Verse 1
Jeremiah 15:1. Then said the
Lord unto me, &c. — This is the
Lord’s answer to the fervent
prayers of Jeremiah, contained
in the last four verses of the
preceding chapter. Though Moses
and Samuel stood before me — By
prayer or sacrifice to reconcile
me to them; yet my mind could
not be toward this people — Yet
I could not be prevailed with to
admit them into favour. “As God
had forbidden Jeremiah before to
intercede for them, because it
would be to no purpose; so here
he declares, that he would not
admit the prayers of any others,
though eminent favourites, in
their behalf. Moses obtained
pardon for the people after
their sin in making the golden
calf, Exodus 32:34; and again,
after their despising the
promised land, Numbers 14:20.
Samuel’s intercession prevailed
for their deliverance out of the
hands of the Philistines, 1
Samuel 7:9. And these two
persons are mentioned together,
as remarkably prevalent by their
prayers, Psalms 99:6; Psalms
99:8. But here God says, that if
these very persons were alive,
and in that near attendance to
him which they formerly enjoyed,
(for that is the import of the
phrase, To stand before him,)
yet even their prayers should
not avert his judgments from
this people.” — Lowth. Cast them
out of my sight — Declare that
they shall be cast out, as that
which is in the highest degree
odious and offensive; or tell
them to come no more to me with
their supplications, but to go
out of my sanctuary. A strong
declaration of determined
displeasure. Thus the Lord
dismisses them with a severity
whereof we have few examples in
Scripture. See Ezekiel 14:14;
Ezekiel 14:16.
Verses 2-5
Jeremiah 15:2-5. If they say
unto thee, Whither shall we go
forth? — If they ask thee what
thou meanest by going forth, and
whither they shall go: thou
shalt tell them, Such as are for
death to death, &c. — In
general, You shall go forth,
saith God, to ruin and
destruction; but shall not be
all destroyed in one and the
same way, but every one shall
perish in that way which God
hath appointed: some shall be
destroyed by the pestilence,
(for that is here to be
understood by death, Revelation
6:8, it being death without
visible means,) others shall be
destroyed by famine, others by
the sword of the enemy, others
shall go into captivity; but one
way or other the greatest part
of you shall be consumed. And I
will appoint over them four
kinds — Namely, of destroyers.
The sword to slay — And those
that are slain by it shall not
enjoy the common rites of
burial, but their carcasses
shall be left a prey to the
dogs, the birds, and the wild
beasts, which last shall both
tear their living bodies and
their dead carcasses. And I will
cause them to be removed into
all kingdoms, &c. — Though the
body of the people were removed
into Babylon, yet it is more
than probable that many of them
became voluntary exiles to avoid
the miseries which they saw
coming upon their country. And,
without doubt, the king of
Babylon removed them into
several kingdoms belonging to
his large empire. These, it must
be observed, are the very words
of Moses, (Deuteronomy 28:25,)
where he threatens the
Israelites with a general
dispersion over the world, which
threatening received its
completion, in part, by the
Babylonish captivity, but more
perfectly after the destruction
of Jerusalem by the Romans.
Because of Manasseh — In
idolatry and other abominations
he exceeded all the kings that
preceded him: see 2 Kings
21:7-11. In his time the public
worship of God was wholly
suppressed, and idolatry
introduced into the very temple;
the law of God was likewise
quite laid aside, and, in a
manner, forgotten, as appears by
the surprise Hilkiah was in when
he found the original copy of
the law in the house of the
Lord. So that his sins filled up
the measure of the Jews’
iniquities; and therefore,
notwithstanding the reformation
wrought afterward by Josiah, the
Lord turned not from the
fierceness of his wrath kindled
against Judah: see 2 Kings 23:26
and 2 Kings 24:3-4. It must be
observed, however, that it was
not merely for his sins, or the
sins of his times, that God so
dreadfully punished the Jews in
the days of Jehoiakim and
Zedekiah; but it was also, and
especially because they imitated
the wicked example which
Manasseh had set them, the
reformation effected by Josiah
being only partial, and of not
long continuance. For who shall,
or, who will, have pity upon
thee, O Jerusalem — Thy sins
render thee unworthy of pity,
and all that see the calamities
brought upon thee will
acknowledge them to be just. Who
will go aside, &c. — Who will be
so much concerned for thee as to
step a little out of his way to
inquire after thee; a common
instance of respect between
persons in any degree
acquainted. Rather they that
pass by will insult over thy
calamities.
