there should be no places sufficient to hide them. All their children should be destroyed, and the Moabites their kinsmen, and the Philistines their neighbours, should be ruined as well as they.

10. Edom became politically extinct after the time of the Romans. uncovered his secret places—where he hid himself (Jer 49:8) and his treasures (Isa 45:3). I have caused that nothing should be so hidden as that the conqueror should not find it. brethren—Ammon. neighbours—the Philistines.

Jeremiah 49:9 is a reproduction of Obadiah 1:5 , but in such a way that what Obadiah brings forward as a comparison is directly applied by Jeremiah to the enemy: our prophet represents the enemy as grape-gatherers who leave nothing to glean, and as nocturnal thieves who destroy what is sufficient for them, i.e., destroy till they have enough, drag away and destroy as much as they can. The after-clauses, "they will not leave," etc., "they destroy," etc., are thus not to be taken as questions. The reference to Obadiah does not entitle us to supply הלוא from that passage. The connection here is somewhat different. The following verse is joined by means of כּי, "for;" and the thought, "for I have stripped Esau, I have discovered his secret places," shows that the enemy is to be understood by the grape-gatherers and nocturnal thieves: he will leave nothing to glean - will plunder all the goods and treasures of Edom, even those that have been hidden. On this subject, cf. Obadiah 1:6 . חשׂף, "to strip off leaves, make bare" ( Jeremiah 13:26 ), has been chosen with a regard to נחפּשׂוּ in Obadiah. ונחבּה לא יוּכל, lit., "and he hides himself, he will not be able to do it;" i.e., Esau (Edom) tries to hide himself; he will not be able to do it - he will not remain concealed from the enemy.

There are not sufficient grounds for changing the perf. נחבּה equals נחבּא into the inf. abs. נחבּה, as Ewald and Graf do. "His seed is destroyed," i.e., his family, the posterity of Esau, the Edomites, his brethren," the descendants of nations related to the family, and of others similar who had intermingled with them, as the Amalekites, Genesis 36:12 , Horites, Genesis 36:20 ., Simeonites, 1 Chronicles 4:42 , "and his neighbours," the neighbouring tribes, as Dedan, Jeremiah 49:8 , Thema and Buz, Jeremiah 25:23 . "And he is not" is added to give intensity, as in Isaiah 19:7 ; cf. Jeremiah 31:15 . The last idea is made more intensive by Jeremiah 49:11 , "Leave your orphans and widows." Edom is addressed, and the imperative expresses what must happen. The men of Edom will be obliged to leave their wives and children, and these will be left behind as widows and orphans, because the men fall in battle. Yet the Lord will care for them, so that they shall not perish. In this comfort there is contained a very bitter truth for the Edomites who hated Jahveh. עזבה is the imperative (Ewald, 228, a), not infinitive (Hitzig); and תּבטחוּ is a rare form of the jussive for תּבטחנה, as in Ezekiel 37:7 ; cf. Ewald, 191, b.