King James Version
Jeremiah 12
17 verses with commentary
Jeremiah's Question
Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously? talk: or, reason the case with thee
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse opens Jeremiah's complaint: 'Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee.' The Hebrew tsaddiq attah (צַדִּיק אַתָּה) affirms God's righteousness as foundation for the complaint. 'Plead with thee' (riv, contend legally) indicates formal disputation—Jeremiah brings his case to God's court. 'Yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments.' The prophet requests dialogue about mishpatim (...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) **Yet let me talk with thee.**—The soul of the prophet is vexed, as had been the soul of Job (Jeremiah 21:7), of Asaph (Psalms 73), and others, by the apparent anomalies of the divine government. He owns as a general truth that God is righteous, “yet,” he adds, *I will speak *(or *argue*)* my cause *(literally, *causes*)* with Thee. *He will question the divine Judge till his doubt is removed....
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**24. Who--**Their calamity was not the work of chance, but God's immediate act for their sins.
**Jacob ... Israel ... we--**change from the third to the first person; Isaiah first speaking to them as a prophet, distinct from them; then identifying himself with them, and acknowledging His share in the nation's sins (compare Jos 5:1).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 12
Jeremiah complains of the prosperity of the wicked. (Jr 12:1-6) The heavy judgments to come upon the nation. (Jr 12:7-13) Divine mercy to them, and even to the nations around. (Jr 12:14-17)
**Verses 1-6** When we are most in the dark concerning God's dispensations, we must keep up right thoughts of God, believing that he never did the least wrong to any of his creatures. When we f...
Read full commentary →Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins. they grow: Heb. they go on
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse describes the wicked's condition: 'Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root.' The Hebrew verb nata (נָטַע, plant) uses agricultural imagery—God Himself established them. 'They grow, yea, they bring forth fruit.' They flourish and are productive. 'Thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.' This is the key accusation: they speak of God (YHWH is 'near in mouth') but ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Thou hast planted them.**—The words express, of course, the questioning distrust of the prophet. The wicked flourish, so that one would think God had indeed planted them. Yet all the while they were mocking Him with hypocritical worship (here we have an echo of Isaiah 29:13), uttering His name with their lips while He was far from that innermost being which the Hebrew symbolised by the “rein...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25. him--**Israel (Is 42:24).
**strength of battle--**violence of war.
**it--**the battle or war (compare Is 10:16).
**knew not--**knew not the lesson of repentance which the judgment was intended to teach (Is 5:13; 9:13; Jr 5:3).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 12
Jeremiah complains of the prosperity of the wicked. (Jr 12:1-6) The heavy judgments to come upon the nation. (Jr 12:7-13) Divine mercy to them, and even to the nations around. (Jr 12:14-17)
**Verses 1-6** When we are most in the dark concerning God's dispensations, we must keep up right thoughts of God, believing that he never did the least wrong to any of his creatures. When we f...
Read full commentary →But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter. toward: Heb. with thee
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse contrasts Jeremiah with the wicked: 'But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee.' Jeremiah's heart is open to God's examination. 'Knowest' (yada'tani) is intimate relational knowledge; 'seen' (re'itani) indicates direct observation; 'tried' (bachan) means tested and proven genuine. 'Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for t...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Thou, O Lord, knowest me.**—Like all faithful sufferers from evil-doers before and after him, the prophet appeals to the righteous Judge, who knows how falsely he has been accused. In words in which the natural impatience of suffering shows itself as clearly as in the complaints of Psalms 69, 109, he asks that the judgment may be immediate, open, terrible. As if recalling the very phrase whi...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 12
Jeremiah complains of the prosperity of the wicked. (Jr 12:1-6) The heavy judgments to come upon the nation. (Jr 12:7-13) Divine mercy to them, and even to the nations around. (Jr 12:14-17)
**Verses 1-6** When we are most in the dark concerning God's dispensations, we must keep up right thoughts of God, believing that he never did the least wrong to any of his creatures. When we f...
Read full commentary →How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse connects human sin to creation's suffering: 'How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein?' The Hebrew evel (אָבַל, mourn) applies to the land itself—creation groans under sin's burden (Romans 8:19-22). 'Herbs wither' (yavesh) describes agricultural suffering. 'The beasts are consumed, and the birds.' Even animals suff...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **How long shall the land mourn . . .**—The Hebrew punctuation gives a different division, *How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of the whole field *(*i.e., *all the open country) *wither? For the wickedness of them that dwell therein, cattle and birds perish, for, say they, he *(*i.e., *the prophet) *will not see our latter end *(*i.e., *we shall outlive him, though he prophesies our ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 43 Is 43:1-28. A Succession of Arguments Wherein Israel May Be Assured that, Notwithstanding Their Perversity towards God (Is 42:25), He Will Deliver and Restore Them.