Verse 6-7
Jeremiah 15:6-7. Thou hast
forsaken me, thou art gone
backward — God here, by more
expressions of the same import
with many that we have before
met with, declares his steady
resolution to destroy them for
their apostacy from him; and
represents himself as an angry
prince or parent, that had
frequently been provoked by a
subject or child whom he had
often resolved to punish, but
out of his clemency, or upon the
mediation of others, had altered
his mind, and resolved to spare
him; but afterward had met with
so many fresh provocations that
his patience was quite tired
out, and he was determined to
bear no longer. I will fan them
with a fan — Not a purging fan,
to separate the chaff from them,
but a scattering fan, to
disperse and scatter them to all
the winds, as Ezekiel expresses
it, Ezekiel 5:12. In the gates
of the land — He alludes to a
man standing in the gate of his
thrashing-floor to fan and
cleanse his corn. I will deprive
them of children — The words, of
children, are not in the Hebrew,
and are unnecessarily supplied:
it may as well be of any, or all
their comforts and good things.
I will destroy my people — The
privilege they claim of being my
people shall not protect them
while they go on in their sinful
courses.
Verse 8
Jeremiah 15:8. Their widows are
increased above the sand of the
seas — A hyperbolical
expression. The prophet still
speaks of things to come as if
present. In Jehoiakim’s time we
read of no great number of
widows, but they were
exceedingly multiplied when the
city was besieged and taken in
Zedekiah’s time. I have brought
upon them against the mother,
&c. — Blaney renders this and
the next clause, I have brought
against their mother a chosen
one, spoiling at noon-day; I
have caused to fall upon her
suddenly an enemy and terrors.
By the mother here we are to
understand Jerusalem, the
mother-city, as she is termed in
the margin, against which
Nebuchadnezzar, the spoiler, was
sent, and who came, not
secretly, as a thief by night,
but openly, with an army at
noon-day. “Nebuchadnezzar might
be called a chosen one,” says
Blaney, “as being selected by
God to be the instrument and
executioner of his vengeance. In
the margin of our Bibles, בחורis
rendered a young man; and this
also would very properly
characterize the same person.
For Josephus (Contra Apion, lib.
1.) cites from Berosus, the
Chaldean historian, a passage to
the following purport: that
‘Nabopollassar, king of Babylon,
hearing that the provinces of
Egypt, Cœlo-Syria, and Phœnice
had revolted, and being himself
infirm through age, sent a part
of his forces under his son
Nebuchadnezzar, then in the
prime of youth, οντι ετι εν
ηλικια, by whom those provinces
were again reduced.’ This was
the expedition said to have been
undertaken by him in the third
year of Jehoiakim, king of
Judah, in the course of which,
after having first defeated the
Egyptian army at Carchemish, he
laid siege to Jerusalem, took
and plundered it, carrying away
much spoil and many captives to
Babylon.” See Jeremiah 46:2;
Daniel 1:1-3; 2 Kings 24:1.
Verse 9
Jeremiah 15:9. She that hath
borne seven languisheth — Seven
is put for many, (see 1 Samuel
2:5,) and the multitude of the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, the
mother-city, is here alluded to;
the prophet pursuing the
metaphor of the former verse,
and describing the mother-city
under the figure of a woman that
had been fruitful, but was now
become feeble, and bore no
children. He means that the
people of Judah, which had been
very numerous, were now greatly
diminished. Her sun is gone down
while it was yet day — In the
midst of her prosperity she is
reduced to this state of misery,
being of a sudden overwhelmed
with the greatest calamities,
when she might have expected a
long continuance of happiness.
The expression is extremely
strong, and denotes a sudden
change from the highest dignity
to the lowest abasement. She
hath been ashamed and confounded
— The judgments of God oppressed
and confounded a part of the
Jews before their captivity. And
the residue of them — The
remainder of them, saith God,
shall be destroyed by the sword
of the enemy.
Verse 10-11
Jeremiah 15:10-11. Wo is me, my
mother — The prophet here
complains of the opposition he
met with from his countrymen for
speaking unwelcome truths. Thou
hast borne me a man of
contention to the whole earth —
Or, whole land, rather. I am the
object of common hatred; every
body takes occasion to quarrel
with me, because I speak truths
which they do not like to hear.
I have neither lent upon usury,
&c. — “The Jews were forbidden
to take usury of their brethren,
(Deuteronomy 23:19,) especially
of the poor, (Exodus 22:25,)
which was thought so great an
oppression that it made the man
who was guilty of it hated and
cursed by every one. The prophet
says that he had never done
this, and yet every body was his
enemy, only for delivering those
messages which he had received
from God.” The Lord said, Verily
it shall be well with thy
remnant — The latter words of
this verse expound the former:
for by שׁרית, remnant, or
residue, is meant the remnant of
days that Jeremiah had to live.
