Jeremiah 48:33
Gladness and joy have been taken away from the fruitful land of Moab; I have made the wine cease from the winepresses; no one treads them with shouts of joy; the shouting is not the shout of joy.
English Standard Version (ESV)
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The verse's repetition of "shouting" isn't just emphasizing joylessness; it highlights how Moab's familiar sounds of celebration would be brutally replaced by the enemy's war cries or the terrified shouts of the besieged. This isn't just a loss of good times, but a terrifying transformation of their very soundscape.
Jeremiah is announcing God's judgment against Moab for their pride and defiance, detailing the destruction that will come upon their land and people. He likens Moab to a broken jar, a once-valued vessel now utterly useless, emphasizing the complete loss of their former prosperity and joy, especially during harvest times like the vintage. The joyful shouts of grape-treaders will be replaced by cries of despair as invaders plunder their land and their celebrations turn to mourning.
The sounds of a harvest festival are silenced. What happens when the shouts of joy turn to cries of despair?
The prophet Jeremiah paints a stark picture of Moab's downfall. Their 'plentiful fields' and 'winepresses,' symbols of abundance and celebration, are now empty. The joyous shouts of workers treading grapes, a sound of communal feasting and prosperity, are gone.
The Sound of Victory vs. the Sound of Defeat
This isn't just about a bad harvest; it's about God's judgment. The 'shouting' that once signified a successful vintage is replaced by a chilling silence or, worse, the battle cries of invaders. The very sounds that marked their prosperity are now absent or perverted into sounds of destruction. This transformation highlights the completeness of God's judgment – not just taking away the good things, but inverting the very expressions of their joy into symbols of their ruin.
Whose hand is truly behind the silence in the winepresses? It's more than just human conquest.
Jeremiah doesn't just describe Moab's suffering; he attributes it directly to God's action. The verse states, 'I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses.' This isn't passive observation; it's active divine intervention.
The Sovereign Hand of Judgment
God is depicted as the one who orchestrates this loss of joy. He sovereignly removes the bounty of the land and silences the sounds of celebration. This reveals that even seemingly natural or political events are, in the grander scheme, instruments of God's justice against sin and pride. For Moab, who had often opposed God's people, this judgment was a consequence of their actions and their defiant spirit against the Lord.
This passage shares identical phrasing regarding the cessation of joy and wine from the harvest, highlighting that the familiar sounds of celebration will be replaced by devastation.
Jeremiah 25:30This verse also speaks of a divine roar going forth against the inhabitants of the earth, transforming their joyful shouts into cries of anguish and despair, echoing the transformation of Moab's celebratory sounds into cries of destruction.
Hosea 4:16This verse describes Israel as a stubborn heifer, mirroring the imagery of Moab as a heifer that cannot be tamed, suggesting a shared theme of rebellion leading to judgment and loss of freedom.
Jeremiah 48:38This verse further emphasizes the utter desolation of Moab, likening the nation to a broken, useless vessel, which directly connects to the theme of joy and value being stripped away.
Ezekiel 17:3This passage uses the powerful imagery of a great eagle with mighty wings descending upon a land, which parallels the impending invasion and destruction described for Moab, where their defenses and shouts of defiance will be consumed.
gillJeremiah 48:33: "And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting."
And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field,.... Or, from Carmel (k); not Mount Carmel in the land of Israel; for the prophecy is of Moab; though that reached to Sibmah; but here it signifies any fruitful place, like Carmel, where were good pasturage, corn, and fru…
barnesJeremiah 48:33: "And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting."
Winepresses - Rather, "wine-vats," into which the wine runs from the presses. Their shouting shall be no shouting - The vintage shout is - silence. For the vines have been destroyed, and desolation reigns where once was the joyful cry of those who tread the grapes.
The verse's repetition of "shouting" isn't just emphasizing joylessness; it highlights how Moab's familiar sounds of celebration would be brutally replaced by the enemy's war cries or the terrified shouts of the besieged. This isn't just a loss of good times, but a terrifying transformation of their very soundscape.
Jeremiah is announcing God's judgment against Moab for their pride and defiance, detailing the destruction that will come upon their land and people. He likens Moab to a broken jar, a once-valued vessel now utterly useless, emphasizing the complete loss of their former prosperity and joy, especially during harvest times like the vintage. The joyful shouts of grape-treaders will be replaced by cries of despair as invaders plunder their land and their celebrations turn to mourning.
Jeremiah is announcing God's judgment against Moab for their pride and defiance, detailing the destruction that will come upon their land and people. He likens Moab to a broken jar, a once-valued vessel now utterly useless, emphasizing the complete loss of their former prosperity and joy, especially during harvest times like the vintage. The joyful shouts of grape-treaders will be replaced by cries of despair as invaders plunder their land and their celebrations turn to mourning.
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"Gladness and joy have been taken away from the fruitful land of Moab; I have made the wine cease from the winepresses; no one treads them with shouts of joy; the shouting is not the shout of joy." — The verse's repetition of "shouting" isn't just emphasizing joylessness; it highlights how Moab's familiar sounds of celebration would be brutally replaced by the enemy's war cries or the terrified s…