**1. But now--**notwithstanding God's past just judgments for Israel's sins.
**created--**not only in the general sense, but specially created as a peculiar people unto Himself (Is 43:7, 15, 21; Is 44:2, 21, 24). So belie...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 12
Jeremiah complains of the prosperity of the wicked. (Jr 12:1-6) The heavy judgments to come upon the nation. (Jr 12:7-13) Divine mercy to them, and even to the nations around. (Jr 12:14-17)
**Verses 1-6** When we are most in the dark concerning God's dispensations, we must keep up right thoughts of God, believing that he never did the least wrong to any of his creatures. When we f...
Read full commentary →If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse contains God's challenging response: 'If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses?' Instead of answering Jeremiah's complaint, God escalates the challenge. If Anathoth's conspiracy exhausted him, how will he handle worse opposition? 'And if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **If thou hast run with the footmen.**—The prophet is compelled to make answer to himself, and the voice of Jehovah is heard in his inmost soul rebuking his impatience. What are the petty troubles that fall on him compared with what others suffer, with what might come on himself? The thought is not unlike that with which St. Paul comforts the Corinthians (1Corinthians 10:13), or what we find i...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. rivers ... not overflow thee--**so in passing Jordan, though at its "overflow," when its "swellings" were especially dangerous (Jos 3:15; Jr 12:5).
**waters ... fire--**a proverbial phrase for the extremest perils (Psa 66:12; also Psa 138:7). Literally fulfilled at the Red Sea (Ex 14:21, 22), and in the case of the three youths cast into the fiery furnace for conscience' sake (Da 3:25, 27).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 12
Jeremiah complains of the prosperity of the wicked. (Jr 12:1-6) The heavy judgments to come upon the nation. (Jr 12:7-13) Divine mercy to them, and even to the nations around. (Jr 12:14-17)
**Verses 1-6** When we are most in the dark concerning God's dispensations, we must keep up right thoughts of God, believing that he never did the least wrong to any of his creatures. When we f...
Read full commentary →For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee. they have called: or, they cried after thee fully fair: Heb. good things
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse reveals family treachery: 'For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee.' The Hebrew achekha (אַחֶיךָ, your brothers) and beit avikha (בֵּית אָבִיךָ, your father's house) indicate closest family. 'Dealt treacherously' (bagdu, from bagad—betray) describes covenant violation within family. 'Yea, they have called a multitude after thee.' ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Thy brethren.**—It is not certain whether we are to think actually of the sons of the same father, or only of the men of Anathoth (Jeremiah 11:23), as belonging to the same section of the priesthood. The language of Jeremiah 9:5 favours the more literal rendering. In any case, it is interesting to note that the proverb which our Lord more than once quotes, “A prophet is not without honour sa...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. Egypt for thy ransom--**Either Egypt or Israel must perish; God chose that Egypt, though so much more mighty, should be destroyed, in order that His people might be delivered; thus Egypt stood, instead of Israel, as a kind of "ransom." The Hebrew, kopher, means properly "that with which anything is overlaid," as the pitch with which the ark was overlaid; hence that which covers over sins, an ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 12
Jeremiah complains of the prosperity of the wicked. (Jr 12:1-6) The heavy judgments to come upon the nation. (Jr 12:7-13) Divine mercy to them, and even to the nations around. (Jr 12:14-17)
**Verses 1-6** When we are most in the dark concerning God's dispensations, we must keep up right thoughts of God, believing that he never did the least wrong to any of his creatures. When we f...