Verily, I will cause the enemy
to entreat thee well — I will by
my providence so order it that
how cruelly and severely soever
the enemy may deal with thy
countrymen, yet they shall use
thee kindly when they shall take
the city. This was accordingly
fulfilled: the Chaldeans, when
they took Jerusalem, and carried
the inhabitants of the land into
captivity, treated Jeremiah with
great kindness, giving him his
choice to go where he pleased,
and bestowing gifts upon him, as
we read Jeremiah 39:11; Jeremiah
40:3-4.
Verse 12
Jeremiah 15:12. Shall iron break
the northern iron? — The
northern iron is the hardest of
any. “It is here,” says Blaney,
“justly supposed to denote, in a
primary sense, that species of
hardened iron, or steel, called
in Greek χαλυψ, from the
Chalybes, a people bordering on
the Euxine sea, and consequently
lying to the north of Judea, by
whom the art of tempering steel
is said to have been discovered.
Strabo speaks of this people as
known in former times by the
name of Chalybes, but afterward
called Chaldæi, and mentions
their iron mines, lib. 12. p.
549. These, however, were a
different people from the
Chaldeans who were united with
the Babylonians.” “The words, if
applied to Jeremiah, import thus
much, that, as common iron
cannot contend for hardness with
the northern iron, or with
steel, so the opposition which
the Jews made against him should
be easily vanquished and
disappointed, because the Lord
was with him to save him,
Jeremiah 15:20. If the words
relate to the Jews, as the
following verses plainly do, the
sense is, that the Chaldeans
coming from the north would be
as much too hard for them to
engage with, as the northern
iron was superior in strength to
the common metal of that kind.”
— Lowth. But perhaps the
expression is not merely
metaphorical: it is not unlikely
that the Babylonians had their
armour from the Chalybes, and
that therefore it was made of
iron much harder, and of much
better proof, than that of which
the armour of the Jews was
formed.
Verse 13-14
Jeremiah 15:13-14. Here God
turns his speech from the
prophet to the people. Thy
substance and thy treasures will
I give to the spoil — All thy
riches and precious things shall
be spoiled: there shall be no
price taken for the redemption
of them. For all thy sins in all
thy borders — All parts of the
country, even those which lay
most remote, had contributed to
the national guilt, and all
shall be brought to account. And
I will make thee to pass with
thine enemies, &c. — They shall
stay in their own country till
they see their estates and all
their property ruined, and then
they shall be carried into
captivity, to spend the remains
of a miserable life in slavery.
And all this is the fruit of
God’s wrath; for a fire, says
he, is kindled in mine anger,
which shall burn upon you — And,
if not extinguished in time,
will burn to eternity.
Verse 15-16
Jeremiah 15:15-16. O Lord, thou
knowest — Thou knowest my
sincerity, how faithfully I have
declared thy will: or, thou
knowest my sufferings, how
wickedly my enemies act toward
me. It is matter of comfort to
us, that, whatever befalls us,
we have a God to go to, before
whom we may spread our case, and
to whose omniscience we may
appeal, as the prophet here
does. Remember me, and visit me
— Think upon me for good, and
visit me with thy love, while
this people are visited with thy
wrath. Revenge me — Or, rather,
Vindicate me, from my
persecutors, as the Hebrew, לי
מרדפי הנקם, may be properly
rendered: give judgment against
them, and let that judgment be
executed so far as is necessary
for my vindication, and to
compel them to acknowledge that
they have done me wrong: see
note on Jeremiah 11:20. Take me
not away in thy longsuffering —
While thou exercisest
long-suffering toward my
persecutors, and forbearest to
vindicate my cause and defend
me, let them not prevail to take
away my life. Or, as some
understand his words, Though I
am a sinner, and deserve to be
punished as such among the Jews,
yet exercise toward me patience
and long-suffering, and let me
not be taken away into
captivity. Know that for thy
sake I have suffered rebuke —
Lord, remember that my reproach,
and all that I suffer, is for
thy sake, because I have
faithfully declared thy truth,
and defended thy honour and
glory. Thy words were found, and
I did eat them — The words
which, from time to time, thou
didst reveal to me, were by me
readily received, meditated
upon, and inwardly digested. And
thy word was unto me the joy,
&c., of my heart — That is,
either, 1st, Though some of thy
words were very dreadful, and
foretold the ruin of my country,
which is very dear to me, and in
the ruin of which I cannot but
have a deep share, yet, because
they proceeded from thee, I was
glad to hear them, and be thy
instrument to communicate them
to thy people, all my natural
affections being swallowed up in
zeal for thy glory. Or, 2d, Thy
word of commission, by which I
was made thy prophet, was at
first very grateful and pleasing
to me; and I was glad when thou
didst, at any time, reveal thy
will to me, and authorize and
enjoin me to make it known to
the people. For though the
execution of this office was not
attended with any secular
advantages, but, on the
contrary, exposed me to contempt
and persecution, yet, because I
was thereby serving and
glorifying thee, and doing good,
I was glad to be so employed,
and it was my meat and drink to
do thy will. For I am called by
thy name, O Lord God of hosts —
I became a prophet by thy
authority, and am thy messenger,
and thou, the Lord of hosts, art
able to protect me.
