Jeremiah 48:11. Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remaineth in him, and his scent is not changed.
It is customary to pour wine from one vessel to another to improve its quality. Chardin says: “They frequently pour wine from vessel to vessel in the East; for when they begin one, they are obliged immediately to empty it into smaller vessels, or into bottles, or it would grow sour” (Harmer's Observations, vol. 2, p. 155). Dr. Clarke, in a note on the same page, adds: “From the jars (says Dr. Russell, MS. note) in which the wine ferments it is drawn off into demyans, which contain perhaps twenty quart bottles, and from those into bottles for use; but as these bottles are generally not well washed, the wine is often sour. The more careful use pint bottles, or half pint bottles, and cover the surface with a little “sweet oil.”
A similar allusion to the pouring of wine from the lees is made in Isaiah 25:6, where see the note (#506). See also Zephaniah 1:12, where, as in this text, being “on the lees” is figuratively used to express a sinful rest. Jeremiah carries the figure of the text into the following verse, where, instead of “wanderers,” many commentators render tsaim by the word “tillers.” “will send unto him tillers, who shall tilt him up.” The act of pouring the wine off the lees from one vessel to another is thus represented.