Jeremiah 48:28

Jer 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.

Ver. 28. And be like the dove.] That is glad to creep in at any cranny of the craggy rock, to be hid from the hawk.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jer_48:28

Dwell in the rock, and be like the dove.

Dove and rock

I. God shows much compassion not only to friends but to foes.

1. It is for Moab--guilty, apostate, persecuting Moab--that God expresses all this compassionate concern.

2. The New Testament is filled with warnings, invitations, and promises, addressed to those who are farthest off from God, intermingled with signal instances of the conversion of hardened transgressors.

II. God would have us forsake false refuges and avail ourselves of the true. The wild doves and pigeons of the East delight in cool and inaccessible places. They build their nests in cliffs and caverns, overhanging fearful precipices, where man cannot tread. Learn the importance of shunning false confidences, and of resting our hope of salvation where alone it can be safe. God would have human weakness rely on almighty strength; human ignorance on almighty wisdom; human sinfulness on almighty mercy. The finite needs the Infinite; the sinner, the Saviour.

III. Contemptuous neglect of warnings and mercies aggravates final consequences. This was the case with Moab.

1. We may not presume on Gods mercy and forbearance. The longer the judgment delays, the heavier its weight of woe.

2. Despair is to be banished. The atonement is all-sufficient.

3. Delay must be avoided. Gods voice is always To-day; Satans. To-morrow. 4, We must not be satisfied with our own safety, but aim at leading others to flee as doves to the Rock. (Homiletic Magazine.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jer 48:28. Ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities — The walls of which will not be sufficient to defend you from the sword of the enemy. And dwell in the rock — Hide yourselves in the rocks and caverns of your country. And be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole’s mouth — That is, on the edge of the precipice, as Blaney interprets the expression, or the brink of destruction. The Moabites are here, therefore, “exhorted to retire for safety to those places where the apprehensions of danger would secure them from the enemy’s pursuit. That doves build in the clefts, or natural hollows of rocks, see Son 2:14. Dr. Shaw, in his Travle, p. 162, fol., mentions a city on the African coast, called Hamanet, from the number of wild pigeons that are bred in the cliffs of the adjacent mountains.”

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 (Psa 55:6, Psa 55:8; Sol 2:14).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 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.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

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, like a dove which makes a nest in remote places beyond the clefts of the rocks, or stones. He means the most deserted places. It is the same as though he had said, that it would not be simply an exile that God would allot to the Moabites, but that they would be taken away to regions unknown, and deserted by men. It follows —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(28) O ye that dwell in Moab . . .—The general thought is the same as in Jer_48:6; Jer_48:9, but is more vivid as being more specific. The Moabites are to leave their cities and take refuge in the caves, always in Palestine the asylum of fugitives (1Sa_13:6; 2Sa_17:9), as the wild dove flies to “the clefts of the rock” (Song Son_2:14).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28. dwell in the rock] See on Jer_4:29.

in the sides of the hole’s mouth] The expression is peculiar and probably corrupt, but the figure is plain. See Tristram, Nat. Hist. of the Bible, p. 215, for mention of the many fissures in the rocky sides of the defiles in Palestine. Cp. Ca. Jer_2:14.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We have heard the pride of Moab,.... Israel, and all the nations round about, had heard of this, and seen or heard of many instances of it; the thing was notorious; according to Kimchi, it is the prophet that here speaks in the name of the nations; but it seems best to understand it of the Lord himself, as appears from the Jer 48:30; and who here speaks in the plural number, because of the plurality of persons in the Godhead; as he afterwards does in the singular number, to denote the unity of the divine essence:

(he is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart; a heap of words to express the same thing; suggesting that the instances of his pride were many, and that it was exceeding great indeed: these many words were little enough; and indeed words were wanting fully to declare it. The same was observed in Isaiah's time, and in much the same language; only more words are here used, to show that his pride was increased since that time; see Isa 16:6.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Dwell in the rock - See Jer 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.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Place. Seek for shelter in the caverns and highest mountains. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Still the prophet speaks of the Moabites as a people whose armies were routed, and calls to them to leave their houses in cities, not promising themselves any security, either to or from their houses, or from the walls of their cities, but to get them to rocks, which are naturally fortified, and from whence (if from any place) security might be promised. And he commends to them the natural sagacity of a dove, which being a feeble creature, and not able to encounter a hawk or eagle, makes herself a nest in the sides of some rock where she may be at safety.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

28. Leave the cities, etc. — Leave the cities and take refuge in the inaccessible rocks.

The sides — Literally, the farther sides. “The wild rock pigeon invariably selects deep ravines for its nesting and roosting places.”

— Tristram.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Dwell in the rook. Jeremiah probably thinks of the rocky defiles of the Amen, so splendidly adapted for fugitives (see Consul Wetzstein"s excursus to the third edition of Delitzsch"s "Jesaja;" he speaks of perpendicular walls of rock). Like the dove (i.e. the wild dove); comp. "Iliad," 21:493; "AEneid," 5:213.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

O ye - Still the prophet speaks of the Moabites, as a people whose armies were routed, and calls to them to leave their houses in cities, not promising themselves any security, either to or from their houses, or from the walls of the cities, but to get them to rocks, which are naturally fortified, and from whence (if from any place) security may be promised.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

A transition is now made from figurative to literal language, and Moab is summoned to leave the cities and take refuge in inaccessible rocks, because he will not be able to offer resistance to the enemy; cf. Jer 48:6 and Jer 48:9. "Like a dove that builds its nest over deep crevices." The reference is to wild pigeons, which occur in large numbers in Palestine, and make their nests in the clefts of high rocks (Sol 2:14) even at the present day, e.g., in the wilderness of Engedi; cf. Robinson's Palestine, ii. 203. בּעברי , lit., "on the other side of the mouth of the deep pit," or of the abyss, i.e., over the yawning hollows. בּעברי is a poetic form for בּעבר, as in Isa 7:20. The humiliation of Moab finds its justification in what is brought out in Jer 48:29., his boundless pride and hatred against Israel.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

cliffs

A cliff is a steep side of a mountain.

Become like a dove ... in the rocks

This simile emphasizes the people should leave their cities and live in the rocky cliffs to hide from their enemies. (See: Simile)

the mouth of a hole in the rocks

Here "mouth of a hole" is an idiom that means the entrance to a cave. AT: "the entrance to caves" or "an opening in the rocks" (See: Idiom)

We have heard

Here "We" refers generally to all the people in the surrounding area.

arrogance ... haughtiness ... pride ... self-glory ... conceit in his heart

All of these words have similar meanings. They are used together to emphasize the extreme pride of the people of Moab.

the conceit in his heart

Here "heart" represents a person's inner being. AT: "his conceit" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

Moab

dove

arrogant

heart

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

in the sides of the mouth of a pit The place where the water passes under the high embankments of the bank of a wadi, and when the wadi is diminished, the pit is found to be empty, and the dove nests in one of the sides of the pit. And when the wadi increases, it inundates the nest and she wanders from there. So I heard, but Jonathan did not render in that manner, [but:] Be like a dove, that leaves the opening of the dovecote and goes down and rests at the bottom of a pit.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.