Verse 17-18
Jeremiah 15:17-18. I sat not in
the assembly of the mockers —
Or, of those that make merry, as
משׂחקים is elsewhere rendered:
see Jeremiah 30:19; Jeremiah
31:4. Jeremiah soon found that
the joy which he had conceived
in being called to the prophetic
office, and favoured with
extraordinary communications
from God, was turned into
heaviness, God continually
filling his mouth with dreadful
messages, and his prophecies
containing nothing but terrible
denunciations of wrath against a
sinful people. Hence his whole
prophetical life was to him a
time of sorrow and solitude, a
time when he sat alone mourning
and weeping, in secret, for the
indignation of God, revealed to
him against his people; nor
rejoiced — I did not, with the
deriders and scorners of thy
word, give a loose to joy and
mirth at a time when thy severe
judgments were denounced, and
when the most dreadful
calamities hung over the
country. Because of thy hand —
God’s hand may be understood of
his judgments, which, being
denounced by the prophet, might
be resembled to a hand stretched
out, and just ready to strike;
or else of the prophetical
impulse which was strong upon
Jeremiah, and, in a manner,
forced him to be the messenger
of evil tidings. God’s
judgments, as they were
represented to the prophets,
often raised such dreadful ideas
in their minds as affected them
in an extraordinary manner,
especially if their threatenings
concerned their own country, or
the church of God. Why is my
pain perpetual, &c. — These seem
evidently to be the words of
Jeremiah, complaining of the
hard task which God had put upon
him, continually filling his
mouth with such bitter words of
evil against the people as
exposed him to their most
implacable rage, so that his
misery seemed like an incurable
wound, attended with
excruciating pain, for which
there was no remedy but
patience. Wilt thou be
altogether to me as a liar, and
waters that fail? — No, I know
thou wilt not. God is not a man
that he should lie. The fountain
of life will never be to his
people as waters that fail. The
sense is, “Thou hast promised to
be my defence against mine
enemies; and wilt thou
altogether deceive me? like
little brooks, which are dried
up in summer, when they are most
wanted, and so disappoint the
thirsty traveller: see Job 6:15.
The prophet here sets down the
perplexities he laboured under,
by reason of the opposition he
continually met with from
ungodly men, in the execution of
his office; just as the psalmist
relates the misgivings of his
mind when he was under great
troubles and temptations. But
then presently he checks such
thoughts, calls to mind God’s
gracious promises, and
encourages himself to rely upon
him. And the like encouragements
are recorded in the following
verses of this chapter.” —
Lowth.
Verses 19-21
Jeremiah 15:19-21. Therefore
thus saith the Lord — In these
verses we have God’s gracious
answer to the preceding
expostulation. Though the
prophet betrayed much human
frailty in his address, yet God
vouchsafed to answer him with
good and comfortable words, for
he knows our frame. If thou
return — Namely, from thy
diffidence and distrust in my
providence and promises; then
will I bring thee again, and
thou shalt stand before me — I
will restore thee to the former
favour thou hadst with me, and
thou shalt be my prophet, to
reveal my mind to the people.
And if thou take the precious
from the vile — If thou separate
the precious truths of God from
the vile fancies of men; or
rather, if thou preach so as to
distinguish good and bad men
from each other, encouraging the
good, and reproving the wicked,
then I will continue thee as my
prophet, to speak in my name;
and thou wilt answer the
character of a true prophet,
whose office it is to utter the
words that God puts into his
mouth, without adding thereto,
or diminishing from them. Let
them return unto thee, &c. — He
here charges the prophet to keep
his ground, and not to go over
to wicked men, but to use his
endeavour to reduce them to that
obedience which he yielded to
God. And I will make thee unto
this people a fenced wall —
Which the storm batters and
beats violently upon, but cannot
shake; and they shall fight
against thee — They will still
continue their opposition; but
they shall not prevail — Namely,
to drive thee from off thy work,
or to cut thee off from the land
of the living. For I am with
thee to save thee — And I have
wisdom and power enough to deal
with the most formidable enemy.
I will deliver thee out of the
hand of the wicked — The wicked
Jews; and out of the hand of the
terrible — The power of the
terrible Chaldeans, into whose
hands thou shalt come, but shalt
be preserved from any harm by
the workings of my providence in
thy favour. |