King James Version
Jeremiah 25
38 verses with commentary
Seventy Years of Captivity
The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim</strong>—This precise chronological marker (605 BC) identifies a pivotal moment in redemptive history. The Hebrew <em>dāḇār</em> (דָּבָר, word) signifies more than mere speech; it denotes divine revelation carrying creative and prophetic power. This was <strong>the first year of Nebuchadrezzar...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
XXV.
(1) **In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah.**—We are carried back in the present arrangement of Jeremiah’s prophecies to a much earlier period than that of the preceding chapter. It is the fourth (in Daniel 1:1, the third) year of the reign of Jehoiakim, who had been made king by Pharaoh-nechoh after his defeat of Josiah and capture of Jerusalem. Since the prophet had been called...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. the king--**the idol which they came to worship, perfumed with oil, like harlots (Jr 4:30; Eze 23:16, 40). So "king" means idol (Am 5:26; Zep 1:5); (malcham meaning "king") [Rosenmuller]. Rather, the king of Assyria or Egypt, and other foreign princes, on whom Israel relied, instead of on God; the "ointment" will thus refer to the presents (Ho 12:1), and perhaps the compliances with foreigner...
Read full commentary →The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem</strong>—This comprehensive audience indicates the universal scope of God's message. The Hebrew <em>nāḇî</em> (נָבִיא, prophet) identifies Jeremiah as God's authorized spokesman, one who speaks not his own thoughts but divine revelation. The inclusion of both 'people of Judah' and 'in...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. greatness of ... way--**the length of thy journey in seeking strange gods, or else foreign aid (Jr 2:23, 24). Notwithstanding thy deriving no good from these long journeys (so, "send ... far off," Is 57:9), thou dost not still give up hope (Jr 2:25; 18:12).
**hast found ... life of ... hand--**for "thou still findest life (that is, vigor) enough in thy hand" to make new idols [Maurer], or ...
Read full commentary →From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>From the thirteenth year of Josiah...even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.</strong> The phrase <em>hashkem wĕḏabbēr</em> (הַשְׁכֵּם וְדַבֵּר, rising early and speaking) employs a Hebrew idiom indicating persistent, diligent effort. God and His prophe...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **The three and twentieth year **(B.C. 603-4).—Thus there had been nineteen years of prophetic work under Josiah, and between three and four under Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 1:2). Of the former period we have but scanty record. The year is noticeable as that which apparently witnessed the first collection of Jeremiah’s prophetic utterances (Jeremiah 36:5-8).
**Rising early and speaking.—**See Note on...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
11. Israel wished not to seem altogether to have denied God. Therefore they "lied" to Him. God asks, Why dost thou do so? "Whom dost thou fear? Certainly not Me; for thou hast not remembered Me." Translate, "seeing that thou hast not remembered Me."
**laid it to ... heart--**rather, "nor hast Me at heart"; hast no regard for Me; and that, because I have been long silent and have not punished the...
Read full commentary →And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.</strong> The phrase <em>ʿăḇāḏāyw hannĕḇîʾîm</em> (עֲבָדָיו הַנְּבִיאִים, his servants the prophets) identifies these messengers as God's authorized representatives. The repetition of 'rising early and sending' emphasizes divine diligence—Go...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. declare--**I will expose publicly thy (hypocritical) righteousness. I will show openly how vain thy works, in having recourse to idols, or foreign alliances, shall prove (Is 57:3).
They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings.</strong> The prophetic message centered on <em>shûḇ</em> (שׁוּב, turn/return/repent), the fundamental Hebrew term for repentance involving both turning from sin and turning toward God. The phrase <em>mē-darkĕḵem hārāʿâ</em> (מִדַּרְכְּכֶם הָרָעָה, from your evil way) refers to one's chosen path or l...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Turn ye again now . . .**—The sum and substance of the work of all true prophets has always been found, it need scarcely be said, in the call to repentance and conversion; but there is, perhaps, a special reference to the substance of their preaching as recorded in 2Kings 17:13. The words are interesting as showing that Jeremiah was probably seconded in his work by other prophets whose names...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. When thou criest--**In the time of thy trouble.
**companies--**namely, of idols, collected by thee from every quarter; or else, of foreigners, summoned to thy aid.
**wind ... carry ... away--**(Job 21:18; Mt 7:27).
**vanity--**rather, "a breath" [Lowth].
**possess ... land ... inherit--**that is, the literal land of Judea and Mount Zion; the believing remnant of Israel shall return a...
Read full commentary →And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.</strong> The phrase <em>ʾaḥărê ʾĕlōhîm ʾăḥērîm</em> (אַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים, after other gods) describes spiritual adultery—pursuing foreign deities rather than remaining faithful to Yahweh. The verbs <em>lĕʿāḇĕḏām</em> (לְעָבְדָם, to serve...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **The works of your hands.**—These were, of course, the idols which they had made and worshipped.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. shall say--**The nominative is, "He that trusteth in Me" (Is 57:13). The believing remnant shall have every obstacle to their return cleared out of the way, at the coming restoration of Israel, the antitype to the return from Babylon (Is 35:8; 40:3, 4; 62:10, 11).
**Cast ... up--**a high road before the returning Jews.
**stumbling-block--**Jesus had been so to the Jews, but will not be s...
Read full commentary →Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.</strong> The phrase <em>lĕmaʿan haḵʿîsēnî</em> (לְמַעַן הַכְעִסֵנִי, that you might provoke me to anger) reveals the perverse result of their rebellion. The Hebrew <em>lĕmaʿan</em> typically denotes purpose, suggesting their persistent idolatry functioned as i...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
15. The pride and self-righteousness of the Jews were the stumbling block in the way of their acknowledging Christ. The contrition of Israel in the last days shall be attended with God's interposition in their behalf. So their self-humiliation, in Is 66:2, 5, 10, &c., precedes their final prosperity (Zec 12:6, 10-14); there will, probably, be a previous period of unbelief even after their retu...
Read full commentary →Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words,
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words</strong>—The phrase <em>YHWH ṣĕḇāʾôṯ</em> (יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, LORD of hosts/armies) identifies God as commander of heavenly forces, emphasizing His sovereign power to execute judgment. The 'therefore' (<em>lāḵēn</em>, לָכֵן) marks the transition from warning to sentence. Twenty-three years of patient appeal (v. 3) yie...
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**16. For--**referring to the promise in Is 57:14, 15, of restoring Israel when "contrite" (Ge 6:3; 8:21; Psa 78:38, 39; 85:5; 103:9, 13, 14; Mi 7:18). God "will not contend for ever" with His people, for their human spirit would thereby be utterly crushed, whereas God's object is to chasten, not to destroy them (La 3:33, 34; Mi 7:8, 9). With the ungodly He is "angry every day" (Psa 7:11; Re 14:11...
Read full commentary →Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant</strong>—The designation of pagan Nebuchadnezzar as <em>ʿaḇdî</em> (עַבְדִּי, my servant) is theologically stunning. This term typically refers to faithful servants like Moses, David, and the prophets. Here it identifies the brutal Babylonian king as God's instrume...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **The families of the north.**—The phrase reminds us of the vision of “the seething pot *from the face of the north*” in Jeremiah 1:13, and includes all the mingled races, Scythians and others, who owned the sway of the Chaldæan king.
**Nebuchadrezzar . . . my servant.**—The use of the word which is applied by psalmists and prophets to David (Psalm 78:70; 2Samuel 7:8) and to the future Christ ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. covetousness--**akin to idolatry; and, like it, having drawn off Israel's heart from God (Is 2:7; 56:11; 58:3; Jr 6:13; Col 3:5).
**hid me--**(Is 8:17; 45:15).
**went on frowardly--**the result of God's hiding His face (Psa 81:12; Ro 1:24, 26).
Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. I will: Heb. I will cause to perish from them
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.</strong> This poetic description depicts the complete cessation of normal life. The Hebrew <em>qôl śāśôn wĕqôl śimḥâ</em> (קוֹל שָׂשׂוֹן וְקוֹל שִׂמְחָה, voice of mirth and voice of gladness) represe...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **The voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness.**—The language is mainly an echo of Jeremiah 7:34; Jeremiah 16:9, but there are new features in the cessation of “the sound of the millstone,” *i.e.*, of the grinding of corn by female slaves for the mid-day meal (Exodus 11:5; Matthew 24:41), and the lighting of the candle when the day’s work was done (Matthew 5:15). No words could paint more t...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
18. Rather, "I have seen his ways (in sin), yet will I heal him," that is, restore Israel spiritually and temporally (Jr 33:6; 3:22; Ho 14:4, 5) [Horsley].
**I will ... restore comforts unto him and to his mourners--**However, the phrase, "his mourners," favors English Version; "his ways" will thus be his ways of repentance; and God's pardon on "seeing" them answers to the like promise (Is 61:2,...
Read full commentary →And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.</strong> The specification of <em>shivʿîm shānâ</em> (שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה, seventy years) is one of Scripture's most precise and significant time prophecies. The number seventy carries symbolic weight—ten (completion) times seven (perfection/covenant). This period c...
