Jeremiah 49:7-22·~1 min

Judgment on Edom

The LORD of Hosts asks whether wisdom remains in Teman or counsel among the prudent, signaling that Edom's famed sagacity has failed. Dedan is told to turn and dwell deep, for Esau's calamity is coming. Ordinary grape pickers or thieves leave something behind, but the LORD will strip Esau bare and expose all his hiding places. Even if orphan and widow are left, Edom cannot escape the cup of judgment, and Bozrah is sworn by the LORD Himself to become a desolation, a disgrace, and a perpetual ruin.

C⁷oncerning Edom, this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ⁸Turn and run! ⁹If grape gatherers came to you, ¹⁰But I will strip Esau bare; ¹¹Abandon your orphans; I will preserve their lives. ¹²For this is what the LORD says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, can you possibly remain unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for you must drink it too. ¹³For by Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that Bozrah will become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will be in ruins forever.”

A divine message summons the nations to rise against Edom in battle. The LORD declares that He will make Edom small and despised; its cliff-dwelling pride has deceived it, for even if it nests high like the eagle, the LORD will bring it down. Edom will become an object of horror, and its overthrow will resemble that of Sodom and Gomorrah, leaving it without permanent inhabitant.

¹⁴I have heard a message from the LORD; ¹⁵“For behold, I will make you small among nations, ¹⁶The terror you cause ¹⁷“Edom will become an object of horror. ¹⁸As Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown

The coming invader is pictured first like a lion rising from the Jordan thickets and then like an eagle swooping down over Bozrah. The LORD urges listeners to hear His settled plan against Edom: even the least of the flock will be dragged away, the earth will quake at Edom's fall, and the cry will be heard as far as the Red Sea. In that day the heart of Edom's mighty men will melt like the heart of a woman in labor.

¹⁹Behold, one will come up like a lion ²⁰Therefore hear the plans ²¹At the sound of their fall the earth will quake; ²²Look! An eagle will soar and swoop down,

Section summaryThe oracle against Edom begins by asking whether wisdom has vanished from Teman and counsel from the prudent. Edom is urged to flee deep, but the LORD says He will strip Esau bare so that his hidden places are exposed and his descendants cannot conceal themselves. Unlike thieves or grape gatherers, the coming devastation will leave nothing behind. Bozrah and all Edom will become a horror, and the nation's cliff-dwelling pride will not save it. Like Sodom's overthrow, Edom's land will become uninhabited, and the oncoming conqueror is pictured as both lion and eagle, terrifying the mighty heart of Edom like a woman in labor.

Role in the chapterThis long central section dismantles Edom's reputation for wisdom and impregnable pride, presenting its downfall as public, total, and unforgettable.