Chapter 49 of Yirmiyahu is a collection of prophecies concerning the nations. As noted previously, the prophet does not prophesy solely regarding Israel, but also regarding the nations and the retribution destined to befall them. In the chapter before us, the prophet opens with a prophecy concerning the children of Ammon, and then continues with a prophecy concerning Edom. In this lesson, we will explore the prophecy of the children of Ammon and the beginning of the prophecy of Edom.
לִבְנֵי עַמּוֹן כֹּה אָמַר יְהֹוָה, הֲבָנִים אֵין לְיִשְׂרָאֵל אִם יוֹרֵשׁ אֵין לוֹ, מַדּוּעַ יָרַשׁ מַלְכָּם אֶת גָּד וְעַמּוֹ בְּעָרָיו יָשָׁב׃ - Concerning the children of Ammon, so said Hashem: Does Israel have no sons? Has he no heir? Why then has their king inherited Gad, and his people settled in its cities?
"Does Israel have no sons?" - this is a rhetorical question of wonder: Does the nation of Israel have no children? "Has he no heir?" - does he have no heirs? Why, then, did the king of the Ammonites go and inherit the land of Gad and settle in its cities? The background to this: The tribe of Gad and the tribe of Reuven dwelled on the eastern side of the Jordan River, and the Ammonites and Moabites were their neighbors. When Gad and Reuven were exiled and the area was vacated, Ammon and Moab moved in and settled there. They were convinced that the land belonged to them by right, pulling out some ancient title deed from hundreds of years earlier, arguing that this territory had been theirs before Israel came and conquered the region.
"Malkam" - according to the Radak, and likewise the Malbim, this refers to their king, which is the plain meaning. Rashi, on the other hand, explains that "Malkam" is synonymous with Milkom, the Ammonite idol, as it says, "and for Milkom the abomination of the Ammonites." According to this, the prophet levels a complaint against them and their deity, as if to say that they commit their abominations in its name.
לָכֵן הִנֵּה יָמִים בָּאִים נְאֻם יְהֹוָה, וְהִשְׁמַעְתִּי אֶל רַבַּת בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן תְּרוּעַת מִלְחָמָה, וְהָיְתָה לְתֵל שְׁמָמָה וּבְנֹתֶיהָ בָּאֵשׁ תִּצַּתְנָה, וְיָרַשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת יֹרְשָׁיו אָמַר יְהֹוָה׃ - Therefore, behold, days are coming, says Hashem, when I will sound a battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and it shall become a desolate mound, and its daughter-cities shall be burned with fire; and Israel shall inherit those who dispossessed him, says Hashem.
Since Ammon seized the land of Gad, the plunderer will come - and take note, not merely to Gad, but reaching the royal capital itself, Rabbah of the Ammonites - and lay waste to it and its daughter-cities. That is to say: do not think that since you seized Gad unlawfully, the enemy will merely dislodge you from Gad; rather, he will wage war against your capital city itself. "A desolate mound" - the site will be laid desolate by the enemy's assault. "And its daughter-cities" - this is an expression found frequently in Scripture referring to satellite towns, the adjacent smaller settlements, akin to "the daughters of Yehudah" or "the daughters of Yerushalayim," denoting nearby towns. These towns would be consumed by fire at the hands of Nevuchadnezzar, who at that time would also wage war against the Ammonites.
Regarding the conclusion of the verse, "and Israel shall inherit those who dispossessed him," the Radak raises a difficulty: The nation of Israel is destined to dispossess those who took over the land of the tribes of Gad and Reuven - yet historically we have not heard of such an occurrence, for even the resettlement during the era of Ezra and Nechemiah did not include the lands east of the Jordan. The Radak offers a first resolution: this prophecy refers to the Future Era, when the people of Israel will inherit the entire land and its borders will extend from sea to sea, and at that time Israel will inherit those who dispossessed them. It is quite possible to suggest that this is already beginning in our time, where parts of the eastern side of the Jordan that belong to us, such as the Golan and similar regions, are the very territory of the Ammonites spoken of here.
The Radak adds another explanation, suggesting that the prophecy can also be understood in reference to the immediate historical period: the Ammonites were struck down by Media and Persia, as stated in the prophecy of Yechezkel, "Behold, I will deliver you to the children of the East as a possession." Israel returned from exile under Cyrus, King of Persia, and since the Persian king conquered Ammon and granted permission to ascend to the Land, it is very likely that he also granted us rights over the conquered territory in the land of Ammon. According to this view, the prophecy was already fulfilled during the return in the days of Ezra and Nechemiah.
