Terror, pit, and snare: In Hebrew there is an obvious play on words, which is difficult to reproduce in translation. Some scholars think that verses 43-44 probably represent a well-known proverbial saying. For terror see 30.5; for snare see 18.22. Pit is the same word translated “gorge” in verse 28. It refers to some type of deep hole.

It may be difficult in some languages to speak of terror being before someone. This can also be true for pits and traps. In such cases, translators can say something like “You people of Moab, in your future are things that cause terror, pits for you to fall into, and traps to catch you.”

Says the LORD: See 1.8.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .