10 This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and go after other gods, to serve them and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle which is good for nothing.
and you, ye have done still worse than your fathers; and there ye are walking every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart, not to hearken unto me:
but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them;
And Jehovah the God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending; because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling-place. But they mocked at the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the fury of Jehovah rose against his people, and there was no remedy.
And Jehovah said to Moses, How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe me, for all the signs which I have done among them?
And I went to the Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and behold, the girdle was spoiled, it was good for nothing.
For I earnestly protested unto your fathers, in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Hearken unto my voice. But they have not hearkened, nor inclined their ear, but have walked every one in the stubbornness of their evil heart; and I have brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded [them] to do, and they have not done.
At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem; and they shall no more walk after the stubbornness of their evil heart.
At the end of seven years ye shall let go every man his brother, a Hebrew, who hath sold himself unto thee; when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee. But your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. And you, ye had this day turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name: but ye have turned and profaned my name, and caused every man his bondman, and every man his bondmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and ye have brought them into subjection, to be unto you for bondmen and for bondmaids. Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith Jehovah, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will give you over to be driven hither and thither among all the kingdoms of the earth.
This I say therefore, and testify in [the] Lord, that ye should no longer walk as [the rest of] the nations walk in [the] vanity of their mind, being darkened in understanding, estranged from the life of God by reason of the ignorance which is in them, by reason of the hardness of their hearts, who having cast off all feeling, have given themselves up to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greedy unsatisfied lust.
O stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, *ye* do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers, *ye* also.
From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, the king of Judah, even unto this day, these three and twenty years, the word of Jehovah hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened. And Jehovah hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear, when they said, Turn again now every one from his evil way, and from the wickedness of your doings, and dwell in the land that Jehovah hath given unto you and to your fathers from of old even for ever. And go not after other gods, to serve them and to worship them; and provoke me not to anger with the work of your hands; and I will do you no hurt. But ye have not hearkened unto me, saith Jehovah; that ye might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands, to your own hurt.
They shall die of painful deaths; they shall not be lamented, neither shall they be buried; they shall be as dung upon the face of the ground, and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine, and their carcases shall be food for the fowl of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth.
And Jehovah said unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, my soul [would] not [turn] toward this people. Send [them] out of my sight, and let them go forth. And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith Jehovah: Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity. For I will visit them with four kinds [of punishments], saith Jehovah: the sword to slay, and dogs to tear, and the fowl of the heavens, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy. And I will give them over to be driven hither and thither amongst all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
And Jehovah hath given me knowledge, and I know [it]; then thou shewedst me their doings.
Why hath this people of Jerusalem slidden back with a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward. Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt, unto this day, have I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them; but they have not hearkened unto me, nor inclined their ear; and they have hardened their neck: they have done worse than their fathers. And thou shalt speak all these words unto them, but they will not hearken unto thee; and thou shalt call unto them, but they will not answer thee. And thou shalt say unto them, This is the nation which hath not hearkened unto the voice of Jehovah their God, nor received correction; fidelity is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.
But this people hath a stubborn and a rebellious heart; they have turned aside and are gone.
And it shall come to pass, instead of perfume there shall be rottenness; and instead of a girdle, a rope; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a robe of display, a girding of sackcloth; brand instead of beauty.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Jeremiah 13
Commentary on Jeremiah 13 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 13
Jer 13:1-27. Symbolical Prophecy (Jer 13:1-7).
Many of these figurative acts being either not possible, or not probable, or decorous, seem to have existed only in the mind of the prophet as part of his inward vision. [So Calvin]. The world he moved in was not the sensible, but the spiritual, world. Inward acts were, however, when it was possible and proper, materialized by outward performance, but not always, and necessarily so. The internal act made a naked statement more impressive and presented the subject when extending over long portions of space and time more concentrated. The interruption of Jeremiah's official duty by a journey of more than two hundred miles twice is not likely to have literally taken place.
1. put it upon thy loins, &c.—expressing the close intimacy wherewith Jehovah had joined Israel and Judah to Him (Jer 13:11).
linen—implying it was the inner garment next the skin, not the outer one.
put it not in water—signifying the moral filth of His people, like the literal filth of a garment worn constantly next the skin, without being washed (Jer 13:10). Grotius understands a garment not bleached, but left in its native roughness, just as Judah had no beauty, but was adopted by the sole grace of God (Eze 16:4-6). "Neither wast thou washed in water," &c.
4. Euphrates—In order to support the view that Jeremiah's act was outward, Henderson considers that the Hebrew Phrath here is Ephratha, the original name of Beth-lehem, six miles south of Jerusalem, a journey easy to be made by Jeremiah. The non-addition of the word "river," which usually precedes Phrath, when meaning Euphrates, favors this view. But I prefer English Version. The Euphrates is specified as being near Babylon, the Jews future place of exile.
hole—typical of the prisons in which the Jews were to be confined.
the rock—some well-known rock. A sterile region, such as was that to which the Jews were led away (compare Isa 7:19) [Grotius].
6. after many days—Time enough was given for the girdle to become unfit for use. So, in course of time, the Jews became corrupted by the heathen idolatries around, so as to cease to be witnesses of Jehovah; they must, therefore, be cast away as a "marred" or spoiled girdle.
9. (Le 26:19).
10. imagination—rather, "obstinacy."
11. (Jer 33:9; Ex 19:5).
glory—an ornament to glory in.