הֵילִילִי חֶשְׁבּוֹן כִּי שֻׁדְּדָה עַי, צְעַקְנָה בְּנוֹת רַבָּה, חֲגֹרְנָה שַׂקִּים סְפֹדְנָה וְהִתְשׁוֹטַטְנָה בַּגְּדֵרוֹת, כִּי מַלְכָּם בַּגּוֹלָה יֵלֵךְ כֹּהֲנָיו וְשָׂרָיו יַחְדָּיו׃ - Wail, O Cheshbon, for Ai has been plundered; cry out, daughters of Rabbah! Gird yourselves with sackcloth, lament, and wander among the sheepfolds, for their king shall go into exile, his priests and his princes together.
Here the prophet recounts the stations through which the enemy passes, and everywhere he reaches, the nation cries out from his affliction. The enemy advances via Ai of Moav, and therefore: "Wail, O Cheshbon, for Ai is plundered." From there he reaches Rabbah of the Ammonites, and therefore: "Cry out, daughters of Rabbah" - referring to those satellite towns mentioned in the previous verse, "and her daughters shall be burned with fire." "Gird yourselves with sackcloth" - donning sackcloth expresses mourning. "Lament" - this is a funeral lamentation. "And run to and fro among the sheepfolds (gederot)" - they will be forced to wander among the fences and folds, for they will have no houses left, as their homes will be destroyed.
Rashi cites Targum Yonatan: "Ve'ithamaman besi'an" - si'an means factions or troops, and ithamaman is from the root of confusion or agitation, meaning to gather into bands, with roving groups of soldiers. Rashi also brings another explanation: "roll yourselves in the dung of the sheepfolds," taking ve'hishotatnah as an expression of humiliation and contempt, similar to "and Esau despised the birthright" (Bereishit 25:34), translated by the Targum as "vashat Esav yat bechiruta," where shat denotes contempt. In other words, you will be utterly degraded, like someone rolling in dung.
Metzudat David writes: "Ve'hishotatnah ba-gederot - were hearing here and there." At first glance, it is difficult to fathom what this means, and even upon checking other editions one finds the same text. However, there is no doubt that this is a printer's error, a scribal mistake: it should not be "were hearing" (hayu shom'im), but "were roaming" (hayu shotetim). The Hebrew letters mem and ayin resemble tet, and the letters became swapped. The proof that this is the intended explanation comes from Metzudat Tziyon, who defines the words: "Ve'hishotatnah - a matter of going to and fro, as in 'Roam (shotetu) through the streets of Jerusalem.'" Thus, it has nothing to do with hearing at all. Rather, the meaning is that they would wander here and there to hide among the fences, the resting places of the sheep.
מַה תִּתְהַלְלִי בָּעֲמָקִים, זָב עִמְקֵךְ הַבַּת הַשּׁוֹבֵבָה, הַבֹּטְחָה בְּאֹצְרֹתֶיהָ מִי יָבוֹא אֵלָי׃ - Why do you boast in the valleys, that your valley flows, O backsliding daughter? Who trusts in her treasures, saying: "Who can come against me?"
"Why do you boast" - why do you glory? And what was this boasting about the valleys? Rashi explains that their land was a land of valleys, so they did not suffer from drought or lack of rain, nor did the scorching sun dominate it. According to Menachem, "your valley flows" represents a punishment: prepare to receive a blow of excessive rains, until the waters overflow the valley and a great flood overwhelms them. Radak explains: that very valley in which you pride yourself will flow with the blood of your slain - the blood of the casualties who fall in Rabbah. And Yonatan translated "your valley flows" as: "your strength will be destroyed."
The Malbim explains that the city of Rabbah was called "the city of waters," a place of rivers and a valley filled with water, which could not be conquered easily because it was surrounded by rivers on all sides. This was the reason for her boasting: "Why do you boast in the valleys" - because "your valley flows," meaning there are rivers throughout the valley in every direction, making it hard to capture. Furthermore, she possessed great wealth, "who trusts in her treasures," and therefore she says, "Who can come against me?" - who could possibly come and conquer me?