Read full commentary →I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. the dearly: Heb. the love
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse shifts to divine lament: 'I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.' God speaks of abandoning 'my house' (beti—temple and nation), 'my heritage' (nachalati—His special possession), 'dearly beloved of my soul' (yediduth nafshi—intensely affectionate language). This isn't cold judicial pronouncement but ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **I have forsaken mine house.**—The speaker is clearly Jehovah, but the connection with what precedes is not clear. Possibly we have, in this chapter, what in the writings of a poet would be called fragmentary pieces, written at intervals, and representing different phases of thought, and afterwards arranged without the devices of headings and titles and spaces with which modern bookmaking has...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. Since--**All along from the beginning; for there was never a time when Israel was not Jehovah's people. The apodosis should be at, "I will give." "Since ever thou wast precious in My sight, honorable, and that I loved thee, I will give," &c. [Maurer]. Gesenius, as English Version, takes "Since" to mean, "Inasmuch as." If the apodosis be as in English Version, "Since thou wast precious" wi...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-13** God's people had been the dearly-beloved of his soul, precious in his sight, but they acted so, that he gave them up to their enemies. Many professing churches become like speckled birds, presenting a mixture of religion and the world, with its vain fashions, pursuits, and pollutions. God's people are as men wondered at, as a speckled bird; but this people had by their own folly ma...
Read full commentary →Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it. crieth: or, yelleth: Heb. giveth out his voice
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse explains divine withdrawal: 'Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it.' The shocking imagery presents Israel as a lion roaring defiance against God. 'Crieth out against me' (natenak alay qolah) indicates hostile roaring, not pleading prayer. 'Therefore have I hated it.' The Hebrew saneti (שָׂנֵאתִי, hated) must be understood r...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **As a lion in the forest.**—*i.e., *fierce, wild, untamed, uttering its sharp yells of passion. That mood was utterly unlovable, and therefore, speaking after the manner of men, the love which Jehovah had once felt for it was turned to hatred.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
5. (De 30:3).
**seed--**descendants scattered in all lands. Vitringa understands it of the spiritual "seed" of the Church produced by mystical regeneration: for the expression is, "bring," not "bring back." This sense is perhaps included, but not to the exclusion of the literal Israel's restoration (Jr 30:10, 11; Am 9:9; Zec 2:6-13).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-13** God's people had been the dearly-beloved of his soul, precious in his sight, but they acted so, that he gave them up to their enemies. Many professing churches become like speckled birds, presenting a mixture of religion and the world, with its vain fashions, pursuits, and pollutions. God's people are as men wondered at, as a speckled bird; but this people had by their own folly ma...
Read full commentary →Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour. speckled: or, taloned come to: or, cause them to come to
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse adds another image: 'Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her.' The Hebrew ayit tzavu'a (עַיִט צָבוּעַ) means 'hyena bird' or 'speckled bird of prey'—Israel's distinctiveness makes her target for other predators. 'Come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour.' God summons wild beasts (chayath hasadeh) to consume His people. The ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird.**—The Hebrew is interrogative, *Is mine heritage . . .*? *Are the birds come round about against her? *The word for “bird” in both cases means a “bird of prey” (Isaiah 46:11; Genesis 15:11), and the “speckled bird” is probably, but not certainly, some less common species of vulture. The image was probably suggested by something the prophet had obs...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. Give up--**namely, My people.
**sons ... daughters--**The feminine joined to the masculine expresses the complete totality of anything (Zec 9:17).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-13** God's people had been the dearly-beloved of his soul, precious in his sight, but they acted so, that he gave them up to their enemies. Many professing churches become like speckled birds, presenting a mixture of religion and the world, with its vain fashions, pursuits, and pollutions. God's people are as men wondered at, as a speckled bird; but this people had by their own folly ma...
Read full commentary →Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. pleasant: Heb. portion of desire
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse describes devastation: 'Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.' 'Pastors' (ro'im, shepherds) here means foreign rulers/invaders. 'Vineyard' (kerem) and 'portion' (chelqah) are images for Israel and the promised land. 'Trodden under foot' (bus) indicates trampling, contemptuous destructio...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard.**—The use of the word “pastors,” with all its modern spiritual associations, instead of “shepherds” (Jeremiah is the only book in the Old Testament, it may be noted, in which the word occurs), is peculiarly unhappy in this passage, where the “pastors” are reckless and destructive. Here the image (as in Jeremiah 6:3) is that of the *shepherds *of a wi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. called by my name--**belong to Israel, whose people, as sons of God, bear the name of their Father (Is 44:5; 48:1).
**for my glory--**(Is 43:21; Is 29:23).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-13** God's people had been the dearly-beloved of his soul, precious in his sight, but they acted so, that he gave them up to their enemies. Many professing churches become like speckled birds, presenting a mixture of religion and the world, with its vain fashions, pursuits, and pollutions. God's people are as men wondered at, as a speckled bird; but this people had by their own folly ma...