12. A new image.
Do we not … know … wine—The "bottles" are those used in the East, made of skins; our word "hogshead," originally "oxhide," alludes to the same custom. As they were used to hold water, milk, and other liquids, what the prophet said (namely, that they should be all filled with wine) was not, as the Jews' taunting reply implied, a truism even literally. The figurative sense which is what Jeremiah chiefly meant, they affected not to understand. As wine intoxicates, so God's wrath and judgments shall reduce them to that state of helpless distraction that they shall rush on to their own ruin (Jer 25:15; 49:12; Isa 51:17, 21, 22; 63:6).
13. upon David's throne—literally, who sit for David on his throne; implying the succession of the Davidic family (Jer 22:4).
all—indiscriminately of every rank.
14. dash—(Ps 2:9). As a potter's vessel (Re 2:27).
15. be not proud—Pride was the cause of their contumacy, as humility is the first step to obedience (Jer 13:17; Ps 10:4).
16. Give glory, &c.—Show by repentance and obedience to God, that you revere His majesty. So Joshua exhorted Achan to "give glory to God" by confessing his crime, thereby showing he revered the All-knowing God.
stumble—image from travellers stumbling into a fatal abyss when overtaken by nightfall (Isa 5:30; 59:9, 10; Am 8:9).
dark mountains—literally, "mountains of twilight" or "gloom," which cast such a gloomy shadow that the traveller stumbles against an opposing rock before he sees it (Joh 11:10; 12:35).
shadow of death—the densest gloom; death shade (Ps 44:19). Light and darkness are images of prosperity and adversity.
17. hear it—my exhortation.
in secret—as one mourning and humbling himself for their sin, not self-righteously condemning them (Php 3:18).
pride—(see on Jer 13:15; Job 33:17).
flock—(Jer 13:20), just as kings and leaders are called pastors.
18. king—Jehoiachin or Jeconiah.
queen—the queen mother who, as the king was not more than eighteen years old, held the chief power. Nehushta, daughter of Elnathan, carried away captive with Jehoiachin by Nebuchadnezzar (2Ki 24:8-15).
Humble yourselves—that is, Ye shall be humbled, or brought low (Jer 22:26; 28:2).
your principalities—rather, "your head ornament."
19. cities of the south—namely, south of Judea; farthest off from the enemy, who advanced from the north.
shut up—that is, deserted (Isa 24:10); so that none shall be left to open the gates to travellers and merchants again [Henderson]. Rather, shut up so closely by Nebuchadnezzar's forces, sent on before (2Ki 24:10, 11), that none shall be allowed by the enemy to get out (compare Jer 13:20).
wholly—literally, "fully"; completely.
20. from … north—Nebuchadnezzar and his hostile army (Jer 1:14; 6:22).
flock … given thee—Jeremiah, amazed at the depopulation caused by Nebuchadnezzar's forces, addresses Jerusalem (a noun of multitude, which accounts for the blending of plural and singular, Your eyes … thee … thy flock), and asks where is the population (Jer 13:17, "flock") which God had given her?
21. captains, and as chief—literally, "princes as to headship"; or "over thy head," namely, the Chaldeans. Rather, translate, "What wilt thou say when God will set them (the enemies, Jer 13:20) above thee, seeing that thou thyself hast accustomed them (to be) with thee as (thy) lovers in the highest place (literally, 'at thy head')? Thou canst not say God does thee wrong, seeing it was thou that gave occasion to His dealing so with thee, by so eagerly courting their intimacy." Compare Jer 2:18, 36; 2Ki 23:29, as to the league of Judah with Babylon, which led Josiah to march against Pharaoh-necho, when the latter was about to attack Babylon [Maurer].
sorrows—pains, throes.
22. if thou say—connecting this verse with "What wilt thou say" (Jer 13:21)?
skirts discovered—that is, are thrown up so as to expose the person (Jer 13:26; Isa 3:17; Na 3:5).
heels made bare—The sandal was fastened by a thong above the heel to the instep. The Hebrew, is, "are violently handled," or "torn off"; that is, thou art exposed to ignominy. Image from an adulteress.
23. Ethiopian—the Cushite of Abyssinia. Habit is second nature; as therefore it is morally impossible that the Jews can alter their inveterate habits of sin, nothing remains but the infliction of the extremest punishment, their expatriation (Jer 13:24).
24. (Ps 1:4).
by the wind—before the wind.
of the wilderness—where the wind has full sweep, not being broken by any obstacle.
25. portion of thy measures—the portion which I have measured out to thee (Job 20:29; Ps 11:6).
falsehood—(Jer 13:27), false gods and alliances with foreign idolaters.
26. discover … upon thy face—rather, "throw up thy skirts over thy face," or head; done by way of ignominy to captive women and to prostitutes (Na 3:5). The Jews' punishment should answer to their crime. As their sin had been perpetrated in the most public places, so God would expose them to the contempt of other nations most openly (La 1:8).
27. neighings—(Jer 5:8), image from the lust of horses; the lust after idols degrades to the level of the brute.
hills—where, as being nearer heaven, sacrifices were thought most acceptable to the gods.
wilt thou not … ? when—literally, "thou wilt not be made clean after how long a time yet." (So Jer 13:23). Jeremiah denies the moral possibility of one so long hardened in sin becoming soon cleansed. But see Jer 32:17; Lu 18:27.