הִנְנִי מֵבִיא עָלַיִךְ פַּחַד נְאֻם אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה צְבָאוֹת מִכׇּל סְבִיבָיִךְ, וְנִדַּחְתֶּם אִישׁ לְפָנָיו וְאֵין מְקַבֵּץ לַנֹּדֵד׃ - Behold, I am bringing fear upon you, says the Lord, God of Hosts, from all around you; and you shall be driven out, every man straight before him, and none shall gather in the wanderer.
The Holy One, blessed be He, brings terror upon them so that they will flee their stronghold. "And you shall be driven out, every man straight before him" - Radak explains that each person will flee in whichever direction is immediately ahead of him, wherever his face is turned. When fear is not overwhelming, a person calculates his path and considers where it is best to escape; but in the grip of sheer panic, each one flees headlong without thinking. Moreover, "and none shall gather in the wanderer" - the fugitives will not be assembled. As Radak notes, when displaced people gather together, "they comfort one another" - they console each other, band together, and make plans. But when each person flees and finds himself entirely alone, it is an added tragedy, as they have no mutual encouragement or support from one another.
The Malbim notes the precise distinction between nidach (one who is driven out) and noded (a wanderer): a nidach is someone expelled from his home, yet while banished from here, he might still be gathered together in another location. A noded, however, is someone who wanders continuously from place to place and remains scattered, impossible to assemble. Therefore, the verse specifies, "and none shall gather in the wanderer (lanoded)," rather than referring to the driven-out (nidach) - for the displaced might eventually regather, but for the wanderer, there is no one to gather him.
וְאַחֲרֵי כֵן אָשִׁיב אֶת שְׁבוּת בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן נְאֻם יְהֹוָה׃ - Yet afterward I will restore the captivity of the children of Ammon, says the Lord.
After they receive their retribution, Hashem says that He will restore the captivity of the children of Ammon, and they will return to their place.
לֶאֱדוֹם כֹּה אָמַר יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת, הַאֵין עוֹד חׇכְמָה בְּתֵימָן, אָבְדָה עֵצָה מִבָּנִים נִסְרְחָה חׇכְמָתָם׃ - Concerning Edom, so said the Lord of Hosts: Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom become corrupted?
According to the Radak, this is a future prophecy, meaning it does not address what is taking place now, but rather what will happen in the future to come. In contrast, the Malbim explains that the prophecy deals both with the prophet's own era and with the future era, referring to two destructions that befell and will befall Edom. "Teman" refers to Edom, for Teman was one of the sons of Eliphaz the son of Esav, and Esav is Edom. A similar prophecy also appears in Ovadiah: "And I will destroy the wise men from Edom." Targum Yonatan translates "Teman" as "the south," meaning those who dwell in the southern land.
The Radak explains that from this phrasing, one understands that Edom was considered wise; therefore, when they acted foolishly, the prophet wondered at them: "Is wisdom no more in Teman?" Indeed, throughout history, Edom, Rome, and the European nations were regarded as more intelligent than the Arab nations. Although historically, during the Rambam's era, great scholars arose among the Arab peoples, in later times they turned to bombs rather than books, and that is their great genius today: if there is an engineer, he manufactures bombs. One does not hear of renowned Arab scientists, nor of scientific discoveries or progress brought by the Arab nations; and even when they need to develop nuclear capability, which requires more educated people, they import everything from Russia and elsewhere. At all events, it was accepted that Edom possessed wise men, and the prophet is therefore astonished: Has their wisdom already vanished, and how did misfortune come upon them?
"Has counsel perished from the prudent [mibanīm]" - Yonatan translates "from the children," meaning literally from their sons. Yet the Radak himself explains that "mibanīm" is related to tevunah (understanding/discernment), as in "You understand [banta] my thought," which is the kal form, whereas tevunah is a heavier noun form; meaning, their discernment was lost. The Malbim likewise interprets "mibanīm" as referring to nevonim, discerning people: until now there were discerning individuals among them, but now "their wisdom has become corrupted" - they committed an act of folly and their counsel vanished.
The Malbim adds the distinction between tevunah (understanding) and chochmah (wisdom), as he often elaborates in Sefer Mishlei: chochmah is that which one receives from others, whereas tevunah is what one contemplates and deduces on his own, understanding one concept from another. The prophet says: even supposing they were not wise and did not receive guidance from others, could they not contemplate on their own? Did they lack even the inner discernment to recognize that the move they were making was a blunder?
