Jeremiah 49:1
in Jeremiah 49Concerning the Ammonites, this is what the LORD says: “Has Israel no sons? Is he without heir? Why then has Milcom taken possession of Gad? Why have his people settled in their cities?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Of the children of Ammon. Thus saith Jehovah: Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth Malcam possess Gad, and his people dwell in the cities thereof?
KJV
Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the Lord; Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities?
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This verse in Jeremiah 49
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Hath Israel no sons? - i. e., the Ammonites in seizing Gilead have acted as if the country had no rightful owner. The sons of Israel were to return from captivity, and the land was their hereditary property. Their king - Milcom (and in Jer 49:3), see the margin. The Ammonite god stands for the Ammonites just as Chemosh Jer 48:7 is the equivalent of the Moabites. Inherit - i. e., take possession of.
This site's exposition
Has Israel no sons? Is he without heir?
on Jeremiah 49:1-6
The LORD asks why Milcom has “taken possession of Gad”, answering Ammon’s seizure of Gad’s land after Assyria exiled that tribe (2 Kings 15:29). Rabbah, the capital later called Amman, will become “a heap of ruins.” “Yet afterward I will restore the Ammonites from captivity,” as 48:47 promised Moab.
The record, by era
The Reformation1 voice
Then he says, To the children of Ammon: Are there no children to Israel? It was a trial very grievous to the miserable Israelites to see a part of the inheritance promised them by God forcibly taken from them by the Ammonites; for what must have come to their minds but that they had been deceived by vain promises?
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the Lord,....
As there is justice owing to owners, so also to their heirs, when they are dead, whom it is a great sin to defraud, though they either know not their right or know not how to come at it. This shall be reckoned for particularly, when injuries of this kind are done to God's people. Judgment is here given against them for this violence.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
It had already, in the days of Jeroboam, in Israel's affliction, tried to "enlarge its border" (2Ki 14:26; Am 1:1, 13). their king-- (Am 1:15); referring to Melchom, their tutelary idol (Zep 1:5); and so the Septuagint reads it here as a proper name (1Ki 11:5, 33; The Ammonite god is said to do what they do, namely, occupy the Israelite land of Gad.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Concerning the Ammonites - This prophetic discourse was also delivered after the capture of Jerusalem. Hath Israel no sons? - no heir? - The Ammonites, it appears, took advantage of the depressed state of Israel, and invaded their territories in the tribe of Gad, hoping to make them their own for ever. But the prophet intimates that God will preserve the descendants of Israel, and will bring them back to their forfeited inheritances. Why then doth their king - מלכם Malcom or Milcom, the chief idol of the Ammonites. That the idol Milcom is here meant is sufficiently evident from Jer 49:3, where it is said: “Milcom (not their king) shall go into captivity; his Priests and his princes together.” Milcom is also called Molech. Malcom is put here for the Ammonites, as the people of Chemosh in the preceding chapter are put for the Moabites in general.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Has Israel no sons? The ‘beth’ is weak [without a ‘dagesh’], and the ‘heh’ is vowelized with a ‘hataph-pattah,’ which is an expression of wonder [interrogative].
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
20 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לִבְנֵ֣י | livnei | of [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| עַמּ֗וֹן | amon | Ammon | H5983 → | 106 times |
| כֹּ֚ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הֲבָנִ֥ים | havanim | ¿ [do] children | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אֵין֙ | ʾein | not | H369 → | 789 times |
| לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | leyisrael | [belong] to Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | or? | H518 → | 1069 times |
| יוֹרֵ֖שׁ | yoresh | [does] an heir | H3423 → | 231 times |
| אֵ֣ין | ʾein | not | H369 → | 789 times |
| ל֑וֹ | lo | [belongs] to <the> it | ||
| מַדּ֗וּעַ | madua' | why? | H4069 → | 72 times |
| יָרַ֤שׁ | yarash | has he dispossessed | H3423 → | 231 times |
| מַלְכָּם֙ | malkam | Milcom | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| גָּ֔ד | gad | Gad | H1410 → | |
| וְעַמּ֖וֹ | veamo | and people his | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| בְּעָרָ֥יו | bearav | in cities its | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| יָשָֽׁב׃ | yashav | has it dwelt? | H3427 → | 1079 times |
לִבְנֵ֣יof [the] people of
livneiH1121 →4930 times
עַמּ֗וֹןAmmon
amonH5983 →106 times
כֹּ֚הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הֲבָנִ֥ים¿ [do] children
havanimH1121 →4930 times
אֵין֙not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל[belong] to Israel
leyisraelH3478 →2507 times
אִם־or?
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
יוֹרֵ֖שׁ[does] an heir
yoreshH3423 →231 times
אֵ֣יןnot
ʾeinH369 →789 times
ל֑וֹ[belongs] to <the> it
lo
מַדּ֗וּעַwhy?
madua'H4069 →72 times
יָרַ֤שׁhas he dispossessed
yarashH3423 →231 times
מַלְכָּם֙Milcom
malkamH4428 →2525 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
גָּ֔דGad
gadH1410 →
וְעַמּ֖וֹand people his
veamoH5971 →1873 times
בְּעָרָ֥יוin cities its
bearavH5892 →1090 times
יָשָֽׁב׃has it dwelt?
yashavH3427 →1079 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 23:3No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even to the tenth generation.
it leads to
- Nehemiah 13:1–2
At that time the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people, and in it they found the passage stating that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly…
- Ruth 4:6
The kinsman-redeemer replied, “I cannot redeem it myself, or I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I cannot redeem it.”
- Nehemiah 13:23
In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.
- Nehemiah 13:1–2
Through
Jeremiah 49:7Concerning Edom, this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed?
it leads to
- Amos 1:11–12
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Edom, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and stifled all compassion; his anger raged…
- Jeremiah 49:20
Therefore hear the plans that the LORD has drawn up against Edom and the strategies He has devised against the people of Teman: Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged away;…
- Jeremiah 25:21
Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites;
- Ezekiel 25:12–14
This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because Edom acted vengefully against the house of Judah, and in so doing incurred grievous guilt,
- Genesis 25:30
He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am famished.” (That is why he was also called Edom.)
- Amos 1:11–12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.