Intertextuality Pair

Jeremiah 48:29-47 → Numbers 21:28-29

Allusion

Later text

Jeremiah 48:29-47BSB

We have heard of Moab's pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his proud arrogance and haughtiness of heart. I know his insolence," declares the LORD, "but it is futile. His boasting is as empty as his deeds. Therefore I will wail for Moab; I will cry out for all of Moab; I will moan for the men of Kir-heres. I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah, more than I weep for Jazer. Your tendrils have extended to the sea; they reach even to Jazer. The destroyer has descended on your summer fruit and grape harvest. Joy and gladness are removed from the orchard and from the fields of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses; no one treads them with shouts of joy; their shouts are not for joy. There is a cry from Heshbon to Elealeh; they raise their voices to Jahaz, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim have dried up. In Moab, declares the LORD, I will bring an end to those who make offerings on the high places and burn incense to their gods. Therefore My heart laments like a flute for Moab; it laments like a flute for the men of Kir-heres, because the wealth they acquired has perished. For every head is shaved and every beard is clipped; on every hand is a gash, and around every waist is sackcloth. On 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. “How shattered it is! How they wail! How Moab has turned his back in shame! Moab has become an object of ridicule and horror to all those around him.” For this is what the LORD says: “Behold, an eagle swoops down and spreads his wings against Moab. Kirioth has been taken, and the strongholds seized. In that day the heart of Moab’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor. Moab will be destroyed as a nation because he vaunted himself against the LORD. Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of Moab,” declares the LORD. “Whoever flees the panic will fall into the pit, and whoever climbs from the pit will be caught in the snare. For I will bring upon Moab the year of their punishment,” declares the LORD. "Those who flee will stand helpless in Heshbon's shadow, because fire has gone forth from Heshbon and a flame from within Sihon. It devours the foreheads of Moab and the skulls of the sons of tumult. Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished; for your sons have been taken into exile and your daughters have gone into captivity. Yet in the latter days I will restore Moab from captivity," declares the LORD. Here ends the judgment on Moab.

Earlier text

Numbers 21:28-29BSB

For a fire went out from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the rulers of Arnon's heights. Woe to you, O Moab! You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh! He gave up his sons as refugees, and his daughters into captivity to Sihon king of the Amorites.

Significance

Jeremiah 48:29-47 incorporates the Song of Heshbon from Numbers 21:28-29, reapplying its anti-Moab language to Jeremiah's contemporary oracle. Numbers 21:28-29 describes fire from Heshbon consuming Moab and declares "Woe to you, O Moab! You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh!" (כְּמוֹשׁ, Kemosh). Jeremiah 48:46 echoes the same lament: "Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished." The shared reference to Chemosh, Moab's national deity, and the near-verbatim woe formula demonstrate Jeremiah's deliberate literary dependence on the ancient tradition. By citing ancient poetry about Moab's defeat, Jeremiah presents the coming judgment as a historical pattern — Moab has fallen before and will fall again.

Found via
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type
Allusion
Connection Method(s)
Analogy — Jeremiah deliberately reuses the Song of Heshbon, down to the woe formula over the people of Chemosh (Num 21:29; Jer 48:46), to present Babylon's conquest as the recurrence of Moab's ancient defeat; the analogical pattern — Moab has fallen before and falls again — grounds the oracle in canonical memory rather than in promise or type.

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