נֻסוּ הׇפְנוּ הֶעְמִיקוּ לָשֶׁבֶת יֹשְׁבֵי דְּדָן, כִּי אֵיד עֵשָׂו הֵבֵאתִי עָלָיו עֵת פְּקַדְתִּיו׃ - Flee, turn, dwell deep, inhabitants of Dedan, for I will bring the calamity of Esav upon him, the time when I punish him.
The Malbim offers a brief preface: in Yeshayahu 21 we learned that Edom's downfall came about through a trap laid for it. And what was that trap? The people of Dedan were far away, and Edom marched out to wage war against them. Once the people of Edom went forth with their entire army, straying far from their borders, the enemy came, invaded their land, and it fell into his hands like ripe fruit. Over this the prophet expresses wonder: "Is wisdom no more in Teman?" - what sheer folly it was to pursue the people of Dedan into the distance, leaving their homeland exposed to the enemy's advance.
According to the Malbim, therefore, "Flee, turn, dwell deep, inhabitants of Dedan" refers to the people of Dedan who fled far away; Edom consequently set out in pursuit of them, and thereby "I will bring the calamity of Esav upon him" - the enemy came and conquered the land of Edom when there were no longer any warriors left in it. "The calamity of Esav" refers to the disaster destined for him by the natural course of events, the suffering and punishment ordained for Esav. "The time when I punish him" refers to the time destined for his downfall from the standpoint of Divine Providence and the reckoning of his sins, when Hashem visits his iniquities upon him and brings about what was decreed.
The Radak, on the other hand, explains that Dedan is an alternate name for Edom, as it says in the prophecy of Yechezkel: "and to Dedan they shall fall by the sword." According to this, "Flee, turn, dwell deep" is a continuation of the prophet's address to Edom itself: when the enemy comes upon you, flee! For just as he calls it at times Edom and at times Teman, so too he now calls it Dedan.
אִם בֹּצְרִים בָּאוּ לָךְ לֹא יַשְׁאִירוּ עוֹלֵלוֹת, אִם גַּנָּבִים בַּלַּיְלָה הִשְׁחִיתוּ דַיָּם׃ - "If grape-gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? If thieves by night, they would destroy only until they had enough!"
A similar verse appears in the haftarah of Parashat Vayishlach, in the vision of Ovadiah (1:5): "If thieves came to you... if grape-gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings?" Rashi comments there: All along these lines, Ovadiah prophesied concerning Edom; and because one divine theme comes to several prophets, yet no two prophets prophesy in the exact same style, the wording varies somewhat. In other words, the core message is the same, but the phrasing differs, and this is not a word-for-word copy of the exact same prophecy.
The Abarbanel explains (Yeshayahu 2:2) that it is possible for the concept apprehended to be identical in both, yet the words are not identical but vary. The theme and message are the same, but the formulation differs because the prophecy passes through the prophet, and as it passes through him, it absorbs something from his own character; hence the variations in phrasing. Were it not so - if there were two prophets on the level of Moshe Rabbeinu - they would have used the exact same wording. Why? Because Moshe's great virtue was that he beheld through the "luminous mirror" (aspaklaria hame'irah), a polished mirror without any flaw, meaning he perceived the word of Hashem directly. With any other prophet, when the words pass through him, a taste of the vessel remains in them; but Moshe - who said "and what are we?", the most humble of all men - took up no space at all, and Hashem's word entered and emerged exactly as it was, without the personal imprint of the prophet. Therefore, had there been two prophets like Moshe, the rule that no two prophets prophesy in the same style would not have applied.
As for the verse itself, the Malbim explains: The enemies who attacked Edom came, on the one hand, like thieves, who arrive undetected by the master of the house, and on the other hand, like grape-gatherers, in that a thief comes by night whereas they came by day - since they felt free to attack in broad daylight because Edom was not at home, having marched out to fight the people of Dedan. The verse comes to say that they were worse than grape-gatherers and worse than thieves. "If grape-gatherers came to you" - referring to those who come to harvest by day - would they not leave gleanings (olelot)? After all, they leave behind the small clusters that are not worth spending time picking. "Olelot" is related to the word for an infant or suckling child (olel), meaning the underdeveloped small clusters, as the Ibn Ezra explains. Here, however, they left nothing behind at all.
