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4. The Second Refusal
Jer_15:1-4
If Moses and Samuel stood before me,
Yet my soul is not inclined towards this people:
Away with them from my presence! Out with them!
2 And if they say to thee: Out whither shall we go?—
Then say to them: Thus saith Jehovah:
He who is for death to death, he for the sword to the sword,
And he who is for famine to famine, and he for captivity to captivity.
3 And I appoint over them four kinds, saith Jehovah:
The sword to kill and the dogs to tear,
The birds of heaven and the beasts of the field to devour and to destroy.
4 And I make them a horror to all kingdoms of the earth,
On account of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah,
And on account of what he did at Jerusalem.
Jer_15:1. And Jehovah said … out with them! Moses is an intercessor, Exo_17:11 sqq.; Jer_32:11 sqq.; Num_14:13; Psa_106:23.—Samuel in 1Sa_7:8; 1Sa_8:6; 1Sa_12:16-23; 1Sa_15:11; Psa_99:6; Sir_46:16. Comp. Herzog, Real-Enc. XIII. S. 398.—Noah, Daniel and Job are mentioned in a similar manner in Eze_14:14; and in later times Jeremiah himself in 2Ma_15:14.—The object of away, according to the preceding context, and to whither shall we go? Jer_15:2, can be no other than the people.
Jer_15:2-3. And if they say … to destroy. The question, whither shall we go? presupposes the thought of a mere banishment. It is declared in what follows that far worse than this is meant.—He who is for death. A fearful destructive blow is to follow, which causes the people to be scattered and drives individuals, without selection or respect of persons, into the hands of the agents of death.—Death, with sword, famine and captivity, is evidently the relatively spontaneous death by disease or pestilence ( ãֶּáֶø ), wherefore the latter word is also used with the other in Jer_14:12; Eze_14:21; Eze_33:27; comp. Jer_43:11.
Jer_15:3 fortifies this judgment of destruction, by declaring it in a certain measure permanent. For and I appoint declares that Israel is to be placed as it were under the jurisdiction of these four destructive forces, as also in Eze_14:21 it is expressly said that the Lord will send His “four sore judgments—the sword and the famine and the noisome beast and the pestilence,” upon Jerusalem.—Kinds, îùׁôçåú . Comp. ãּåֹø , the four generations, Pro_30:11 sqq. Since the four instruments here mentioned correspond to the four kinds of destruction mentioned in Jer_15:2, it is evident that Jer_15:3 bears to Jer_15:2 not a logical but rhetorical relation. The sword moreover represents the judgment on the living, the three others the judgment on the dead. Comp. Jer_14:16; Deu_28:26.
Jer_15:4. And I make them … at Jerusalem. Repetition of the first half of the verse Jer_24:9; Jer_29:18; Jer_34:17. The expression is taken from Deu_28:25. Concerning Manasseh comp. 2Ki_21:1-17; 2Ki_23:26; 2Ki_24:3. The biblical accounts dismiss the long reign of this king with remarkable brevity. We obtain the impression that this is the effect of a certain reluctance to recall this name, which represents the darkest portion of the history of Judah, an epoch which is to be regarded as the concentration and end of all ungodliness.
Footnotes:
Jer_15:4.—Here and in Eze_23:46 æַòֲåָú is found without marginal reading, but in Isa_28:19 the older form æְåָòָä . In the other places (besides those quoted in Jeremiah also 2Ch_29:8), where Ewald (comp. § 53, b) would read æåòִä (scarecrow, sport [of chance]) there is always the Keri æַòֲåָä . Except in Isa_28:19, the word occurs only as the designation of the terminus in quem after ðָúַï or before äָéָä . The root æåּòַ has both in the Hebrew (it occurs in the Old Test. only in Ecc_12:3; Est_5:9; Hab_2:7) and in the dialects (comp. Dan_5:19; Dan_6:27) the meaning of violent motion, commotion. Hence æְåָòָä is commotion, quaking, horror.
Jer_15:5-9
Or who will have sympathy for thee?
Or who will turn aside to wish thee well?
6 Thou hast rejected me, saith Jehovah, [and] wentest backwards.
Then I stretched out my hand against thee and destroyed thee:
I was weary of repenting.
7 And I winnowed them out with a fan
At the gates of the land;
I orphaned, I destroyed my people,—
For they had not turned them from their ways.
8 Their widows are become to me more than the sand of the sea.
I brought them over the mother of the chosen the spoiler at noon-day;
I caused to fall on her sudden anguish and terror.
9 She who bore seven is exhausted;
She breathed out her soul [expired];
Her sun went down while it was yet day;
She was ashamed and confounded [put to shame];
But the residue I will give to the sword,
Before their enemies, saith Jehovah.
