10 Go up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end; take away her battlements, for they are not Jehovah's.
For thus saith Jehovah: The whole land shall be a desolation; but I will not make a full end.
And the Chaldeans burned the king's house and the houses of the people with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.
Thou art my maul, [my] weapons of war: and with thee I will break in pieces the nations, and I will with thee destroy kingdoms; and with thee I will break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee I will break in pieces the chariot and its driver; and with thee will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid; and with thee will I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces governors and rulers.
And [when] the king [heard of it he] was wroth, and having sent his forces, destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
and he said, Call his name Lo-ammi; for ye are not my people, and I will not be for you.
Or [if] I bring the sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land, so that I cut off man and beast from it,
And to the others he said in my hearing, Go after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have pity. Slay utterly the old man, the young man, and the maiden, and little children, and women; but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the elders who were before the house. And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go forth. And they went forth, and smote in the city.
And Jehovah sent against him the bands of the Chaldeans, and the bands of the Syrians, and the bands of the Moabites, and the bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of Jehovah, which he spoke through his servants the prophets. Verily, at the commandment of Jehovah it came to pass against Judah, that they should be removed out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done; and also [because of] the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and Jehovah would not pardon.
Fear thou not, my servant Jacob, saith Jehovah: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee, but I will not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee with judgment, and I will not hold thee altogether guiltless.
For I am with thee, saith Jehovah, to save thee: for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have scattered thee; yet of thee will I not make a full end, but I will correct thee with judgment, and will not hold thee altogether guiltless.
behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith Jehovah, and [I will send] to Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual wastes.
Confide ye not in words of falsehood, saying, Jehovah's temple, Jehovah's temple, Jehovah's temple is this. But if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if ye really do justice between a man and his neighbour, [if] ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed no innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt; then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers from of old even for ever. Behold, ye confide in words of falsehood that cannot profit. What? steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not ... then ye come and stand before me, in this house which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered, -- in order to do all these abominations! Is this house, which is called by my name, a den of robbers in your eyes? Even I, behold, I have seen it, saith Jehovah. For go now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it, for the wickedness of my people Israel.
Prepare war against her. Arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day hath declined, for the shadows of the evening are lengthening. Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces. For thus hath Jehovah of hosts said: Hew ye down trees, and cast a mound against Jerusalem. She is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.
Nevertheless in those days, saith Jehovah, I will not make a full end with you.
The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. Lift up a banner upon a bare mountain, raise the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles. I have commanded my hallowed ones, I have also called my mighty men for mine anger, them that rejoice in my highness. The noise of a multitude on the mountains, as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations assembled together: Jehovah of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. They come from a far country, from the end of the heavens -- Jehovah, and the weapons of his indignation -- to destroy the whole land.
Ah! the Assyrian! the rod of mine anger! and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against a hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge; to take the spoil, and to seize the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. But he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; for it is in his heart to extirpate and cut off nations not a few.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Jeremiah 5
Commentary on Jeremiah 5 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 5
Jer 5:1-31. The Cause of the Judgments to Be Inflicted Is the Universal Corruption of the People.
1. a man—As the pious Josiah, Baruch, and Zephaniah lived in Jerusalem at that time, Jeremiah must here mean the mass of the people, the king, his counsellors, the false prophets, and the priests, as distinguished from the faithful few, whom God had openly separated from the reprobate people; among the latter not even one just person was to be found (Isa 9:16) [Calvin]; the godly, moreover, were forbidden to intercede for them (Jer 7:16; compare Ge 18:23, &c.; Ps 12:1; Eze 22:30).
see … know—look … ascertain.
judgment—justice, righteousness.
pardon it—rather, her.
2. (Tit 1:16).
swear falsely—not a judicial oath; but their profession of the worship of Jehovah is insincere (Jer 5:7; Jer 4:2). The reformation under Josiah was merely superficial in the case of the majority.
3. eyes upon the truth—(De 32:4; 2Ch 16:9). "Truth" is in contrast with "swear falsely" (Jer 5:2). The false-professing Jews could expect nothing but judgments from the God of truth.
stricken … not grieved—(Jer 2:30; Isa 1:5; 9:13).
refused … correction—(Jer 7:28; Zep 3:2).
4. poor—rather, "the poor." He supposes for the moment that this utter depravity is confined to the uninstructed poor, and that he would find a different state of things in the higher ranks: but there he finds unbridled profligacy.
5. they have known—rather, "they must know." The prophet supposes it as probable, considering their position.
but these—I found the very reverse to be the case.
burst … bonds—set God's law at defiance (Ps 2:3).
6. lion … wolf … leopard—the strongest, the most ravenous, and the swiftest, respectively, of beasts: illustrating the formidable character of the Babylonians.
of the evenings—Others not so well translate, of the deserts. The plural means that it goes forth every evening to seek its prey (Ps 104:20; Hab 1:8; Zep 3:3).
leopard … watch … cities—(Ho 13:7). It shall lie in wait about their cities.
7. It would not be consistent with God's holiness to let such wickedness pass unpunished.
sworn by—(Jer 5:2; Jer 4:2); that is, worshipped.
no gods—(De 32:21).
fed … to the full—so the Keri (Hebrew Margin) reads. God's bountifulness is contrasted with their apostasy (De 32:15). Prosperity, the gift of God, designed to lead men to Him, often produces the opposite effect. The Hebrew Chetib (text) reads: "I bound them (to Me) by oath," namely, in the marriage covenant, sealed at Sinai between God and Israel; in contrast to which stands their "adultery"; the antithesis favors this.
adultery … harlots' houses—spiritually: idolatry in temples of idols; but literal prostitution is also included, being frequently part of idol-worship: for example, in the worship of the Babylonian Mylitta.
