Jeremiah 48:43 meaning summary explained with word-by-word analysis enriched with context, commentary and Cross References from KJV, NIV, ESV and NLT.
Jeremiah 48:43 kjv
Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 48:43 nkjv
Fear and the pit and the snare shall be upon you, O inhabitant of Moab," says the LORD.
Jeremiah 48:43 niv
Terror and pit and snare await you, you people of Moab," declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 48:43 esv
Terror, pit, and snare are before you, O inhabitant of Moab! declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 48:43 nlt
"Terror and traps and snares will be your lot,
O Moab," says the LORD.
Jeremiah 48 43 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Isa 24:17-18 | Terror, and the pit, and the snare are upon you... he who flees... falls into the pit... he who climbs out... caught in the snare. | Parallel threefold judgment, inescapable doom. |
| Isa 13:6-8 | Wail, for the day of the Lord is near... panic, and pangs... in terror. | Fear as a component of divine judgment. |
| Pss 140:5 | The proud have hidden a snare for me... ropes; they have set traps. | The wicked setting traps for the righteous, a mirror of divine judgment. |
| Pss 11:6 | On the wicked he will rain... a burning wind; a full cup for them. | Inescapable judgment for the wicked. |
| Pss 35:8 | Let destruction come upon him by surprise... let the snare he hid catch him. | Judgment returning upon those who set traps. |
| Prov 29:6 | An evil man is ensnared by transgression, but a righteous man sings. | Sin as a trap/snare leading to downfall. |
| Pss 69:22 | Let their table before them become a snare... trap and retribution. | Instruments of pleasure becoming a judgment. |
| Ezek 25:8-11 | Because Moab and Seir say, 'Behold, the house of Judah is like all the other nations'... I will lay open the flank of Moab... I will execute judgments on Moab. | God's judgment on Moab for their arrogance against Judah. |
| Zeph 2:8-10 | I have heard the taunts of Moab... saying to my people's territory, 'It is mine.'... Moab shall become like Sodom, and the Ammonites like Gomorrah. | Divine judgment on Moab for pride and taunting God's people. |
| Amos 2:1-3 | For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he burned to ash the bones of Edom's king. | God's specific reason for judgment on Moab. |
| Jer 48:11 | Moab has been at ease from his youth and undisturbed by invasions; he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel. | Context for Moab's pride and security. |
| Jer 48:29 | We have heard of the pride of Moab—he is very proud—of his loftiness, his pride, his haughtiness, and his arrogance of heart. | Explicit mention of Moab's great sin of pride. |
| Deut 28:49-50 | The Lord will bring against you a nation from afar... a ruthless nation... | Prophetic warnings of a swift, unsparing enemy (like Babylon). |
| Job 18:8-10 | For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walks on a snare... A trap seizes him by the heel... a snare is hidden. | Imagery of inevitable capture, self-entrapment. |
| Pss 9:15 | The nations have sunk in the pit that they made; in the net that they hid has their own foot been caught. | Judgment as a consequence of their own evil deeds. |
| Pss 7:15 | He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made. | Self-inflicted judgment. |
| Lam 3:47 | Terror and pitfall have come upon us, with devastation and destruction. | The prophet laments over a similar state of utter doom. |
| Isa 28:13 | So the word of the Lord will be to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line... so that they may go and fall backward, and be broken and snared and taken. | God's word leading to inevitable judgment for the rebellious. |
| Joel 2:6 | Before them peoples are in anguish; all faces grow pale. | Universal fear in the face of judgment. |
| 1 Thess 5:3 | While people are saying, "There is peace and safety," then sudden destruction will come upon them. | Sudden, inescapable judgment for those living in false security. |
| Rev 6:15-17 | Then the kings of the earth... hid themselves in the caves... saying... "fall on us and hide us from the face of him." | Ultimate terror and attempt to hide from divine judgment. |
| Prov 22:5 | Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked; whoever guards his soul will keep far from them. | The dangers of a crooked path, linking sin to being trapped. |
| Hos 9:8 | The prophet is a fowler's snare on all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God. | Snare as a tool of deception or destruction, even misused. |
| Ezek 7:25 | Anguish comes; they will seek peace, but there will be none. | Desperate search for relief during inescapable judgment. |
| Jer 6:25 | "Go not out into the field... for the sword of the enemy is, and terror on every side." | Fear/terror as a widespread component of invasion. |
Jeremiah 48 verses
Jeremiah 48 43 meaning
Jeremiah 48:43 declares a dire, comprehensive, and inescapable judgment upon the people of Moab. The three terms—terror, the pit, and the snare—symbolize an utter absence of any route for escape, indicating that Moab's doom will manifest in every conceivable way, leading to complete and utter destruction and capture. This divine pronouncement signifies that internal dread (terror) and external, unavoidable traps (pit and snare) will jointly descend upon Moab's inhabitants due to their pride and defiance against God.
