There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof: for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the LORD.

JEREMIAH 48:38KJV
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Jeremiah 48:38 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 48:38 mean?

Jeremiah 48:38 describes Moab’s downfall as so severe that mourning spreads throughout its towns. The verse presents that downfall as the LORD’s action: he says he has broken Moab like an unwanted vessel.

The picture is of a container its owner no longer values and has smashed. The words “I have broken” make clear who is speaking within the verse: the LORD himself.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 48:38

  • “lamentation” — מִסְפֵּד (misped): This word refers to mourning or a public expression of grief. It helps picture sounds of sorrow heard across Moab, rather than grief kept within individual homes.
  • “pleasure” — חֵפֶץ (ḥephets): This word can carry the sense of delight or something valued. Here the vessel is pictured as something its owner no longer wants to keep.

Why Jeremiah 48:38 matters

  • The mourning is widespread, not confined to one gathering place. The KJV says it is “generally” on all the housetops and in the streets, places where people could be seen and heard.
  • The broken vessel image gives a reason for the grief. The word “for” connects the people’s lament to the LORD’s declaration about Moab’s destruction.
  • The image also sharpens the nearby picture of shame. Verse 39 asks how Moab has become a laughingstock and a cause of dismay to those around it.

Where else these words appear

“lamentation” Hebrew H4553 · used in 14 verses

  • Genesis 50:10 And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days.
  • Jeremiah 6:26 O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.
  • Amos 5:17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD.

“housetops” Hebrew H1406 · used in 27 verses

  • Exodus 30:3 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about.
  • 1 Samuel 9:26 And they arose early: and it came to pass about the spring of the day, that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house, saying, Up, that I may send thee away. And Saul arose, and they went out both of them, he and Samuel, abroad.
  • Proverbs 21:9 It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.

“pleasure” Hebrew H2656 · used in 38 verses

  • 1 Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
  • Psalms 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
  • Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

“streets” Hebrew H7339 · used in 41 verses

  • Genesis 19:2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.
  • Esther 6:9 And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.
  • Jeremiah 5:1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.