10 Woe H188 is me, my mother, H517 that thou hast borne H3205 me a man H376 of strife H7379 and a man H376 of contention H4066 to the whole earth! H776 I have neither lent on usury, H5383 nor men have lent to me on usury; H5383 yet every one of them doth curse H7043 me.
O LORD, H3068 thou hast deceived H6601 me, and I was deceived: H6601 thou art stronger H2388 than I, and hast prevailed: H3201 I am in derision H7814 daily, H3117 every one mocketh H3932 me. For since H1767 I spake, H1696 I cried out, H2199 I cried H7121 violence H2555 and spoil; H7701 because the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 was made a reproach H2781 unto me, and a derision, H7047 daily. H3117
For, behold, I H589 have made H5414 thee this day H3117 a defenced H4013 city, H5892 and an iron H1270 pillar, H5982 and brasen H5178 walls H2346 against the whole land, H776 against the kings H4428 of Judah, H3063 against the princes H8269 thereof, against the priests H3548 thereof, and against the people H5971 of the land. H776 And they shall fight H3898 against thee; but they shall not prevail H3201 against thee; for I am with thee, saith H5002 the LORD, H3068 to deliver H5337 thee.
And G1161 the brother G80 shall deliver up G3860 the brother G80 to G1519 death, G2288 and G2532 the father G3962 the child: G5043 and G2532 the children G5043 shall rise up G1881 against G1909 their parents, G1118 and G2532 cause G2289 them G846 to be put to death. G2289 And G2532 ye shall G2071 be hated G3404 of G5259 all G3956 men for G1223 my G3450 name's sake: G3686 but G1161 he that G3778 endureth G5278 to G1519 the end G5056 shall be saved. G4982 But G1161 when G3752 they persecute G1377 you G5209 in G1722 this G5026 city, G4172 flee ye G5343 into G1519 another: G243 for G1063 verily G281 I say G3004 unto you, G5213 Ye shall G5055 not G3364 have gone over G5055 the cities G4172 of Israel, G2474 till G2193 the Son G5207 of man G444 be G302 come. G2064
For G1063 I think G1380 that G3754 God G2316 hath set forth G584 us G2248 the apostles G652 last, G2078 as G5613 it were appointed to death: G1935 for G3754 we are made G1096 a spectacle G2302 unto the world, G2889 and G2532 to angels, G32 and G2532 to men. G444 We G2249 are fools G3474 for G1223 Christ's G5547 sake, G1223 but G1161 ye G5210 are wise G5429 in G1722 Christ; G5547 we G2249 are weak, G772 but G1161 ye G5210 are strong; G2478 ye G5210 are honourable, G1741 but G1161 we G2249 are despised. G820 Even G891 unto this present G737 hour G5610 we G3983 both G2532 hunger, G3983 and G2532 thirst, G1372 and G2532 are naked, G1130 and G2532 are buffeted, G2852 and G2532 have no certain dwellingplace; G790 And G2532 labour, G2872 working G2038 with our own G2398 hands: G5495 being reviled, G3058 we bless; G2127 being persecuted, G1377 we suffer it: G430 Being defamed, G987 we intreat: G3870 we are made G1096 as G5613 the filth G4027 of the world, G2889 and are the offscouring G4067 of all things G3956 unto G2193 this day. G737
Whom G3739 he called together G4867 with the workmen G2040 of G4012 like occupation, G5108 and G2532 said, G2036 Sirs, G435 ye know G1987 that G3754 by G1537 this G5026 craft G2039 we have G2076 our G2257 wealth. G2142 Moreover G2532 ye see G2334 and G2532 hear, G191 that G3754 not G3756 alone G3440 at Ephesus, G2181 but G235 almost G4975 throughout all G3956 Asia, G773 this G3778 Paul G3972 hath persuaded G3982 and turned away G3179 much G2425 people, G3793 saying G3004 that G3754 they be G1526 no G3756 gods, G2316 which G3588 are made G1096 with G1223 hands: G5495 So G1161 that not G3756 only G3440 this G5124 our G2254 craft G3313 is in danger G2793 to be set G2064 at G1519 nought; G557 but G235 also G2532 that the temple G2411 of the great G3173 goddess G2299 Diana G735 should be despised, G1519 G3762 G3049 and G1161 G2532 her G846 magnificence G3168 should G3195 be destroyed, G2507 whom G3739 all G3650 Asia G773 and G2532 the world G3625 worshippeth. G4576 And G1161 when they heard G191 these sayings, they were G1096 full G4134 of wrath, G2372 and G2532 cried out, G2896 saying, G3004 Great G3173 is Diana G735 of the Ephesians. G2180
