19 O Jehovah, my strength, and my fortress, And my refuge in a day of adversity, Unto Thee nations do come from the ends of earth, And say, Only falsehood did our fathers inherit, Vanity, and none among them is profitable.
Good `is' Jehovah for a strong place in a day of distress. And He knoweth those trusting in Him.
Brutish is every man by knowledge, Put to shame is every refiner by a graven image, For false `is' his molten image. And there is no breath in them. Vanity `are' they, work of erring ones, In the time of their inspection they perish.
Who hath formed a god, And a molten image poured out -- not profitable?
For Thou hast been a stronghold for the poor, A stronghold for the needy in his distress, A refuge from storm, a shadow from heat, When the spirit of the terrible `is' as a storm -- a wall.
To the Overseer. -- By a servant of Jehovah, by David, who hath spoken to Jehovah the words of this song in the day Jehovah delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul, and he saith: -- I love Thee, O Jehovah, my strength. Jehovah `is' my rock, and my bulwark, And my deliverer, My God `is' my rock, I trust in Him: My shield, and a horn of my salvation, My high tower.
And it hath come to pass, In the latter end of the days, The mount of the house of Jehovah Is established above the top of the mounts, And it hath been lifted up above the hills, And flowed unto it have peoples. And gone have many nations and said, Come and we go up to the mount of Jehovah, And unto the house of the God of Jacob, And He doth teach us of His ways, And we do walk in His paths, For from Zion doth go forth a law, And a word of Jehovah from Jerusalem.
Remember and return unto Jehovah, Do all ends of the earth, And before Thee bow themselves, Do all families of the nations, For to Jehovah `is' the kingdom, And He is ruling among nations. And the fat ones of earth have eaten, And they bow themselves, Before Him bow do all going down to dust, And he `who' hath not revived his soul. A seed doth serve Him, It is declared of the Lord to the generation.
And it hath come to pass, In the latter end of the days, Established is the mount of Jehovah's house, Above the top of the mounts, And it hath been lifted up above the heights, And flowed unto it have all the nations. And gone have many peoples and said, `Come, and we go up unto the mount of Jehovah, Unto the house of the God of Jacob, And He doth teach us of His ways, And we walk in His paths, For from Zion goeth forth a law, And a word of Jehovah from Jerusalem.
Arise, be bright, for come hath thy light, And the honour of Jehovah hath risen on thee. For, lo, the darkness doth cover the earth, And thick darkness the peoples, And on thee rise doth Jehovah, And His honour on thee is seen. And come have nations to thy light, And kings to the brightness of thy rising.
And it hath come to pass, when ye are multiplied, And have been fruitful in the land, In those days -- an affirmation of Jehovah, They say not any more, `The ark of the covenant of Jehovah,' Nor doth it go up on the heart, Nor do they remember concerning it, Nor do they inspect, nor is it made again. At that time they cry to Jerusalem, `O throne of Jehovah,' And gathered unto her hath been all the nations, For the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem, Nor do they go any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.
Be not Thou to me for a terror, My hope `art' Thou in a day of evil.
And joined have been many nations unto Jehovah in that day, And they have been to Me for a people, And I have dwelt in thy midst, And thou hast known that Jehovah of Hosts hath sent me unto thee.
Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Yet come do peoples, and inhabitants of many cities, Yea, gone have inhabitants of one To another, saying: We go diligently, To appease the face of Jehovah, To seek Jehovah of Hosts -- I go, even I. Yea, come in have many peoples, and mighty nations, To seek Jehovah of Hosts in Jerusalem, And to appease the face of Jehovah. Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: In those days take hold do ten men of all languages of the nations, Yea, they have taken hold on the skirt of a man, a Jew, saying: We go with you, for we heard God `is' with you!
For, from the rising of the sun to its going in, Great `is' My name among nations, And in every place perfume is brought nigh to My name, and a pure present, For great `is' My name among nations, Said Jehovah of Hosts.
What profit hath a graven image given That its former hath graven it? A molten image and teacher of falsehood, That trusted hath the former on his own formation -- to make dumb idols? Wo `to' him who is saying to wood, `Awake,' `Stir up,' to a dumb stone, It a teacher! lo, it is overlaid -- gold and silver, And there is no spirit in its midst.
After these things I saw, and lo, a great multitude, which to number no one was able, out of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands, and crying with a great voice, saying, `The salvation `is' to Him who is sitting upon the throne -- to our God, and to the Lamb!' And all the messengers stood around the throne, and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell upon their face, and bowed before God,
having known that, not with corruptible things -- silver or gold -- were ye redeemed from your foolish behaviour delivered by fathers,
He who is dwelling In the secret place of the Most High, In the shade of the Mighty lodgeth habitually, He is saying of Jehovah, `My refuge, and my bulwark, my God, I trust in Him,'
For He hideth me in a tabernacle in the day of evil, He hideth me in a secret place of His tent, On a rock he raiseth me up.
