15 But, The LORD H3068 liveth, H2416 that brought up H5927 the children H1121 of Israel H3478 from the land H776 of the north, H6828 and from all the lands H776 whither he had driven H5080 them: and I will bring them again H7725 into their land H127 that I gave H5414 unto their fathers. H1
And it shall come to pass in that day, H3117 that the Lord H136 shall set H3254 his hand H3027 again H3254 the second time H8145 to recover H7069 the remnant H7605 of his people, H5971 which shall be left, H7604 from Assyria, H804 and from Egypt, H4714 and from Pathros, H6624 and from Cush, H3568 and from Elam, H5867 and from Shinar, H8152 and from Hamath, H2574 and from the islands H339 of the sea. H3220 And he shall set up H5375 an ensign H5251 for the nations, H1471 and shall assemble H622 the outcasts H1760 of Israel, H3478 and gather together H6908 the dispersed H5310 of Judah H3063 from the four H702 corners H3671 of the earth. H776 The envy H7068 also of Ephraim H669 shall depart, H5493 and the adversaries H6887 of Judah H3063 shall be cut off: H3772 Ephraim H669 shall not envy H7065 Judah, H3063 and Judah H3063 shall not vex H6887 Ephraim. H669 But they shall fly H5774 upon the shoulders H3802 of the Philistines H6430 toward the west; H3220 they shall spoil H962 them H1121 of the east H6924 together: H3162 they shall lay H4916 their hand H3027 upon Edom H123 and Moab; H4124 and the children H1121 of Ammon H5983 shall obey H4928 them. And the LORD H3068 shall utterly destroy H2763 the tongue H3956 of the Egyptian H4714 sea; H3220 and with his mighty H5868 wind H7307 shall he shake H5130 his hand H3027 over the river, H5104 and shall smite H5221 it in the seven H7651 streams, H5158 and make men go over H1869 dryshod. H5275 And there shall be an highway H4546 for the remnant H7605 of his people, H5971 which H834 shall be left, H7604 from Assyria; H804 like as it was to Israel H3478 in the day H3117 that he came up H5927 out of the land H776 of Egypt. H4714
As a shepherd H7462 seeketh out H1243 his flock H5739 in the day H3117 that he is among H8432 his sheep H6629 that are scattered; H6567 so will I seek out H1239 my sheep, H6629 and will deliver H5337 them out of all places H4725 where they have been scattered H6327 in the cloudy H6051 and dark H6205 day. H3117 And I will bring them out H3318 from the people, H5971 and gather H6908 them from the countries, H776 and will bring H935 them to their own land, H127 and feed H7462 them upon the mountains H2022 of Israel H3478 by the rivers, H650 and in all the inhabited places H4186 of the country. H776 I will feed H7462 them in a good H2896 pasture, H4829 and upon the high H4791 mountains H2022 of Israel H3478 shall their fold H5116 be: there shall they lie H7257 in a good H2896 fold, H5116 and in a fat H8082 pasture H4829 shall they feed H7462 upon the mountains H2022 of Israel. H3478
And say H1696 unto them, Thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 Behold, I will take H3947 the children H1121 of Israel H3478 from among H996 the heathen, H1471 whither they be gone, H1980 and will gather H6908 them on every side, H5439 and bring H935 them into their own land: H127 And I will make H6213 them one H259 nation H1471 in the land H776 upon the mountains H2022 of Israel; H3478 and one H259 king H4428 shall be king H4428 to them all: and they shall be H5750 no more two H8147 nations, H1471 neither shall they be divided H2673 into two H8147 kingdoms H4467 any more at all:
That then the LORD H3068 thy God H430 will turn H7725 thy captivity, H7622 and have compassion H7355 upon thee, and will return H7725 and gather H6908 thee from all the nations, H5971 whither the LORD H3068 thy God H430 hath scattered H6327 thee. If any of thine be driven out H5080 unto the outmost H7097 parts of heaven, H8064 from thence will the LORD H3068 thy God H430 gather H6908 thee, and from thence will he fetch H3947 thee: And the LORD H3068 thy God H430 will bring H935 thee into the land H776 which thy fathers H1 possessed, H3423 and thou shalt possess H3423 it; and he will do thee good, H3190 and multiply H7235 thee above thy fathers. H1
They come H935 from a far H4801 country, H776 from the end H7097 of heaven, H8064 even the LORD, H3068 and the weapons H3627 of his indignation, H2195 to destroy H2254 the whole land. H776 Howl H3213 ye; for the day H3117 of the LORD H3068 is at hand; H7138 it shall come H935 as a destruction H7701 from the Almighty. H7706
And it shall come to pass in that day, H3117 that the LORD H3068 shall beat off H2251 from the channel H7641 of the river H5104 unto the stream H5158 of Egypt, H4714 and ye shall be gathered H3950 one H259 by one, H259 O ye children H1121 of Israel. H3478 And it shall come to pass in that day, H3117 that the great H1419 trumpet H7782 shall be blown, H8628 and they shall come H935 which were ready to perish H6 in the land H776 of Assyria, H804 and the outcasts H5080 in the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 and shall worship H7812 the LORD H3068 in the holy H6944 mount H2022 at Jerusalem. H3389
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).