7 As the spring keeps its waters cold, so she keeps her evil in her: the sound of cruel and violent behaviour is in her; before me at all times are disease and wounds.
Violent behaviour has been lifted up into a rod of evil; it will not be slow in coming, it will not keep back.
Make the chain: for the land is full of crimes of blood, and the town is full of violent acts.
But the evil-doers are like the troubled sea, for which there is no rest, and its waters send up earth and waste.
Send destruction on them, O Lord, make a division of tongues among them: for I have seen fighting and violent acts in the town. By day and night they go round the town, on the walls; trouble and sorrow are in the heart of it. Evil is there; cruel rule and deceit are ever in the streets.
And you are to say, This is what the Lord has said: A town causing blood to be drained out in her streets so that her time may come, and making images in her to make her unclean! You are responsible for the blood drained out by you, and you are unclean through the images which you have made; and you have made your day come near, and the time of your judging has come; for this cause I have made you a name of shame to the nations and a cause of laughing to all countries. Those who are near and those who are far from you will make sport of you; your name is unclean, you are full of sounds of fear. See, the rulers of Israel, every one in his family, have been causing death in you. In you they have had no respect for father and mother; in you they have been cruel to the man from a strange land; in you they have done wrong to the child without a father and to the widow. You have made little of my holy things, and have made my Sabbaths unclean. In you there are men who say evil of others, causing death; in you they have taken the flesh with the blood for food; in your streets they have put evil designs into effect. In you they have let the shame of their fathers be seen; in you they have done wrong to a woman at the time when she was unclean. And in you one man has done what was disgusting with his neighbour's wife; and another has made his daughter-in-law unclean; and another has done wrong to his sister, his father's daughter. In you they have taken rewards as the price of blood; you have taken interest and great profits, and you have taken away your neighbours' goods by force, and have not kept me in mind, says the Lord.
For her blood is in her; she has put it on the open rock not draining it on to the earth so that it might be covered with dust;
A curse on the designers of evil, working on their beds! in the morning light they do it, because it is in their power. They have a desire for fields and take them by force; and for houses and take them away: they are cruel to a man and his family, even to a man and his heritage.
As for you, you have become haters of those who were at peace with you: you take the clothing of those who go by without fear, and make them prisoners of war. The women of my people you have been driving away from their dearly loved children; from their young ones you are taking my glory for ever. Up! and go; for this is not your rest: because it has been made unclean, the destruction ordered will come on you.
And I said, Give ear, now, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the people of Israel: is it not for you to have knowledge of what is right? You who are haters of good and lovers of evil, pulling off their skin from them and their flesh from their bones; Like meat they take the flesh of my people for their food, skinning them and crushing their bones, yes, cutting them up as if for the pot, like flesh inside the cooking-pot.
Then give ear to this, you heads of the children of Jacob, you rulers of the children of Israel, hating what is right, twisting what is straight. They are building up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with evil-doing. Its heads take rewards for judging, and the priests take payment for teaching, and the prophets get silver for reading the future: but still, supporting themselves on the Lord, they say, Is not the Lord among us? no evil will overtake us. For this reason, Zion will be ploughed like a field because of you, and Jerusalem will become a mass of broken walls, and the mountain of the house like a high place in the woods.
The good man is gone from the earth, there is no one upright among men: they are all waiting secretly for blood, every man is going after his brother with a net. Their hands are made ready to do evil; the ruler makes requests for money, and the judge is looking for a reward; and the great man gives decisions at his pleasure, and the right is twisted.
Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, it is not right for these things to be so. Does the fountain send from the same outlet sweet and bitter water? Is a fig-tree able to give us olives, my brothers, or do we get figs from a vine, or sweet water from the salt sea?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Jeremiah 6
Commentary on Jeremiah 6 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 6
Jer 6:1-30. Zion's Foes Prepare War against Her: Her Sins Are the Cause.
1. Benjamin—Jerusalem was situated in the tribe of Benjamin, which was here separated from that of Judah by the valley of Hinnom. Though it was inhabited partly by Benjamites, partly by men of Judah, he addresses the former as being his own countrymen.
blow … trumpet … Tekoa—Tikehu, Tekoa form a play on sounds. The birthplace of Amos.
Beth-haccerem—meaning in Hebrew, "vineyard-house." It and Tekoa were a few miles south of Jerusalem. As the enemy came from the north, the inhabitants of the surrounding country would naturally flee southwards. The fire-signal on the hills gave warning of danger approaching.