Jer_15:5. For who will take pity … to wish thee well. From Jer_15:1-4 it follows with absolute certainty that Jehovah will no longer help, and that therefore Israel is inevitably lost. ëִּé , For, implies a reference to this thought. No longer any escape! If the Lord will not, who else will have pity on the people? (Isa_51:19; Nah_3:7). Who indeed will even ask how they are? ( ùׁàì ìùׁìåí properly = to ask after one’s good health, to greet, Gen_43:27; Exo_18:7; Jdg_18:15, etc.) The thought seems to be thus implied, that still less will any one do aught for the welfare of the people, or any longer intercede for them as the prophet has done (Jer_14:7 sqq.; Jer_14:19 sqq.).—Turn aside. ñåּø is here, as frequently, to deviate from the direct, proposed way, in order to turn to some other object, with which, as here, the idea of taking trouble may be connected. Rth_4:1; 1Ki_20:39; Exo_3:3.
Jer_15:6. Thou hast rejected me … of repenting. The reason for the declaration in Jer_15:5, that Israel is irretrievably lost, is stated in Jer_15:6, and more particularly in Jer_15:7 sqq. The reason first given, in Jer_15:6 a, is objective, it being declared what Israel has done to draw upon himself such a punishment. The words then I stretched to repenting express the subjective reason, i.e., they declare what facts on the part of the speaker (i. e., of God) are presented as causæ efficientes of destruction. The præterite åàè , etc., is not strange; as the apostasy is an already accomplished fact, so also is the hostile position which God assumes towards it. The “stretched-out arm,” which is so often mentioned as Israel’s saving arm (Deu_4:34; Deu_5:15; Deu_26:8, etc.), signifies the hostile position of God towards the enemies of the people. Elsewhere the stretching out of the hand frequently designates the declaration of war, or the command to use force; 1Ki_13:4; Job_15:25; Isa_5:25; Isa_9:11; Isa_10:4; Jer_6:12; Jer_51:25; Eze_6:14; Eze_14:9; Eze_14:13, etc.—Perhaps also the assonance of åָàַè to àַúְּ is intended.—Destroyed thee is a summary intimation of the import of the gesture I was weary, etc., a more particular definition, in so far as it declares that the destruction will no longer be deferred as heretofore by a gracious “repenting.” Comp. Jer_4:28; Jer_6:11; Isa_1:14.
Jer_15:7-9. And I winnowed them … before their enemies. I do not think with Graf that ùׁòøé äàøõ is to denote the uttermost, lands of the earth. How then could áְ be used? The preposition retains its proper meaning, if as in Nah_3:13 we understand the exits of the land. The Lord winnows so powerfully that as the chaff flies out over the threshing-floor, so Israel flies out through the exits of the land to a distance.—Had not turned, etc., is a causal sentence.—In Jer_15:8-9 the prophet uses similar colors to those in Jer_14:16-17 Comp. Jer_11:22; Jer_18:21.—The words àֵí áָּçåּø , variously interpreted by the commentators, are most easily explained by the antithesis to the subsequently mentioned éֹìֶãֶú äַùִׁáְòָä . Even the strongest women, both those who have borne distinguished warriors, and those who have had numerous sons, shall perish. Without insisting on the singular in áָּçåּø I believe that it includes the idea of quality, as ùׁáòä does of quantity. (Comp. 1Sa_2:5).—[Henderson:—“By the ‘young spoiler’ [text ‘destroyer’] is meant Nebuchadnezzar II., who, when his father was old and infirm, had part of the Chaldean army committed to him, and after defeating Pharaoh Necho at Carchemish marched forward against Jerusalem and captured it. The attack being made at noon indicates the unexpectedness by which it was characterized, that being the time of day when, owing to intense heat, military operations are carried on with less vigor.”—Hitzig: “The description in Jer_15:8 points to a lost battle; and on this hypothesis all the single features of the picture in Jer_15:7-9 may be brought into one point of view, so as to present one event. The author then refers to the battle of Megiddo, the more probably (2Ki_23:29) as the figure of the sun setting in bright daylight might then be founded on the eclipse which took place in that valley 30th Sept., A. D. 610. (Vid.Thenius on 2 Ki.)”—S. R. A,]—Breathed, etc., ðôçä . From Job_31:39 the meaning of the word exspirare seems plain. The rendering “to sigh” is too feeble in this connection.—Her sun, the sun of her life, and the happiness (comp. Mal. 3:20; Psa_84:12) which she had in her sons is gone down. áָּàָä as in Gen_15:17; 2Sa_2:24; Mic_3:6. áòéã å× , comp. the previous “at noon-day.”—And confounded. áåùä å× . The reference to the mother is to be preferred; for the sun itself does not suffer shame, but those who by the setting of the sun are reduced from the condition of an honored mother to the wretched state of a bereaved and childless one. In Isa_24:23 it is the sun and moon themselves which must pale before a more brilliant star.—Deliver to the sword. Comp. Mic_6:14.
Footnotes:
Jer_15:6.— ֹàçåø úìëé . The imperfect is frequently used to designate a fact often repeated in the past. Comp. Nargelsb. Gr., § 87. f.
