Jeremiah 48:28

O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth. BE LIKE THE DOVE THAT MAKETH HER NEST IN THE SIDES OF THE HOLE'S MOUTH. Doves often have their nests in "the sides" of caverns. No longer shalt thou have cities to shelter thee: thou shalt have to flee for shelter to caves and deserts (Psalms 55:6; )....

Here Jeremiah denounces exile on the Moabites; as though he had said, that such would be the desolation of their land, that they would be forced as wanderers to flee here and there. That he bids them to _leave their cities, _this is not done in the same way as when God commands his people what is right; but he only shews that he was armed with the sword of God, not only to speak with the mouth, but also to perform what he foretells; for the execution ought not to be separated from the prophecies, for the hand of God is joined with his mouth. When, therefore, he announces anything by his servants, the fulfillment also, as it has been stated, is included. This is the import of the words, _Leave the cities, and dwell among the rocks_; that is, Hide yourselves in lurking-places, for no habitable land will afford you rest, or be a convenient place to flee to. _And they shall be, _he says, lik...

14-47. The destruction of Moab is further prophesied, to awaken them by national repentance and reformation to prevent the trouble, or by a personal repentance and reformation to prepare for it. In reading this long roll of threatenings, and mediating on the terror, it will be of more use to us to keep in view the power of God's anger and the terror of his judgments, and to have our hearts possessed with a holy awe of God and of his wrath, than to search into all the figures and expressions here used. Yet it is not perpetual destruction. The chapter ends with a promise of their return out of captivity in the latter days. Even with Moabites God will not contend for ever, nor be always wroth. The Jews refer it to the days of the Messiah; then the captives of the Gentiles, under the yoke of sin and Satan, shall be brought back by Divine grace, which shall make them free indeed....

Verse Jeremiah 48:28. _DWELL IN THE ROCK_] Go to the most inaccessible places in the mountains. _THE HOLE'S MOUTH._] And into the most secret eaves and holes of the earth....

DWELL IN THE ROCK - See Jeremiah 4:29. The sole chance of escape is refuge in inaccessible fastnesses. IN THE SIDES ... - On the further side “of the mouth of the pit.” The wild rock pigeon invariably selects deep ravines for its nesting and roosting....

EXPOSITION This prophecy is so full of repetitions that the question has naturally arisen whether the most prominent of these may not be due to interpolation. For instance: 1.Jeremiah 48:29-24 recur in Isaiah 16:6; Isaiah 15:4, Isaiah 15:5, Isaiah 15:6; Isaiah 16:12, Isaiah 16:11;...

O YE THAT DWELL IN MOAB, LEAVE THE CITIES, AND DWELL IN THE ROCK,.... Signifying hereby that they would not be in safety in their strongest and most fortified cities, which would be besieged by the enemy, and taken; and therefore are advised to leave them, and flee to the rocks and mountains, that if possible they might be safe there: AND BE LIKE THE DOVE, [THAT] MAKETH HER NEST IN THE SIDES OF THE HOLE'S MOUTH; which, for fear of birds of prey, makes her nest in the side of a hole, or cleft of a rock, that she and her young may be safe from them; and which being pursued by the hawk, flies into a hollow rock or cavern, as Homer d observes: but here it intends the place where it makes its nest; which is for the most part in deserts and rocky places, where great numbers of doves resort, and make their nests, as Diodorus Siculus e relates; and especially in the holes and clefts of rocks, t...

CHAPTER 48 Concerning Moab _ 1. The overthrow of Moab (Jeremiah 48:1) _ 2. The humiliation of Moab (Jeremiah 48:11) 3. Reaping what they sowed (Jeremiah 48:20) 4. Destroyed on account of its pride (Jeremiah 48:29) With these divisions the chapter may be studied in detail. Moab was of incestuous off spring Genesis 19:37. Israel is now exhorted to flee and save itself because Moab is to be destroyed. Moab's national deity was Chemosh, who was also worshipped by the sister nation, the

Enumeration of the cities which are to suffer (Jeremiah 48:20). The strength of Moab is destroyed, and Moab is become drunken (with the cup of Yahweh, Jeremiah 25:15), an object of present derision, as Israel formerly was to Moab, when Israel was treated as a detected thief (Jeremiah 2:26). Let the Moabites seek refuge like the dove in the inaccessible crannies of some ravine. Jeremiah 48:20 ff. Several of these sites are unknown; Bozrah is not the Edomite city of Jeremiah 49:13....

See introd. summary to the ch....