2. likened—rather, "I lay waste." Literally, "O comely and delicate one, I lay waste the daughter of Zion," that is, "thee." So Zec 3:9, "before Joshua," that is, "before thee" [Maurer].
3. shepherds—hostile leaders with their armies (Jer 1:15; 4:17; 49:20; 50:45).
feed—They shall consume each one all that is near him; literally, "his hand," that is, the place which he occupies (Nu 2:17; see on Isa 56:5).
4, 5. The invading soldiers encourage one another to the attack on Jerusalem.
Prepare—literally, "Sanctify" war, that is, Proclaim it formally with solemn rites; the invasion was solemnly ordered by God (compare Isa 13:3).
at noon—the hottest part of the day when attacks were rarely made (Jer 15:8; 20:16). Even at this time they wished to attack, such is their eagerness.
Woe unto us—The words of the invaders, mourning the approach of night which would suspend their hostile operations; still, even in spite of the darkness, at night they renew the attack (Jer 6:5).
6. cast—Hebrew, "pour out"; referring to the emptying of the baskets of earth to make the mound, formed of "trees" and earthwork, to overtop the city walls. The "trees" were also used to make warlike engines.
this—pointing the invaders to Jerusalem.
visited—that is, punished.
wholly oppression—or join "wholly" with "visited," that is, she is altogether (in her whole extent) to be punished [Maurer].
7. fountain—rather, a well dug, from which water springs; distinct from a natural spring or fountain.
casteth out—causeth to flow; literally, "causeth to dig," the cause being put for the effect (2Ki 21:16, 24; Isa 57:20).
me—Jehovah.
8. Tender appeal in the midst of threats.
depart—Hebrew, "be torn away"; Jehovah's affection making Him unwilling to depart; His attachment to Jerusalem was such that an effort was needed to tear Himself from it (Eze 23:18; Ho 9:12; 11:8).
9. The Jews are the grapes, their enemies the unsparing gleaners.
turn back … hand—again and again bring freshly gathered handfuls to the baskets; referring to the repeated carrying away of captives to Babylon (Jer 52:28-30; 2Ki 24:14; 25:11).
10. ear is uncircumcised—closed against the precepts of God by the foreskin of carnality (Le 26:41; Eze 44:7; Ac 7:51).
word … reproach—(Jer 20:8).
11. fury of … Lord—His denunciations against Judah communicated to the prophet.
weary with holding in—(Jer 20:9).
I will pour—or else imperative: the command of God (see Jer 6:12), "Pour it out" [Maurer].
aged … full of days—The former means one becoming old; the latter a decrepit old man [Maurer] (Job 5:26; Isa 65:20).
12. The very punishments threatened by Moses in the event of disobedience to God (De 28:30).
turned—transferred.
13. (Jer 8:10; Isa 56:11; Mic 3:11).
14. hurt—the spiritual wound.
slightly—as if it were but a slight wound; or, in a slight manner, pronouncing all sound where there is no soundness.
saying—namely, the prophets and priests (Jer 6:13). Whereas they ought to warn the people of impending judgments and the need of repentance, they say there is nothing to fear.
peace—including soundness. All is sound in the nation's moral state, so all will be peace as to its political state (Jer 4:10; 8:11; 14:13; 23:17; Eze 13:5, 10; 22:28).
15. Rosenmuller translates, "They ought to have been ashamed, because … but," &c.; the Hebrew verb often expressing, not the action, but the duty to perform it (Ge 20:9; Mal 2:7). Maurer translates, "They shall be put to shame, for they commit abomination; nay (the prophet correcting himself), there is no shame in them" (Jer 3:3; 8:12; Eze 3:7; Zep 3:5).
them that fall—They shall fall with the rest of their people who are doomed to fall, that is, I will now cease from words; I will execute vengeance [Calvin].
16. Image from travellers who have lost their road, stopping and inquiring which is the right way on which they once had been, but from which they have wandered.
old paths—Idolatry and apostasy are the modern way; the worship of God the old way. Evil is not coeval with good, but a modern degeneracy from good. The forsaking of God is not, in a true sense, a "way cast up" at all (Jer 18:15; Ps 139:24; Mal 4:4).
rest—(Isa 28:12; Mt 11:29).
17. watchmen—prophets, whose duty it was to announce impending calamities, so as to lead the people to repentance (Isa 21:11; 58:1; Eze 3:17; Hab 2:1).
