Jeremiah 49:22

Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(22) He shall come up and fly as the eagle.—The prophet passes from one symbol of sovereignty to another, and instead of the lion we have (see Note on Jeremiah 48:40) the eagle. What Kerioth was to Moab, Bozrah was to Edom, and its capture is painted in the same terms.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

49:7-22 The Edomites were old enemies to the Israel of God. But their day is now at hand; it is foretold, not only to warn them, but for the sake of the Israel of God, whose afflictions were aggravated by them. Thus Divine judgments go round from nation to nation; the earth is full of commotion, and nothing can escape the ministers of Divine vengeance. The righteousness of God is to be observed amidst the violence of men.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Nebuchadnezzar shall swoop down like an eagle, the emblem of swiftness.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

22. (Compare Jer 48:40, 41).

Bozrah—(See on [992]Jer 48:24).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole "Jeremiah 48:40", See Poole "Jeremiah 48:41", where the very same thing, and under the same phrases, was spoken against Moab. That which is threatened is the enemies coming swiftly upon the Edomites and preying upon them, and the fear that should surprise them, which should make their hearts faint as the heart of a woman that hath a hard labour.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Behold, he shall come up, and fly as the eagle,.... The Targum is,

"behold, as an eagle comes up and flies, so shall a king come up with his army;''

the king of Babylon with his army, compared to an eagle for his swiftness and voraciousness, as before to a lion for his strength and fierceness:

and spread his wings over Bozrah; besiege that city, invest it, and seize upon it; very fitly are the wings of an army expressed by the wings of this bird, denoting both their extent and force; the same is said concerning Moab, Jeremiah 48:40;

and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Moab be as the heart of a woman in her pangs; when just ready to be delivered; not only weak and timorous, but full of anguish, and: quite dispirited; See Gill on Jeremiah 48:41.

Geneva Study Bible

Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, {x} and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

(x) As Jer 48:40 was said of Moab.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

22. Cp. Jeremiah 48:40.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 22. - Behold, he shall come up... Bozrah. Repeated from Jeremiah 48:40, with the substitution of "Bozrah" for "Moab," and the addition of "and he shall come up" from ver. 19. For "Bozrah," see on ver. 13. And at that day. Repeated from Jeremiah 48:41 (latter half), with the exception that "Edom" stands for "Moab." Jeremiah 49:22

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The fall of Edom will be so fearful, that the earth will tremble, and the cry of anguish from the perishing people will be heard on the Red Sea. נפלם is the inf. Kal with suffix. The threatening concludes, in Jeremiah 49:22, with the same though through which destruction is threatened to the Moabites, Jeremiah 48:40. The comparison of the enemy to an eagle is continued in the expression, "he shall come up;" the coming up, however, does not mean the rising of the eagle into the air, but refers to the enemy: to march as an enemy against Edom.

With reference to the fulfilment of this prophecy, we have already pointed out, on Numbers 24:18, and at the close of the exposition in Obadiah, that the threatened devastation of the land of Edom was brought about by the Chaldeans, as is clear from Malachi 1:3; but the annihilation of the people was commenced by the Maccabeans, and completed by the Romans, about the time of the Jewish war.