And G1161 he went G1525 into G1519 the synagogue, G4864 and spake boldly G3955 for the space G1909 of three G5140 months, G3376 disputing G1256 and G2532 persuading G3982 the things concerning G4012 the kingdom G932 of God. G2316 But G1161 when G5613 divers G5100 were hardened, G4645 and G2532 believed not, G544 but spake evil G2551 of that way G3598 before G1799 the multitude, G4128 he departed G868 from G575 them, G846 and separated G873 the disciples, G3101 disputing G1256 daily G2596 G2250 in G1722 the school G4981 of one G5100 Tyrannus. G5181
And G1161 when they found G2147 them G846 not, G3361 they drew G4951 Jason G2394 and G2532 certain G5100 brethren G80 unto G1909 the rulers of the city, G4173 crying, G994 G3754 These G3778 that have turned G387 the world G3625 upside down G387 are come G3918 hither G1759 also; G2532 Whom G3739 Jason G2394 hath received: G5264 and G2532 these G3778 all G3956 do G4238 contrary G561 to the decrees G1378 of Caesar, G2541 saying G3004 that there is G1511 another G2087 king, G935 one Jesus. G2424 And G1161 they troubled G5015 the people G3793 and G2532 the rulers of the city, G4173 when they heard G191 these things. G5023
And G2532 brought G4317 them G846 to the magistrates, G4755 saying, G2036 These G3778 men, G444 being G5225 Jews, G2453 do exceedingly trouble G1613 our G2257 city, G4172 And G2532 teach G2605 customs, G1485 which G3739 are G1832 not G3756 lawful G1832 for us G2254 to receive, G3858 neither G3761 to observe, G4160 being G5607 Romans. G4514 And G2532 the multitude G3793 rose up together G4911 against G2596 them: G846 and G2532 the magistrates G4755 rent off G4048 their G846 clothes, G2440 and commanded G2753 to beat G4463 them.
But the house H1004 of Israel H3478 will H14 not hearken H8085 unto thee; for they will H14 not hearken H8085 unto me: for all the house H1004 of Israel H3478 are impudent H2389 H4696 and hardhearted. H7186 H3820 Behold, I have made H5414 thy face H6440 strong H2389 against H5980 their faces, H6440 and thy forehead H4696 strong H2389 against H5980 their foreheads. H4696 As an adamant H8068 harder H2389 than flint H6864 have I made H5414 thy forehead: H4696 fear H3372 them not, neither be dismayed H2865 at their looks, H6440 though they be a rebellious H4805 house. H1004
And thou, son H1121 of man, H120 be not afraid H3372 of them, neither be afraid H3372 of their words, H1697 though briers H5621 and thorns H5544 be with thee, and thou dost dwell H3427 among scorpions: H6137 be not afraid H3372 of their words, H1697 nor be dismayed H2865 at their looks, H6440 though they be a rebellious H4805 house. H1004 And thou shalt speak H1696 my words H1697 unto them, whether they will hear, H8085 or whether they will forbear: H2308 for they are most rebellious. H4805