Jer_15:8.—[A. V. “I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a spoiler at noon-day” Boothroyd: “against their mother city, a chosen one that spoileth,” etc. Henderson:—“The words òַìÎàֵíִ áָּåּø (Jer_15:8) have been very differently construed. Nor is the difficulty which they present by any means easy of solution, however simple the words may be in themselves. LXX. ἐðὶ ìçôἐñá íåáíßóêïõò . Some compare the phrase àֵñ òַì áָּðִéí the mother with her children [Syr., Arab., C. B. Mich., Ewald, etc.—S. R. A.] but the position of the preposition before and not after àֵí renders such construction untenable. Others take àֵí áָּçåּø to be in the construct state: the mother of the young man [Chald., Kimchi, .J. B. Mich., Hitzig, etc.—S. R. A.] or regarding the nouns as collectives: the mothers of the young men [De Wette, Maurer, Rosenmueller, etc.—S. R. A.] but neither of these affords a suitable sense. Jarchi, Capellus, Castalio, De Dieu, Doederlein, Eichhorn, Dahler, consider àֵí mother, to mean the metropolis, as 2Sa_20:19, and àַîֶּä 2Sa_8:1. The word is thus used on Phœnician coins. Comp. the Arab. áã , the Greek ìÞôçñ ; Callin. Fragm., 112; and the Latin mater, Flor. Jer_3:7; Jer_3:18; Ammian, Jer_17:13; Gesenius, in voc. The objection of Schnurrer, that it wants the article, is of little force, as the prophets sometimes omit it for the sake of condensation. See Isa_21:12, and Nordheimer’s Gr., II. p. 13, note. This, on the whole, as the text now stands, is the preferable interpretation.”—S. R. A.]
Jer_15:8— áöäøéí has the meaning of unusual, unexpected. Comp. Jer_6:4; Amo_8:9.— òéø ἅð . ëåã . radically related to öåּø , öִéø = coarctatio, angor.
the consequences of the refusal with respect to the person of the prophet and instructions concerning his further course (Jer_15:10 to Jer_16:9)
1. Complaint and petition of the prophet on account of the consequences of the refusal with respect to his person
Jer_15:10-18
A man of strife and a man of contention to the whole land:
I have not borrowed nor lent, yet all curse me.
11 Jehovah said: Verily, I distress thee for thy good,
Verily the enemy shall approach thee imploringly
In the time of calamity and in the time of distress.
12 Will then iron break iron from the north and brass?
13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give up for spoil, not for hire,
But on account of all thy sins and in all thy borders.
14 And I take thee with thine enemies into a land that thou knowest not,
For a fire is kindled in my nostrils which shall burn over you.6
15 Thou knowest it, O Jehovah, remember me,
And visit me, and avenge me of my persecutors;
Sweep me not away by thy long suffering;
Know that for thy sake I have suffered reproach.
16 Thy words were offered and I devoured them,
And thy words were to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.
For I bear thy name, O Jehovah, God of Zebaoth.
17 I sat not in the assembly of the joyful, nor was merry.
Before thy hand I sat solitary, for thou hast filled me with indignation.
18 Why then has my pain become perpetual,
And my wound helpless, that will not heal?
Art thou then become to me as a deceitful brook,
As precarious water?
Jer_15:10. Wo unto me … all curse me. Had the intercession of the prophet in Jeremiah 16. been heard, his lot, in so far as it depended on his countrymen, would have been more agreeable. But now that so stern a refusal has been given he sees the whole fury of the people discharged upon his person. The mention of the calamity of the mother, Jer_15:8-9, reminds the prophet of his own mother, not however to lament on her account, but on his own, that he was ever born. Comp. Jer_20:14; Job_3:3; 1Ma_2:7.—Lending and borrowing cause most law-suits. The prophet neither receives loans from others ( ðָùָׁä , Isa_24:2), which as a bad debtor he did not repay, nor does he himself lend money ( ðָùָׁä áְּ , Deu_24:11, ðָùֵׁä creditor, exactor, Psa_109:11), which as a stern creditor he calls in with rigor.—Observe the contrast between the accusations, which according to Jer_15:10 were universally raised against the prophet, and the touching petitions, which he, Jer_14:7-19, offers for his people. He thus gives a reply to those accusations, which causes their unrighteousness most distinctly to appear.
Jer_15:11. Jehovah said … in time of distress. The formula Jehovah said ( àָîַø é× ) thus prefixed is found besides only in Jer_46:25, and in no other prophet. I cannot agree with Graf, who in Jer_46:25 would attach it to the preceding context. (Comp. äִðְðִé ô÷ֵø ). We cannot then say that this position of the formula is a proof of the spuriousness or corruption of the text.—The Lord presents to the prophet’s view a second pleasing turn in his affairs: even his opponents, who now press him in a hostile way, shall then be brought to press him with supplications, because they perceive their only salvation to be in his intercession. This is more particularly explained in Jer_15:12.
Jer_15:12. Will then iron … brass? The words are very variously construed. The most simple construction, which agrees well with the context, is to take the first iron, áøæì , as the nominative, and the two following as in the objective case. Will then iron, i.e. any other iron, brought by men, break the northern iron or brass? That the northern iron is the northern empire (Jer_13:20) is clear. The most celebrated iron and steel manufacture among the ancients was that of the Chalybeans in Pontus, of whom Strabo says, ïἱ äὲ íῦí ×áëäáῖïé ×Üëíâåò ôὸ ðáëáéὸí ὠíïìÜæïíôï , XII. p. 826. Comp. J. D. Michaelis. Observv. phil. et crit., in Jer., Ed. Schleusner, p. 136. [Comp. Winer, R.-W.-B., II. S. 512; Smith. Bibl. Dict., II. p. 1376.—S. R. A.]. It is accordingly quite suitable to represent this northern nation itself under the figure of the strongest iron. The connection with the preceding is this: thine enemies among the people will yet turn to thee as their only refuge, when they have learned their inability to master the northern iron. For the fulfilment see Jer_37:3; Jer_42:2 sqq.
