*49:1 When the tribes of the Northern Kingdom were taken captive in 734-732 ʙ.c., the Ammonites, a nomadic, warlike people descended from Lot through his younger daughter, moved into the territory of the tribe of Gad east of the Jordan.
†49:1 Malcam or Milcom (1 Kin 11:5, 33; Zeph 1:5) was the national god of the Ammonites. Other variant forms of this name include Milcham and Malcham.
‡49:3 Originally a Moabite town, Heshbon was located south of Ammon.
§49:6 As complete and continuous as the desolation of Moab and Ammon was for so many centuries, yet God is keeping His word for their restoration “in the latter days” (48:47) in a remarkable manner. For instance, Amman, the capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (formerly called Transjordania, and in ancient times, Rabbath of Ammon or the City of Waters), was a mere village in 1900, but by the year 2000 it was a city of almost 2,000,000 inhabitants.
*49:7 Teman was an important stronghold located in central Edom. It was about three miles from Sela (Petra). Teman was also used as a generic name to represent all of Edom.
†49:8 A tribal settlement and trading center on Edom’s southeastern border.
‡49:8 The Edomites were the descendants of Esau, Jacob’s elder twin brother. Because of his godlessness he and his descendants were cursed.
§49:13 Located in northern Edom, between Petra and the Dead Sea, the area was famous for its dyed garments.
*49:13 How except by divine inspiration could the prophets have foretold that Edom’s desolation would be perpetual? After 2,500 years the statement is so literally true that in the land of Edom, where millions once lived, there are only a few people barely existing, and the land is in ruins. For there was no prophecy that Edom would recover “in the latter days” (48:47), as was predicted for Moab and Ammon, but Edom’s desolation was to be lasting. The short book of Obadiah presents an interesting further clarification of God’s reason for this exceptional treatment of Edom. It was the outcome of a deception and a family quarrel between two brothers, Jacob and Esau, which erupted into acts of violence and which continued from Genesis to the Gospels (see Gen 27).
†49:16 Petra, once an important Roman province in Edom, was lost for many centuries but rediscovered in 1812. On the height above its ruins is the great high place. Other evidence of idolatry has been found on neighboring heights.
‡49:19 In about 550 ʙ.c. the Nabataeans completely overthrew the Edomites and drove them from their land. They took control of the great Middle Eastern trade routes and made Petra (Sela) their capital city.
§49:27 Ben-hadad (“son of Hadad,” a pagan god) was the title given to the early Syrian kings who ruled in Damascus.
*49:28 A tribe of nomadic Arabs descended from Ishmael’s second son, Kedar (Gen 25:13).
†49:28 This Hazor is not to be confused with three others mentioned elsewhere (Josh 11:1; 15:23; Neh 11:33). It was a region in the Arabian Desert east of Palestine. Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning it was literally fulfilled. Nebuchadnezzar conquered Arabia, according to historians, and Hazor’s exact situation is long since unknown. Hazor is also known as that part of the Arab nation which used fixed dwellings in unwalled towns, in contrast to nomadic Arabs.
‡49:34 Elam was located in what is now southwestern Iran (Khuzistan); however, no modern descendants remain. Susa (Heb Shushan), the ancient capital, was named for the gorgeous lilies that grew in the area. East of Babylonia, Elam was on the northern shore of the Persian Gulf in the lower Tigris Valley. After a long period of subjugation to foreign powers, it joined with Media, its northern neighbor, and ultimately captured Babylon (Is 21:2, 9). Elam became a province of the Persian Empire. Elamites settled as colonists in Samaria long before the return of the Jews from Babylon, and they joined with others in attempting to prevent the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple (Ezra 4:9). There were also Elamites present on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:9), but they became extinct in the eleventh century. Thus this prophecy of that nation’s destruction is long since fulfilled, with the restoration of Elam’s fortunes predicted in v 39.
§49:38 Susa (Heb Shushan), Elam’s capital, was the winter home of the Persian kings. During an excavation in 1901, the Code of Hammurabi was discovered among its ruins. Daniel’s vision of the ram and the goat was set in the great citadel of Susa (Dan 8:2).