Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.

JEREMIAH 48:12KJV
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Jeremiah 48:12 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 48:12 mean?

Jeremiah 48:12 says that the LORD will send people to disturb Moab, a nation east of Israel. The picture of vessels being emptied and broken shows a coming disruption that will leave Moab’s settled condition shattered.

The LORD speaks of Moab as “him,” treating the nation as a single person. After the wine image in verse 11, the KJV calls the agents “wanderers,” while the image also suggests workers tipping wine from its containers.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 48:12

  • “wanderers” — צֹעִים (tsoʿim): The word is often understood here as “ones who tip” or “pour.” Alongside the wine image, that sense helps explain why these agents empty vessels.
  • “bottles” — נְבָלִים (nevalim): The word refers to containers such as jars. In the KJV’s older English, “bottles” need not mean the small glass containers familiar today.

Why Jeremiah 48:12 matters

  • The verse presents the disruption as something the LORD will bring about. The phrase “I will send” makes the agents’ arrival part of the LORD’s announcement.
  • The broken containers make the image more severe than wine merely being poured out. The command to “break their bottles” pictures the loss of the containers as well as their contents.
  • The contrast with verse 11 gives the change its force. Moab had been “at ease” and had not been emptied from vessel to vessel; verse 12 announces that this settled state will end.

Where else these words appear

“wanderers” Hebrew H6808 · used in 4 verses

  • Isaiah 51:14 The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.
  • Isaiah 63:1 Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
  • Jeremiah 2:20 For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.

“break” Hebrew H5310 · used in 17 verses

  • Genesis 9:19 These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.
  • Psalms 137:9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
  • Jeremiah 22:28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?

“empty” Hebrew H7324 · used in 19 verses

  • Genesis 14:14 And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.
  • Ecclesiastes 11:3 If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.
  • Ezekiel 12:14 And I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them.

“bottles” Hebrew H5035 · used in 37 verses

  • 1 Samuel 1:24 And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the LORD in Shiloh: and the child was young.
  • 1 Chronicles 25:1 Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals: and the number of the workmen according to their service was:
  • Psalms 92:3 Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.