Jer_15:13-14. Thy substance … burn over you. These verses are evidently intended to give a plainer description of the distress, merely intimated in Jer_15:11, and briefly and obscurely described in Jer_15:12. The words are, however, taken from Jer_17:3-4, where they are found in the more original form and proper connection.—Not for hire. The thought occurs similarly only in Psa_44:12. In this passage, however, it is the selling of the people, not of their property and treasures, which is spoken of. It is also a question whether in Psa_44:12 the selling is to be understood in a literal sense=thou causest thy people to be sold into slavery by their conquerors at a mean price (comp. Joe_3:8; Joe_3:11-12; Vaihinger on Psa_44:12). Since now it is doubtful whether the thought that God sells His people for nothing or without return is biblical, and still more doubtful whether it may be said God sells the treasures of His people for nothing, the view gains in probability that there is here a corruption of the text. Comp. the Textual Note 4.
Verses 11 and 12 contain in themselves nothing to lead us to doubt their integrity, nor do they in the connection form an incongruous element. Jer_15:11 contains a preliminary tranquilization of the prophet, Jer_15:12 a more particular characterization of the distress intimated in Jer_15:11, and the reason of approach imploringly, etc.—Thou knowest, in Jer_15:15, may be connected with Jer_15:12, in the sense: I cannot indeed conceive how that is possible, but Thou Lord knowest it. For since Jer_15:11-12 contain the words of the Lord to the prophet, “Thou knowest it” cannot be an appeal by the prophet to the divine testimony, but only for the purpose of self-tranquilization. But on the other hand it cannot be denied, that this interruption in the prophet’s lament is the more remarkable, as Jeremiah afterwards continues in Jer_15:15 as though he hid received no consolation (comp. especially Jer_15:18) and the consolatory statements of Jer_15:11 recur in Jer_15:19 sqq. For these verses also declare that the affliction will accrue to the honor and welfare of the prophet and that the enemies will yet be compelled to apply to him. This is also favored by the perfect appropriateness with which Jer_15:15 is connected with Jer_15:10. The prophet had in Jer_15:10 protested his innocence, for which in Jer_15:15 he appeals to the Omniscient as a witness. Verses 13 and 14 bear in a much higher degree the stamp of spuriousness. For 1. They prolong in an unnecessary manner (as mere filling out of the portrayal of the previously intimated distress) the interruption of the connection; 2. They are a mere quotation from Jer_17:3-4 and textually corrupt, with which it accords, that they contain an address to the people which does not suit the connection; 3. The words Thou knowest, Jer_15:15, are then disconnected, for neither can they be referred to the close of Jer_15:14 nor to Jer_15:13-14 together, since these verses contain neither the words of the prophet, nor anything which appeared incredible to the prophet.
Jer_15:15 a. Thou knowest it … thy long-suffering. On thou knowest itvid. supra; comp. Psa_40:10; Eze_37:3.—And visit me, ôָ÷ַã is frequently used of a gracious visitation of God after a period of disfavor: Gen_21:1; Exo_3:16; Exo_4:31; Rth_1:16; Psa_8:5-6; Isa_23:17, etc. Comp. Psa_106:4.—Avenge, etc. åäð÷í ìé î× properly=avenge Thee for my good upon my enemies. This construction here only. Comp. 1Sa_24:13; Num_31:2.—By thy long-suffering. Since the prophet is not himself conscious of having deserved the divine anger, the long-suffering can be referred only to the enemies: “Suffer not that in consequence of the delay of Thy vengeance I be swept away of my enemies.”