Read full commentary →They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse intensifies desolation: 'They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me.' The Hebrew shemamah (שְׁמָמָה, desolation) appears twice, emphasizing completeness. The land 'mourns to me' (avelah alay)—addressing God with its grief. 'The whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.' 'No man layeth to heart' (ein ish sam al-lev) means no one considers, re...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **They have made it desolate.**—The Hebrew is impersonal. “*One has made it** . . .** ,” i.e., it is made desolate. *As in other poetry of strong emotion, the prophet dwells with a strange solemn iteration on the same sound—“desolate,” “desolate,” “desolate”—thrice in the same breath. The Hebrew word *shemâma, *so uttered, must have sounded like a wail of lamentation.
**Because no man layeth ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
8. Solemn challenge given by God to the nations to argue with Him the question of His superiority to their idols, and His power to deliver Israel (Is 41:1).
**blind people--**the Gentiles, who also, like Israel (Is 42:19), are blind (spiritually), though having eyes; that is, natural faculties, whereby they might know God (Ro 1:20, 21) [Lowth]. Or else, the Jews [Vitringa].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-13** God's people had been the dearly-beloved of his soul, precious in his sight, but they acted so, that he gave them up to their enemies. Many professing churches become like speckled birds, presenting a mixture of religion and the world, with its vain fashions, pursuits, and pollutions. God's people are as men wondered at, as a speckled bird; but this people had by their own folly ma...
Read full commentary →The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse describes invader's path: 'The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness.' 'Spoilers' (shod'dim, devastators) traverse the 'high places' (shephaim) and 'wilderness' (midbar)—complete geographic coverage. 'For the sword of the LORD shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land.' The invading army is 'sword of the LORD' (cherev laYHWH)—div...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **All high places.**—*i.e.*, the bare treeless heights so often chosen as the site of an idolatrous sanctuary.
**The sword of the Lord.**—As in the cry of “the sword of Jehovah and of Gideon” (Judges 7:18) all man’s work in war is thought of as instrumental in working out a Will mightier than his own. The sword of the Chaldean invader was, after all, His sword. The thought was more or less th...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. who ... can declare this--**who among the idolatrous soothsayers hath predicted this; that is, as to Cyrus being the deliverer of Israel?
**former--**predictions, as in Is 42:9 [Maurer]. Or, things that shall first come to pass (see on Is 41:21, 22) [Barnes].
**let them bring forth their witnesses--**as I do mine (Is 43:10).
**justified--**declared veracious in their pretended prophecie...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-13** God's people had been the dearly-beloved of his soul, precious in his sight, but they acted so, that he gave them up to their enemies. Many professing churches become like speckled birds, presenting a mixture of religion and the world, with its vain fashions, pursuits, and pollutions. God's people are as men wondered at, as a speckled bird; but this people had by their own folly ma...
Read full commentary →They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the LORD. they shall: or, ye shall
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse announces futile labor: 'They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns.' The Hebrew chitta (חִטָּה, wheat) versus qotsim (קֹצִים, thorns) reverses expected harvest. 'They have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit.' The Hebrew nichlah (נֶחֱלוּ, be sick, pain oneself) indicates exhausting effort without benefit (ya'il, profit). 'And they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **But shall reap thorns.**—Better, *have reaped thorns; *and so in the next clause *they have profited nothing. *This which is truer to the Hebrew is also truer to the Prophet’s meaning. The sentence of failure is already written on everything. The best plans are marred, the “wheat” turned to “thorns.” The words are obviously of the nature of a proverbial saying, of the same type as that of H...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. Ye--**the Jews, to whom I have given predictions, verified by the event; and in delivering whom I have so often manifested My power (see Is 43:3, 4; Is 44:8).
**and my servant--**that is, the whole Jewish people (Is 41:8).
**believe--**trust in.
**formed--**before I existed none of the false gods were formed. "Formed" applies to the idols, not to God. Re 1:11 uses the same language to ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-13** God's people had been the dearly-beloved of his soul, precious in his sight, but they acted so, that he gave them up to their enemies. Many professing churches become like speckled birds, presenting a mixture of religion and the world, with its vain fashions, pursuits, and pollutions. God's people are as men wondered at, as a speckled bird; but this people had by their own folly ma...
