6 And he hath been as a naked thing in a desert, And doth not see when good cometh, And hath inhabited parched places in a wilderness, A salt land, and not inhabited.
(`with' brimstone and salt is the whole land burnt, it is not sown, nor doth it shoot up, nor doth there go up on it any herb, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, which Jehovah overturned in His anger, and in His fury,) --
Flee ye, deliver yourselves, Ye are as a naked thing in a wilderness.
Whose house I have made the wilderness, And his dwellings the barren land,
and Abimelech hath fought against the city all that day, and captureth the city, and the people who `are' in it he hath slain, and he breaketh down the city, and soweth it `with' salt.
And the captain whom the king hath, by whose hand he hath been supported, answereth the man of God and saith, `Lo, Jehovah is making windows in the heavens -- shall this thing be?' and he saith, `Lo, thou art seeing it with thine eyes, and thereof thou dost not eat.'
and the captain answereth the man of God, and saith, `And lo, Jehovah is making windows in the heavens -- it is according to this word?' and he saith, `Lo, thou art seeing with thine eyes, and thereof thou dost not eat;' and it cometh to him so, and the people tread him down in the gate, and he dieth.
`Doth a rush wise without mire? A reed increase without water? While it `is' in its budding -- uncropt, Even before any herb it withereth. So `are' the paths of all forgetting God, And the hope of the profane doth perish,
He turneth not aside from darkness, His tender branch doth a flame dry up, And he turneth aside at the breath of His mouth! Let him not put credence in vanity, He hath been deceived, For vanity is his recompence. Not in his day is it completed, And his bending branch is not green. He shaketh off as a vine his unripe fruit, And casteth off as an olive his blossom. For the company of the profane `is' gloomy, And fire hath consumed tents of bribery.
Not so the wicked: But -- as chaff that wind driveth away!
When the wicked flourish as a herb, And blossom do all workers of iniquity -- For their being destroyed for ever and ever!
They are as grass of the roofs, That before it was drawn out withereth, That hath not filled the hand of a reaper, And the bosom of a binder of sheaves. And the passers by have not said, `The blessing of Jehovah `is' on you, We blessed you in the Name of Jehovah!'
For ye are as an oak whose leaf is fading, And as a garden that hath no water.
Its miry and its marshy places -- they are not healed; to salt they have been given up.
Therefore, I live, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, Surely, Moab is as Sodom, And the sons of Ammon as Gomorrah, An overrunning of nettles and salt-pits, And a desolation -- unto the age. A residue of My people do seize them, And a remnant of My nation inherit them.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 17
Commentary on Jeremiah 17 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Judah's sin is ineffaceably stamped upon the hearts of the people and on their altars. These four verses are closely connected with the preceding, and show why it is necessary that Judah be cast forth amidst the heathen, by reason of its being perfectly stepped in idolatry. Jeremiah 17:1. "The sin of Judah is written with an iron pen, with the point of a diamond graven on the table of their hearts and on the horns of your altars. Jeremiah 17:2 . As they remember their children, so do they their altars and their Astartes by the green tree upon the high hills. Jeremiah 17:3 . My mountain in the field, thy substance, all thy treasures give I for a prey, thy high places for sin in all thy borders. Jeremiah 17:4 . And thou shalt discontinue, and that of thine own self, from thine inheritance that I gave thee, and I cause thee to serve thine enemies in a land which thou knowest not; for a fire have ye kindled in mine anger, for ever it burneth."