Jer_15:15 b–17. Know that … filled with indignation. In these words the prophet presents the grounds on which he expects help from the Lord. He first prays the Lord to consider that he is suffering for His (the Lord’s) sake. Comp. Psa_69:8 (Zep_3:18)., He then appeals to the willingness with which he offered himself as the Lord’s organ, and his life in accordance with his high calling.—Thy words, etc. The prophet did not excogitate what he was to proclaim but found it, it was offered to him. The found is according to Old Test, usage frequently that which is present of itself in opposition to that which one has produced or procured by his own activity. Comp. Gen_19:15; 1Sa_21:4; 1Sa_25:8.—Devoured. As in Eze_2:8; Eze_3:3 coll. Rev_10:9-10, he designates by eating the eager complete reception of them into the mind. The commentators refer to Plautus, Aulul. III. 6, 1, nimium lubenter edi sermonem tuum.—For I bear, etc. The word of the Lord may then have become the joy of his heart because it effected that “the name of Jehovah was named over him” (comp. rems. on Jer_7:10), i. e. that he was designated as a prophet of Jehovah in opposition to the prophets of the idols (comp. the prophets of Baal, 1Ki_18:19; 2Ki_10:19). This designation was to him an honorary title of the highest value. But by this it is not excluded that the word of the Lord in itself was already a cause of rejoicing to him.—I sat not. The prophet here describes how his life externally had been spent in accordance with the prophetic calling. He had avoided the society of idle, pleasure-seeking men, he had sat in solitude, the feeling of being divinely possessed as well as the sorrow caused by the predominant objects of his vision, viz. human sin and divine punishment, rendering him incapable of taking part in the proceedings of the merry.—Before thy hand. The expression “hand” designates the divine operation as immediate and irresistible. Comp. Isa_8:11; Eze_3:14; Eze_8:1; Eze_11:5; Eze_37:1, etc.—For thou hast filled me, etc. The prophet is filled with indignation and anger by what he beholds in consequence of the divine operation. He cannot possibly be angry with God. Rather is he full of the divine wrath (Jer_6:11) at the sin of men and at the necessity of punishing them. Moreover we see from Jer_15:16 that indignation is not the only feeling of the prophet, nor the only reason which detained him from the society of men. He was in part too divinely troubled, in part too joyful in God, to feel at home in such society. [Henderson: “The hilarity which the prophet had experienced was not that of the ungodly, who at their festive meetings treated divine things with scorn. With these he had had no fellowship, but because of the faithful communication of his inspired messages he had been expelled from society and made the object of their fiercest indignation. The occurrence of “indignation” with “hand” in this verse has generally induced the supposition that by the latter the afflicting power of God is intended; but it seems more in accordance with the bearing of the connection to regard the expression as designed to convey the idea of powerful divine impulse or prophetical inspiration. Comp. Eze_1:3; Eze_3:14, and frequently. Thus Vatablus, Clarius.”—S. R. A.]
Jer_15:18. Why then … precarious water. The prophet concludes with an exclamation of hopelessness. After what he could declare of himself in Jer_15:16-17 he thought he had some claim for protection and consolation. But there is no prospect of this. As in despair he therefore inquires, Why is this?—According to the sense the whole verse must be rendered as a question, and why therefore be referred to the second section of the verse.—Precarious. Comp. Isa_33:16. [“On Tindal’s objections to this passage, see Waterland, Scripture Vindicated, p. 245.” Wordsworth.—S. R. A.]
Footnotes:
Jer_15:10.— ëìä î÷ììåðé . This wholly abnormal form (comp. Olsh., § 206 b) which as forma mixta has been variously explained, is evidently due, as J. D. Michaelis, Hitzig, Graf, Meier have recognized, to a wrong division. It should read ëֻּìְּäֶí ÷ִìִìåּðִé . The attraction of the í to the following word may have been occasioned by the circumstance that the form ending with it is not found elsewhere (similar formation áֻּìֻּáֶí Deu_1:22. Comp. àåֹúְäֶí Eze_23:45; Eze_23:47; àֶúְäֶí Gen_32:1; Gen_19:8). The 1st Pers. áֻּìָּ ֽäֵí however is found in 2Sa_23:6.
Jer_15:11.— àí ìà ùׁøåֹúêָ . The Chethibh may be read ùָׁøåֹúêָ (who attack thee, anomalous inf. Kal. from ùָׁøַø , as Hitzig), ùְׁøåֹúְêָ (solvendo te, Rosenmueller), ùֵׁøåּúְêָ (initium tuum, Gesen.), ùְׁøåּúְãָ solutio tua sc. erit, Winer), ùָׁøåּúְãָ (in different meanings: confirmabo te or exhilarabo te, J. D. Michaelis; firmabo te, Maurer, Ewald; I do thee injury, I oppress thee, Gesen., Thesaur., Meier). The Keri is ùֵׁøִéúִéêָ Piel from ùָׁøָä , which verb occurs besides only in Job_37:3 (disputed in the latter place) and is said to signify to loosen like the Aram. ùְׁøָà (comp. Dan_2:22; Dan_3:25; Ezr_5:2). [So Henderson.—S. R. A.] The old translators vacillate and alter arbitrarily. Vulg., Targ., Raschi, Kimchi read ùֵׁøִéúְêָ for ùְׁàֵøéúְêָ (comp. 1Ch_12:38; Olsh., S. 70 and 412), which they regard as = reliquiæ tuæ or finis tuus thy remnant, thy exit, for which however àַ ֽäֲøִéú always stands elsewhere. [A. V.: it shall be well with thy remnant]. I agree with Gesenius in his Thesaurus and Meier. The scriptio defect. is no objection. Comp. ex. gr. òðִּúִêְ Nah_1:12; ìִáַּáְúּðִé Son_4:9. ùָׁøַø means torsit, contorsit. Hence ùֹׁøøֵ , oppressor (Psa_8:3; Psa_27:11; Psa_54:7), ùֹׁø cloud (contortum) ùֵׁøָä torques, ùַׁøְùְׁøָä catena. The Lord tells the prophet for his consolation that the oppression will eventuate in favor of his best interests. Comp. Jer_15:19 sqq., ìְèåֹá besides only in Jer_32:39. Elsewhere ìְèåֹáָä (Jer_14:11; Jer_21:10; Jer_24:5-6; Jer_39:16; Jer_44:27).
