Jeremiah 48:38
in Jeremiah 48On 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
On all the housetops of Moab and in the streets thereof there is lamentation every where; for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein none delighteth, saith Jehovah.
KJV
There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof: for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the Lord.
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This verse in Jeremiah 48
Commentary
3 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
We have heard of Moab’s pomposity
on Jeremiah 48:29-39
Moab’s pride is named in a string of words: “his exceeding pride and conceit, his proud arrogance and haughtiness of heart.” Much of this section follows Isaiah 15 and 16. The LORD mourns in His sentence, “I will wail for Moab,” and “My heart laments like a flute for Moab.”
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The delights of sense were all the matter of their joy. Take away these, destroy their gardens and vineyards, and you make all their mirth to cease, Hos. ii. There is great weeping when their plants are transplanted, have gone over the sea (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
There shall be lamentation generally,....
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַ֣ל | ʾal | [will be] on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| גַּגּ֥וֹת | gagot | [the] roofs of | H1406 → | 30 times |
| מוֹאָ֛ב | moav | Moab | H4124 → | 181 times |
| וּבִרְחֹבֹתֶ֖יהָ | uvirchoteiha | and in open places its | H7339 → | 43 times |
| כֻּלֹּ֣ה | kuloh | all of it | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מִסְפֵּ֑ד | misped | wailing | H4553 → | |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| שָׁבַ֣רְתִּי | shavarti | I will break | H7665 → | 147 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מוֹאָ֗ב | moav | Moab | H4124 → | 181 times |
| כִּכְלִ֛י | kikhli | like a vessel | H3627 → | 325 times |
| אֵֽין־ | ʾein- | [which] there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| חֵ֥פֶץ | chefetz | [is] pleasure | H2656 → | |
| בּ֖וֹ | bo | in <the> it | ||
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
עַ֣ל[will be] on
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
גַּגּ֥וֹת[the] roofs of
gagotH1406 →30 times
מוֹאָ֛בMoab
moavH4124 →181 times
וּבִרְחֹבֹתֶ֖יהָand in open places its
uvirchoteihaH7339 →43 times
כֻּלֹּ֣הall of it
kulohH3605 →5413 times
מִסְפֵּ֑דwailing
mispedH4553 →
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
שָׁבַ֣רְתִּיI will break
shavartiH7665 →147 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מוֹאָ֗בMoab
moavH4124 →181 times
כִּכְלִ֛יlike a vessel
kikhliH3627 →325 times
אֵֽין־[which] there not
ʾein-H369 →789 times
חֵ֥פֶץ[is] pleasure
chefetzH2656 →
בּ֖וֹin <the> it
bo
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 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
Jeremiah 22:28Is 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?
it leads to
- Hosea 8:8
Israel is swallowed up! Now they are among the nations like a worthless vessel.
- Psalms 31:12
I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind. I am like a broken vessel.
- Hosea 8:8
Through
Isaiah 22:1This is the burden against the Valley of Vision: What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the rooftops,
it leads to
- Jeremiah 21:13
Behold, I am against you who dwell above the valley, atop the rocky plateau—declares the LORD—you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our dwellings?”
- Psalms 125:2
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people, both now and forevermore.
- Jeremiah 21:13
Through
Jeremiah 25:34Wail, you shepherds, and cry out; roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock. For the days of your slaughter have come; you will fall and be shattered like fine pottery.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 6:26
O daughter of my people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as you would for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.
- Jeremiah 6:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
