Yeremia 48:41-44

48:41 Her towns ¹  will be captured.

Her fortresses will be taken.

At that time the soldiers of Moab will be frightened

like a woman in labor. ² 

48:42 Moab will be destroyed and no longer be a nation, ³ 

because she has vaunted herself against the Lord.

48:43 Terror, pits, and traps ⁴  are in store

for the people who live in Moab. ⁵ 

I, the Lord, affirm it! ⁶ 

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. ⁷ 

For the time is coming

when I will punish the people of Moab. ⁸ 

I, the Lord, affirm it! ⁹ 

[48:41]  ¹ tn Parallelism argues that the word קְרִיּוֹת (qÿriyyot) be understood as the otherwise unattested feminine plural of the noun קִרְיָה (qiryah, “city”) rather than the place name Kerioth mentioned in v. 24 (cf. HALOT 1065 s.v. קִרְיָה). Both this noun and the parallel term “fortresses” are plural but are found with feminine singular verbs, being treated either as collectives or distributive plurals (cf. GKC 462-63 §145.c or 464 §145.l).

[48:41]  ² tn Heb “The heart of the soldiers of Moab will be like the heart of a woman in labor.”

[48:42]  ³ tn Heb “Moab will be destroyed from [being] a people.”

[48:43]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[48:44]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “For I will bring upon her, even upon Moab, the year of her punishment.”

[48:44]  ⁹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”