Jeremiah 49:7

THE PROPHECY AGAINST EDOM (Jeremiah 49:7-22)

A. EDOM'S JUDGMENT IS INEVITABLE (Jeremiah 49:7-13)

"Of Edom. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their vision vanished? Flee ye, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I shall visit him. If grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, would they not destroy till they had enough? But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he will not be able to hide himself: his seed is destroyed, and his brethren, and his neighbors, and he is not. Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me. For thus saith Jehovah: Behold, they to whom it pertained not to drink of the cup, shall assuredly drink. For I have sworn by myself, saith Jehovah, that Bozrah shall become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual waste."

"Is wisdom no more in Teman ...?" (Jeremiah 49:7) Eliphaz the Temanite (Job 2:11) was the famous wise man of his day, Teman being renowned for its allegedly wise men. "The term `Teman' here refers to the whole northern district of Idumea, not merely to a city."[3] The question here is asked in irony and requires that it be understood negatively.

"Inhabitants of Dedan ..." (Jeremiah 49:9). "This place is identified with the modern Alula, some 70 miles southwest of Taima. In the times of Jeremiah it was a flourishing caravan city."[4]

"Would they not leave some gleaning grapes ..." (Jeremiah 49:9)? The questions here imply affirmative answers; but the destruction coming upon Edom would be complete.

"Children... widows... I will preserve them alive ..." (Jeremiah 49:11). God's mercy upon this portion of the posterity of Abraham was here promised; but it was not stated for how long a time. Edom indeed continued for many centuries; but they never forsook their wickedness. So marked was this element of Edomite life that their nation was used in the prophecy of Isaiah to stand for all mankind in the final destruction of Adam's race. This is fully developed in Isaiah 34. See our introduction to this chapter in the commentary on Isaiah for discussion of the phenomenal wickedness of Edom and note the complete justification of God's judgment upon that people.

"Bozrah... shall become a waste ..." (Jeremiah 49:13). "Located 30 miles south of the Dead Sea, Bozrah was the northernmost of the great Edomite cities. The overthrow of both Bozrah and Edom is prophesied both as a historical certainty and as symbolical of the Lord's final dealing with Adam's race."[5]