Jeremias 49

ARC · Chapter 49/52

1Contra os filhos de Ammon. Assim diz o Senhor: Acaso não tem filhos Israel, nem tem herdeiro? porque pois herdou Malcam a Gad e o seu povo habitou nas suas cidades?

2Portanto, eis que veem dias, diz o Senhor, em que farei ouvir em Rabba dos filhos de Ammon o alarido de guerra, e tornar-se-ha n'um montão de assolação, e os logares da sua jurisdicção serão queimados a fogo; e Israel herdará aos que o herdaram, diz o Senhor

3Uiva, ó Hesbon, porque já é destruida Ai; clamae, ó filhas de Rabba, cingi-vos de saccos, lamentae, e rodeae pelos vallados; porque Malcam irá em captiveiro, os seus sacerdotes e os seus principes juntamente.

4Porque te glorias dos valles, já se escorreu o teu valle, ó filha rebelde que confias nos teus thesouros, dizendo: Quem virá contra mim?

5Eis que eu trarei temor sobre ti, diz o Senhor Jehovah dos Exercitos, de todos os que estão ao redor de ti; e sereis lançados fóra cada um diante de si, e ninguem recolherá o desgarrado.

6Mas depois d'isto farei voltar os captivos dos filhos de Ammon, diz o Senhor.

7Contra Edom. Assim diz o Senhor dos Exercitos: Acaso já não ha mais sabedoria em Teman? já pereceu o conselho dos entendidos? corrompeu-se a sua sabedoria?

8Fugi, virae-vos, buscae profundezas para habitar, ó moradores de Dedan, porque eu trouxe sobre elle a ruina de Esaú, no tempo em que o visitei.

9Se vindimadores viessem a ti, não deixariam rabiscos? se ladrões de noite viessem, não te damnificariam quanto lhes é sufficiente?

10Mas eu despi a Esaú, descobri os seus esconderijos, e não se poderá esconder: é destruida a sua semente, como tambem seus irmãos e seus visinhos, e já elle não é

11Deixa os teus orphãos: eu os guardarei em vida; e as tuas viuvas confiar-se-hão em mim.

12Porque assim diz o Senhor: Eis que os que não estavam condemnados a beberem o copo totalmente o beberão; e tu mesmo totalmente serias absolto? não serás absolto, mas totalmente o beberás.

13Porque por mim mesmo jurei, diz o Senhor, que Bozra servirá de espanto, de opprobrio, de assolação, e de execração; e todas as suas cidades se tornarão em assolações perpetuas.

14Ouvi um rumor vindo do Senhor, que um embaixador é enviado ás nações, para lhes dizer: Ajuntae-vos, e vinde contra ella, e levantae-vos para a guerra.

15Porque eis que te fiz pequeno entre as nações, desprezado entre os homens.

16A tua terribilidade te enganou, e a arrogancia do teu coração, tu que habitas nas cavernas das rochas, que occupas as alturas dos outeiros; ainda que alces o teu ninho como a aguia, de lá te derribarei, diz o Senhor.

17Assim servirá Edom de espanto: todo aquelle que passar por ella se espantará, e assobiará por causa de todas as suas pragas.

18Será como a destruição de Sodoma e Gomorrah, e dos seus visinhos, diz o Senhor: não habitará ninguem ali, nem morará n'ella filho de homem

19Eis que elle como leão subirá da enchente do Jordão contra a morada do forte; porque n'um momento o farei correr d'ali; e quem é o escolhido que porei sobre ella? porque quem é similhante a mim? e quem me emprazaria? e quem é o pastor que subsistiria perante mim?

20Portanto ouvi o conselho do Senhor, que decretou contra Edom, e os seus designios que intentou entre os moradores de Teman: certamente os mais pequenos do rebanho os arrastarão: certamente assolará as suas moradas sobre elles.

21A terra estremeceu do estrondo da sua queda: tocante ao grito, até ao Mar Vermelho se ouviu o sonido.

22Eis que elle como aguia subirá, e voará, e estenderá as suas azas sobre Bozra: e será o coração dos valentes de Edom n'aquelle dia como o coração da mulher que está com dôres de parto.

23Contra Damasco. Envergonhou-se Hamath e Arpad, porquanto ouviram más novas, se desmaiaram: no mar ha angustia, não se pode socegar.

24Enfraquecida está Damasco; virou as costas para fugir, e tremor a tomou: angustia e dôres a tomaram como da que está de parto.

25Como não é deixada a afamada cidade? a cidade de meu folguedo?

26Portanto cairão os seus mancebos nas suas ruas; e todos os homens de guerra serão consumidos n'aquelle dia, diz o Senhor dos Exercitos.

27E accenderei fogo ao muro de Damasco, e consumirá os palacios de Benhadad.

28Contra Kedar, e contra os reinos de Hazor, que Nabucodonozor, rei de Babylonia, feriu. Assim diz o Senhor: Levantae-vos, subi contra Kedar, e destrui os filhos do oriente.

