Kerioth is taken. Kerioth has been already mentioned in Jeremiah 48:24 (see note). Another possible rendering is, The cities are taken, and this certainly agrees better with the parallel line. But a plural of kiryah, a city, does not occur elsewhere.
If the identification of Kerioth with Ar-moab, the capital of Moab, be accepted (see on Jeremiah 48:24), the equalization of Kerioth and "the strongholds" seems to be a stumbling block. Strongholds; or, mountain fastnesses (Jeremiah 51:30).