Cursed H779 be the day H3117 wherein I was born: H3205 let not the day H3117 wherein my mother H517 bare H3205 me be blessed. H1288 Cursed H779 be the man H376 who brought tidings H1319 to my father, H1 saying, H559 A man H2145 child H1121 is born H3205 unto thee; making him very H8055 glad. H8055 And let that man H376 be as the cities H5892 which the LORD H3068 overthrew, H2015 and repented H5162 not: and let him hear H8085 the cry H2201 in the morning, H1242 and the shouting H8643 at noontide; H6256 H6672 Because he slew H4191 me not from the womb; H7358 or that my mother H517 might have been my grave, H6913 and her womb H7358 to be always H5769 great H2030 with me. Wherefore came I forth H3318 out of the womb H7358 to see H7200 labour H5999 and sorrow, H3015 that my days H3117 should be consumed H3615 with shame? H1322
After H310 this opened H6605 Job H347 his mouth, H6310 and cursed H7043 his day. H3117 And Job H347 spake, H6030 and said, H559 Let the day H3117 perish H6 wherein I was born, H3205 and the night H3915 in which it was said, H559 There is a man child H1397 conceived. H2029 Let that day H3117 be darkness; H2822 let not God H433 regard H1875 it from above, H4605 neither let the light H5105 shine H3313 upon it. Let darkness H2822 and the shadow of death H6757 stain H1350 it; let a cloud H6053 dwell H7931 upon it; let the blackness H3650 of the day H3117 terrify H1204 it. As for that night, H3915 let darkness H652 seize H3947 upon it; let it not be joined H2302 unto the days H3117 of the year, H8141 let it not come H935 into the number H4557 of the months. H3391 Lo, let that night H3915 be solitary, H1565 let no joyful voice H7445 come H935 therein. Let them curse H5344 it that curse H779 the day, H3117 who are ready H6264 to raise up H5782 their mourning. H3882 Let the stars H3556 of the twilight H5399 thereof be dark; H2821 let it look H6960 for light, H216 but have none; neither let it see H7200 the dawning H6079 of the day: H7837 Because it shut not up H5462 the doors H1817 of my mother's womb, H990 nor hid H5641 sorrow H5999 from mine eyes. H5869 Why died H4191 I not from the womb? H7358 why did I not give up the ghost H1478 when I came out H3318 of the belly? H990 Why did the knees H1290 prevent H6923 me? or why the breasts H7699 that I should suck? H3243 For now should I have lain still H7901 and been quiet, H8252 I should have slept: H3462 then had I been at rest, H5117 With kings H4428 and counsellors H3289 of the earth, H776 which built H1129 desolate places H2723 for themselves; Or with princes H8269 that had gold, H2091 who filled H4390 their houses H1004 with silver: H3701 Or as an hidden H2934 untimely birth H5309 I had not been; as infants H5768 which never saw H7200 light. H216 There the wicked H7563 cease H2308 from troubling; H7267 and there the weary H3019 H3581 be at rest. H5117 There the prisoners H615 rest H7599 together; H3162 they hear H8085 not the voice H6963 of the oppressor. H5065 The small H6996 and great H1419 are there; and the servant H5650 is free H2670 from his master. H113 Wherefore is light H216 given H5414 to him that is in misery, H6001 and life H2416 unto the bitter H4751 in soul; H5315 Which long H2442 for death, H4194 but it cometh not; and dig H2658 for it more than for hid treasures; H4301 Which rejoice H8056 exceedingly, H1524 and are glad, H7797 when they can find H4672 the grave? H6913 Why is light given to a man H1397 whose way H1870 is hid, H5641 and whom God H433 hath hedged in? H5526 For my sighing H585 cometh H935 before H6440 I eat, H3899 and my roarings H7581 are poured out H5413 like the waters. H4325 For the thing which I greatly H6343 feared H6342 is come H857 upon me, and that which I was afraid H3025 of is come H935 unto me. I was not in safety, H7951 neither had I rest, H8252 neither was I quiet; H5117 yet trouble H7267 came. H935
