Jeremiah 48:12
in Jeremiah 48Therefore behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will send to him wanderers, who will pour him out. They will empty his vessels and shatter his jars.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will send unto him them that pour off, and they shall pour him off; and they shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles in pieces.
KJV
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.
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This verse in Jeremiah 48
Commentary
7 notes on this verseI will send unto him wanderers that shall cause him to wander - Dr. Blayney renders צעים tsaim, tilters; those who elevate one end of the wine cask when nearly run out that the remains of the liquor may be the more effectually drawn off at the cock. And this seems to be well supported by the following words, - And shall empty his vessels - I will send such as will carry the whole nation into captivity.
This site's exposition
settled like wine on its dregs
on Jeremiah 48:11-17
Moab “has been at ease from youth, settled like wine on its dregs,” never “poured from vessel to vessel or gone into exile.” Now the pourers will “shatter his jars,” and Moab will feel shame over Chemosh as Israel did “when they trusted in Bethel.”
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
wanderers--rather, "pourers out," retaining the image of Jer 48:11, that is, the Chaldeans who shall remove Moab from his settlements, as men pour wine from off the lees into other vessels. "His vessels" are the cities of Moab; the broken "bottles" the men slain [GROTIUS]. The Hebrew and the kindred Arabic word means, "to turn on one side," so as to empty a vessel [MAURER].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
FOR a considerable season the country of Moab had been free from the inroads of war and the terrors of pestilence. The nation had, therefore, become so conceitedly secure, that the Lord said, "We have heard the pride of Moab (he is exceedingly proud), his loftiness, and his arrogance, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart." The people became vain, dominating, boastful, and mocked at their afflicted neighbors the Israelites, manifesting ungenerous joy in their sorrows. "For was not Israel a derision unto you? Was he found among thieves?
FOR a considerable season the country of Moab had been free from the inroads of war and the terrors of pestilence. The nation had, therefore, become so conceitedly secure, that the Lord said, "We have heard the pride of Moab (he is exceedingly proud), his loftiness, and his arrogance, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart." The people became vain, dominating, boastful, and mocked at their afflicted neighbors the Israelites, manifesting ungenerous joy in their sorrows. "For was not Israel a derision unto you? Was he found among thieves? For since you spoke of him, you skipped for joy." From this pride sprang luxury and all those other vices which find a convenient lair in the repose of unbroken prosperity. The warriors of Moab said, "We are mighty and strong men of war." As vainglorious sinners they defied all law and power. Trusting in Chemosh, they despised Jehovah, and magnified themselves against the Lord. The Prophet compares that country to wine, which has been allowed to stand unstirred and unmoved—it settles on its lees, grows strong, retains its aroma, and gathers daily fresh body and spirit.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I will send - tilters “unto him and they shall” tilt “him, and they shall empty his vessels, and break their” pitchers “in pieces.” “Pitchers” originally meant “skins,” but the word came to signify small earthenware jars Isa 30:14: thus the Chaldaeans shall destroy of Moab everything that has contained the wine of her political life both small and great.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֞ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| הִנֵּ֖ה־ | hineh- | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| יָמִ֤ים | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| בָּאִים֙ | baim | [are] coming | H935 → | 2568 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְשִׁלַּחְתִּי־ | veshilachti- | and I will send | H7971 → | 845 times |
| ל֥וֹ | lo | to <the> it | ||
| צֹעִ֖ים | tzoim | [those who] tip | H6808 → | 5 times |
| וְצֵעֻ֑הוּ | vetzeuhu | and they will tip it | H6808 → | 5 times |
| וְכֵלָ֣יו | vekhelav | and vessels its | H3627 → | 325 times |
| יָרִ֔יקוּ | yariku | they will empty out | H7324 → | |
| וְנִבְלֵיהֶ֖ם | venivleihem | and jars their | H5035 → | 38 times |
| יְנַפֵּֽצוּ׃ | yenapetzu | they will smash | H5310 → | 22 times |
לָכֵ֞ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
הִנֵּ֖ה־here!
hineh-H2009 →843 times
יָמִ֤יםdays
yamimH3117 →2304 times
בָּאִים֙[are] coming
baimH935 →2568 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְשִׁלַּחְתִּי־and I will send
veshilachti-H7971 →845 times
ל֥וֹto <the> it
lo
צֹעִ֖ים[those who] tip
tzoimH6808 →5 times
וְצֵעֻ֑הוּand they will tip it
vetzeuhuH6808 →5 times
וְכֵלָ֣יוand vessels its
vekhelavH3627 →325 times
יָרִ֔יקוּthey will empty out
yarikuH7324 →
וְנִבְלֵיהֶ֖םand jars their
venivleihemH5035 →38 times
יְנַפֵּֽצוּ׃they will smash
yenapetzuH5310 →22 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
Isaiah 30:14It will break in pieces like a potter’s jar, shattered so that no fragment can be found. Not a shard will be found in the dust large enough to scoop the coals from a…
it leads to
- Psalms 2:9
You will break them with an iron scepter; You will shatter them like pottery.”
- Jeremiah 19:10–11
Then you are to shatter the jar in the presence of the men who accompany you,
- 2 Peter 2:4–5
For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;
- Psalms 2:9
Through
Nahum 2:2For the LORD will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel, though destroyers have laid them waste and ruined the branches of their vine.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 37:23
They will no longer defile themselves with their idols or detestable images, or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all their apostasies by which they sinned, and I will cleanse…
- Psalms 80:12–13
Why have You broken down its walls, so that all who pass by pick its fruit?
- Ezekiel 37:23
Through
Jeremiah 48:15Moab has been destroyed and its towns have been invaded; the best of its young men have gone down in the slaughter, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 50:27
Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come—the time of their punishment.
- Jeremiah 46:18
As surely as I live, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts, there will come one who is like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea.
- Jeremiah 50:27
Through
Jeremiah 48:38On all the rooftops of Moab and in the public squares, everyone is mourning; for I have shattered Moab like an unwanted jar,” declares the LORD.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 22:28
Is this man Coniah a despised and shattered pot, a jar that no one wants? Why are he and his descendants hurled out and cast into a land they do not know?
- Jeremiah 22:28
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; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 761: “The Shrill Trumpet of Admonition” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
