Moabites Mourn in Sackcloth on the Rooftopsby emmanuel_higgins

Jeremiah 48:37

For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.

Jeremiah 48:37 belongs to the book's prophecies against foreign nations, in the section covering chapters 46 to 51. Within that group the chapter is a prophecy against Moab, including Moab among the nations addressed. Moab was a power destined to fall before Nebuchadnezzar.

The prophecies against the nations also address Babylon, whose ancient empire serves as a type of mystical Babylon. The verse describes mourning among the Moabites, with shaved heads and clipped beards, cuts on their hands, and sackcloth on their loins as signs of grief and calamity. Neglecting to trim or dress the beard was an expression of deep mourning among the Jews.