Jehovah of Hosts `is' with us, A tower for us `is' the God of Jacob. Selah.
Jehovah of hosts `is' with us, A tower for us `is' the God of Jacob! Selah.
On God `is' my salvation, and my honour, The rock of my strength, my refuge `is' in God.
For the knowledge in earth of Thy way, among all nations of Thy salvation. Praise Thee do peoples, O God, Praise Thee do peoples, all of them. Rejoice and sing do nations, For Thou judgest peoples uprightly, And peoples on earth comfortest. Selah. Confess Thee do peoples, O God, Confess Thee do peoples -- all of them. Earth hath given her increase, God doth bless us -- our God, God doth bless us, and all ends of earth fear Him!
And he ruleth from sea unto sea, And from the river unto the ends of earth. Before him bow do the inhabitants of the dry places, And his enemies lick the dust. Kings of Tarshish and of the isles send back a present. Kings of Sheba and Seba a reward bring near. And all kings do bow themselves to him, All nations do serve him, For he delivereth the needy who crieth, And the poor when he hath no helper,
Let the sayings of my mouth, And the meditation of my heart, Be for a pleasing thing before Thee, O Jehovah, my rock, and my redeemer!
A tower of strength `is' the name of Jehovah, Into it the righteous runneth, and is set on high.
Evil they do not, nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For full hath been the earth with the knowledge of Jehovah, As the waters are covering the sea. And there hath been, in that day, A root of Jesse that is standing for an ensign of peoples, Unto him do nations seek, And his rest hath been -- honour!
And nations have seen thy righteousness, And all kings thine honour, And He is giving to thee a new name, That the mouth of Jehovah doth define.
Hath a nation changed gods? (And they `are' no gods!) And My people hath changed its honour For that which doth not profit.
As a palm they `are' stiff, and they speak not, They are surely borne, for they step not, Be not afraid of them, for they do no evil, Yea, also to do good is not in them.
it `is' ours, the land hath been given for an inheritance; therefore say: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because I put them afar off among nations, And because I scattered them through lands, I also am to them for a little sanctuary, In lands whither they have gone in.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 16
Commentary on Jeremiah 16 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Jeremiah 16:1-17:4
The Course to be Pursued by the Prophet in Reference to the Approaching Overthrow of the Kingdom of Judah. - The ruin of Jerusalem and of Judah will inevitably come. This the prophet must proclaim by word and deed. To this end he is shown in Jeremiah 16:1-9 what relation he is to maintain towards the people, now grown ripe for judgment, and next in Jeremiah 16:10-15 he is told the cause of this terrible judgment; then comes an account of its fulfilment (Jeremiah 16:16-21); then again, finally, we have the cause of it explained once more (Jeremiah 17:1-4).
The course to be pursued by the prophet with reference to the approaching judgment. - Jeremiah 16:1. "And the word of Jahveh cam to me, saying: Jeremiah 16:2. Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place. Jeremiah 16:3. For thus hath Jahveh said concerning the sons and the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bear them, and concerning their fathers that beget them in this land: Jeremiah 16:4. By deadly suffering shall they die, be neither lamented or buried; dung upon the field shall they become; and by sword and by famine shall they be consumed, and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of the heavens and the beasts of the field. Jeremiah 16:5. For thus hath Jahveh said: Come not into the house of mourning, and go not to lament, and bemoan them not; for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith Jahveh, grace and mercies. Jeremiah 16:6. And great and small shall die in this land, not be buried; they shall not lament them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them. Jeremiah 16:7. And they shall not break bread for them in their mourning, to comfort one for the dead; nor shall they give to any the cup of comfort for his father and his mother. Jeremiah 16:8. And into the house of feasting go not, to sit by them, to eat and to drink. Jeremiah 16:9. For thus hath spoken Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I cause to cease out of this place before your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride."
