2:14 Fast runners will find no place to hide; 1
strong men will have no strength left; 2
warriors will not be able to save their lives.
2:15 Archers 3 will not hold their ground; 4
fast runners will not save their lives,
nor will those who ride horses. 5
24:17 Terror, pit, and snare
are ready to overtake you inhabitants of the earth! 6
24:18 The one who runs away from the sound of the terror
will fall into the pit; 7
the one who climbs out of the pit,
will be trapped by the snare.
For the floodgates of the heavens 8 are opened up 9
and the foundations of the earth shake.
30:16 You say, ‘No, we will flee on horses,’
so you will indeed flee.
You say, ‘We will ride on fast horses,’
so your pursuers will be fast.
48:44 Anyone who flees at the sound of terror
will fall into a pit.
Anyone who climbs out of the pit
will be caught in a trap. 10
For the time is coming
when I will punish the people of Moab. 11
I, the Lord, affirm it! 12
1 tn Heb “and a place of refuge will perish from the swift.”
2 tn Heb “the strong will not increase his strength.”
3 tn Heb “the one who holds the bow.”
4 tn For the idiom of “holding [or “standing”] one’s ground” in battle, there is a similar phrase in Ezek 13:5; also related is the expression “to hold one’s own against” (or “to withstand”) in Judg 2:14; 2 Kgs 10:4; Dan 8:7 (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 97). Other options include “will not endure” or “will not survive.”
5 tn The last two lines read literally, “The one fast in his feet will not rescue [his life], and the rider of the horse will not rescue his life.” The phrase “his life” does double duty in the parallelism and should be understood in both lines.
6 tn Heb “[are] upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.” The first line of v. 17 provides another classic example of Hebrew wordplay. The names of the three instruments of judgment (פָח,פַחַת,פַּחַד [pakhad, fakhat, fakh]) all begin with the letters פח (peh-khet) and the first two end in dental consonants (ת/ד, tet/dalet). Once again the repetition of sound draws attention to the statement and contributes to the theme of the inescapability of judgment. As their similar-sounding names suggest, terror, pit, and snare are allies in destroying the objects of divine wrath.
7 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
8 tn Heb “from the height”; KJV “from on high.”
9 sn The language reflects the account of the Noahic Flood (see Gen 7:11).
10 sn Jer 48:43-44a are in the main the same as Isa 24:17-18 which shows that the judgment was somewhat proverbial. For a very similar kind of argumentation see Amos 5:19; judgment is unavoidable.
11 tn Heb “For I will bring upon her, even upon Moab, the year of her punishment.”
12 tn Heb “Oracle of the