29Tomarão as suas tendas, e os seus gados, as suas cortinas e todos os seus vasos, e os seus camelos levarão para si; e lhes clamarão: Ha medo de todos os lados.

30Fugi, desviae-vos para mui longe, buscae profundezas para habitar, ó moradores de Azor, diz o Senhor: porque Nabucodonozor, rei de Babylonia, tomou conselho contra vós, e intentou um designio contra vós.

31Levantae-vos, subi contra uma nação em repouso, que habita confiadamente, diz o Senhor, que não tem portas, nem ferrolho; habitam sós.

32E os seus camelos serão para preza, e a multidão dos seus gados para despojo: e os espalharei a todo o vento, áquelles que moram nos ultimos cantos da terra, e de todos os seus lados lhes trarei a sua ruina, diz o Senhor.

33E Hazor se tornará em morada de dragões, em assolação para sempre: ninguem habitará ali, nem morará n'ella filho de homem

34A palavra do Senhor, que veiu a Jeremias, o propheta, contra Elam, no principio do reinado de Zedekias, rei de Judah, dizendo:

35Assim diz o Senhor dos Exercitos: Eis que eu quebrarei o arco de Elam, o principal do seu poder.

36E trarei sobre Elam os quatro ventos dos quatro cantos dos céus, e os espalharei por todos estes ventos; e não haverá nação aonde não venham os fugitivos de Elam.

37E atemorizarei a Elam diante de seus inimigos e diante dos que procuram a sua morte; e farei vir sobre elles o mal, o furor da minha ira, diz o Senhor; e enviarei após elles a espada; até que venha a consumil-os.

38E porei o meu throno em Elam: e destruirei d'ali o rei e os principes, diz o Senhor.

39Será, porém, no ultimo dos dias que farei voltar os captivos de Elam, diz o Senhor.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Shorter prophecies are pronounced against Ammon, Edom, Damascus (Syria), Kedar, and Elam, each announcing judgment for pride or violence, but almost all ending with a promise of future restoration.

Explanation

This chapter gathers several smaller nations into a sequence of shorter judgments, yet with an important pattern repeating itself: even nations that did not belong to God's people receive, at the end of almost every oracle, a note of future hope ('I will bring back the captives'), except for Damascus. This suggests that Jeremiah's prophetic vision was not one of limitless, vengeful destruction, but of temporary correction within a larger plan that includes even Israel's historic adversaries. Edom, descended from Esau and therefore Israel's 'brother' by lineage, receives special attention for its pride in dwelling in the clefts of the rocks (possibly a reference to the city of Petra or a similar region), showing that not even natural geographic security can shield a nation from divine judgment.