Jer_15:11.— ôָðַò áְּ . äôâòúé å× signifies in Jer_7:16; Jer_27:18; Job_21:15; Rth_1:16 to apply to one, press one with petitions. Accordingly Hiphil here quite regularly = to cause such application, urging, although the Hiph. is elsewhere used in the sense of the Kal. (Isa_53:12; Isa_59:16; Jer_36:25).
Jer_15:13.— ìֹà áִîְçִéø . There is probably here a corruption of the text. In the parallel passage Jer_17:3 we read after àúï the words áîúéê áäèàú áëìÎâáåìéê . Since now áîúéê might very easily become áîçéø , especially if we consider the difficulty of this word, it is very natural to perceive in the latter a corruption of the former. The unmeaningness of the sentence then led to the addition of ìàֹ which is wanting in the LXX. The author of the gloss might also have had in mind passages like Isa_45:13; Isa_52:3; Isa_55:1. What occasioned the deviation from Jer_17:3 it is difficult to tell. At any rate, if the words are to yield any sense, the first å must be rendered by “and indeed” (comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 111, 1), and åááìÎâáåìéê be referred to the first section of the verse.
Jer_15:14.— åäòáøúé . In Jer_17:4 we have åäòáãúéê , which is also given by the LXX., Syr., Chald. The Hiphil from òáø is evidently a corruption, but in the gloss the genuine text, and therefore to be retained, although no commentator has yet been able to give a satisfactory explanation of it. From ìà éãòú we see that the people (at any rate with the previously mentioned treasures) is regarded as the object.—Comp. Jer_9:15.
Jer_15:14.— ëִּéÎàֵù , etc. The words are taken verbatim, from Deu_32:22, while in Jer_17:4 we have ÷ְãַçְúֶּí (transit. as in Isa_1:11; Isa_64:1). For òֲìֵéëֶí we find in Jer_17:4 more appropriately òַã òåֹìָí .
Jer_15:15.— ìְ as in ìֶàֱîåּðָä , Jer_9:2; ìַîִּùְׁôָè , Jer_30:11. Comp. Isa_11:3; Isa_32:1.
Jer_15:16.— ãáøéê . The Chethibh ãְáָ ֽøְêָ is quite impertinent. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 105, 4 b, 3.
Jer_15:18.— ðֶöַç : Subst. (comp. Psa_74:3; 1Ch_29:11) = perpetuitas. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 74.
Jer_15:18.— àֲðåּùָׁä , comp. Jer_30:15; Isa_17:11; Mic_1:9.
Jer_15:18.— àַëְæָá . Comp. Mic_1:14. It is the opposite of ðַçַì àֵéúָï , Deu_21:4; Amo_5:24. Comp. Exo_14:27.
Jer_15:19-21
If thou return, I will cause thee again to stand before me;
And if thou bring forth the precious without the base, thou shalt be as my mouth.
They shall return to thee, but thou shalt not return to them.
20 And I will make thee to this people a brazen wall, a strong one;
And they will contend against thee, but not prevail over thee;
For I am with thee to deliver
And to preserve thee, saith Jehovah.
21 And I preserve thee from the hand of the wicked,
And redeem thee from the might of the violent.
Jer_15:19. Therefore thus … return to them.—If thou return. In these words there is evidently a gentle reproof. In the preceding context, especially Jer_15:18, the prophet had allowed himself to be carried away into doubt of the fidelity and trustworthiness of the Lord. In this there was an element of alienation from the Lord. Without entering on a confutation or accusing the prophet directly of his departure, he gives him to understand that such a departure has taken place only by the conditional sentence, “If thou return.” For turning back presupposes a turning away. Comp. Jer_4:1.—To stand before me, in the sense of mediatorship, which at the same time includes the honor of a servant and of one who stands very near his Lord: Jer_15:1; Jer_18:20; Jer_35:19; Jer_40:10.—Bring forth, etc. From the context such a bringing forth only can be spoken of as on the one hand is opposed to the blameworthy utterances of the prophet in Jer_15:18, and as on the other hand qualifies him to be the Lord’s mouth. äåöéà is therefore to be taken in the sense in which it occurs, ex. gr. in Job_15:13, which passage has in general a remarkable resemblance to the present. Then îִï is away from, far from, without. Comp. Jer_10:14; Job_11:15; Job_21:9. Vid.Naegelsb. Gr. § 112, 5 d.—On the subject-matter comp. Exo_4:16.—They, etc. The triumph of a witness of the truth consists in this that his opponents finally agree to his testimony. Comp. Pro_16:7.
Jer_15:20-21. And I will … violent. The Lord confirms the prophet in his office and His promise in the same words in which He had assured him of both in the beginning, Jer_1:18-19.—Brazen wall. [“The Roman Poet felt something of the great truth contained in these divine words, when he said,
‘Hicmurus aheneusesto,
Nil conscire sibi, nulla pallescere culpa.’