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(11) **Shall serve the king of Babylon seventy-years.**—This is the first mention of the duration of the captivity. The seventy years are commonly reckoned from B.C. 606, the date of the deportation of Jehoiakim and his princes, to B.C. 536, when the decree for the return of the exiles was issued by Cyrus. In 2Chronicles 36:21 the number is connected with the land “enjoying her Sabbaths,” as thoug...
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**19. fruit of ... lips--**that is, thanksgivings which flow from the lips. I make men to return thanks to Me (Ho 14:2; He 13:15).
**Peace, peace--**"perfect peace" (see Is 26:3, Margin; Joh 14:27). Primarily, the cessation of the troubles now afflicting the Jews, as formerly, under the Babylonian exile. More generally, the peace which the Gospel proclaims both to Israel "that is near," and to t...
Read full commentary →And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations. punish: Heb. visit upon
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.</strong> The phrase <em>bimlōʾṯ shivʿîm shānâ</em> (בִּמְלֹאת שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה, when seventy years are fulfilled) indicates precise divine timing. The verb <em>pāqa...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **I will punish the king of Babylon . . .**—The words are omitted in the LXX. version of the chapter, which differs materially from the Hebrew text, and there are some internal grounds for suspecting it to be a later addition, possibly from the hand of the prophet himself, or, more probably, from that of Baruch as collecting and editing his writings, or of some later transcriber. In Jeremiah ...
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**20. when it cannot rest--**rather, "for it can have no rest" (Job 15:20, &c.; Pr 4:16, 17). English Version represents the sea as occasionally agitated; but the Hebrew expresses that it can never be at rest.
And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations.</strong> This self-referential statement confirms the prophetic authority and written preservation of Jeremiah's oracles. The phrase <em>ʾeṯ-kol-dĕḇāray ʾăsher-dibbartî ʿālehā</em> (אֶת־כָּל־דְּבָרַי אֲשֶׁר־דִּבַּרְת...
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(13) **Which Jeremiah hath prophesied . . .**—Here again we have the trace of an interpolation. In the LXX. the words appear detached, as a title, and are followed by Jeremiah 49:35-39, and the other prophecies against the nations which the Hebrew text places at the end of the book (Jeremiah 46-51). The words “all that is written in this book” are manifestly the addition of a scribe. (See *Introdu...
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21. (Is 48:22; 2Ki 9:22).
**my God--**The prophet, having God as his God, speaks in the person of Israel, prophetically regarded as having now appropriated God and His "peace" (Is 11:1-3), warning the impenitent that, while they continue so, they can have no peace.
For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.</strong> This verse predicts Babylon's eventual subjugation—the empire that enslaved others would itself be enslaved. The phrase <em>ʿāḇĕḏû ḇām</em> (עָבְדוּ בָם, shall serve themselves of them) employs the same verb used ...
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(14) **Shall serve themselves of them.**—Better, *shall make them their servants. *The English “serve themselves” (a Gallicism in common use in the seventeenth century), which occurs again in Jeremiah 27:7, is now ambiguous, and hardly conveys the force of the original. What is meant is that the law of retribution will in due time be seen in its action upon those who were now masters of the world....
Read full commentary →The Cup of God's Wrath
For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.</strong> This vision of <em>kôs hayyayin haḥēmâ</em> (כּוֹס הַיַּיִן הַחֵמָה, the wine cup of fury/wrath) introduces one of Scripture's most powerful symbols for divine judgment. The cup represents God's righteous anger against sin, which mu...
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(15) **For thus saith the Lord God.**—In the LXX. this is preceded by Jeremiah 46-51, which are in their turn in a different order from that of the Hebrew.
**The wine cup of this fury**.—Literally, *the cup of wine, even this fury, *or, better, *this wrath.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 58 Is 58:1-14. Reproof of the Jews for Their Dependence on Mere Outward Forms of Worship.
**1. aloud--**Hebrew, "with the throat," that is, with full voice, not merely from the lips (1Sa 1:13). Speak loud enough to arrest attention.
**my people--**the Jews in Isaiah's time, and again in the time of our Lord, more zealous for externals than for inward holiness. Rosenmuller thinks the ref...
Read full commentary →And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.</strong> The effects of drinking God's wrath cup are comprehensive devastation. The verb <em>gāʿâ</em> (גָּעָה, be moved) suggests staggering like a drunk person, losing stability and control. The term <em>hiṯhôlālû</em> (הִתְהוֹלָלוּ, be mad) indicates frenzied, irrational behavior—the chaos ...
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(16) **They shall drink . . .**—The words describe what history has often witnessed, the panic-terror of lesser nations before the onward march of a great conqueror—they are as if stricken with a drunken madness, and their despair or their resistance is equally infatuated. The imagery is one familiar in earlier prophets. (Isaiah 51:17; Isaiah 51:22; Habakkuk 2:16; Psalm 60:5; Psalm 75:8; Ezekiel 2...
