Jeremiah 49:8

8 Flee! Turn back! {Get down low}! O inhabitants of Dedan. For I will bring upon him the disaster of Esau [at the] time [when] I will punish him.

Jeremiah 49:8 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 49:8

Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan
Another city in Idumea; though some take it to be a country in Arabia, bordering on Edom, and subdued by the Edomites: the inhabitants of this place are advised to "flee" for their lives, since the enemy was just upon them; and "turn back", lest they should fall into his hands; and hide themselves in some deep caverns of the earth, in holes, and dens of rocks, and such like places. It is a prophecy that they should flee from and turn their backs on their enemies, and betake themselves to some very secret places for safety; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him;
which was determined concerning him, threatened to him, and was his just desert; even the utter destruction of the whole land: the time of his visitation;
the time fixed to visit him in a way of wrath and punishment being come,

Jeremiah 49:8 In-Context

6 Yet {afterward} I will restore the fortunes of the {Ammonites}," {declares} Yahweh.

7 Concerning Edom, thus says Yahweh of hosts: "Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel become lost from [those who] understand? Is their wisdom rotting?

8 Flee! Turn back! {Get down low}! O inhabitants of Dedan. For I will bring upon him the disaster of Esau [at the] time [when] I will punish him.

9 If grape-gatherers come to you, would they not leave gleanings? If thieves in the night, they destroy [only] {enough for them}.

10 But I have stripped Esau bare. I have uncovered his hiding places, and he is not able to hide himself. His offspring are devastated, {along with} his brothers, and his neighbors, and {he is no more}.

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "make deep to dwell"