Likewise, they were worse than thieves: A thief does not bother to leave gleanings, since he comes at night and grabs whatever he can without inspecting it closely, but nevertheless "they would destroy only until they had enough" - a thief takes according to his need, says "enough," and does not ruin things he has no use for. Furthermore, a thief at night does not know all the hidden places, since in the dark it is difficult to uncover secret hiding spots. Here, by contrast, they searched out and destroyed everything, as it is written in Ovadiah (1:6): "How Esav has been searched out, how his hidden treasures were laid bare!" - even the concealed caches were brought to light. Thus, Esav's fate was far worse than that of one beset by thieves or harvesters: they leave something behind, but here, nothing was left at all.
כִּי אֲנִי חָשַׂפְתִּי אֶת עֵשָׂו גִּלֵּיתִי אֶת מִסְתָּרָיו וְנֶחְבָּה לֹא יוּכָל, שֻׁדַּד זַרְעוֹ וְאֶחָיו וּשְׁכֵנָיו וְאֵינֶנּוּ׃ - "For I have stripped Esav bare; I have uncovered his secret places, and he will not be able to hide. His offspring is despoiled, along with his brethren and his neighbors, and he is no more."
"For I have stripped Esav bare" - I stripped him of the fortresses that surrounded him, in which he trusted that no one could overcome him. "I have uncovered his secret places" - the places where he hid his treasures. "And he will not be able to hide" - one who remains inside a city can search for a place to take refuge, but one who marched out to wage war against his enemies, as Edom did against Dedan, has nowhere to hide, for he was not even in his home to find shelter. And this is the meaning of "His offspring is despoiled, along with his brethren and his neighbors, and he is no more" - his offspring, brothers, and neighbors were plundered, and where was he? He is no more, having gone to war against the people of Dedan and not being at home at all.
The Malbim notes the subtle difference between "chasafti" (I stripped / bared) and "gileiti" (I uncovered / revealed): Chasifah occurs when someone peels away something attached to another object, like tree bark - "laying bare the white" (machsof halavan), when Yaakov peeled the bark from the rods he set in the watering troughs. From there, the term was borrowed to refer to anything permanently covered from which the covering is removed, even if not attached, as in "bare buttocks" (chasufei shet), meaning stripped naked. Here, the meaning is that the Holy One, blessed be He, stripped away their fortified strongholds. Giluy, by contrast, does not specifically mean peeling off a physical covering, but is a broader and more abstract concept, as in "revealing a secret" (megaleh sod), which involves no physical lifting of a cover at all.
עׇזְבָה יְתֹמֶיךָ אֲנִי אֲחַיֶּה, וְאַלְמְנוֹתֶיךָ עָלַי תִּבְטָחוּ׃ - "Leave your orphans, shall I keep them alive? And shall your widows trust in Me?!"
The Malbim explains that these words are spoken as a rhetorical question: Did you abandon your orphans here, leaving your land and leaving them unprotected in order to go fight Dedan - and expect Me to keep them alive?! "And shall your widows trust in Me" - do you rely on Me to look after your widows for you? You abandoned them and marched off, leaving no one to care for them, and therefore they will pay the full price, as we will see in the following verse.
Radak explains differently: "Leave your orphans, I will sustain them" is what a soldier says to his comrade who falls in battle and is dying, when he worries about who will look after his children and his widow. His fellow soldier tells him: Do not fear; leave your orphans and I will sustain them, and let your widows rely on me. The verse comes to say that here, there will be no one left to say this to them, for as written in the prophecy of Ovadiah, "and there shall not be any survivor of the house of Esav." And if there is no survivor, who will say to whom that he will take responsibility for the orphans of his comrade who fell in battle? After all, in the end, all of them will fall.
כִּי כֹה אָמַר יְהֹוָה, הִנֵּה אֲשֶׁר אֵין מִשְׁפָּטָם לִשְׁתּוֹת הַכּוֹס שָׁתוֹ יִשְׁתּוּ, וְאַתָּה הוּא נָקֹה תִּנָּקֶה, לֹא תִנָּקֶה כִּי שָׁתֹה תִּשְׁתֶּה׃ - For thus said Hashem: Behold, those whose judgment was not to drink the cup shall surely drink, and shall you go completely unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for you shall surely drink.