(Horat. I. Epist. 1:60).” Wordsworth.—S. E. A.]
2. “In earnest and hearty prayer there is a conflict between the spirit and the flesh. The flesh regards the greatness of the sins, and conceives of God as a severe Judge and morose being, who either will not help further or cannot. The spirit, on the other hand, adheres to the name of God, i. e., to His promise; he apprehends God by faith as his true comfort and aid, and depends upon Him.” Cramer.
3. On Jer_14:9 a. “Ideo non vult Deus cito dare, ut discas ardentius orare.” Augustine.
4. On Jer_14:9 b. “Quia in baptismo nomen Domini, i. e., totius SS. et individuæ Trinitatis super nos quoque invocatum est, eo et ipso nos in fœdus Dei recepti sumus et inde populus Dei salutamur.” Förster.
5. On Jer_14:10. “So long as the sinner remains unchanged and uncontrite God cannot remove the punishment of the sin (Jer_26:13).” Starke.—“Quotidie crescit pœna, quia quotidie crescit et culpa.” Augustine.
6. On Jer_14:11-12. [“We further gather from this passage that fasting is not in itself a religious duty or exercise, but that it refers to another end. Except then they who fast have a regard to what is thereby intended—that there may be a greater alacrity in prayer—that it may be an evidence of humility in confessing their sins,—and that they may also strive to subdue all their lusts;—except these things be regarded, fasting becomes a frivolous exercise, nay, a profanation of God’s worship, it being only superstitious. We hence see that fastings are not only without benefit except when prayers are added, and those objects which I have stated are regarded, but that they provoke the wrath of God as all superstitions do, for His worship is polluted.” Calvin.—S. R. A.] “Unbelief is a mortal sin, so that by it the good is turned into evil. For fasting or praying is good; but when the man who does it has no faith it becomes sin (Psa_109:7).” Cramer.
7. On Jer_14:14. “He who would be a preacher must have a regular appointment. In like form for all parts of divine worship we must have God’s word and command for our support. If we have it not all is lost.” Cramer.
8. On Jer_14:14 (I have not sent them). “This does not come at all into the account now-a-days; and I do not know, whether to such a preacher, let him have obtained his office as he may, in preaching, absolution, marrying and exorcising, or on any other occasion, when he appeals to his calling before the congregation or against the devil, the thought once occurs, whether he is truly sent by God. Thus the example of the sons of Sceva (Act_19:14; Act_19:16) is no longer considered, and it appears that the devil is not yet disposed by such frightful occurrences to interrupt the atheistical carelessness of the teachers.” Zinzendorf.
9. On Jer_14:15. “The example of Pashur and others shortly afterwards confirms this discourse. This is an important point. One should however, with that modesty and prudence, which Dr. Wiesmann (Prof. of Theol. in Tübingen), who seems called of God to be a writer of church history, in his Introd. in Memorabilia historiæ sacræ N. T. (1731 and 1745) which I could wish were in the hands of all teachers, repeatedly recommends, have regard to this also, when so-called judgments on the wicked are spoken of, that when the Lord in His wisdom and omnipotence exercises justice on such transgressors by temporal judgments, these are often a blessing to them and the yet remaining means of their salvation. It is related that a certain clergyman in a Saxon village, about the year 1730, felt such a judgment upon himself and his careless ministry, and after happy and humble preparation on a usual day of fasting and prayer, presented himself before his church as an example, and exercised on himself what is called church discipline, whereupon he is said to have fallen down dead with the words,
‘My sin is deep and very great,
And fills my heart with grief.
O for thy agony and death,
Grant me, I pray, relief.’
He is no doubt more blessed, and his remembrance more honorable, than thousands of others, who are praised by their colleagues in funeral discourses as faithful pastors, and at the same time, or already before, are condemned in the first but invisible judgment as dumb dogs, wolves or hirelings.” Zinzendorf.
10. On Jer_14:16. “Although preachers lead their hearers astray, yet the hearers are not thus excused. But when they allow themselves to be led astray, the blind and those who guide them fall together into the ditch (Luk_6:39).” Cramer. [“When sinners are overwhelmed with trouble, they must in it see their own wickedness poured upon them. This refers to the wickedness both of the false prophets and the people; the blind lead the blind, and both fall together into the ditch, where they will be miserable comforters one to another.” Henry.—S. R. A.]
11. On Jer_14:19. Chrysostom refers to Rom_11:1 sqq., where the answer to the prophet’s question is to be found.
12. On Jer_14:21. “Satan has his seat here and there (Rev_2:13). I should like to know why the Saviour may not also have His cathedral. Assuredly He has, and where one stands He knows how to maintain it, and to preserve the honor of the academy.” Zinzendorf.
[“Good men lay the credit of religion, and its profession in the world, nearer their hearts than any private interest or concern of their own; and those are powerful pleas in prayer which are fetched from thence, and great supports to faith. We may be sure that God will not disgrace the throne of His glory, on earth; nor will He eclipse the glory of His throne by one providence, without soon making it shine forth, and more brightly than before, by another. God will be no loser in His honor in the long run.” Henry.—S. R. A.]