Fun facts

  • The description of Edom dwelling 'in the clefts of the rock' and 'in the height of the hill' is linked by many scholars to the famous city of Petra, carved into the rock, although the site's better-known Nabatean occupation dates from centuries later.
  • Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, mentioned here, refer to nomadic Arab tribes from the desert region to the east, known for raising camels and flocks, as confirmed by other sources from the ancient Near East.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Jeremias 49:1An oracle against Ammon, a nation neighboring to the east of the Jordan, also descended from Lot; the initial accusation is that Ammon (through its god Milcom) had taken over territories belonging to the tribe of Gad after Israel was exiled by Assyria.
  2. Jeremias 49:2Rabbah was the Ammonite capital (present-day Amman, capital of Jordan); the prophecy foresees war and destruction, with Israel reclaiming what had been taken -- a reversal of the territorial injustice.
  3. Jeremias 49:3Ai and Rabbah are Ammonite cities condemned to mourning; Milcom, the national god of Ammon, will go into captivity along with his priests and princes -- the same fate announced for the Moabite god Chemosh.
  4. Jeremias 49:4Accuses Ammon of trusting in its own fertile valleys and riches, with an arrogance that asks, “Who shall come unto me?” -- a question the following answer disproves.
  5. Jeremias 49:5God promises to spread terror over Ammon from every side, causing a general rout with no one left to gather those who flee.
  6. Jeremias 49:6Even after the harsh sentence, it ends with a promise of future restoration for the Ammonites -- the same pattern of hope that appears in the oracles against Moab and Elam.
  7. Jeremias 49:7Teman, a region of Edom, was famous for its tradition of wisdom. It is from there that Eliphaz comes, one of Job’s friends (Job 2:11); hence Jeremiah’s ironic question, asking whether all that wisdom is still good for anything in the face of the coming judgment.
  8. Jeremias 49:8Dedan was a trading region tied to Edom; the warning to flee and hide in deep places shows that not even distance will protect anyone from the judgment called “the calamity of Esau” (Edom descended from Esau).
  9. Jeremias 49:9Compares the devastation to something worse than thieves or grape gatherers, who at least usually leave something behind -- the judgment against Edom will be complete, with nothing left over.
  10. Jeremias 49:10Describes Esau (Edom) being stripped bare and exposed, with no place left to hide -- his line, relatives, and neighbors disappearing completely.
  11. Jeremias 49:11In the middle of the severe judgment, an unexpected note of care: God promises to protect the orphans and widows Edom leaves behind -- even the punishment has a limit of mercy.
  12. Jeremias 49:12Uses the image of the “cup” of judgment, common in Jeremiah, to argue that if even the innocent drink part of the region’s general suffering, Edom, clearly guilty, will not escape drinking the whole cup.
  13. Jeremias 49:13God swears by His own name that Bozrah, Edom’s chief city, will become a permanent ruin -- an oath that underscores the weight and certainty of the sentence.
  14. Jeremias 49:14Describes it like an intelligence report: a message of war is already circulating among the nations, calling them together to attack Edom.
  15. Jeremias 49:15Announces Edom’s fall in status: from a respected nation to one small and despised among the neighboring peoples.
  16. Jeremias 49:16The caves in the rocks describe Edom’s natural strongholds, carved into sandstone cliffs in the region that today corresponds to the ancient city of Petra -- dwellings so well protected that the Edomites thought themselves impossible to reach.
  17. Jeremias 49:17Predicts that Edom’s devastation will be so great that any traveler passing by will react with astonishment and a hiss, an ancient gesture of shock at someone else’s disaster.
  18. Jeremias 49:18Compares the destruction of Edom to that of Sodom and Gomorrah -- the classic biblical example of a totally ruined city -- with the same promise that no one will ever live there again.
  19. Jeremias 49:19Uses the image of a lion coming up from the thickets of the Jordan to attack by surprise -- likely the Babylonian invasion -- and reinforces that no one can challenge God’s sole authority to choose who will lead that attack.
  20. Jeremias 49:20Invites the reader to hear God’s specific plan against Edom: even the weakest members of the Edomite “flock” (the common people) will be dragged away, and their land left desolate.
  21. Jeremias 49:21Edom’s fall would be so thunderous that the sound would reach all the way to the Red Sea, far in the distance -- an exaggerated image conveying the scale of the disaster.
  22. Jeremias 49:22Repeats the image of the attacking eagle (also used against Moab in chapter 48) over Bozrah, with Edom’s warriors feeling the same dread compared to the pains of childbirth.
  23. Jeremias 49:23Shifts the target to Damascus, the capital of Syria; neighboring cities like Hamath and Arpad already react in panic just from the first rumors of the invasion.
  24. Jeremias 49:24Damascus is described losing courage, trying to flee, seized by pains compared to childbirth -- the same vocabulary of panic used in the other oracles against the nations.
  25. Jeremias 49:25A mournful, personal question, almost one of surprise: how could such a famous and joyful city be abandoned so quickly?
  26. Jeremias 49:26Details the direct military consequence: Damascus’s young men will fall in its own streets, and its soldiers will be wiped out on the very day of the attack.
  27. Jeremias 49:27Promises fire in the walls of Damascus and in the palaces of the region, the standard image of total conquest used throughout these oracles.
  28. Jeremias 49:28A new target: Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, nomadic Arab tribes of the eastern desert, historically attacked by Nebuchadnezzar -- an attack against peoples with no organized army, living off flocks and tents.
  29. Jeremias 49:29Describes the complete plunder: tents, flocks, curtains, vessels, and camels, all carried off by the invaders, leaving the inhabitants in total panic.
  30. Jeremias 49:30Repeats the urgent advice to flee for these nomadic peoples, warning that Nebuchadnezzar already had a specific plan of attack against them.
  31. Jeremias 49:31Describes the target as a peaceful, unprotected nation, without gates or bars on its cities -- inhabitants far too confident, living isolated with no organized military defense.
  32. Jeremias 49:32Predicts that the camels and flocks, the main wealth of these nomadic peoples, would become spoils of war, and the survivors would be scattered to the four corners of the earth.
  33. Jeremias 49:33Hazor will become a haunted place, inhabited only by wild animals -- permanent desolation, with no one ever living there again.
  34. Jeremias 49:34A new oracle, now against Elam (a territory east of Babylon, in present-day Iran), dated at the very beginning of Zedekiah’s reign -- one more distant target reached by the judgment.
  35. Jeremias 49:35Announces the breaking of Elam’s bow, the symbol of that nation’s military power, famous precisely for its skilled archers.
  36. Jeremias 49:36Promises to scatter Elam’s people to the four winds, so widely that there would be no nation without some Elamite refugee reaching it.
  37. Jeremias 49:37Reinforces the scope of God’s wrath against Elam, promising pursuit by the sword until the punishment is fully carried out.
  38. Jeremias 49:38A strong image of sovereignty: God declares that He will set His own throne in Elam, removing the king and the local princes -- the region’s political power being replaced by divine authority.
  39. Jeremias 49:39As with the other oracles against foreign nations, it ends with a promise of future restoration for Elam “in the latter days” -- even the most geographically distant judgment receives a note of hope.

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