Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all?
Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth where no gin is set for him? When a bird, trying to fly upwards, is made to fall upon the earth by an earth-snare, it is a plain proof that the snare is there; so Israel, now that thou art falling, infer thence that it is in the snare of the divine judgment that thou art entangled (Ludovicus de Dieu). Rather, as Israel was then in prosperity under Jeroboam II, the idea is, Israel was seemingly then rising, as the bird does in its upward flight; but the word of God, as spoken by His prophets, is the "snare" or net which, though unseen, is now gathering about Israel, and will bring him down suddenly.
Shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all? The bird-catcher does not remove his snare off the ground until he has caught some prey; so God will not withdraw the Assyrians, etc., the instruments of punishment, until they have had the success against you which God gives them. The foe corresponds to the "snare" suddenly springing from the ground and enclosing the bird, on the latter touching it: the Hebrew is literally, "shall the snare spring from the earth?" Israel entangled in judgments answers to the bird "taken."