13. On Jer_14:22. “Testimony to the omnipotence of God, for His are both counsel and deed (Pro_8:14). Use it for consolation in every distress and for the true apodictica [demonstration] of all articles of Christian faith, however impossible they may appear.” Cramer.—[“The sovereignty of God should engage, and His all-sufficiency encourage, our attendance on Him, and our expectations from Him, at all times.” Henry.—“Hence may be learned a useful doctrine—that there is no reason why punishments, which are signs of God’s wrath, should discourage us so as to prevent us from venturing to seek pardon from Him; but on the contrary a form of prayer is here prescribed for us; for if we are convinced that we have been chastised by God’s hand, we are on this very account encouraged to hope for salvation; for it belongs to Him who wounds to heal, and to Him who kills to restore to life.” Calvin.—S. R. A.]
14. On Jer_15:1. On the part of the Catholics it is maintained that “hoc loco refellitur hæreticorum error … orationes defunctorum sanctorum nihil prodesse vivis. Contrarium enim potius ex hisce arguendum suggeritur, nempe istiusmodi sanctorum mortuorum orationes et fieri coram Deo solere pro viventibus, et quando viventes ipsi non posuerint ex semet obicem, illas esse iis maxime proficuas. Ghisl. Tom. II. p. 296). To this it is replied on the part of the Protestants. 1. Enuntiatio isthæc plane est hypothetica. 2. Eo tantum spectat, ut si Moses et Samuel in vivis adhuc essent, adeoque in his terris pro populo preces interponerent suas, perinde ut ille, Exodus 32. hic vero 1 Samuel 7. (Förster, S. 86).” He also adds two testimonies of the fathers against the invocation of saints. One from Augustine, who (contra Maximin., L. 1), calls such invocation sacrilegium, the other from Epiphanius who (Hæres 2) names it an error seductorum, and adds “non sanctos colimus, sed sanctorum dominum.”—That the intercession of the living for each other is effective, Cramer testifies, saying “Intercession is powerful, and is not without fruit, when he who prays and he for whom he prays are of like spirit.” Comp. Rom_15:30; 2Co_1:11; Eph_6:18-19; 1Ti_2:1-2; 1Jn_5:16. [To the same effect also Calvin and Henry.—S. R. A.]
15. On Jer_15:4 b. “Scilicet in vulgus manant exempla regentum, utque ducum lituos, sic mores castra sequuntur.”—“Non sic inflectere sensus humanos edicta valent ut vita regentum.”—“Qualis rex talis grex.” Förster.
16. “God keeps an exact protocol [register] of sins, and visits them to the third and fourth generation.” Cramer. [“See what uncertain comforts children are; and let us therefore rejoice in them as though we rejoiced not.” Henry.—S. R. A]
17. On Jer_15:5. “When God abandons us we are abandoned also by the holy angels, and all creatures. For as at court when two eyes are turned away the whole court turns away; so when the Lord turns away all His hosts turn away also.” Cramer.
18. On Jer_15:7. “God as a faithful husbandman has all kinds of instruments for cleaning His grain. He has two kinds of besoms and two kinds of winnowing-fan. With one He cleanses, winnows the grain and sweeps the floor, so that the chaff may be separated from the good wheat. This is done by the Fatherly cross. But if this does not avail He takes in hand the besom of destruction.” Cramer.
19. On Jer_15:10. “The witnesses of Jesus have the name among others of being hard and rough people, from whom they cannot escape without quarreling. It is not only a reproach which Ahab and such like make to Elijah, ‘Art thou he that troubleth Israel?’ (1Ki_19:17). But even true-hearted people like Obadiah do not thoroughly trust to them; every one has the thought, if they would only behave more gently it would be just as well and make less noise. Meanwhile the poor Elijah is sitting there, knowing not what to do; a Jeremiah laments the day of his birth … why am I then such a monster? Why such an apple of discord? What manner have I? How do I speak? ‘For when I speak, they are for war’ (Psa_120:7). He does not at once remember that they called the master Beelzebub, and persecuted all the prophets before him; that his greatest sin is that he cares for the interests of Jesus in opposition to Satan.” Zinzendorf. [“Even those who are most quiet and peaceable, if they serve God faithfully, are often made men of strife. We can but follow peace; we have the making only of one side of the bargain, and therefore can but, as much as in us lies, live peaceably.” Henry.—S. R. A.]
20. On Jer_15:10 b. (I have neither lent nor borrowed at usury). “My dear Jeremiah! Thou mightest have done that; that is according to the custom of the country, there would be no such noise about that. There is no instance of a preacher being persecuted because he cared for his household. But to take payment in such natural products as human souls, that is ground of distrust, that is going too far, that thou carriest too high, and thou must be more remiss therein, otherwise all will rise up against thee; thou wilt be suspended, removed, imprisoned or in some way made an end of, for that is pure disorder and innovation, that smacks of spiritual revolutionary movements.” Zinzendorf.
21. On Jer_15:15 a. (Thou knowest that for thy sake I have suffered reproach). “This is the only thing that a servant of the Lamb of God should care for, that he does indeed suffer not the least in that he has disguised and disfigured the doctrine of God and his Saviour. &helli