16 And the people H5971 to whom they prophesy H5012 shall be cast out H7993 in the streets H2351 of Jerusalem H3389 because H6440 of the famine H7458 and the sword; H2719 and they shall have none to bury H6912 them, H1992 them, their wives, H802 nor their sons, H1121 nor their daughters: H1323 for I will pour H8210 their wickedness H7451 upon them.
The dead bodies H5038 of thy servants H5650 have they given H5414 to be meat H3978 unto the fowls H5775 of the heaven, H8064 the flesh H1320 of thy saints H2623 unto the beasts H2416 of the earth. H776 Their blood H1818 have they shed H8210 like water H4325 round about H5439 Jerusalem; H3389 and there was none to bury H6912 them.
And it shall come to pass, if they say H559 unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? H3318 then thou shalt tell H559 them, Thus saith H559 the LORD; H3068 Such as are for death, H4194 to death; H4194 and such as are for the sword, H2719 to the sword; H2719 and such as are for the famine, H7458 to the famine; H7458 and such as are for the captivity, H7628 to the captivity. H7628 And I will appoint H6485 over them four H702 kinds, H4940 saith H5002 the LORD: H3068 the sword H2719 to slay, H2026 and the dogs H3611 to tear, H5498 and the fowls H5775 of the heaven, H8064 and the beasts H929 of the earth, H776 to devour H398 and destroy. H7843
And if thou say H559 in thine heart, H3824 Wherefore come H7122 these things upon me? For the greatness H7230 of thine iniquity H5771 are thy skirts H7757 discovered, H1540 and thy heels H6119 made bare. H2554 Can the Ethiopian H3569 change H2015 his skin, H5785 or the leopard H5246 his spots? H2272 then may H3201 ye also do good, H3190 that are accustomed H3928 to do evil. H7489 Therefore will I scatter H6327 them as the stubble H7179 that passeth away H5674 by the wind H7307 of the wilderness. H4057 This is thy lot, H1486 the portion H4490 of thy measures H4055 from me, saith H5002 the LORD; H3068 because thou hast forgotten H7911 me, and trusted H982 in falsehood. H8267
Hast thou not procured H6213 this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken H5800 the LORD H3068 thy God, H430 when H6256 he led H3212 thee by the way? H1870 And now what hast thou to do in the way H1870 of Egypt, H4714 to drink H8354 the waters H4325 of Sihor? H7883 or what hast thou to do in the way H1870 of Assyria, H804 to drink H8354 the waters H4325 of the river? H5104 Thine own wickedness H7451 shall correct H3256 thee, and thy backslidings H4878 shall reprove H3198 thee: know H3045 therefore and see H7200 that it is an evil H7451 thing and bitter, H4751 that thou hast forsaken H5800 the LORD H3068 thy God, H430 and that my fear H6345 is not in thee, saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD H3069 of hosts. H6635
Therefore, behold, the days H3117 come, H935 saith H5002 the LORD, H3068 that this place H4725 shall no more be called H7121 Tophet, H8612 nor The valley H1516 of the son H1121 of Hinnom, H2011 but The valley H1516 of slaughter. H2028 And I will make void H1238 the counsel H6098 of Judah H3063 and Jerusalem H3389 in this place; H4725 and I will cause them to fall H5307 by the sword H2719 before H6440 their enemies, H341 and by the hands H3027 of them that seek H1245 their lives: H5315 and their carcases H5038 will I give H5414 to be meat H3978 for the fowls H5775 of the heaven, H8064 and for the beasts H929 of the earth. H776
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 14
Commentary on Jeremiah 14 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
The Word Concerning the Droughts - Jeremiah 14-17
The distress arising from a lengthened drought (Jeremiah 14:2-6) gives the prophet occasion for urgent prayer on behalf of his people (Jeremiah 14:7-9 and Jeremiah 14:19-22); but the Lord rejects all intercession, and gives the people notice, for their apostasy from Him, of their coming destruction by sword, famine, and pestilence (Jeremiah 14:10-18 and Jeremiah 15:1-9). Next, the prophet complains of the persecution he has to endure, and is corrected by the Lord and comforted (Jeremiah 15:10-21). Then he has his course of conduct for the future prescribed to him, since Judah is, for its sins, to be cast forth into banishment, but is again to be restored (16:1-17:4). And the discourse concludes with general considerations upon the roots of the mischief, together with prayers for the prophet's safety, and statements as to the way by which judgment may be turned aside.
This prophetic word, though it had its origin in a special period of distress, does not contain any single discourse such as may have been delivered by Jeremiah before the people upon occasion of this calamity, but is, like the former sections, a summary of addresses and utterances concerning the corruption of the people, and the bitter experiences to which his office exposes the prophet. For these matters the special event above mentioned serves as a starting-point, inasmuch as the deep moral degradation of Judah, which must draw after it yet sorer judgments, is displayed in the relation assumed by the people to the judgment sent on them at that time. - The favourite attempts of recent commentators to dissect the passage into single portions, and to assign these to special points of time and to refer them to particular historical occurrences, have proved an entire failure, as Graf himself admits. The whole discourse moves in the same region of thought and adheres to the same aspect of affairs as the preceding ones, without suggesting special historical relations. And there is an advance made in the prophetic declaration, only in so far as here the whole substance of the discourse culminates in the thought that, because of Judah's being hardened in sin, the judgment of rejection can no in no way be turned aside, not even by the intercession of those whose prayers would have the greatest weight.
The Uselessness of Prayer on behalf of the People. - The title in Jeremiah 14:1 specifies the occasion for the following discourse: What came a word of Jahveh to Jeremiah concerning the drought. - Besides here, אשׁר היה is made to precede the דבר יהוה in Jeremiah 46:1; Jeremiah 47:1; Jeremiah 49:34; and so, by a kind of attraction, the prophecy which follows receivers an outward connection with that which precedes. Concerning the matters of the droughts. בּצּרות , plur. of בּצּרה , Psalms 9:10; Psalms 10:1, might mean harassments, troubles in general. But the description of a great drought, with which the prophecy begins, taken along with Jeremiah 17:8, where בּצּרת occurs, meaning drought, lit., cutting off, restraint of rain, shows that the plural here is to be referred to the sing. בּצּרת (cf. עשׁתּרות from עשׁתּרת ), and that it means the withholding of rain or drought (as freq. in Chald.). We must note the plur., which is not to be taken as intensive of a great drought, but points to repeated droughts. Withdrawal of rain was threatened as a judgment against the despisers of God's word (Leviticus 26:19.; Deuteronomy 11:17; Deuteronomy 28:23); and this chastisement has at various times been inflicted on the sinful people; cf. Jeremiah 3:3; Jeremiah 12:4; Jeremiah 23:10; Haggai 1:10. As the occasion of the present prophecy, we have therefore to regard not a single great drought, but a succession of droughts. Hence we cannot fix the time at which the discourse was composed, since we have no historical notices as to the particular times at which God was then punishing His people by withdrawing the rain.
Description of the distress arising from the drought. - Jeremiah 14:2. Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish, like mourning on the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem goeth up. Jeremiah 14:3. Their nobles send their mean ones for water: they come to the wells, find no water, return with empty pitchers, are ashamed and confounded and cover their head. Jeremiah 14:4. For the ground, which is confounded, because no rain is fallen upon the earth, the husbandmen are ashamed, cover their head. Jeremiah 14:5. Yea, the hind also in the field, she beareth and forsaketh it, because there is no grass. Jeremiah 14:6. And the wild asses stand on the bare-topped heights, gasp for air like the jackals; their eyes fail because there is no herb."