Jeremiah 49:3
in Jeremiah 49Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed; cry out, O daughters of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth and mourn; run back and forth within your walls, for Milcom will go into exile together with his priests and officials.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste; cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth: lament, and run to and fro among the fences; for Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together.
KJV
Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together.
⋯
This verse in Jeremiah 49
Commentary
4 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Ai - Not the town on the west of the Jordan Jos 7:2; a place not mentioned elsewhere. For Ai some read Ar. Hedges - Fields were not divided by hedges until recent times; the term probably means the walls which enclose the vineyards Num 22:24.
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 Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Howl, O Heshbon,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Run to and fro by the hedges - It is supposed that this may refer to the women making lamentations for the dead, that were in general buried by the walls of their gardens; but others think that it refers to the smaller cities or villages, called here the daughters of Rabbah, the metropolis; the inhabitants of which are exhorted to seek safety somewhere else, as none can be expected from them, now that the enemy is at hand.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֵילִ֨ילִי | heilili | wail | H3213 → | 30 times |
| חֶשְׁבּ֜וֹן | cheshbon | O Heshbon | H2809 → | 38 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| שֻׁדְּדָה־ | shudedah- | it has been devastated | H7703 → | 57 times |
| עַ֗י | ʾai | Ai | H5857 → | |
| צְעַקְנָה֮ | tzeaknah | cry out | H6817 → | 55 times |
| בְּנ֣וֹת | benot | O daughters of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| רַבָּה֒ | rabah | Rabbah | H7237 → | |
| חֲגֹ֣רְנָה | chagorenah | gird yourselves | H2296 → | 44 times |
| שַׂקִּ֔ים | sakim | sackcloth<s> | H8242 → | 49 times |
| סְפֹ֕דְנָה | sefodenah | mourn | H5594 → | 30 times |
| וְהִתְשׁוֹטַ֖טְנָה | vehitshotatnah | and run to and fro | H7751 → | |
| בַּגְּדֵר֑וֹת | bagederot | among the walls | H1448 → | |
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מַלְכָּם֙ | malkam | Milcom | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| בַּגּוֹלָ֣ה | bagolah | in <the> exile | H1473 → | 43 times |
| יֵלֵ֔ךְ | yelekh | he will go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| כֹּהֲנָ֥יו | kohanav | priests his | H3548 → | 750 times |
| וְשָׂרָ֖יו | vesarav | and officials his | H8269 → | 421 times |
| יַחְדָּֽיו׃ | yachdav | together | H3162 → | 141 times |
הֵילִ֨ילִיwail
heililiH3213 →30 times
חֶשְׁבּ֜וֹןO Heshbon
cheshbonH2809 →38 times
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
שֻׁדְּדָה־it has been devastated
shudedah-H7703 →57 times
עַ֗יAi
ʾaiH5857 →
צְעַקְנָה֮cry out
tzeaknahH6817 →55 times
בְּנ֣וֹתO daughters of
benotH1323 →588 times
רַבָּה֒Rabbah
rabahH7237 →
חֲגֹ֣רְנָהgird yourselves
chagorenahH2296 →44 times
שַׂקִּ֔יםsackcloth<s>
sakimH8242 →49 times
סְפֹ֕דְנָהmourn
sefodenahH5594 →30 times
וְהִתְשׁוֹטַ֖טְנָהand run to and fro
vehitshotatnahH7751 →
בַּגְּדֵר֑וֹתamong the walls
bagederotH1448 →
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
מַלְכָּם֙Milcom
malkamH4428 →2525 times
בַּגּוֹלָ֣הin <the> exile
bagolahH1473 →43 times
יֵלֵ֔ךְhe will go
yelekhH1980 →1546 times
כֹּהֲנָ֥יוpriests his
kohanavH3548 →750 times
וְשָׂרָ֖יוand officials his
vesaravH8269 →421 times
יַחְדָּֽיו׃together
yachdavH3162 →141 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
Jeremiah 48:7Because you trust in your works and treasures, you too will be captured, and Chemosh will go into exile with his priests and officials.
it leads to
- Numbers 21:29
Woe to you, O Moab! You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh! He gave up his sons as refugees, and his daughters into captivity to Sihon king of the Amorites.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 52:7
“Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”
- Numbers 21:29
Through
2 Kings 23:13The king also desecrated the high places east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Corruption, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 11:7
At that time on a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites.
- 1 Kings 11:5
Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
- 1 Kings 11:7
Through
Jeremiah 48:37For every head is shaved and every beard is clipped; on every hand is a gash, and around every waist is sackcloth.
it leads to
- Isaiah 15:2–3
Dibon goes up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails over Nebo, as well as over Medeba. Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off.
- Jeremiah 41:5
eighty men who had shaved off their beards, torn their garments, and cut themselves came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, carrying grain offerings and frankincense for the house of the LORD.
- Jeremiah 47:5
The people of Gaza will shave their heads in mourning; Ashkelon will be silenced. O remnant of their valley, how long will you gash yourself?
- Genesis 37:34
Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
- Isaiah 15:2–3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).
