Jeremiah 48:9

9 Give Mo'av wings, so it can fly and get away. Its cities will become ruins, with no one to live in them.

Jeremiah 48:9 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 48:9

Give wings unto Moab that it may flee and get away
That is, give wings to the inhabitants of Moab; signifying that they were in great danger, and there was no probability of escaping it, unless they had the wings of a swift bird, or were as swift as such, and even that would not do; though perhaps their fleeing, and passing away with wings, may signify not their fleeing from danger, and their attempt to escape; but their swift and sudden destruction, compared to the swift flight of a bird; for the last clause may be rendered, "for in flying it shall fly away" ^F15. Some render the first clause, "give a flower to Moab", as the Vulgate Latin version; and so the word sometimes signifies, ( Isaiah 40:7 ) ; and the sense may be, hold up a flower to Moab, or a feather, such as is light, as the down of a thistle, as an emblem of its destruction; which shall pass away as easily and swiftly as so light a thing before the wind; but Jarchi and Kimchi interpret the word as we do, a wing. The Targum is,

``take away the crown from Moab, for going it shall go away into captivity.''

The word is used of the plate of gold on the high priest's mitre, ( Exodus 28:36 ) ; for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein;
which expresses the utter destruction of them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 (aut aun yk) "quia volando volabit", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; "quia avolando avolabit", Schmidt; "nam avolabit", Piscator.

Jeremiah 48:9 In-Context

7 Because you trust in your deeds and your wealth, you too will be captured. Together with his priests and princes, K'mosh will go into exile.

8 A destroyer will descend on every city, no city will escape. The valley too will perish, the plain will be laid waste, as ADONAI as said.

9 Give Mo'av wings, so it can fly and get away. Its cities will become ruins, with no one to live in them.

10 A curse on him who does the work of ADONAI carelessly! A curse on him who withholds his sword from blood!

11 Mo'av has lived at ease from his youth; he is [wine] settled on its dregs, not decanted from jar to jar - he has not gone into exile. Therefore it retains its own [bad] taste, its aroma remains unchanged.