1415 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For thus saith the Lord,.... This that follows shows that what goes before is not said by way of promise and comfort, but threatening: behold, they whose judgment [was] not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; meaning either some of the other nations, who had not dealt so ill with the Jews as the Edomites had, at least their sins were not...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For I have sworn by myself, saith the Lord,.... This he did, because he could swear by no greater, and to show the certain and infallible accomplishment of the event, and the importance of it; and which was so extraordinary, that it was scarce thought credible, and therefore an oath is used to confirm it: that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I have heard a rumour from the Lord,.... "A hearing" (l); or a report concerning the destruction of Edom, made to him in a dream or vision, by the spirit of God, as a spirit of prophecy: and an ambassador is sent to the Heathen; or a messenger; Jeremiah the prophet, as some; or an angel, as Kimchi suggests, sent to gather the nations to war...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For, lo, I will make thee small among the Heathen,.... Or, "I have given thee", or "made thee" (m); as if it respected what Edom was at first, a people few in number, and their country not large, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi, and after them Abarbinel: but it rather intends what Edom should be (n); and which was the reason of gathering the Chaldeans...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, [and] the pride of thine heart,.... Some render it, "thine idol" (o); see 1 Kings 15:13; which, being terrible to them, they thought it might be so to others, and protect them. In the place referred to the word "miphlezeth" is used, and comes from the same root with this, which signifies to be terrible and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Also Edom shall be a desolation,.... Not only Bozrah, its principal city, before spoken of, but the whole country of Idumea should be laid waste; its fortified cities destroyed; its riches plundered; and its inhabitants slain with the sword; or carried captive: everyone that goeth by it shall be astonished; at the desolation made, so suddenly and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah,.... Which was so sudden and general, that nothing was left, or any spared; so should it be with Edom: and the neighbour [cities] thereof, saith the Lord; the cities that were in the plain, Admah and Zeboim: no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it; that is, of the race of Edom; no...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan,.... The Targum rightly interprets it of a king and his army, paraphrasing the words thus, "behold, a king with his army shall come up against them, as a lion comes up from the height of Jordan;'' not the king of Edom that should come up against Judea, or to defend himself against...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord that he hath taken against Edom,.... The decree of the Lord; the purpose and resolution he had taken up in his heart against the Idumeans, which was wisely formed, and upon just and good grounds: and his purposes that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman; a principal place in Edom, the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The earth is moved at the noise of their fall,.... Of the Edomites; whose fall was from the height of greatness and glory to a very low condition indeed; and as things, the higher they are from whence they fall, the greater noise they make, so it was with the Edomites; perhaps there may be some allusion to the falling of rocks and hills, with...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Behold, he shall come up, and fly as the eagle,.... The Targum is, "behold, as an eagle comes up and flies, so shall a king come up with his army;'' the king of Babylon with his army, compared to an eagle for his swiftness and voraciousness, as before to a lion for his strength and fierceness: and spread his wings over Bozrah; besiege that city,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Concerning Damascus,.... Or, "unto Damascus" (d); or, "against Damascus" (e); that is, "thus saith the Lord"; which is to be repeated from the foregoing instances, Jeremiah 49:1. This is to be understood, not only of the city of Damascus, but of the whole kingdom of Syria, of which Damascus was the metropolis; see Isaiah 7:8; Hamath is confounded,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Damascus is waxed feeble,.... Or, "is become remiss" (g); her hands hang down, not being able through fear and fright to lift them up against the enemy; that is, the inhabitants of Damascus, as the Targum: [and] turneth herself to flee; instead of going out to meet the enemy, the inhabitants of this city meditated a flight, and turned their backs...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
How is the city of praise not left,.... The city of Damascus, famous for its antiquity, its wealth and riches, strength and power; and with the Heathens for its devotion and superstition. So Julian (i) the emperor calls it, "the truly city of Jupiter; the eye of the whole east; Damascus the holy and the greatest;'' but more especially for its...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets,.... Or "verily" (o) so Jarchi interprets it as an oath; Jehovah swearing that so it should be; that her young men, her choice ones such who were the flower of the city, and on whom its future prosperity depended; these should fall by the sword of the Chaldeans in the streets of the city, when...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus,.... Signifying either that, a breach being made there the destruction of the city should begin, and be carried on until it was completed; or it may be understood literally, that first the houses built upon the wall should beset on fire by the Chaldeans, through the divine permission, and according...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor,.... A new prophecy concerning the Arabians; for Kedar was a son of Ishmael, Genesis 25:13; whose posterity inhabited Arabia Petraea. Hazor was Petra itself, the metropolis of the country, whose king had several petty kings and kingdoms under him; for this is not the Hazor in the land of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Their tents and their flocks shall they take away,.... The Kedarenes were a people whose business chiefly lay in feeding flocks, and of which their substance consisted; and they mostly dwelt in tents, which they removed from place to place, for the sake of pasturage for their flocks; hence they were sometimes called Scenites, and sometimes...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith the Lord,.... The same is said to the inhabitants of Dedan, [See comments on Jeremiah 49:8]; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you: had determined upon their destruction, and had consulted and contrived ways and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation,.... Or, "to the nation [that is] at ease" (s); the people that live quietly and in peace; have no wars with their neighbours, nor any among themselves; which seems to be the better sense of the word, for these Kedarenes were not a very wealthy people: these words do not express the counsel and purpose of...