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. ¹ 

For the time is coming

when I will punish the people of Moab. ² 

I, the Lord, affirm it! ³ 

Jeremiah 48:1

Judgment Against Moab

48:1 The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ⁴  spoke about Moab. ⁵ 

“Sure to be judged is Nebo! Indeed, ⁶  it will be destroyed!

Kiriathaim ⁷  will suffer disgrace. It will be captured!

Its fortress ⁸  will suffer disgrace. It will be torn down! ⁹ 

Jeremiah 5:3

5:3 Lord, I know you look for faithfulness. ¹⁰ 

But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse. ¹¹ 

Even when you nearly destroy them, they refuse to be corrected.

They have become as hardheaded as a rock. ¹² 

They refuse to change their ways. ¹³ 

Revelation 18:7

18:7 As much as ¹⁴  she exalted herself and lived in sensual luxury, ¹⁵  to this extent give her torment and grief because she said to herself, ¹⁶  ‘I rule as queen and am no widow; I will never experience grief!’

[48:44]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “For I will bring upon her, even upon Moab, the year of her punishment.”

[48:44]  ³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[48:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” For this title see 7:3 and the study note on 2:19.

[48:1]  ⁵ sn Moab was a country east of the Dead Sea whose boundaries varied greatly over time. Basically, it was the tableland between the Arnon River about halfway up the Dead Sea and the Zered River which is roughly at the southern tip of the Dead Sea. When the Israelites entered Palestine they were forbidden to take any of the Moabite territory but they did capture the kingdom of Sihon north of the Arnon which Sihon had taken from Moab. Several of the towns mentioned in the oracles of judgment against Moab here are in this territory north of the Arnon and were assigned to Reuben and Gad. Several are mentioned on the famous Moabite Stone which details how Mesha king of Moab recovered from Israel many of these cities during the reign of Joram (852-841 b.c.; cf. 2 Kgs 3:4-5). It is usually assumed that Moab submitted to Nebuchadnezzar after the battle of Carchemish and that they remained loyal to him throughout most of this period, though representatives were present at Jerusalem in 594 b.c. when plans for revolt were apparently being discussed (Jer 27:3). Moabite contingents were used by Nebuchadnezzar in 598 b.c. to harass Jehoiakim after he rebelled (2 Kgs 24:2) so they must have remained loyal at that time. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Nebuchadnezzar conquered Moab in 582 b.c. and destroyed many of its cities.

[48:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “Woe to Nebo for it is destroyed.” For the use of the Hebrew particle “Woe” (הוֹי, hoy) see the translator’s note on 22:13. The translation has taken this form because the phrase “Woe to” probably does not convey the proper meaning or significance to the modern reader. The verbs again are in the tense (Hebrew prophetic perfect) that views the action as if it were as good as done. The particle כִּי (ki) probably is causal but the asseverative works better in the modified translation.

[48:1]  ⁷ sn Nebo and Kiriathaim were both north of the Arnon and were assigned to Reuben (Num 32:3, Josh 13:19). They are both mentioned on the Moabite Stone as having been recovered from Israel.

[48:1]  ⁸ tn Or “Misgab.” The translation here follows the majority of commentaries and English versions. Only REB sees this as a place name, “Misgab,” which is otherwise unknown. The constant use of this word to refer to a fortress, the presence of the article on the front of it, and the lack of any reference to a place of this name anywhere else argues against it being a place name. However, the fact that the verbs that accompany it are feminine while the noun for “fortress” is masculine causes some pause.

[48:1]  ⁹ tn For the meaning of the verb here see BDB 369 s.v. חָתַת Qal.1 and compare usage in Isa 7:8; 30:31.

[5:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “O Lord, are your eyes not to faithfulness?” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

[5:3]  ¹¹ tn Commentaries and lexicons debate the meaning of the verb here. The MT is pointed as though from a verb meaning “to writhe in anguish or contrition” (חוּל [khul]; see, e.g., BDB 297 s.v. חוּל 2.c), but some commentaries and lexicons repoint the text as though from a verb meaning “to be sick,” thus “to feel pain” (חָלָה [khalah]; see, e.g., HALOT 304 s.v. חָלָה 3). The former appears more appropriate to the context.

[5:3]  ¹² tn Heb “They made their faces as hard as a rock.”

[5:3]  ¹³ tn Or “to repent”; Heb “to turn back.”

[18:7]  ¹⁴ tn “As much as” is the translation of ὅσα (Josa).

[18:7]  ¹⁵ tn On the term ἐστρηνίασεν (estrhniasen) BDAG 949 s.v. στρηνιάω states, “live in luxury, live sensually Rv 18:7. W. πορνεύειν vs. 9.”

[18:7]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “said in her heart,” an idiom for saying something to oneself.