And there was a great H1419 cry H6818 of the people H5971 and of their wives H802 against their brethren H251 the Jews. H3064 For there were H3426 that said, H559 We, our sons, H1121 and our daughters, H1323 are many: H7227 therefore we take up H3947 corn H1715 for them, that we may eat, H398 and live. H2421 Some also there were H3426 that said, H559 We have mortgaged H6148 our lands, H7704 vineyards, H3754 and houses, H1004 that we might buy H3947 corn, H1715 because of the dearth. H7458 There were H3426 also that said, H559 We have borrowed H3867 money H3701 for the king's H4428 tribute, H4060 and that upon our lands H7704 and vineyards. H3754 Yet now our flesh H1320 is as the flesh H1320 of our brethren, H251 our children H1121 as their children: H1121 and, lo, we bring into bondage H3533 our sons H1121 and our daughters H1323 to be servants, H5650 and some of our daughters H1323 are H3426 brought unto bondage H3533 already: neither is it in our power H410 H3027 to redeem them; for other men H312 have our lands H7704 and vineyards. H3754 And I was very H3966 angry H2734 when I heard H8085 their cry H2201 and these words. H1697
And it came to pass, when Ahab H256 saw H7200 Elijah, H452 that Ahab H256 said H559 unto him, Art thou he that troubleth H5916 Israel? H3478 And he answered, H559 I have not troubled H5916 Israel; H3478 but thou, and thy father's H1 house, H1004 in that ye have forsaken H5800 the commandments H4687 of the LORD, H3068 and thou hast followed H3212 H310 Baalim. H1168
Thou shalt not lend upon usury H5391 to thy brother; H251 usury H5392 of money, H3701 usury H5392 of victuals, H400 usury H5392 of any thing H1697 that is lent upon usury: H5391 Unto a stranger H5237 thou mayest lend upon usury; H5391 but unto thy brother H251 thou shalt not lend upon usury: H5391 that the LORD H3068 thy God H430 may bless H1288 thee in all that thou settest H4916 thine hand H3027 to in the land H776 whither thou goest H935 to possess H3423 it.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 15
Commentary on Jeremiah 15 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
"And Jahveh said unto me: If Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet would not my soul incline to this people. Drive them from my face, that they go forth. Jeremiah 15:2 . And if they say to thee: Whither shall we go forth? then say to them: Thus hath Jahveh said - 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 the captivity, to the captivity. Jeremiah 15:3 . And I appoint over them four kinds, saith Jahveh: the sword to slay and the dogs to tear, the fowls of the heaven and the cattle of the earth, to devour and destroy. Jeremiah 15:4 . And I give them up to be abused to all kingdoms of the earth, for Manasseh's sake, the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem. Jeremiah 15:5 . For who shall have pity upon thee, Jerusalem? and who shall bemoan thee? and who shall go aside to ask after thy welfare? Jeremiah 15:6 . Thou hast rejected me, saith Jahveh; thou goest backwards, and so I stretch forth mine hand against thee and destroy thee; I am weary of repenting. Jeremiah 15:7 . And I fan them with a fain into the gates of the land: bereave, ruin my people; from their ways they turned not. Jeremiah 15:8 . More in number are his widows become unto me than the sand of the sea; I bring to them, against the mother of the young man, a spoiler at noon-day; I cause to fall upon her suddenly anguish and terrors. Jeremiah 15:9 . She that hath borne seven languisheth, she breatheth out her soul, her sun goeth down while yet it is day, she is put to shame and confounded; and their residue I give to the sword before their enemies, saith Jahveh."
