Jeremiah 48:44

Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the LORD. FEAR, AND THE PIT, AND THE SNARE, SHALL BE UPON THEE - (note, Isaiah 24:17). "Fear" is the technical term for the cord with feathers of various colours which, when fluttered in the air, scare birds into the snare, and beasts into the pitfall. Verse 44. HE THAT FLEETH FROM THE FEAR SHALL FALL INTO THE PIT. When thou thinkest thou hast escaped one kind of danger a fresh one will start up....

Now all this has not been expressed without reason, because we know with how many flatteries men are wont to delude themselves when God summons them to judgment; for they immediately look around here and there, and promise themselves impunity, and then they hope for light punishment, as though they were at peace with God. But the unbelieving harden themselves, as Isaiah says, as though they had made a covenant with death and a compact with hell. (Isaiah 28:15.) As, then, the wicked set up security in opposition to God, the Prophet here shews that there are many ways in his hand, by which he can take the fugitives, and those who seem to think that they can escape through their own astuteness; and hence he said, _He who flees from terror_, that is, from present danger, _shall fall into the pit_, that is, when the Moabites shall now think themselves secure, they shall meet with new dangers,...

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....

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;...

HE THAT FLEETH FROM THE FEAR,.... From terrible enemies he is afraid of, and dares not face them, but flees, in order to escape them: SHALL FALL INTO THE PIT; into some misfortune or another: AND HE THAT GETTETH OUT OF THE PIT SHALL BE TAKEN IN THE SNARE; laid by the enemy for him, and so shall fall into his hands. Sanctius very ingeniously observes that the allusion is to the hunting of deer, and such like creatures; when first a line of feathers of various colours is placed to frighten them; and if they get over that, then there is a pit dug for them, to catch them in; and if they get out of that, a snare is laid to take them; so that they rarely escape: and thus it would be with the Moabites, if they got rid of a first and second danger, a third would involve them; their destruction was certain, as follows; see Isaiah 24:18; for I wi

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

JEREMIAH 40-47. The foe swoops down vulture-like (Jeremiah 4:13) on Moab, destroyed because of pride against Yahweh. One disaster succeeds another in this time of punishment (visitation, Jeremiah 11:23; Jeremiah 23:12), and there is no asylum to be found in Heshbon, for a destructive flame proceeds from the house of Sihon (so read; _cf._ Numbers 21:26; Numbers 21:28) to destroy the temples of Moab's head. Moab goes into exile, but Yahweh will ultimately change her fortunes. The closing sentence ...

THE FEAR... THE PIT... THE PIT... IN THE SNARE. Note the Figure of speech _Paronomasia_. Hebrew. _h_ appa- _had... happahath... happahath_... _bepah_. THE YEAR OF THEIR VISITATION. See note on Jeremiah 8:12....

Cp. Isaiah 24:17 f. and probably a proverb in frequent use. We cannot reproduce in English the assonance _paḥad vâpaḥath vâpâḥ_. See on Lamentations 3:47....

FEAR— _Terror._...