Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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.

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.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

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.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

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.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

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.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

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.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

28. Doves often have their nestsin the “sides” of caverns. No longer shalt thou have citiesto shelter thee: thou shalt have to flee for shelter to caves anddeserts (Psa 55:6; Psa 55:8;Son 2:14).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

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, to which the allusion is in So 2:14. The Targum is,

“and be as a dove that leaves her dove house, and comes down and dwells in the bottom of a pit,”

or ditch.

d Iliad. 21. v. 495. e Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 92.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

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 (Son 2:14) even at the present day, e.g., in the wilderness of Engedi; cf. Robinson’s Palestine, ii. 203. , lit., “on the other side of the mouth of the deep pit,” or of the abyss, i.e., over the yawning hollows. is a poetic form for , 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.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

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 —

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(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).

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

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.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments