Who are those who did not deserve to drink the cup?  

Even though the Lord may care for those left vulnerable by war in Edom (Jeremiah 49:11), the nation of Edom as a whole must drink the cup of the Lord’s wrath (see Jeremiah 25:15–38). The point being made here is that Edom must face the Lord’s wrath. It is both deserved and inevitable, for the Lord has sworn by his own name that Bozrah will become a horror, a taunt, a waste, and a curse, and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes. Bozrah was the capital city of Edom and represents the whole nation and how deserving Edom is of judgment.

What is less clear is who those are that must drink the cup, but do not deserve it. There are three possible options. It could be Judah, whom one would expect to not experience the Lord’s judgment because they are his covenant people, and yet they too have drunk from the cup of his wrath. However, the central message of Jeremiah is just how deserving the Lord’s covenant people are of his judgment. A second possibility is that it refers to other nations who are less deserving than Edom. The third option is that it refers to those who are the unavoidable, innocent victims of war (see Jeremiah 49:11). Perhaps in context this third option is the most likely.¹ What must not be concluded, however, is that the Lord’s judgment is ever unfair or unjust. The Lord is always righteous in all that he does. The realities of war in a sinful world, however, are that it is almost always unfair and innocent people always suffer. Much of the Lord’s judgment of Babylon, the Lord’s instrument of judgment, is because of her excessive violence and cruelty. The point being made to Edom, however, is that she has absolutely no reason at all to think that she might escape judgment. There is no hint that Edom is not deserving, and if even the innocent suffer, Edom will most definitely drink the cup of the Lord’s wrath.