Jeremiah 48 43 Context
Jeremiah 48:43 is a stark prophecy of divine judgment specifically directed at Moab. The entire chapter, Jeremiah 48, constitutes a "burdensome message" or oracle against Moab, detailing its impending, comprehensive destruction. This particular verse comes after a lament for Moab's cities, vineyards, and proud inhabitants, serving as a climactic declaration of their ultimate and inescapable fate. Historically, Moab, located east of the Dead Sea, was a long-standing neighbor and often an adversary of Israel, descended from Lot (Gen 19:37). They were known for their national god Chemosh, their agricultural wealth (especially wine), and, critically, their deep-seated pride (Jer 48:29) and disdain for Israel (Zeph 2:8). This prophecy, likely set against the backdrop of Babylonian expansion, forecasts how a mighty power (understood to be Babylon, God's instrument of judgment) will completely overthrow Moab, leaving no quarter for escape, demonstrating God's sovereign authority over all nations and His judgment against pride and idolatry.
Jeremiah 48 43 Word analysis
Terror (פחד, pachad):
- Meaning: Dread, fright, internal apprehension.
- Significance: This refers to the psychological aspect of doom—the overwhelming, paralyzing fear that grips one in the face of impending calamity. It signifies an internal collapse even before physical harm, often preceding actual danger.
Pit (פחת, pachath):
- Meaning: A dug-out pit, a ditch, a fall, a chasm, a deep hole. Often used as a trap.
- Significance: Represents external, physical danger; a trap that involves a literal fall or capture from below or by stealth. It suggests an inescapable, often sudden, descent into destruction, symbolizing overwhelming external circumstances.
Snare (פח, pach):
- Meaning: A trap, a net, a gin. Often a hidden device used to catch birds or animals.
- Significance: Implies a subtle, cunning, and inescapable trap set covertly. It suggests an unexpected entanglement, where escape is impossible once caught. This highlights the insidious nature of their coming doom—they will be caught unawares, unable to maneuver out of their predicament.
Are upon you (עליך, ʻalecha):
- Meaning: Upon you, over you, coming to you.
- Significance: Denotes an overwhelming, inevitable imposition. It indicates direct, personal, and forceful application of this tripartite judgment, emphasizing that it is an inescapable reality for them.
O inhabitant of Moab! (יושב מואב, yoshev Mo'av):
- Meaning: Resident, dweller, one who sits securely in Moab.
- Significance: This specific address identifies the target of the judgment. "Inhabitant" can imply those who were settled, comfortable, and perhaps complacent in their land, reinforcing the contrast between their perceived security and the total doom awaiting them.
Words-group by words-group analysis:
"Terror and the pit and the snare": This phrase is a powerful, alliterative triplet in Hebrew (פחד, פחת, ופח, pachad, pachath, va'pach). It’s a common prophetic and wisdom literary device (e.g., Isa 24:17-18; Lam 3:47), emphasizing the comprehensive, multi-faceted, and utterly inescapable nature of the coming disaster. It signifies a judgment from which there is no escape route, whether internal, external, obvious, or hidden. It indicates complete envelopment by calamity.
"Are upon you, O inhabitant of Moab!": This group of words directs the inevitable, comprehensive judgment pointedly at Moab. The direct address, particularly using "inhabitant," reinforces the idea that those who felt secure and established in their land are precisely the ones upon whom this overwhelming fate will descend, underscoring their lost security and the justice of the divine decree against their long-standing pride and idolatry.
Jeremiah 48 43 Bonus section
- The alliteration in Hebrew of pachad (פחד - terror), pachath (פחת - pit), and pach (פח - snare) is a distinct literary device, making the declaration memorable and potent. It contributes to the verse's emphasis on the totality and inevitability of judgment.
- While primarily focused on judgment, it is important to note that Jeremiah 48 concludes with a glimmer of future hope (Jer 48:47): "Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in the latter days, declares the Lord." This nuance, absent in 48:43 itself, highlights that even in severe judgment, God's ultimate plan can sometimes include eventual restoration or a remnant, reflecting His long-suffering character even toward nations outside His direct covenant people. However, the immediate message of 48:43 is pure, unadulterated judgment.
- The three elements—terror, pit, and snare—can be understood as progressive layers of judgment: pachad (terror) representing internal psychological collapse, pachath (pit) symbolizing an overwhelming physical downfall or obstacle, and pach (snare) signifying the hidden, unexpected trap from which extrication is impossible. This layering suggests no dimension of Moab's existence will be untouched by the impending doom.
Jeremiah 48 43 Commentary
Jeremiah 48:43 succinctly encapsulates the dire fate awaiting Moab through a powerful threefold pronouncement of "terror and the pit and the snare." This verse, climactically concluding a section of woes in Jeremiah's oracle against Moab, leaves no ambiguity regarding their imminent and total destruction. The alliterative Hebrew words (pachad, pachath, pach) are carefully chosen not merely for their sound but for their distinct yet complementary meanings: psychological dread, a literal fall or physical trap, and a hidden, insidious entanglement. Together, they form an unassailable trap, signifying that no matter which direction a Moabite attempts to flee—mentally, physically, or secretly—doom awaits.
This divine sentence is a direct consequence of Moab's long-standing pride (Jer 48:29), their complacency, their trust in their false god Chemosh (Jer 48:7, 46), and their insolence toward God's people (Zeph 2:8). God, through Jeremiah, asserts His supreme sovereignty over all nations, even those seemingly strong and settled. The destruction, here represented by universal capture and fear, serves as a stark warning: false security derived from earthly prosperity, military might, or idolatrous trust is ephemeral, and pride ultimately precedes a comprehensive downfall orchestrated by the one true God. The verse underscores a universal principle: that judgment for persistent rebellion against divine standards is multifaceted and utterly inescapable.