Jeremiah 48:43

48:43 Terror, pits, and traps ¹  are in store

for the people who live in Moab. ² 

I, the Lord, affirm it! ³ 

Jeremiah 30:5

30:5 Yes, ⁴  here is what he says:

“You hear cries of panic and of terror;

there is no peace in sight. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 49:5

49:5 I will bring terror on you from every side,”

says the Lord God who rules over all. ⁶ 

“You will be scattered in every direction. ⁷ 

No one will gather the fugitives back together.

Jeremiah 48:44

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. ⁸ 

For the time is coming

when I will punish the people of Moab. ⁹ 

I, the Lord, affirm it! ¹⁰ 

[48:43]  ¹ sn There is an extended use of assonance here and in the parallel passage in Isa 24:17. The Hebrew text reads פַּחַד וָפַחַת וָפָח (pakhad vafakhat vafakh). The assonance is intended to underscore the extensive trouble that is in store for them.

[48:43]  ² tn Heb “are upon you, inhabitant of Moab.” This is another example of the rapid switch in person or direct address (apostrophe) in the midst of a third person description or prediction which the present translation typically keeps in the third person for smoother English style.

[48:43]  ³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[30:5]  ⁴ tn The particle כִּי (ki) is functioning here as loosely causal or epexegetical of the preceding introduction. For this usage cf. BDB 473-74 s.v. כִּי 3.c. This nuance borders on that of the intensive use of כִּי. See the discussion in BDB 472 s.v. כִּי note and כִּי 1.e.

[30:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “We have heard the sound of panic and of fear, and there is no peace.” It is generally agreed that the person of the verb presupposes that this is an unintroduced quote of the people.

[49:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “The Lord Yahweh of armies.” For an explanation of the rendering here and of the significance of this title see the study note on 2:19.

[49:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “You will be scattered each man [straight] before him.”

[48:44]  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.

[48:44]  ¹¹ tn Heb “For I will bring upon her, even upon Moab, the year of her punishment.”

[48:44]  ¹² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”