Jeremiah 49:2
in Jeremiah 49Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites. It will become a heap of ruins, and its villages will be burned. Then Israel will drive out their dispossessors, says the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the children of Ammon; and it shall become a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel possess them that did possess him, saith Jehovah.
KJV
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the Lord.
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This verse in Jeremiah 49
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Rabbah - i. e., the “great city.” See 2Sa 12:27 note for a distinction between Rabbah, the citadel, and the town itself, lying below upon the Jabbok. Daughters - i. e., unwalled villages (and in Jer 49:3). Shall Israel be heir ... - i. e., “shall be victor over his victors;” compare Mic 1:15.
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 Awakening2 voices
Note, The equity of divine Providence is to be acknowledged when the losses of the injured are recompensed out of the unjust gains of the injurious. Though the enemies of God's Israel may make a prey of them for a while, the tables will shortly be turned. Yet there is a prospect given them of mercy hereafter (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Its destruction is foretold also in Eze 25:5; Am 1:14, 15. her daughters--the towns and villages, dependencies of the metropolis (Jos 15:45). shall . . . be heir--shall possess those who possessed him. The full accomplishment of this is still future; partially fulfilled under the Maccabees (1 Maccabees 5:6).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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
25 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֡ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| הִנֵּה֩ | hineh | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| יָמִ֨ים | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| בָּאִ֜ים | baim | [are] coming | H935 → | 2568 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְ֠הִשְׁמַעְתִּי | vehishma'ti | and I will sound aloud | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | against | H413 → | 5510 times |
| רַבַּ֨ת | rabat | Rabbah of | H7237 → | |
| בְּנֵי־ | benei- | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| עַמּ֜וֹן | amon | Ammon | H5983 → | 106 times |
| תְּרוּעַ֣ת | teruat | a shout of | H8643 → | 36 times |
| מִלְחָמָ֗ה | milchamah | battle | H4421 → | 320 times |
| וְהָֽיְתָה֙ | vehayetah | and it will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְתֵ֣ל | letel | <into> a mound of | H8510 → | |
| שְׁמָמָ֔ה | shemamah | desolation | H8077 → | 57 times |
| וּבְנֹתֶ֖יהָ | uvenoteiha | and daughters its | H1323 → | 588 times |
| בָּאֵ֣שׁ | baesh | with <the> fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| תִּצַּ֑תְנָה | titzatnah | they will be kindled | H3341 → | 29 times |
| וְיָרַ֧שׁ | veyarash | and it will dispossess | H3423 → | 231 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יֹרְשָׁ֖יו | yoreshav | [those who] dispossessed it | H3423 → | 231 times |
| אָמַ֥ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
לָכֵ֡ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
הִנֵּה֩here!
hinehH2009 →843 times
יָמִ֨יםdays
yamimH3117 →2304 times
בָּאִ֜ים[are] coming
baimH935 →2568 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְ֠הִשְׁמַעְתִּיand I will sound aloud
vehishma'tiH8085 →1159 times
אֶל־against
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
רַבַּ֨תRabbah of
rabatH7237 →
בְּנֵי־[the] people of
benei-H1121 →4930 times
עַמּ֜וֹןAmmon
amonH5983 →106 times
תְּרוּעַ֣תa shout of
teruatH8643 →36 times
מִלְחָמָ֗הbattle
milchamahH4421 →320 times
וְהָֽיְתָה֙and it will become
vehayetahH1961 →3559 times
לְתֵ֣ל<into> a mound of
letelH8510 →
שְׁמָמָ֔הdesolation
shemamahH8077 →57 times
וּבְנֹתֶ֖יהָand daughters its
uvenoteihaH1323 →588 times
בָּאֵ֣שׁwith <the> fire
baeshH784 →378 times
תִּצַּ֑תְנָהthey will be kindled
titzatnahH3341 →29 times
וְיָרַ֧שׁand it will dispossess
veyarashH3423 →231 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֛לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יֹרְשָׁ֖יו[those who] dispossessed it
yoreshavH3423 →231 times
אָמַ֥רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 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
2 Samuel 11:1In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent out Joab and his servants with the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David…
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 20:1
In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, Joab led out the army and ravaged the land of the Ammonites. He came to Rabbah and besieged it, but David remained…
- 1 Kings 20:26
In the spring, Ben-hadad mobilized the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.
- 1 Kings 20:22
Afterward, the prophet approached the king of Israel and said, “Go and strengthen your position, and take note what you must do, for in the spring the king of Aram will come up against…
- 1 Chronicles 20:1
Through
Jeremiah 4:19My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the pain in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I cannot be silent. For I have heard the sound of the horn, the alarm…
it leads to
- Habakkuk 3:16
I heard and trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Decay entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Yet I must wait patiently for the day of distress to come upon the…
- Isaiah 16:11
Therefore my heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir-heres.
- Isaiah 22:4
Therefore I said, “Turn away from me, let me weep bitterly! Do not try to console me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
- Habakkuk 3:16
Through
Deuteronomy 3:11(For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
it leads to
- Genesis 14:5
In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh-kiriathaim,
- Genesis 14:5
Through
Ezekiel 21:20Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and another against Judah into fortified Jerusalem.
it leads to
- Amos 1:14
So I will kindle a fire in the walls of Rabbah to consume its citadels amid war cries on the day of battle and a violent wind on the day of tempest.
- Amos 1:14
Where this verse is studied
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About Jeremiah
This page draws on 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 Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.