The Lord had indeed distinctly refused the favour sought for Judah; yet the command to disclose to the people the sorrow of his own soul at their calamity (Jeremiah 15:17 and Jeremiah 15:18) gave the prophet courage to renew his supplication, and to ask of the Lord if He had in very truth cast off Judah and Zion (Jeremiah 15:19), and to set forth the reasons which made this seem impossible (Jeremiah 15:20 -22). In the question, Jeremiah 15:19, the emphasis lies on the מאסתּ , strengthened as it is by the inf. abs .: hast Thou utterly or really rejected? The form of the question is the same as that in Jeremiah 2:14; first the double question, dealing with a state of affairs which the questioner is unable to regard as being actually the case, and then a further question, conveying wonder at what has happened. גּעל , loathe, cast from one, is synonymous with מאס . The second clause agrees verbally with Jeremiah 8:15. The reasons why the Lord cannot have wholly rejected Judah are: 1. That they acknowledge their wickedness. Confession of sin is the beginning of return to God; and in case of such return, the Lord, by His compassion, has vouchsafed to His people forgiveness and the renewal of covenant blessings; cf. Leviticus 26:41., Deuteronomy 30:2. Along with their own evil doing, the transgression of their fathers is mentioned, cf. Jeremiah 2:5., Jeremiah 7:25., that full confession may be made of the entire weight of wickedness for which Israel has made itself answerable. So that, on its own account, Judah has no claim upon the help of its God. But the Lord may be moved thereto by regard for His name and the covenant relation. On this is founded the prayer of Jeremiah 15:21 : Abhor not, sc. thy people, for Thy name's sake, lest Thou appear powerless to help in the eyes of the nations; see on Jeremiah 15:7 and on Numbers 14:16. נבּל , lit., to treat as fools, see on Deuteronomy 32:15, here: make contemptible. The throne of the glory of God is the temple, where Jahveh sits enthroned over the ark of the covenant in the holy of holies, Exodus 25:22, etc. The destruction of Jerusalem would, by the sack of the temple, dishonour the throne of the Lord. The object to "remember," viz., "Thy covenant," comes after "break not." The remembering or rememberedness of the covenant is shown in the not breaking maintenance of the same; cf. Leviticus 26:44. Lastly, we have in v. 22 the final motive for supplication: that the Lord alone can put an end to trouble. Neither the vain gods of the heathen ( הבלים , see Jeremiah 8:19) can procure rain, nor can the heaven, as one of the powers of nature, without power from God. אתּה הוּא , Thou art ( הוּא is the copula between subject and predicate). Thou hast made all these. Not: the heaven and the earth, as Hitz. and Gr. would make it, after Isaiah 37:16; still less is it, with Calv.: the punishment inflicted on us; but, as אלּה demands, the things mentioned immediately before: caelum, pluvias et quidquid est in omni rerum natura , Ros. Only when thus taken, does the clause contain any motive for: we wait upon Thee, i.e., expect from Thee help out of our trouble. It further clearly appears from this verse that the supplication was called forth by the calamity depicted in Jeremiah 15:2-5.