What the prophet is here bidden to do and to forbear is closely bound up with the proclamation enjoined on him of judgment to come on sinful Judah. This connection is brought prominently forward in the reasons given for these commands. He is neither to take a wife nor to beget children, because all the inhabitants of the land, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, are to perish by sickness, the sword, and famine (Jeremiah 16:3 and Jeremiah 16:4). He is both to abstain from the customary usages of mourning for the dead, and to keep away from mirthful feasts, in order to give the people to understand that, by reason of the multitude of the dead, customary mourning will have to be given up, and that all opportunity for merry-making will disappear (Jeremiah 16:5-9). Adapting thus his actions to help to convey his message, he will approve himself to be the mouth of the Lord, and then the promised divine protection will not fail. Thus closely is this passage connected with the preceding complaint and reproof of the prophet (Jeremiah 15:10-21), while it at the same time further continues the threatening of judgment in Jeremiah 15:1-9. - With the prohibition to take a wife, cf. the apostle's counsel, 1 Corinthians 7:26. "This place" alternates with "this land," and so must not be limited to Jerusalem, but bears on Judah at large. ילּדים , adject. verbale , as in Ex. 1:32. The form ממותי is found, besides here, only in Ezekiel 28:8, where it takes the place of מותי , Jeremiah 16:10. תחלאים ממותי , lit., deaths of sicknesses or sufferings, i.e., deaths by all kinds of sufferings, since תחלאים is not to be confined to disease, but in Jeremiah 14:18 is used of pining away by famine. With "they shall not be lamented," cf. Jeremiah 25:33; Jeremiah 8:2; Jeremiah 14:16; Jeremiah 7:33.
The command not to go into a house of mourning ( מרזח , loud crying, cry of lament for one dead, see on Amos 6:7), not to show sympathy with the survivors, is explained by the Lord in the fearfully solemn saying: I withdraw from this people my peace, grace, and mercy. שׁלום is not "the inviolateness of the relation between me and my people" (Graf), but the pace of God which rested on Judah, the source of its well-being, of its life and prosperity, and which showed itself to the sinful race in the extension to them of grace and mercy. The consequence of the withdrawal of this peace is the death of great and small in such multitudes that they can neither be buried nor mourned for (Jeremiah 16:6). התגּדד , but one's self, is used in Deuteronomy 14:1 for נתן שׂרט , to make cuts in the body, Leviticus 19:28; and קרח , Niph ., to crop one's self bald, acc. to Deuteronomy 14:1, to shave a bare place on the front part of the head above the eyes. These are two modes of expressing passionate mourning for the dead which were forbidden to the Israelites in the law, yet which remained in use among the people, see on Leviticus 19:28 and Deuteronomy 14:1. להם , for them, in honour of the dead.
פּרס , as in Isaiah 58:7, for פּרשׂ , Lamentations 4:4, break, sc. the bread (cf. Isa. l.c .) for mourning, and to give to drink the cup of comfort, does not refer to the meals which were held in the house of mourning upon occasion of a death after the interment, for this custom cannot be proved of the Israelites in Old Testament times, and is not strictly demanded by the words of the verse. To break bread to any one does not mean to hold a feast with him, but to bestow a gift of bread upon him; cf. Isaiah 58:7. Correspondingly, to give to drink, does not here mean to drink to one's health at a feast, but only to present with wine to drink. The words refer to the custom of sending bread and wine for refreshment into the house of the surviving relatives of one dead, to comfort them in their sorrow; cf. 2 Samuel 3:35; 2 Samuel 12:16., and the remarks on Ezekiel 24:17. The singular suffixes on לנחמו , אביו , and אמּו , alongside of the plurals להם and אותם , are to be taken distributively of every one who is to be comforted upon occasion of a death in his house; and להם is not to be changed, as by J. D. Mich. and Hitz., into לחם .
The prophet is to withdraw from all participation in mirthful meals and feasts, in token that God will take away all joy from the people. בּית־משׁתּה , house in which a feast is given. אותם , for אתּם , refers, taken ad sensum , to the others who take part in the feast. On Jeremiah 16:9, cf. Jeremiah 7:34.
" And when thou showest this people all these things, and they say unto thee, Wherefore hath Jahveh pronounced all this great evil against us, and what is our transgression, and what our sin that we have committed against Jahveh our God? Jeremiah 16:11. Then say thou to them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith Jahveh, and have walked after other gods, and served them, and worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and not kept my law; Jeremiah 16:12. And ye did yet worse than your fathers; and behold, ye walk each after the stubbornness of his evil heart, hearkening not unto me. Jeremiah 16:13. Therefore I cast you out of this land into the land which he know not, neither ye nor your fathers, and there may ye serve other gods day and night, because I will show you no favour. Jeremiah 16:14. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jahveh, that it shall no more be said, By the life of Jahveh, that brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt, Jeremiah 16:15. But, By the life of Jahveh, that brought the sons of Israel out of the land of the north, and out of all the lands whither I had driven them, and I bring them again into their land that I gave to their fathers."