Jeremiah 48:6

Jer 48:6 Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.

Ver. 6. Flee, save your lives.] Whatever else ye lose.

And be like the heath in the wilderness.] Which is little worth. See Jer 17:6. Sit there sad and solitary.

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_48:6

Flee, save your lives.

The Christians flight

Such was the warning addressed to Moab by the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. The Chaldeans were about to lay waste the land of the Moabites--a punishment which they justly deserved for their iniquities and for their long-continued opposition to the people of God But even in wrath the Lord remembers mercy; or, to use the beautiful language of the prophet, He stayeth His rough wind in the day of the east wind. Though Moab shall be punished, her cities overturned, and the country laid waste and desolate, her princes, people, and priests carried into captivity, yet an opportunity is afforded for at least a remnant to escape. Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.

I. From what are we to flee? In a word, from everything that would wean his heart from God and endanger the safety of his soul, the Christian is to flee--from all evil and mischief, from sin, from the world, the flesh, and the works of the devil, from hardness of heart and contempt of Gods Word and commandment.

II. For what are we to flee? The life of your soul is concerned; and unless you flee from what stands in your way to God, and blocks up your return to Him, the wrath of God will assuredly overtake you, and you will become a prey to your enemies, to those who seek your life. It is for glory, and honour, and immortality we should flee--blessings of infinite value, prizes beyond all price--nay, far beyond the power of human tongue to tell of their inestimable preciousness; we should flee for the favour of God, the forgiveness of our sins, the worth of our souls, the love and glory of Christ, and the beauty and happiness of holiness. And we should hasten our flight, for the time is short, and death advancing.

III. Where should we flee? Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life; and we believe, &c. Such was Simon Peters declaration. Such is the confession of Gods people still. To the Lord Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, must the sinner flee. He must go as he is, and he like the heath in the wilderness, destitute of fruit or value, fit only for fuel, and seek to be engrafted in the living Vine. For Moab, we may observe, was commanded merely to flee. Whatever would oppose their progress should be put away. (C. A. Maginn, M. A.)

Flee for your life

I. Whence you are to flee.

II. where you are to flee.

III. How you are to flee.

IV. When you are to flee

V. Why you are to flee. (H. Macmillan, D. D.)

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

Hide yourselves in barren places, where the enemy will not pursue after you, Jer. 17:6.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

They exhort one another to flee.

heath--or the juniper (see on Jer 17:6). MAURER translates, "Be like one naked in the wilderness." But the sense is, Live in the wilderness like the heath, or juniper; do not "trust in" walls (Jer 48:7) [GROTIUS]. (Compare Mat 24:16-18).

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 6. Flee, save your lives] The enemy is in full pursuit of you.

Be like the heath] כערוער caaroer, "like Aroer;" which some take for a city, others for a blasted or withered tree. It is supposed that a place of this name lay towards the north, in the land of the Ammonites, on a branch of the river Jabbok; surrounded by deserts. Save yourselves by getting into the wilderness, where the pursuing foe will scarcely think it worth his while to follow you, as the wilderness itself must soon destroy you.

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

Then he adds, Flee, save: this is the crying of distress; for miserable men, as the case is in extreme evils, mutually exhort one another, Flee, save your lives He then compares them to a tamarisk. The word ערוער, oruor, designates a country, as it is probable, and there were also two cities of this name. However, ערער, oror, is a tamarisk, as we have already seen in Jeremiah 17:6. Some render it, “a tower;” and the words of Isaiah in Isaiah 17:2, are perverted by some to maintain another meaning; for they think that ערוער, oruor, means the cot of shepherds in the desert; but I prefer the opinion of those who render it “tamarisk,” or juniper, though the Prophet seems to me to allude to the city Aroer, or to a region of that name, but I rather think to the city. He then says, And ye shall be as a tamarisk in the desert: and it is known from other places that Aroer was in the land of Moab.

We now then perceive what the Prophet means: that Moab would be like a juniper in the desert, that is, a barren tree, which never grows to any size; and then it is dry, because it is not cherished by any rain, nor fed by any moisture from the ground. It is in this sense, as we have stated, that our Prophet took the similitude in Jeremiah 17:5-8:

“Blessed,” he says, “is the man who trusts in Jehovah, for he shall be like a tree planted near waters: cursed is the man who trusts in man, and who makes flesh his arm, and withdraws his heart from Jehovah; for he shall be as the tamarisk of the desert;”

that is, he shall be barren and dry, without any moisture or support. It now 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.

(6) Be like the heath in the wilderness.—Here, as in Jer_17:6, the stunted solitary shrub in the desert is taken as the type of desolation. The LXX., which adopts the meaning in Jer_17:6, here strangely enough gives “as a wild ass in the wilderness.” Psa_11:1 gives us an example of a like comparison. Here probably there is, as before, a paronomasia on the name of the Moabite city Aroer, which closely resembles the Hebrew word for “heath.” In thus finding an ominous significance in the names of cities, Jeremiah follows in the wake of Micah 1.

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

6. the heath] See on Jer_17:6. The LXX read somewhat differently from MT., rendering wild ass (as shy and difficult to capture). This is probably right. Cp. Job_39:5.

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.