Why would even those whose judgment was not to drink the cup be forced to drink it? Malbim explains: Because they are held liable as part of the collective locality. This is like a fire that breaks out and catches in thorns, consuming stacked grain or standing wheat, burning and destroying everything. Once the rod of Hashem's wrath goes out to shake kingdoms, it no longer distinguishes and it ravages everything. Therefore, following the incredulous question, "Leave your orphans, shall I sustain them? Do you think that I will sustain them?" - even those whose judgment was not to drink the cup must drink, and you are the very cause of all this, since the destroyer was unleashed because of you, for you are the wicked one! How then can you think you will go unpunished? That is impossible. And not only will you not go unpunished, but "you shall surely drink" - you are rightfully sentenced to drink the cup of poison, and your fate will be worse than all the nations: the other nations, after drinking, will be cleansed of their iniquity, whereas you, even after you surely drink, will not be cleansed of your iniquity.
Radak adds another reason: None of the other nations were a brother to Israel, whereas Esav is Jacob's brother. From a brother, one would expect help - that in a time of distress, when others rise up against us, he would come to our aid and rescue us from their hands. Not only was he not helpful, but he himself never ceased oppressing and persecuting us, as Ovadiah said in his prophecy: "For violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever." Therefore, it is Edom's verdict to drink the cup of poison more than all the other nations: both because the other nations, even though they harassed us, did not reach the level of the peoples of Edom who persecuted us throughout history, with the soil of Europe soaked in Jewish blood throughout the generations; and also because from brothers one expects more, and on the contrary, they ought to have helped us.
כִּי בִי נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי נְאֻם יְהֹוָה, כִּי לְשַׁמָּה לְחֶרְפָּה לְחֹרֶב וְלִקְלָלָה תִּהְיֶה בׇצְרָה, וְכׇל עָרֶיהָ תִהְיֶינָה לְחׇרְבוֹת עוֹלָם׃ - For by Myself have I sworn, says Hashem, that Botzrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities shall be everlasting ruins.
Hashem says: By Myself I have sworn that your fate is unlike theirs. For them, the poison will cease, whereas for you - "a desolation, a reproach, a ruin, and a curse," so many severe terms. A time will come when the royal city of Edom will be destroyed and become an everlasting desolation and ruin. And according to Malbim's approach, that there are two prophecies here - one regarding Edom's destruction in the present era, when they set out to pursue the people of Dedan, and the second regarding the future to come - these harsh words do not refer to the immediate destruction. A person should not wonder: "Behold, Edom did not lie in perpetual ruins back then." Rather, this prophecy was spoken regarding the ultimate future, when Edom will become a desolation, a reproach, a ruin, and a curse; it will be destroyed a second time, reduced to total desolation, and then it will never be cleansed.
Malbim analyzes the precise order of these terms: "Ruin" (chorev) refers to a built-up area with structures, in the sense that the buildings will be laid waste; while "desolation" (shammah) refers to the land as a whole, meaning that the entire territory will lie desolate. Furthermore, the more populated and prominent a place is, the greater its downfall will be. Therefore, "a desolation and a reproach" is said of the land in general, whereas "Botzrah shall become a ruin and a curse" refers to the inhabited royal capital - where there is not merely reproach but a curse, and not merely desolation but literal devastation. The more settled and significant the city, the greater its destruction.
In this chapter, the prophet opens with a prophecy concerning the children of Ammon, who took possession of Gad's inheritance following the exile of the tribes of Gad and Reuven: not only will they be evicted from there, but the enemy will advance all the way to their royal capital of Rabbah, its dependent towns will be consumed by fire, and Israel will dispossess their dispossessors - whether in the messianic future or during the days of Cyrus and the return of Ezra and Nechemiah. The prophet depicts the wailing of the cities, their vain boasting in their valleys and treasures, and the terror that will scatter them until there is "no one to gather the wanderer," yet he concludes with a promise: "And afterward I will restore the captivity of the children of Ammon." From there, the prophet turns to Edom: a nation renowned for wisdom, which lost both its wisdom and its discernment when it set out to pursue the people of Dedan, leaving its own homeland exposed. The enemy that fell upon them was worse than grape-gatherers and thieves, leaving nothing behind; there is no one left to say, "Leave your orphans," and they have no escape from the cup of poison. This is not because the others were acquitted, but specifically because Edom is the primary culprit and the brother who betrayed - therefore, "you shall not go unpunished, for you shall surely drink." And in the ultimate future, Botzrah will become a desolation, a reproach, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will be everlasting ruins.