18. congregation—parallel to "nations"; it therefore means the gathered peoples who are invited to be witnesses as to how great is the perversity of the Israelites (Jer 6:16, 17), and that they deserve the severe punishment about to be inflicted on them (Jer 6:19).
what is among them—what deeds are committed by the Israelites (Jer 6:16, 17) [Maurer]. Or, "what punishments are about to be inflicted on them" [Calvin].
19. (Isa 1:2).
fruit of … thoughts—(Pr 1:31).
nor to my law, but rejected it—literally, "and (as to) My law they have rejected it." The same construction occurs in Ge 22:24.
20. Literally, "To what purpose is this to Me, that incense cometh to Me?"
incense … cane—(Isa 43:24; 60:6). No external services are accepted by God without obedience of the heart and life (Jer 7:21; Ps 50:7-9; Isa 1:11; Mic 6:6, &c.).
sweet … sweet—antithesis. Your sweet cane is not sweet to Me. The calamus.
21. stumbling-blocks—instruments of the Jews' ruin (compare Mt 21:44; Isa 8:14; 1Pe 2:8). God Himself ("I") lays them before the reprobate (Ps 69:22; Ro 1:28; 11:9).
fathers … sons … neighbour … friend—indiscriminate ruin.
22. north … sides of the earth—The ancients were little acquainted with the north; therefore it is called the remotest regions (as the Hebrew for "sides" ought to be translated, see on Isa 14:13) of the earth. The Chaldees are meant (Jer 1:15; 5:15). It is striking that the very same calamities which the Chaldeans had inflicted on Zion are threatened as the retribution to be dealt in turn to themselves by Jehovah (Jer 50:41-43).
23. like the sea—(Isa 5:30).
as men for war—not that they were like warriors, for they were warriors; but "arrayed most perfectly as warriors" [Maurer].
24. fame thereof—the report of them.
25. He addresses "the daughter of Zion" (Jer 6:23); caution to the citizens of Jerusalem not to expose themselves to the enemy by going outside of the city walls.
sword of the enemy—literally, "there is a sword to the enemy"; the enemy hath a sword.
26. wallow … in ashes—(Jer 25:34; Mic 1:10). As they usually in mourning only "cast ashes on the head," wallowing in them means something more, namely, so entirely to cover one's self with ashes as to be like one who had rolled in them (Eze 27:30).
as for an only son—(Am 8:10; Zec 12:10).
lamentation—literally, "lamentation expressed by beating the breast."
27. tower … fortress—(Jer 1:18), rather, "an assayer (and) explorer." By a metaphor from metallurgy in Jer 6:27-30, Jehovah, in conclusion, confirms the prophet in his office, and the latter sums up the description of the reprobate people on whom he had to work. The Hebrew for "assayer" (English Version, "tower") is from a root "to try" metals. "Explorer" (English Version, "fortress") is from an Arabic root, "keen-sighted"; or a Hebrew root, "cutting," that is, separating the metal from the dross [Ewald]. Gesenius translates as English Version, "fortress," which does not accord with the previous "assayer."
28. grievous revolters—literally, "contumacious of the contumacious," that is, most contumacious, the Hebrew mode of expressing a superlative. So "the strong among the mighty," that is, the strongest (Eze 32:21). See Jer 5:23; Ho 4:16.
walking with slanders—(Jer 9:4). "Going about for the purpose of slandering" [Maurer].
brass, &c.—that is, copper. It and "iron" being the baser and harder metals express the debased and obdurate character of the Jews (Isa 48:4; 60:17).
29. bellows … burned—So intense a heat is made that the very bellows are almost set on fire. Rosenmuller translates not so well from a Hebrew root, "pant" or "snort," referring to the sound of the bellows blown hard.
lead—employed to separate the baser metal from the silver, as quicksilver is now used. In other words, the utmost pains have been used to purify Israel in the furnace of affliction, but in vain (Jer 5:3; 1Pe 1:7).
consumed of the fire—In the Chetib, or Hebrew text, the "consumed" is supplied out of the previous "burned." Translating as Rosenmuller, "pant," this will be inadmissible; and the Keri (Hebrew Margin) division of the Hebrew words will have to be read, to get "is consumed of the fire." This is an argument for the translation, "are burned."
founder—the refiner.
wicked … not plucked away—answering to the dross which has no good metal to be separated, the mass being all dross.
30. Reprobate—silver so full of alloy as to be utterly worthless (Isa 1:22). The Jews were fit only for rejection.