Jeremiah 15:1-4
Decisive refusal of the petition . - Jeremiah 15:1. Even Moses and Samuel, who stood so far in God's favour that by their supplications they repeatedly rescued their people from overwhelming ruin (cf. Exodus 17:11; Exodus 32:11., Numbers 14:13., and 1 Samuel 7:9., Jeremiah 12:17., Psalms 99:6), if they were to come now before the Lord, would not incline His love towards this people. אל indicates the direction of the soul towards any one; in this connection: the inclination of it towards the people. He has cast off this people and will no longer let them come before His face. In Jeremiah 15:2-9 this is set forth with terrible earnestness. We must supply the object, "this people," to "drive" from the preceding clause. "From my face" implies the people's standing before the Lord in the temple, where they had appeared bringing sacrifices, and by prayer invoking His help (Jeremiah 14:12). To go forth from the temple = to go forth from God's face. Jeremiah 15:2. But in case they ask where they are to go to, Jeremiah is to give them the sarcastic direction: Each to the destruction allotted to him. He that is appointed to death, shall go forth to death, etc. The clauses: such as are for death, etc., are to be filled up after the analogy of 2 Samuel 15:20; 2 Kings 8:1, so that before the second "death," "sword," etc., we supply the verb "shall go." There are mentioned four kinds of punishments that are to befall the people. The "death" mentioned over and above the sword is death by disease, for which we have in Jeremiah 14:12 דּבר , pestilence, disease; cf. Jeremiah 43:11, where death, captivity, and sword are mentioned together, with Ezekiel 14:21, sword, famine, wild beasts, and disease ( דּבר ), and Ezekiel 33:27, sword, wild beasts, and disease. This doom is made more terrible in Jeremiah 15:3. The Lord will appoint over them ( פּקד as in Jeremiah 13:21) four kinds, i.e., four different destructive powers which shall prepare a miserable end for them. One is the sword already mentioned in Jeremiah 15:2, which slays them; the three others are to execute judgment on the dead: the dogs which shall tear, mutilate, and partly devour the dead bodies (cf. 2 Kings 9:35, 2 Kings 9:37), and birds and beasts of prey, vultures, jackals, and others, which shall make an end of such portions as are left by the dogs. In Jeremiah 15:4 the whole is summed up in the threatening of Deuteronomy 28:25, that the people shall be delivered over to be abused to all the kingdoms of the earth, and the cause of this terrible judgment is mentioned. The Chet . זועה is not to be read זועה , but זועה , and is the contracted form from זעוה , see on Deuteronomy 28:25, from the rad . זוּע , lit., tossing hither and thither, hence for maltreatment. For the sake of King Manasseh, who by his godless courses had filled up the measure of the people's sins, so that the Lord must cast Judah away from His face, and give it up to the heathen to be chastised; cf. 2 Kings 23:26; 2 Kings 24:3, with the exposition of these passages; and as to what Manasseh did, see 2 Kings 21:1-16.
In Jeremiah 15:5-9 we have a still further account of this appalling judgment and its causes. The grounding כּי in Jeremiah 15:5 attaches to the central thought of Jeremiah 15:4. The sinful people will be given up to all the kingdoms of the earth to be ill used, for no one will or can have compassion on Jerusalem, since its rejection by God is a just punishment for its rejection of the Lord (Jeremiah 15:6). "Have pity" and "bemoan" denote loving sympathy for the fall of the unfortunate. חמל , to feel sympathy; נוּד , to lament and bemoan. סוּר , to swerve from the straight way, and turn aside or enter into any one's house; cf. Genesis 19:2., Exodus 3:3, etc. ל שׁאל לשׁלום , to inquire of one as to his health, cf. Exodus 18:7; then: to salute one, to desire לך שׁלום , Genesis 43:27; Judges 18:15, and often. Not only will none show sympathy for Jerusalem, none will even ask how it goes with her welfare.
Jeremiah 15:6
The reason of this treatment: because Jerusalem has dishonoured and rejected its God, therefore He now stretched out His hand to destroy it. To go backwards, instead of following the Lord, cf. Jeremiah 7:24. This determination the Lord will not change, for He is weary of repenting. הנּחם frequently of the withdrawal, in grace and pity, of a divine decree to punish, cf. Jeremiah 4:28, Genesis 6:6., Joel 2:14, etc.
