The theme of lament continues in Jeremiah 48:37–39, only now the Lord describes the mourning of the people of Moab. Heads are shaved, beards are cut off, hands have been gashed, and sackcloth tied around waists. These are all signs of lament that is taking place in private and in public, on housetops and in the squares in Moab.
The reason for the lament is because the Lord has broken Moab like a vessel for which no one cares.
Moab has been smashed like an unwanted clay jar. This is the same language used of Jehoiachin when the Lord sent him into exile (see Jeremiah 22:28).1 Moab is left in the shame of defeat. The Lord has turned the tables. Israel had been a derision to Moab (Jeremiah 48:27), but now they have become a derision and a horror to all that are around him.
37 Car toutes les têtes sont rasées, Toutes les barbes sont coupées; Sur toutes les mains il y a des incisions, Et sur les reins des sacs.