Jeremiah 48:12

Verse

Therefore 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.

American Standard Version (1901)

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.

Bible in Basic English

So truly, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will send to him men who will have him turned over till there is no more wine in his vessels, and his wine-skins will be completely broken.

Douay-Rheims 1899

Therefore behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will send him men that shall order and overturn his bottles, and they shall cast him down, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles one against another.

Free Bible Version

But watch out, the time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will send them “winemakers” who will pour them out like wine. They will empty out the Moabites, and smash them like jars.

Geneva Bible 1599

Therefore beholde, the dayes come, saith the Lord, that I will send vnto him such as shall carie him away, and shall emptie his vessels, and breake their bottels.

King James (Authorized) Version

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.

Translation for Translators

But Yahweh says that there will be a time when he will send enemies to attack them; they will get rid of the people of Moab like people pour out wine on the ground and then smash the wine jar.

Unlocked Literal Bible

So see, the days are coming—this is Yahweh's declaration—when I will send him those who will tip him over and pour out all his pots and shatter his jars.

Noah Webster Bible

Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send to him wanderers that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.

World English Bible

Therefore behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will send to him those who pour off, and they will pour him off; and they will empty his vessels, and break their containers in pieces.

Young's Literal Translation

Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have sent to him wanderers, And they have caused him to wander, And his vessels they empty out, And his bottles they dash in pieces.

Context

Judgment on Moab

¹¹Moab has been at ease from youth, settled like wine on its dregs; he has not been poured from vessel to vessel or gone into exile. So his flavor has remained the same, and his aroma is unchanged. ¹²Therefore 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. ¹³Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, just as the house of Israel was ashamed when they trusted in Bethel.

Summary

This verse in Jeremiah is a prophecy against Moab, warning of the judgment that will come upon them due to their pride and arrogance. The Moabites are rebuked for their self-reliance and boasting, as they will face destruction and devastation as a consequence. The verse serves as a reminder of the consequences of pride and the importance of humility before God, highlighting the need for repentance and reliance on Him rather than on one's own strength.

Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

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].

John Gill Bible Commentary

Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord,.... This being their case, they should not continue in it; a change would be made, and that in a very short time, as there was; for, according to Josephus (p), it was about five years after the destruction of Jerusalem that the Moabites were subdued by the king of Babylon: that I will send unto him wanderers that shall cause him to wander; the Chaldeans, who wandered out of their own country to Moab, directed by the providence of God to come there to do his work; and who, at first, might be treated by the Moabites with contempt, as vagrants, but would soon be made to know that they would cause them to wander; or would remove them out of their own country into other lands, particularly Babylon, to be vagrants there. The word may be rendered "travellers" (q); and signifies such that walk with great strength of body, in a stately way, and with great agility and swiftness; in which manner the Chaldeans are described as coming to Moab, and who should cause them to travel back with them in all haste; see word in Isa 63:1. The Targum renders it "spoilers"; according to the metaphor of wine used in Jer 48:11, it may signify a sort of persons that cause wine to go, or empty it from one vessel to another; such as we call "wine coopers"; and this agrees with what follows: and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles; depopulate the cities of Moab; destroy the inhabitants of them, and make them barren and empty of men. The Targum is, "I will send spoilers upon them, and they shall spoil them, and empty their substance, and consume the good of their land;'' see Jer 48:8. The Septuagint version is, "they shall cut in pieces his horns"; which, as Origen (r) interprets them, were a kind of cups anciently used; for in former times they drank out of horns, either of oxen, or other animals; and Pliny (s) says that the northern people used to drink out of the horns of buffaloes, a creature larger than a bull, and which the Muscovites call "thur"; the same is asserted by Athenaeus (t), and others, that the horns of beasts were drinking vessels before cups were invented. (p) Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 7. (q) "viatores", Tigurine version. (r) Apud Drusium in fragmentis in loc. (s) Nat. Hist. l. 11. e. 37. (t) Deipnosoph. l. 11. p. 235. Rhodigin. 1. 30.