Milcom, or Molech,just as the Moabites are called the
people of Chemosh, from the idol they worshipped,
ch. xlviii. 46.
Vet. 2. Tlterefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord,
&c.] Or, are coming {y}; as they did, in a very little
time after this prophecy: that 1 will cause an alarm of
war to be heard in Rubbah oJ' the Ammonites; the me-
tropolis of the Ammonites; it was their royal city in
the times of David, 1 Kings xi. 1. and xii. 26. called
by Polybius {z} Rabbahamana; and by Ptolemy {a} Phi-
ladelphia, which name it had from Ptolemy Philadel-
phus, who rebuilt it; this the Lord threatens with the
sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war, or the noise of
warriors, as the Targum; the Chaldean army under
Nebuchadnezzar, who, about five years after the de-
struction of Jerusalem, subdued the Ammonites, as
Josephus {b} relates: and it shall be a desolate heap;
be utterly destroyed; its walls broken down, and
houses demolished, and made a heap of rubbish: and
her daughters shall be burnt with fire : Rubbah was the
mother city, and the other cities of the Ammonites
were her daughters, which are threatened to be de-
stroyed with fire by the enemy; or it may mean the
villages round about Rubbah, it being usual in Scrip-
ture tbr villages to be called the daughters of cities;
see Ezek. xvi. 46. so the Targum here paraphrases it,
"the inhabitants of her villages shall be burnt with
"fire:" then shall Israel be heirs unto them that were
his heirs, saith the Lord: that is, shall inherit their land
again, which the Ammonites pretended to be the lawful
heirs of; yea, not only possess their own land, but the
land of Ammon too: this was fulfilled not immediately
upon the destruction of Aremort, but in part upon the
return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity,
when they repossessed their own country; and partly
in the times of the Maccabees, when they subdued the
Ammonites, 1 Maccab. v. 6. and will more fully in the
latter day, when the Jews shall be converted, and re-
turn to their own land, and the children of Atnmon
shall obey them, Isa. xi. 14. so Kimchi interprets it;
and other Jewish writers understand it of the days of
the Messiah, as Abarbinei observes.
Vet. 3. Howl, 0 Heshbon, &c.] Which was a city of
]Moab, though it formerly belonged to the A morites;
see ch. xlviii. 2. Numb. xxi. 26. it was upon the border
of Ammon, and near to At, now destroyed; and there-
fore is called upon to howl and lament, because its de-
struction also was near at hand, and might be expected;
hence Kimchi gathers, that the Ammonites were
destroyed befbre the Moabites: but some have thought
that Heshbon was a double city, divided by a river,
which ran through it; and that that city which was
on one side of the river belonged to Moab, and that
on the other side to Ammon:.for Ai is spoiled; not
that which was near Jericho in the land of Canaan,
but a city in the land of Ammon, thought to be the
Gain of Ptolemy; this seems to be the first city in the
country of Ammon that Nebuchadnezzar would lay
waste: cr!t, ye daughters of Rubbah ; the royal city
before mentioned; either the inhabitants of it, particu.
larly the women, especially the younger women, who
would be in the at.most distress on hearing the enemy
was so near them, and what had befallen At; or the
villages about Rubbah, as Kimchi interprets it; tint
is, as the Targum, "the inhabitants of the villages
"of Rubbah :" gird ye with sackcloth; as a token of
calamity and mourning tbr it, as was usual: lament, and
run to and fro by the hedges; which Jarchi, Kimchi, and
Ben Melech, understand of the enclosures or fences of
villages, like those of gardens, fields, and folds, in dis-
tinction from walls of cities, and fortfried places; but
rather it signifies the hedges in the fields, whither,
being drove from their habitations, they would seek
unto for shelter, and run about among them for safety,
lamenting their unhappy case: for their king shall go
into captivity; be taken and carried captive; either
their principal governor; or rather Milcom their god,
since it follows: and his priests and his princes tog'ether;
both such as offered sacrifices to him, and attended on
and supported his worship: the same is said of Chemosh,
the god of the Moabites, ch. xlviii. 7:
Ver. 4. W!terefore gloriest thou in the valleys, &c.]
Of which there were many in the country of Ammon,
fruitful and well-watered, which were situated by the
rivers of Arnon and Jabbok, the borders of this coun-
try, and in which was the plain of the vineyards; see
Judg. xi. 13, 33. and indeed the whole country was a
vale. For, as Josephus {} says, the country both of the
Moabites and Ammonites were in the valley of Syria,
or Ccelesyria; that is, hollow Syria, so called from its
lying low, or in a valley; for this country lay between
the mountains Libarms and Antilibanus, as Strabo {d}
says, and brought forth a large increase; in this they
gloried, in the produce of these valleys, in the grass,
corn, and vines, that grew upon them, and the flocks
that fed there; but now should have no occasion to
glory, all being swept away by the enemy: thy flowing
valley, or, thy valley flows,{}; is overflowed with water,
through abundance of rain, which destroyed the fruits
of it, so Jarchi; or rather flowed with the. blood of the
slain, as Kimchi, Ben Melech, and Abarbinel; the
enemy having entered it, and made so great a slaughter
of men in it: 0 backsliding daughter? the Targum is.
O foolish kingdotn; the whole kingdotn of Ammon is
meant, or the people of it; who, descending from
righteous Lot, may be called backsliders; and, being
also idolaters, have this character; for such revolt
from the true God, to worship idols: it may be ren-
dered, refractory, rebelliousf; as all such persons are:
that trusteth in her treasures, saying, who shall come
unto me ? dwelling in valleys encompassed with moun-
tains, and in fortitled cities, and abounding in wealth
and riches, whereby they were able to procure men
and arms to defend themselves; thought they were
safe from any enemy, and that none could come nigh
them, and so dwelt at ease, and in great security.
Ver. 5. Behold, ! will bring a fear ztpon thee, saith
the Lord God of hosts, &c.] The terrible army of the

{y} \^Myab\^ sunt venientes, Montauns, Schmidt.
{z} Hist. I. 5. p. 414.
{a} Geograph. I. 5. c. 15.
{b} Antiqu. I. 10. c.9. sect. 7.
{c} Ibid. I. 1.c. 11. sect. 5.
{d} Geograph. I.16. p. 519, 520.
{e} \^Kqme bz\^ defluxit vallis tua, Vulg. Lat. Schmidt; fluxit, Pagninus,
Montanus; fluit, Cocceius.
{f} \^hbbwvh tbh\^ O filia pervesa, Schmidt; pervicax vel temeraria,
Grotius; rebellis, Pagninus, Calvin; refractaria, Montanus.