What Does Jeremiah 48:22 Mean in the King James?

And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim,

Jeremiah 48:22 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

The repeated “upon” turns judgment into a roll call: Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim are named one by one.

THE MEANING

The judgment reaches named places, not an abstraction at a distance. Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim each enter the same repeated phrase, leaving no town outside its reach.

THE ROOT

בֵּית דִּבְלָתַיִם

Bêṯ Diblāṯayim

GROWS FROM

בית

b-y-t

House, dwelling, or household.

Beth-diblathaim is commonly understood as “house of two fig cakes,” with ⁨דְּבֵלָה⁩ (debelah, “fig cake”) behind its second element. Beth means “house,” so the list names a house identified with provision, then places it under the same repeated “upon.”

ALSO GROWS

Bethel: House of God.

בֵּית־אֵל

The same Beth element marks a place as a house, here associated with God.

Bethlehem: House of bread.

בֵּית לֶחֶם

The same house element frames a place by what it holds.

THE PATTERN

Prophetic judgment becomes concrete by naming the cities and places it reaches.

And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken.

Jeremiah 48:8 · KJVThe sweeping declaration that no city escapes gives the reach that this verse makes concrete with three names.

He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off.

Isaiah 15:2 · KJVDibon and Nebo are named amid Moab’s grief, making the impact of the oracle specific to places.

And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

Revelation 16:19 · KJVThe falling of cities across the nations carries the same pattern of judgment reaching named places and whole regions.

THE THREAD

And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken.

Jeremiah 48:8 · KJV

The broader declaration says every city is reached; this verse gives three names from within that total. The list turns the scope of the judgment into a map.

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