19 Jehovah, my strength and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of distress, unto thee shall the nations come from the ends of the earth, and they shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited falsehood [and] vanity; and in these things there is no profit.
Jehovah is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.
Every man is become brutish, bereft of knowledge; every founder is put to shame by the graven image, for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
Who hath formed a ùgod, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?
For thou hast been a fortress to the poor, a fortress for the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat: for the blast of the terrible ones [has been] as the storm [against] a wall.
{To the chief Musician. [A Psalm] of David, the servant of Jehovah, who spoke to Jehovah the words of this song in the day that Jehovah had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies and out of the hand of Saul. And he said,} I will love thee, O Jehovah, my strength. Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my ùGod, my rock, in whom I will trust; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.
But it shall come to pass in the end of days [that] the mountain of Jehovah's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and the peoples shall flow unto it. And many nations shall go and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and Jehovah's word from Jerusalem.
All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto Jehovah, and all the families of the nations shall worship before thee: For the kingdom is Jehovah's, and he ruleth among the nations. All the fat ones of the earth shall eat and worship; all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him, and he that cannot keep alive his own soul. A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
And it shall come to pass in the end of days, [that] the mountain of Jehovah's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow unto it. And many peoples shall go and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and Jehovah's word from Jerusalem.
Arise, shine! for thy light is come, and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but Jehovah will arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen on thee. And the nations shall walk by thy light, and kings by the brightness of thy rising.
And it shall come to pass, when ye are multiplied in the land and become fruitful, in those days, saith Jehovah, they shall say no more, Ark of the covenant of Jehovah! neither shall it come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit [it]; neither shall it be done any more. 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.
Be not a terror unto me: thou art my refuge in the day of evil.
And many nations shall join themselves to Jehovah in that day, and shall be unto me for a people; and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me unto thee.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Yet again shall there come peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities; and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to supplicate Jehovah, and to seek Jehovah of hosts: I will go also. And many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek Jehovah of hosts in Jerusalem, and to supplicate Jehovah. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: In those days shall ten men take hold, out of all languages of the nations, shall even take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you; for we have heard [that] God is with you.
For from the rising of the sun even unto its setting my name shall be great among the nations; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure oblation: for my name shall be great among the nations, saith Jehovah of hosts.
What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it? the molten image, and the teacher of falsehood, that the maker of his work dependeth thereon, to make dumb idols? Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake! to the dumb stone, Arise! Shall it teach? Behold it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
After these things I saw, and lo, a great crowd, which no one could number, out of every nation and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palm branches in their hands. And they cry with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb. And all the angels stood around the throne, and the elders, and the four living creatures, and fell before the throne upon their faces, and worshipped God,
knowing that ye have been redeemed, not by corruptible [things, as] silver or gold, from your vain conversation handed down from [your] fathers,
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I say of Jehovah, My refuge and my fortress; my God, I will confide in him.
For in the day of evil he will hide me in his pavilion; in the secret of his tent will he keep me concealed: he will set me high upon a rock.
Jehovah of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our high fortress. Selah.
Jehovah of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our high fortress. Selah.
With God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.
That thy way may be known upon earth, thy salvation among all nations. Let the peoples praise thee, O God, let all the peoples praise thee. Let the nations rejoice and sing for joy: for thou wilt judge the peoples equitably; and the nations upon earth, thou wilt guide them. Selah. Let the peoples praise thee, O God; let all the peoples praise thee. The earth will yield her increase; God, our God, will bless us: God will bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.
And he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. The dwellers in the desert shall bow before him, and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall render presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer tribute: Yea, all kings shall bow down before him; all nations shall serve him. For he will deliver the needy who crieth, and the afflicted, who hath no helper;
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Jehovah, my rock, and my redeemer.
The name of Jehovah is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, standing as a banner of the peoples: the nations shall seek it; and his resting-place shall be glory.
And the nations shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory; and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah will name.
Hath a nation changed [its] gods? and they are no gods; -- but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
They are as a palm-column of turned work, and they speak not; they are carried, for they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Jeremiah 16
Commentary on Jeremiah 16 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 16
Jer 16:1-21. Continuation of the Previous Prophecy.
2. in this place—in Judea. The direction to remain single was (whether literally obeyed, or only in prophetic vision) to symbolize the coming calamities of the Jews (Eze 24:15-27) as so severe that the single state would be then (contrary to the ordinary course of things) preferable to the married (compare 1Co 7:8, 26, 29; Mt 24:19; Lu 23:29).
4. grievous deaths—rather, "deadly diseases" (Jer 15:2).
not … lamented—so many shall be the slain (Jer 22:18).
dung—(Ps 83:10).
5. (Eze 24:17, 22, 23).
house of mourning—(Mr 5:38). Margin, "mourning-feast"; such feasts were usual at funerals. The Hebrew means, in Am 6:7, the cry of joy at a banquet; here, and La 2:19, the cry of sorrow.
