Text: Jeremiah 48:29-47
OT Text Referred to: Numbers 21:28-29
Subject: oracle against Moab drawing on ancient traditions
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): None
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 have perished, 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.