Read full commentary →Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse transitions to promise: 'Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit.' The 'evil neighbours' (shechenim hara'im) are surrounding nations who participated in Judah's destruction—Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia. 'Touch the inheritance' (noge'im banachalah) indicates violating Israel's God-given land. 'Behold...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Thus saith the Lord.**—The introduction of a new message from Jehovah, speaking through the prophet, is indicated by the usual formula.
**Mine evil neighbours.**—These were the neighbouring nations—Edomites, Moabites, Hagarenes—who rejoiced in the fall of Judah, and attacked her in her weakness (2Kings 24:2; Psalm 83:6-9; Psalm 137:7). In the midst of his burning indignation against the sin...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11. Lord--**Jehovah.
**saviour--**temporally, from Babylon: eternally, from sin and hell (Ho 13:4; Ac 4:12). The same titles as are applied to God are applied to Jesus.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-17** The Lord would plead the cause of his people against their evil neighbours. Yet he would afterwards show mercy to those nations, when they should learn true religion. This seems to look forward to the times when the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in. Those who would have their lot with God's people, and a last end like theirs, must learn their ways, and walk in them.
And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse promises post-judgment mercy: 'And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them.' The Hebrew shuv (שׁוּב, return) and racham (רָחַם, have compassion) promise divine restoration after judgment. 'And will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.' Return to nachalah (heritage) and erets (land) reverses e...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **I will return, and have compassion on them.**—The words refer, as Jeremiah 12:16 shows, not to Judah only, but to the “evil neighbours.” For them also there is hope, and that hope is bound up with the return of Judah. Strong as was the prophet’s desire for retribution, it is overpowered by the new love shed abroad in his soul, and he sees that it does not exclude, even in their case, the pi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. declared--**predicted the future (Is 41:22, 23).
**saved--**the nation, in past times of danger.
**showed--**namely, that I was God.
**when ... no strange god, &c.--**to whom the predictions uttered by Me could be assigned. "Strange" means foreign, introduced from abroad.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-17** The Lord would plead the cause of his people against their evil neighbours. Yet he would afterwards show mercy to those nations, when they should learn true religion. This seems to look forward to the times when the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in. Those who would have their lot with God's people, and a last end like theirs, must learn their ways, and walk in them.
And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The LORD liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse extends invitation to nations: 'And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The LORD liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal.' The Hebrew lamad (לָמַד, learn) applies to nations learning Israel's ways—reversing their previous teaching Israel Baal worship. 'Then shall they be built in the midst of my people.' 'Built' (niv...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **To swear by my name.**—There is an obvious reference to the hopes expressed in Jeremiah 4:2. To acknowledge Jehovah in all the most solemn forms of adjuration (comp. Jeremiah 5:2; Psalm 63:11), and to do this, not hypocritically, but in the spirit of reverence and righteousness, was the ideal state of the restored Judah. To be led by her example of faith and holiness, instead of leading her...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. before--**literally, from the time of the first existence of day.
**let--**Old English for "hinder" (Is 14:27). Rather, translate, "undo it" [Horsley].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-17** The Lord would plead the cause of his people against their evil neighbours. Yet he would afterwards show mercy to those nations, when they should learn true religion. This seems to look forward to the times when the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in. Those who would have their lot with God's people, and a last end like theirs, must learn their ways, and walk in them.
But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse warns of judgment for refusal: 'But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD.' The conditional 'if they will not obey' (im lo yishme'u) makes the offer genuine, not automatic. 'Utterly pluck up' (natosh entosh) uses emphatic verbal construction—complete removal. 'Destroy' (abad) indicates perish, be lost. Nations who refuse the invitation to...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **I will utterly pluck up.**—In this, as in the preceding verse, there is an obvious reference to the prophet’s calling as described in Jeremiah 1:10, the self-same word being used as that which is there rendered “root out.” The adverb “utterly” answers to the usual Hebrew reduplication of emphasis.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. sent--**namely, the Medes and Persians (Is 10:5, 6; 13:3).
**brought down--**"made to go down" to the sea (Is 42:10), in order to escape the impending destruction of Babylon.
**nobles--**rather, "fugitives," namely, the foreigners who sojourned in populous Babylon (Is 13:14), distinct from the Chaldeans [Maurer].
**whose cry is in the ships--**exulting in their ships with the joyous sa...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-17** The Lord would plead the cause of his people against their evil neighbours. Yet he would afterwards show mercy to those nations, when they should learn true religion. This seems to look forward to the times when the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in. Those who would have their lot with God's people, and a last end like theirs, must learn their ways, and walk in them.