6. cut themselves—indicating extravagant grief (Jer 41:5; 47:5), prohibited by the law (Le 19:28).
bald—(Jer 7:29; Isa 22:12).
7. tear themselves—rather, "break bread," namely, that eaten at the funeral-feast (De 26:14; Job 42:11; Eze 24:17; Ho 9:4). "Bread" is to be supplied, as in La 4:4; compare "take" (food) (Ge 42:33).
give … cup of consolation … for … father—It was the Oriental custom for friends to send viands and wine (the "cup of consolation") to console relatives in mourning-feasts, for example, to children upon the death of a "father" or "mother."
8. house of feasting—joyous: as distinguished from mourning-feasts. Have no more to do with this people whether in mourning or joyous feasts.
9. (Jer 7:34; 25:10; Eze 26:13).
10. (De 29:24; 1Ki 9:8, 9).
11. (Jer 5:19; 13:22; 22:8, 9).
12. ye—emphatic: so far from avoiding your fathers' bad example, ye have done worse (Jer 7:26; 1Ki 14:9).
imagination—rather, "stubborn perversity."
that they may not hearken—rather, connected with "ye"; "ye have walked … so as not to hearken to Me."
13. serve other gods—That which was their sin in their own land was their punishment in exile. Retribution in kind. They voluntarily forsook God for idols at home; they were not allowed to serve God, if they wished it, in captivity (Da 3:12; 6:7).
day and night—irony. You may there serve idols, which ye are so mad after, even to satiety, and without intermission.
14. Therefore—So severe shall be the Jews' bondage that their deliverance from it shall be a greater benefit than that out of Egypt. The consolation is incidental here; the prominent thought is the severity of their punishment, so great that their rescue from it will be greater than that from Egypt [Calvin]; so the context, Jer 16:13, 17, 18, proves (Jer 23:7, 8; Isa 43:18).
15. the north—Chaldea. But while the return from Babylon is primarily meant, the return hereafter is the full and final accomplishment contemplated, as "from all the lands" proves. "Israel" was not, save in a very limited sense, "gathered from all the lands" at the return from Babylon (see on Jer 24:6; Jer 30:3; Jer 32:15).
16. send for—translate, "I will send many"; "I will give the commission to many" (2Ch 17:7).
fishers … hunters—successive invaders of Judea (Am 4:2; Hab 1:14, 15). So "net" (Eze 12:13). As to "hunters," see Ge 10:9; Mic 7:2. The Chaldees were famous in hunting, as the Egyptians, the other enemy of Judea, were in fishing. "Fishers" expresses the ease of their victory over the Jews as that of the angler over fishes; "hunters," the keenness of their pursuit of them into every cave and nook. It is remarkable, the same image is used in a good sense of the Jews' restoration, implying that just as their enemies were employed by God to take them in hand for destruction, so the same shall be employed for their restoration (Eze 47:9, 10). So spiritually, those once enemies by nature (fishermen many of them literally) were employed by God to be heralds of salvation, "catching men" for life (Mt 4:19; Lu 5:10; Ac 2:41; 4:4); compare here Jer 16:19, "the Gentiles shall come unto thee" (2Co 12:16).
17. (Jer 32:19; Pr 5:21; 15:3).
their iniquity—the cause of God's judgments on them.
18. first … double—Horsley translates, "I will recompense … once and again"; literally, "the first time repeated": alluding to the two captivities—the Babylonian and the Roman. Maurer, "I will recompense their former iniquities (those long ago committed by their fathers) and their (own) repeated sins" (Jer 16:11, 12). English Version gives a good sense, "First (before 'I bring them again into their land'), I will doubly (that is, fully and amply, Jer 17:18; Isa 40:2) recompense."
carcasses—not sweet-smelling sacrifices acceptable to God, but "carcasses" offered to idols, an offensive odor to God: human victims (Jer 19:5; Eze 16:20), and unclean animals (Isa 65:4; 66:17). Maurer explains it, "the carcasses" of the idols: their images void of sense and life. Compare Jer 16:19, 20. Le 26:30 favors this.
19, 20. The result of God's judgments on the Jews will be that both the Jews when restored, and the Gentiles who have witnessed those judgments, shall renounce idolatry for the worship of Jehovah. Fulfilled partly at the return from Babylon, after which the Jews entirely renounced idols, and many proselytes were gathered in from the Gentiles, but not to be realized in its fulness till the final restoration of Israel (Isa 2:1-17).
20. indignant protest of Jeremiah against idols.
and they (are) no gods—(Jer 2:11; Isa 37:19; Ga 4:8). "They" refers to the idols. A man (a creature himself) making God is a contradiction in terms. Vulgate takes "they" thus: "Shall man make gods, though men themselves are not gods?"
21. Therefore—In order that all may be turned from idols to Jehovah, He will now give awful proof of His divine power in the judgments He will inflict.
this once—If the punishments I have heretofore inflicted have not been severe enough to teach them.
my name … Lord—Jehovah (Ps 83:18): God's incommunicable name, to apply which to idols would be blasphemy. Keeping His threats and promises (Ex 6:3).