9 And I have given them for a trembling, For evil -- to all kingdoms of the earth, For a reproach, and for a simile, For a byword, and for a reviling, In all the places whither I drive them.
And I have pursued after them with sword, with famine, and with pestilence, and have given them for a trembling to all kingdoms of the earth, for a curse and for an astonishment, and for a hissing, and for a reproach among all the nations whither I have driven them,
And I have given them for a trembling To all kingdoms of the earth, Because of Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah, For that which he did in Jerusalem.
`Therefore, thus said Jehovah: Ye have not hearkened unto Me to proclaim freedom, each to his brother, and each to his neighbour; lo, I am proclaiming to you liberty -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- unto the sword, unto the pestilence, and unto the famine, and I have given you for a trembling to all kingdoms of the earth.
then I have cut off Israel from the face of the ground that I have given to them, and the house that I have hallowed for My name I send away from My presence, and Israel hath been for a simile and for a byword among all the peoples;
And taken from them hath been a reviling by all the removed of Judah that `are' in Babylon, saying, Jehovah doth set thee as Zedekiah, and as Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted with fire;
Then I have given up this house as Shiloh, and this city I give up for a reviling to all nations of the earth.'
And ye have left your name For an oath for My chosen ones, And the Lord Jehovah hath put thee to death, And to His servants He giveth another name.
Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, A scorn and a reproach to our surrounders. Thou makest us a simile among nations, A shaking of the head among peoples.
`And among those nations thou dost not rest, yea, there is no resting-place for the sole of thy foot, and Jehovah hath given to thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and grief of soul; and thy life hath been hanging in suspense before thee, and thou hast been afraid by night and by day, and dost not believe in thy life; in the morning thou sayest, O that it were evening! and in the evening thou sayest, O that it were morning! from the fear of thy heart, with which thou art afraid, and from the sight of thine eyes which thou seest.
Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because the enemy said against you, Aha, and the high places of old for a possession have been to us, therefore, prophesy, and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because, even because, of desolating, And of swallowing you up from round about, For your being a possession to the remnant of the nations, And ye are taken up on the tip of the tongue, And `are' an evil report of the people.
and thou hast said to the sons of Ammon: Hear ye a word of the Lord Jehovah: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of thy saying, Aha, to My sanctuary, Because it hath been polluted, And unto the ground of Israel, Because it hath been desolate, And unto the house of Judah, Because they have gone into a removal:
Thy third part -- by pestilence they die, And by famine are consumed in thy midst, And the third part, by sword they fall round about thee, And the third part, to every wind I scatter, And a sword I draw out after them. And completed hath been Mine anger, And I have caused My fury to rest on them, And I have been comforted, And they have known that I, Jehovah, have spoken in My zeal, In My completing My fury on them.
`And thou, son of man, take to thee a sharp weapon, the barber's razor thou dost take to thee, and thou hast caused `it' to pass over thy head, and over thy beard, and thou hast taken to thee weighing scales, and apportioned them. A third part with fire thou dost burn in the midst of the city, at the fulness of the days of the siege; and thou hast taken the third part, thou dost smite with a weapon round about it; and the third part thou dost scatter to the wind, and a weapon I draw out after them.
Clapped hands at thee have all passing by the way, They have hissed -- and they shake the head At the daughter of Jerusalem: `Is this the city of which they said: The perfection of beauty, a joy to all the land?' Opened against thee their mouth have all thine enemies, They have hissed, yea, they gnash the teeth, They have said: `We have swallowed `her' up, Surely this `is' the day that we looked for, We have found -- we have seen.' Jehovah hath done that which He devised, He hath fulfilled His saying That He commanded from the days of old, He hath broken down and hath not pitied, And causeth an enemy to rejoice over thee, He lifted up the horn of thine adversaries.
And Jehovah is not able any more to accept `you', because of the evil of your doings, because of the abominations that ye have done, and your land is for a waste, and for an astonishment, and for a reviling, without inhabitant, as `at' this day.
and I have taken the remnant of Judah, who have set their faces to enter the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they have all been consumed in the land of Egypt; they fall by sword, by famine they are consumed, from the least even unto the greatest, by sword and by famine they die, and they have been for an execration, for an astonishment, and for a reviling, and for a reproach.
for thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: As poured out hath been Mine anger and My fury on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so poured out is My fury upon you in your entering Egypt, and ye have been for an execration, and for an astonishment, and for a reviling, and for a reproach, and ye do not see any more this place.
and I have made this city for a desolation, and for a hissing, every passer by it is astonished, and doth hiss for all its plagues.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 24
Commentary on Jeremiah 24 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 24
In the close of the foregoing chapter we had a general prediction of the utter ruin of Jerusalem, that it should be forsaken and forgotten, which, whatever effect it had upon others, we have reason to think made the prophet himself very melancholy. Now, in this chapter, God encourages him, by showing him that, though the desolation seemed to be universal, yet all were not equally involved in it, but God knew how to distinguish, how to separate, between the precious and the vile. Some had gone into captivity already with Jeconiah; over them Jeremiah lamented, but God tells him that it should turn to their good. Others yet remained hardened in their sins, against whom Jeremiah had a just indignation; but those, God tells him, should go into captivity, and it should prove to their hurt. To inform the prophet of this, and affect him with it, here is,
Jer 24:1-10
This short chapter helps us to put a very comfortable construction upon a great many long ones, by showing us that the same providence which to some is a savour of death unto death may by the grace and blessing of God be made to others a savour of life unto life; and that, though God's people share with others in the same calamity, yet it is not the same to them that it is to others, but is designed for their good and shall issue in their good; to them it is a correcting rod in the hand of a tender Father, while to others it is an avenging sword in the hand of a righteous Judge. Observe,
Doubtless this prophecy had its accomplishment in the men of that generation yet, because we read not of any such remarkable difference between those of Jeconiah's captivity and those of Zedekiah's, it is probable that this has a typical reference to the last destruction of the Jews by the Romans, in which those of them that believed were taken care of, but those that continued obstinate in unbelief were driven into all countries for a taunt and a curse, and so they remain to this day.