The next oracle the Lord gives Jeremiah is focused on Edom. Edom was the land that lay to the south of Moab and Judah. It is a region of rugged mountains and valleys which make it difficult to attack.1
The Edomites were descendants of Esau, the son of Issac, and Jacob’s twin brother (Genesis 36:1–43). Much like Moab, Edom had a long history of conflict with Israel going all the way back to their refusal to give Israel passage on their way to Canaan (Numbers 20:14–21). After the battle of Carchemish, Edom was subject to Babylon, but they were part of the meeting in Jerusalem in 594 that tried to plot rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 27:3). When Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem in 587 BC, Edom appears to have assisted Babylon against Judah. The prophet Ezekiel has an oracle of judgment against Edom as well (Ezekiel 25:12–14), and the entire book of Obadiah is an oracle against Edom. Edom’s betrayal of Judah is also mentioned in Psalm 137:7 and Lamentations 4:21. In Jeremiah’s oracle against Edom, her actions against Judah are not explicitly mentioned as the reason for the Lord’s judgment, but this is no doubt the background to the oracle.
7 Concerning Edom.Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished?