23 Thus said Jehovah: Let not the wise boast himself in his wisdom, Nor let the mighty boast himself in his might, Let not the rich boast himself in his riches,
I have turned so as to see under the sun, that not to the swift `is' the race, nor to the mighty the battle, nor even to the wise bread, nor even to the intelligent wealth, nor even to the skilful grace, for time and chance happen with them all.
but the foolish things of the world did God choose, that the wise He may put to shame; and the weak things of the world did God choose that He may put to shame the strong; and the base things of the world, and the things despised did God choose, and the things that are not, that the things that are He may make useless -- that no flesh may glory before Him;
Let no one deceive himself; if any one doth seem to be wise among you in this age -- let him become a fool, that he may become wise, for the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, for it hath been written, `Who is taking the wise in their craftiness;' and again, `The Lord doth know the reasonings of the wise, that they are vain.'
Wo `to' the wise in their own eyes, And -- before their own faces -- intelligent!
And Ben-Hadad sendeth unto him, and saith, `Thus do the gods to me, and thus do they add, if the dust of Samaria suffice for handfuls for all the people who `are' at my feet.' And the king of Israel answereth and saith, `Speak ye: let not him who is girding on boast himself as him who is loosing `his armour'.'
Now, lo, ye are ready, so that at the time that ye hear the voice of the cornet, the flute, the harp, the sackbut, the psaltery, and the symphony, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and do obeisance to the image that I have made! -- and lo, ye do no obeisance -- in that hour ye are cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; who is that God who doth deliver you out of my hands?'
And the land of Egypt hath been for a desolation and a waste, And they have known that I `am' Jehovah. Because he said: The flood `is' mine, and I made `it'.
the king hath answered and said, Is not this that great Babylon that I have built, for the house of the kingdom, in the might of my strength, and for the glory of mine honour? `While the word is `in' the king's mouth a voice from the heavens hath fallen: To thee they are saying: O Nebuchadnezzar the king, the kingdom hath passed from thee,
thou, O king, God Most High, a kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and honour, gave to Nebuchadnezzar thy father: and because of the greatness that He gave to him, all peoples, nations, and languages were trembling and fearing before him: whom he willed he was slaying, and whom he willed he was keeping alive, and whom he willed he was raising up, and whom he willed he was making low; and when his heart was high, and his spirit was strong to act proudly, he hath been caused to come down from the throne of his kingdom, and his glory they have caused to pass away from him, and from the sons of men he is driven, and his heart with the beasts hath been like, and with the wild asses `is' his dwelling; the herb like oxen they cause him to eat, and by the dew of the heavens is his body wet, till that he hath known that God Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and whom He willeth He raiseth up over it. `And thou, his son, Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though all this thou hast known; and against the Lord of the heavens thou hast lifted up thyself; and the vessels of His house they have brought in before thee, and thou, and thy great men, thy wives, and thy concubines, are drinking wine with them, and gods of silver, and of gold, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone, that are not seeing, nor hearing, nor knowing, thou hast praised: and the God in whose hand `is' thy breath, and all thy ways, Him thou hast not honoured.
Even their silver, even their gold, Is not able to deliver them in a day of the wrath of Jehovah, And in the fire of His jealousy consumed is the whole land, For only a hastened end doth He make Of all the inhabitants of the land!
and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast many good things laid up for many years, be resting, eat, drink, be merry. `And God said to him, Unthinking one! this night thy soul they shall require from thee, and what things thou didst prepare -- to whom shall they be?
and the populace were shouting, `The voice of a god, and not of a man;' and presently there smote him a messenger of the Lord, because he did not give the glory to God, and having been eaten of worms, he expired.
for it hath been written, `I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the intelligence of the intelligent I will bring to nought;' where `is' the wise? where the scribe? where a disputer of this age? did not God make foolish the wisdom of this world? for, seeing in the wisdom of God the world through the wisdom knew not God, it did please God through the foolishness of the preaching to save those believing.
and if bitter zeal ye have, and rivalry in your heart, glory not, nor lie against the truth; this wisdom is not descending from above, but earthly, physical, demon-like, for where zeal and rivalry `are', there is insurrection and every evil matter;
Trust not in oppression, And in robbery become not vain, Wealth -- when it increaseth -- set not the heart.
And there goeth out a man of the duellists from the camps of the Philistines, Goliath `is' his name, from Gath; his height `is' six cubits and a span, and a helmet of brass `is' on his head, and `with' a scaled coat of mail he `is' clothed, and the weight of the coat of mail `is' five thousand shekels of brass, and a frontlet of brass `is' on his feet, and a javelin of brass between his shoulders, and the wood of his spear `is' like a beam of weavers', and the flame of his spear `is' six hundred shekels of iron, and the bearer of the buckler is going before him. And he standeth and calleth unto the ranks of Israel, and saith to them, `Why are ye come out to set in array the battle? `am' not I the Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose for you a man, and let him come down unto me; if he be able to fight with me, and have smitten me, then we have been to you for servants; and if I am able for him, and have smitten him, then ye have been to us for servants, and have served us.' And the Philistine saith, `I have reproached the ranks of Israel this day; give to me a man, and we fight together.'
and the Philistine looketh attentively, and seeth David, and despiseth him, for he was a youth, and ruddy, with a fair appearance.
The king is not saved by the multitude of a force. A mighty man is not delivered, By abundance of power. A false thing `is' the horse for safety, And by the abundance of his strength He doth not deliver.
Those trusting on their wealth, And in the multitude of their riches, Do shew themselves foolish. A brother doth no one at all ransom, He doth not give to God his atonement. And precious `is' the redemption of their soul, And it hath ceased -- to the age. And still he liveth for ever, He seeth not the pit. For he seeth wise men die, Together the foolish and brutish perish, And have left to others their wealth. Their heart `is': Their houses `are' to the age, Their tabernacles to all generations. They proclaimed their names over the lands. And man in honour doth not remain, He hath been like the beasts, they have been cut off. This their way `is' folly for them, And their posterity with their sayings are pleased. Selah.
And the righteous see, And fear, and laugh at him. `Lo, the man who maketh not God his strong place, And trusteth in the abundance of his riches, He is strong in his mischiefs.'
Wealth profiteth not in a day of wrath, And righteousness delivereth from death.
And I saw that there is an advantage to wisdom above folly, like the advantage of the light above the darkness. The wise! -- his eyes `are' in his head, and the fool in darkness is walking, and I also knew that one event happeneth with them all; and I said in my heart, `As it happeneth with the fool, it happeneth also with me, and why am I then more wise?' And I spake in my heart, that also this `is' vanity: That there is no remembrance to the wise -- with the fool -- to the age, for that which `is' already, `in' the days that are coming is all forgotten, and how dieth the wise? with the fool!
And who knoweth whether he is wise or foolish? yet he doth rule over all my labour that I have laboured at, and that I have done wisely under the sun! this also `is' vanity.
And it hath come to pass, When the Lord doth fulfil all His work In mount Zion and in Jerusalem, I see concerning the fruit of the greatness Of the heart of the king of Asshur. And concerning the glory of the height of his eyes. For he hath said, `By the power of my hand I have wrought, And by my wisdom, for I have been intelligent, And I remove borders of the peoples, And their chief ones I have spoiled, And I put down as a mighty one the inhabitants,
`And now, negotiate, I pray thee, with my lord the king of Asshur, and I give to thee two thousand horses, if thou art able to put for thee riders on them. And how dost thou turn back the face of one captain of the least of the servants of my lord, and dost trust for thee on Egypt, for chariot and for horsemen?
Their silver into out-places they cast, And their gold impurity becometh. Their silver and their gold is not able to deliver them, In a day of the wrath of Jehovah, Their soul they do not satisfy, And their bowels they do not fill, For the stumbling-block of their iniquity it hath been.
`Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because thy heart hath been high, And thou dost say: A god I `am', The habitation of God I have inhabited, In the heart of the seas, And thou `art' man, and not God, And thou givest out thy heart as the heart of God, Lo, thou `art' wiser than Daniel, No hidden thing have they concealed from thee. By thy wisdom and by thine understanding Thou hast made for thee wealth, And makest gold and silver in thy treasuries. By the abundance of thy wisdom, Through thy merchandise, Thou hast multiplied thy wealth, And high is thy heart through thy wealth. Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of thy giving out thy heart as the heart of God, Therefore, lo, I am bringing in against thee strangers, The terrible of the nations, And they have drawn out their swords Against the beauty of thy wisdom, And they have pierced thy brightness. To destruction they bring thee down, Thou diest by the deaths of the wounded, in the heart of the seas. Dost thou really say, `I `am' God,' Before him who is slaying thee? And thou `art' man, and not God, In the hand of him who is piercing thee.
And perished hath refuge from the swift, And the strong strengtheneth not his power, And the mighty delivereth not his soul. And the handler of the bow standeth not, And the swift with his feet delivereth not `himself', And the rider of the horse delivereth not his soul. And the courageous of heart among the mighty, Naked doth flee in that day, An affirmation of Jehovah!
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Jeremiah 9
Commentary on Jeremiah 9 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 9
Jer 9:1-26. Jeremiah's Lamentation for the Jews' Sins and Consequent Punishment.
1. This verse is more fitly joined to the last chapter, as verse 23 in the Hebrew (compare Isa 22:4; La 2:11; 3:48).
2. lodging-place—a caravanseral for caravans, or companies travelling in the desert, remote from towns. It was a square building enclosing an open court. Though a lonely and often filthy dwelling, Jeremiah would prefer even it to the comforts of Jerusalem, so as to be removed from the pollutions of the capital (Ps 55:7, 8).
3. bend … tongues … for lies—that is, with lies as their arrows; they direct lies on their tongue as their bow (Ps 64:3, 4).
not valiant for … truth—(Jer 7:28). Maurer translates, "They do not prevail by truth" or faith (Ps 12:4). Their tongue, not faith, is their weapon.
upon … earth—rather, "in the land."
know not me—(Ho 4:1).
4. supplant—literally, "trip up by the heel" (Ho 12:3).
walk with slanders—(Jer 6:28).
5. weary themselves—are at laborious pains to act perversely [Maurer]. Sin is a hard bondage (Hab 2:13).
6. Thine—God addresses Jeremiah, who dwelt in the midst of deceitful men.
refuse to know me—Their ignorance of God is wilful (Jer 9:3; 5:4, 5).
7. melt … try them—by sending calamities on them.
for how shall I do—"What else can I do for the sake of the daughter of My people?" [Maurer], (Isa 1:25; Mal 3:3).
8. tongue … arrow shot out—rather, "a murdering arrow" [Maurer] (Jer 9:3).
speaketh peaceably … in heart … layeth … wait—layeth his ambush [Henderson], (Ps 55:21).
9. (Jer 5:9, 29).
10. Jeremiah breaks in upon Jehovah's threats of wrath with lamentation for his desolated country.
mountains—once cultivated and fruitful: the hillsides were cultivated in terraces between the rocks.
habitations of … wilderness—rather, "the pleasant herbage (literally, 'the choice parts' of any thing) of the pasture plain." The Hebrew for "wilderness" expresses not a barren desert, but an untilled plain, fit for pasture.
burned up—because no one waters them, the inhabitants being all gone.
none can pass through them—much less inhabit them.
fowl—(Jer 4:25).
11. And—omit "And." Jehovah here resumes His speech from Jer 9:9.
heaps—(see on Isa 25:2).
dragons—jackals.
12. Rather, "Who is a wise man? (that is, Whosoever has inspired wisdom, 2Pe 3:15); let him understand this (weigh well the evils impending, and the causes of their being sent); and he to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken (that is, whosoever is prophetically inspired), let him declare it to his fellow countrymen," if haply they may be roused to repentance, the only hope of safety.
13. Answer to the "for what the land perisheth" (Jer 9:12).
14. (Jer 7:24).
Baalim—plural of Baal, to express his supposed manifold powers.
fathers taught them—(Ga 1:14; 1Pe 1:18). We are not to follow the errors of the fathers, but the authority of Scripture and of God [Jerome].
15. feed—(Jer 8:14; 23:15; Ps 80:5).
16. nor their fathers have known—alluding to Jer 9:14, "Their fathers taught them" idolatry; therefore the children shall be scattered to a land which neither their fathers nor they have known.
send a sword after them—Not even in flight shall they be safe.
17. mourning women—hired to heighten lamentation by plaintive cries baring the breast, beating the arms, and suffering the hair to flow dishevelled (2Ch 35:25; Ec 12:5; Mt 9:23).
cunning—skilled in wailing.
18. (Jer 14:17).
19. The cry of "the mourning women."
spoiled—laid waste.
dwellings cast us out—fulfilling Le 18:28; 20:22. Calvin translates, "The enemy have cast down our habitations."
20. Yet—rather, "Only" [Henderson]. This particle calls attention to what follows.
teach … daughters wailing—The deaths will be so many that there will be a lack of mourning women to bewail them. The mothers, therefore, must teach their daughters the science to supply the want.
21. death … windows—The death-inflicting soldiery, finding the doors closed, burst in by the windows.
to cut off … children from … streets—Death cannot be said to enter the windows to cut off the children in the streets, but to cut them off, so as no more to play in the streets without (Zec 8:5).
22. saith the Lord—continuing the thread of discourse from Jer 9:20.
dung—(Jer 8:2).
handful … none … gather them—implying that the handful has been so trodden as to be not worth even the poor gleaner's effort to gather it. Or the Eastern custom may be referred to: the reaper cuts the grain and is followed by another who gathers it. This grain shall not be worth gathering. How galling to the pride of the Jews to hear that so shall their carcasses be trodden contemptuously under foot!
23. wisdom—political sagacity; as if it could rescue from the impending calamities.
might—military prowess.
24. Nothing but an experimental knowledge of God will save the nation.
understandeth—theoretically; in the intellect.
knoweth—practically: so as to walk in My ways (Jer 22:16; Job 22:21; 1Co 1:31).
loving kindness—God's mercy is put in the first and highest place, because without it we should flee from God in fear and despair.
judgment … righteousness—loving-kindness towards the godly; judgment towards the ungodly; righteousness the most perfect fairness in all cases [Grotius]. Faithfulness to His promises to preserve the godly, as well as stern execution of judgment on the ungodly, is included in "righteousness."
in the earth—contrary to the dogma of some philosophers, that God does not interfere in terrestrial concerns (Ps 58:11).
in these … I delight—as well in doing them as in seeing them done by others (Mic 6:8; 7:18).
25. with the uncircumcised—rather, "all that are circumcised in uncircumcision" [Henderson]. The Hebrew is an abstract term, not a concrete, as English Version translates, and as the pious "circumcised" is. The nations specified, Egypt, Judah, &c., were outwardly "circumcised," but in heart were "uncircumcised." The heathen nations were defiled, in spite of their literal circumcision, by idolatry. The Jews, with all their glorying in their spiritual privileges, were no better (Jer 4:4; De 10:16; 30:6; Ro 2:28, 29; Col 2:11). However, Eze 31:18; 32:19, may imply that the Egyptians were uncircumcised; and it is uncertain as to the other nations specified whether they were at that early time circumcised. Herodotus says the Egyptians were so; but others think this applies only to the priests and others having a sacred character, not to the mass of the nation; so English Version may be right (Ro 2:28, 29).
26. Egypt—put first to degrade Judah, who, though in privileges above the Gentiles, by unfaithfulness sank below them. Egypt, too, was the power in which the Jews were so prone to trust, and by whose instigation they, as well as the other peoples specified, revolted from Babylon.
in the utmost corners—rather, "having the hair shaven (or clipped) in angles," that is, having the beard on the cheek narrowed or cut: a Canaanitish custom, forbidden to the Israelites (Le 19:27; 21:5). The Arabs are hereby referred to (compare Jer 25:23; 49:32), as the words in apposition show, "that dwell in the wilderness."
uncircumcised … uncircumcised in the heart—The addition of "in the heart" in Israel's case marks its greater guilt in proportion to its greater privileges, as compared with the rest.