Jeremiah 15:7
ואזרם is a continuation of ואט , Jeremiah 15:6, and, like the latter, is to be understood prophetically of what God has irrevocably determined to do. It is not a description of what is past, an allusion to the battle lost at Megiddo, as Hitz., carrying out his à priori system of slighting prophecy, supposes. To take the verbs of this verse as proper preterites, as J. D. Mich. and Ew. also do, is not in keeping with the contents of the clauses. In the first clause Ew. and Gr. translate שׁערי gates, i.e., exits, boundaries of the earth, and thereby understand the remotest lands of the earth, the four corners of extremities of the earth, Isaiah 11:12 (Ew.). But "gates" cannot be looked on as corners or extremities, nor are they ends or borders, but the inlets and outlets of cities. For how can a man construe to himself the ends of the earth as the outlets of it? where could one go to from there? Hence it is impossible to take הארץ of the earth in this case; it is the land of Judah. The gates of the land are either mentioned by synecdoche for the cities, cf. Micah 5:5, or are the approaches to the land (cf. Nahum 3:13), its outlets and inlets. Here the context demands the latter sense. זרה , to fan, c . בּ loci , to scatter into a place, cf. Ezekiel 12:15; Ezekiel 30:26 : fan into the outlets of the land, i.e., cast out of the land. שׁכּל , make the people childless, by the fall in battle of the sons, the young men, cf. Ezekiel 5:17. The threat is intensified by אבּדתּי , added as asyndeton. The last clause: from their ways, etc., subjoins the reason.
Jeremiah 15:8-9
By the death of the sons, the women lose their husbands, and become widows. לי is the dative of sympathetic interest. "Sand of the sea" is the figure for a countless number. ימּים is poetic plural; cf. Psalms 78:27; Job 6:3. On these defenceless women come suddenly spoilers, and these mothers who had perhaps borne seven sons give up the ghost and perish without succour, because their sons have fallen in war. Thus proceeds the portrayal as Hitz. has well exhibited it. על אם בּחוּר is variously interpreted. We must reject the view taken by Chr. B. Mich. from the Syr. and Arab. versions: upon mother and young man; as also the view of Rashi, Cler., Eichh., Dahl., etc., that אם means the mother-city, i.e., Jerusalem. The true rendering is that of Jerome and Kimchi, who have been followed by J. D. Mich., Hitz., Ew., Graf, and Näg. : upon the mother of the youth or young warrior. This view is favoured by the correspondence of the woman mentioned in Job 6:9 who had borne seven sons. Both are individualized as women of full bodily vigour, to lend vividness to the thought that no age and no sex will escape destruction בּצּהרים , at clear noontide, when one least looks for an attack. Thus the word corresponds with the "suddenly" of the next clause. עיר , Aramaic form for ציר , Isaiah 13:8, pangs. The bearer of seven, i.e., the mother of many sons. Seven as the perfect number of children given in blessing by God, cf. 1 Samuel 2:5; Ruth 4:15. "She breathes to her life," cf. Job 31:39. Graf wrongly: she sighs. The sun of her life sets ( בּאה ) while it is still day, before the evening of her life has been reached, cf. Amos 8:9. "Is put to shame and confounded" is not to be referred to the son, but the mother, who, bereaved of her children, goes covered with shame to the grave. The Keri בּא for בּאה is an unnecessary change, since שׁמשׁ is also construed as fem., Genesis 15:17. The description closes with a glance cast on those left in life after the overthrow of Jerusalem. These are to be given to the sword when in flight before their enemies, cf. Micah 6:14.
Complaint of the Prophet, and Soothing Answer of the Lord. - His sorrow at the rejection by God of his petition so overcomes the prophet, that he gives utterance to the wish: he had rather not have been born than live on in the calling in which he must ever foretell misery and ruin to his people, thereby provoking hatred and attacks, while his heart is like to break for grief and fellow-feeling; whereupon the Lord reprovingly replies as in Jeremiah 15:11-14.
Jeremiah 15:10
"Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast born me, a man of strive and contention to all the earth! I have not lent out, nor have men lent to me; all curse me. Jeremiah 15:11. Jahveh saith, Verily I strengthen thee to thy good; verily I cause the enemy to entreat thee in the time of evil and of trouble. Jeremiah 15:12. Does iron break, iron from the north and brass? Jeremiah 15:13. Thy substance and thy treasures give I for a prey without a price, and that for all thy sins, and in all thy borders, Jeremiah 15:14. And cause thine enemies bring it into a land which thou knowest not; for fire burneth in mine anger, against you it is kindled."