8. in the morning—(Isa 5:11). "Rising early in the morning" is a phrase for unceasing eagerness in any pursuit; such was the Jews' avidity after idol-worship. Maurer translates from a different Hebrew root, "continually wander to and fro," inflamed with lust (Jer 2:23). But English Version is simpler (compare Jer 13:27; Eze 22:11).
9. (Jer 5:29; Jer 9:9; 44:22).
10. Abrupt apostrophe to the Babylonians, to take Jerusalem, but not to destroy the nation utterly (see on Jer 4:27).
battlements—rather, tendrils [Maurer]: the state being compared to a vine (Jer 12:10), the stem of which was to be spared, while the tendrils (the chief men) were to be removed.
11. (Jer 3:20).
12. belied—denied.
It is not he—rather, "(Jehovah) is not He," that is, the true and only God (Jer 14:22; De 32:39; Isa 43:10, 13). By their idolatry they virtually denied Him. Or, referring to what follows, and to Jer 5:9, "(Jehovah) is not," namely, about to be the punisher of our sins (Jer 14:13; Isa 28:15).
13. Continuation of the unbelieving language of the Jews.
the prophets—who prophesy punishment coming on us.
the word—the Holy Spirit, who speaks through true prophets, is not in them [Maurer]. Or else, "There is no word (divine communication) in them" (Ho 1:2) [Rosenmuller].
thus, &c.—Their ill-omened prophecies shall fall on themselves.
14. ye … thy … this people—He turns away from addressing the people to the prophet; implying that He puts them to a distance from Him, and only communicates with them through His prophet (Jer 5:19).
fire … wood—Thy denunciations of judgments shall be fulfilled and shall consume them as fire does wood. In Jer 23:29 it is the penetrating energy of fire which is the point of comparison.
15. (Jer 1:15; 6:22). Alluding to De 28:49, &c.
Israel—that is, Judah.
mighty—from an Arabic root, "enduring." The fourfold repetition of "nation" heightens the force.
ancient—The Chaldeans came originally from the Carduchian and Armenian mountains north of Mesopotamia, whence they immigrated into Babylonia; like all mountaineers, they were brave and hardy (see on Isa 23:13).
language … knowest not—Isa 36:11 shows that Aramaic was not understood by the "multitude," but only by the educated classes [Maurer]. Henderson refers it to the original language of the Babylonians, which, he thinks, they brought with them from their native hills, akin to the Persic, not to the Aramaic, or any other Semitic tongue, the parent of the modern Kurd.
16. open sepulchre—(Compare Ps 5:9). Their quiver is all-devouring, as the grave opened to receive the dead: as many as are the arrows, so many are the deaths.
17. (Le 26:16).
18. Not even in those days of judgments, will God utterly exterminate His people.
I will not make a full end with you—(Jer 5:10; Jer 4:27).
19. Retribution in kind. As ye have forsaken Me (Jer 2:13), so shall ye be forsaken by Me. As ye have served strange (foreign) gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers (foreigners) in a land not yours. Compare the similar retribution in De 28:47, 48.
21. eyes … ears, and—Translate, "and yet" (compare De 29:4; Isa 6:9). Having powers of perception, they did not use them: still they were responsible for the exercise of them.
22. sand—Though made up of particles easily shifting about, I render it sufficient to curb the violence of the sea. Such is your monstrous perversity, that the raging, senseless sea sooner obeys Me, than ye do who profess to be intelligent [Calvin], (Job 26:10; 38:10, 11; Pr 8:29; Re 15:4).
23. (Jer 6:28).
24. rain … former … latter—The "former" falls from the middle of October to the beginning of December. The "latter," or spring rain in Palestine, falls before harvest in March and April, and is essential for ripening the crops (De 11:14; Joe 2:23).
weeks of … harvest—the seven weeks between passover and pentecost, beginning on the sixteenth of Nisan (De 16:9). By God's special providence no rain fell in Palestine during the harvest weeks, so that harvest work went on without interruption (see Ge 8:22).
25. National guilt had caused the suspension of these national mercies mentioned in Jer 5:24 (compare Jer 3:3).
26. (Pr 1:11, 17, 18; Hab 1:15).
as he that setteth snares—rather, "as fowlers crouch" [Maurer].
trap—literally, "destruction": the instrument of destruction.
catch men—not as Peter, to save (Lu 5:10), but to destroy men.
27. full of deceit—full of treasures got by deceit.
rich—(Ps 73:12, 18-20).
28. shine—the effect of fatness on the skin (De 32:15). They live a life of self-indulgence.
overpass … the wicked—exceed even the Gentiles in wickedness (Jer 2:33; Eze 5:6, 7).
judge not … fatherless—(Isa 1:23).
yet … prosper—(Jer 12:1).
29. (Jer 5:9; Mal 3:5).
30. (Jer 23:14; Ho 6:10).
31. bear rule by their means—literally, "according to their hands," that is, under their guidance (1Ch 25:3). As a sample of the priests lending themselves to the deceits of the false prophets, to gain influence over the people, see Jer 29:24-32.
love to have it so—(Mic 2:11).
end thereof—the fatal issue of this sinful course when divine judgments shall come.