Flee, save your lives,.... These are either the words of the Moabites, their cry of destruction mentioned in the latter part of Jer 48:5; who, seeing nothing but ruin before their eyes, advise one another to flee in all haste, and save their lives if possible, since nothing else could be saved: or else they are the words of the prophet, giving counsel to the Moabites to betake themselves to flight for the safety of their lives, these being in great danger; so Abarbinel; with whom others agree, only think they are spoken ironically; suggesting, that when they had endeavoured by flight to save their lives, it would be to no purpose; they should not escape the hands of their enemies; which seems to be the truest sense:

and be like the heath in the wilderness; which is called "erice", or "ling", which grows in waste places. Kimchi and Menachem in Jarchi interpret it of a tree that grows in dry and desert places; a low, naked, barren, fruitless shrub; signifying, that, when they were fled from their habitations, they should be as solitary and stripped of all their good things as such a bare and naked shrub in a desert. Kimchi's note is, that when they had left their cities and fled, their cities would be as the heath in the wilderness. The Targum is,

"and be ye as the tower of Aroer, "as they" who dwell in tents in the wilderness.''

Jarchi observes that the tower of Aroer was built in the wilderness, and there was no inhabitant round it but those that dwelt in tents; and, the tower standing where there was no inhabitant, it looked like a waste. The Septuagint version is very foreign, "as a wild ass in the wilderness"; which is followed by the Arabic version.

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

Like the heath - Or, Like a destitute man. See the marginal reference note.

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

CHAPTER XLVIII.

Heath, or tamarick, chap. xvii. 6. Hebrew Haroher.

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).

It is of no great moment whether we understand these as the words of the Moabites, calling one to another to flee, and save their lives, though they lost all they had, and left themselves as bare as a naked tree; or as the words of the prophets speaking to the Moabites to the same sense.

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

6. Be like the heath, etc. — See note on Jer_17:6.

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

Flee, save your lives; literally, your souls. The prophet"s human feeling prompts him to this counsel; but he knows full well that a life of abject misery is the utmost that can be hoped for. And be like the heath in the wilderness; literally, and (your souls) shall be like destitute ones in the wilderness. Imagine the ease of one who has been robbed of everything, and left alone in the desert; not less miserable is that of the Moabite fugitives. The word rendered "the heath" (aro"er) is either miswritten for ar"ar, which occurs in the sense of "destitute" in Jer_17:6 (see note), or also a rare plural form of the same word. The sense remains the same. It is tempting to see an allusion to one of the towns called Aroer. (as in Isa_17:2) But the only Aroer the prophet could be thinking of is that on the Amen, (Deu_2:36) which could not be described as "in the wilderness.

HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY Ver. 6. "The heath in the wilderness.

Such will the sinner be; for, like it, he will be:

1. Barren. No rich, strength-sustaining fruit does the heath bear. A mere hard berry. The camel and the ass may browse thereupon, but it is no food for man. "Can men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" And thus barren of good is the sinner.

2. Unlovely. There is no form nor beauty about the heath; a stunted, misshapen shrub. Its wood can be used for no manufacture. It is fit only to be burned. And when our eyes are opened to see things as they are, sin and the sinner will appear in all moral unloveliness; all present outward charm gone, and only their evil deformity seen.

3. Alone. Surrounded by drear expanse of sand; no companion trees to form it into a grove or a verdant mass of plant life. And so will the sinner be one day. Christ goes with the believer down the dark valley, but the sinner goes forth alone. He stands at the bar of God with no advocate. None of all his old companions can redeem his soul or give to God a ransom for him. Alone; helpless.

4. The gracious influences of Heaven do him no good. The dew and the rain, the sun"s warmth, come upon it; but it remains the unlovely, solitary, barren thing it ever was. So the impenitent man is visited by the influences of Heaven, the pleading of the Spirit, the varied means of grace; but they avail him not.

5. Soon to perish. The driving sand, the scorching heat, the browsing camel, the encampment fire, all threaten its life, and by one or other of them it soon perishes. And they who are like to it are never safe. "How are they destroyed as in a moment!" Conclusion. But the godly are not so. "He shall be like a tree planted by," etc.. (Ps 1) C.

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

And be - Save your lives, though all ye have be lost.

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

Save your lives

The word "your" refers to the people of Moab.

become like a juniper bush in the wilderness

The people fleeing from their cities into the desert is compared to a bush or shrub that grows in the desert. AT: "become like a shrub that grows in the wilderness" (See: Simile and Translate Unknowns)

because of your trust

The abstract noun "trust" can be stated as a verb. AT: "because you trusted" (See: Abstract Nouns)

in your practices

"in your own efforts" or "in your own work"

you also will be captured

This can be stated in active form. AT: "the enemy army will also capture you" (See: Active or Passive)

Then Chemosh will go away into captivity

"Chemosh" is the chief god of the Moabites. This means the enemy army will take the idol of Chemosh that the people made to worship. AT: "The enemy army will take your god Chemosh as a captive" (See: How to Translate Names and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

save

life

desert

trust

captive

priest

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

like Aro’er The tower of Aro’er that is made in the desert, and there is no civilization around it except tent dwellers, and a tower standing without an inhabited region appears as ruins. So did Jonathan render it. (See Isaiah 17:2, Commentary Digest.) But Menahem (Machbereth Menahem p. 137) explained כּערוער as the name of a tree of the forest trees.

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.