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2. Put the stop at "ways"; and connect "as a nation that," &c. with what follows; "As a nation that did righteousness," thus answers to, "they ask of Me just judgments" (that is, as a matter of justice due to them, salvation to themselves, and destruction to their enemies); and "forsook not the ordinance of their God," answers to "they desire the drawing near of God" (that God would draw near ...
Read full commentary →Then took I the cup at the LORD'S hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then took I the cup at the LORD'S hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me.</strong> Jeremiah's compliance demonstrates prophetic obedience to an unpleasant commission. The prophet didn't create this message or choose this role—God commanded, and Jeremiah obeyed. The phrase <em>wāʾeqqaḥ ʾeṯ-hakkôs miyyaḏ YHWH</em> (וָאֶקַּח אֶת־הַכּוֹס מִיַּד יְהוָה, then I t...
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(17) **Then took I the cup . . .**—The words describe the act of the prophet as in the ecstasy of vision. One by one the nations are made to drink of that cup of the wrath of Jehovah of which His own country was to have the first and fullest draught. It is a strange example of the literalism of minds incapable of entering into the poetry of a prophet’s work, that one commentator (Michaelis) has su...
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**3. Wherefore--**the words of the Jews: "Why is it that, when we fast, Thou dost not notice it" (by delivering us)? They think to lay God under obligation to their fasting (Psa 73:13; Mal 3:14).
**afflicted ... soul--**(Le 16:29).
**Behold--**God's reply.
**pleasure--**in antithesis to their boast of having "afflicted their soul"; it was only in outward show they really enjoyed themselves. ...
Read full commentary →To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day.</strong> Shockingly, Jerusalem and Judah appear first on the list of nations drinking God's wrath. The phrase <em>ʾeṯ-Yĕrûshālaim wĕʾeṯ-ʿārê Yĕhûḏâ</em> (אֶת־יְרוּשָׁלַיִם וְאֶת־עָרֵי יְהוּדָה, Jerusalem and the ...
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(18) **As it is this day.**—The words are not in the LXX., and may probably have been added after the prediction had received its fulfilment in the final capture of Jerusalem and the desolation of the country. Here, as before in Jeremiah 25:13, we trace the hand of a transcriber. It will be noted that the prophet begins with the judgment about to fall on his own people, and then passes on from “th...
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**4. ye shall not fast--**rather, "ye do not fast at this time, so as to make your voice to be heard on high," that is, in heaven; your aim in fasting is strife, not to gain the ear of God [Maurer] (1Ki 21:9, 12, 13). In English Version the sense is, If you wish acceptance with God, ye must not fast as ye now do, to make your voice heard high in strife.
Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people.</strong> Egypt appears second on the judgment list, immediately after Judah. This ordering is theologically significant—Egypt represented the worldly power Judah repeatedly trusted instead of Yahweh. The enumeration <em>parʿōh melek-Miṣrayim wĕʿăḇāḏāyw wĕśārāyw wĕʾeṯ-kol-ʿammô</em> (פַּרְעֹה מֶלֶךְ־מִצְרַיִם וְעֲ...
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(19) **Pharaoh king of Egypt . . .**—The list of the nations begins, it will be seen, from the south and proceeds northwards; those that lay on the east and west being named, as it were, literally, according to their position. The Pharaoh of the time was Nechoh, who had been defeated at Carchemish.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. for a man to afflict his soul--**The pain felt by abstinence is not the end to be sought, as if it were meritorious; it is of value only in so far as it leads us to amend our ways (Is 58:6, 7).
**bow ... head ... sackcloth--**to affect the outward tokens, so as to "appear to men to fast" (Mt 6:17, 18; 1Ki 21:27; Es 4:3).
And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod.</strong> The phrase <em>ʾeṯ-kol-hāʿereḇ</em> (אֶת־כָּל־הָעֶרֶב, all the mingled people) likely refers to mixed populations or mercenary troops serving Egypt. The <em>ʾereṣ ʿÛṣ</em> (אֶרֶץ עוּץ, land of Uz) is Job's...
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(20) **All the mingled people.**—The word is all but identical with that used in Exodus 12:38 of the “mixed multitude” that accompanied the Israelites from Egypt, and in Nehemiah 13:3 of the alien population of Jerusalem. It occurs again in Jeremiah 25:24, Jeremiah 50:37, and Ezekiel 30:5, and is applied to the tribes of mixed races who were, in various degrees tributary to the state in connection...
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**6. loose ... bands of wickedness--**that is, to dissolve every tie wherewith one has unjustly bound his fellow men (Le 25:49, &c.). Servitude, a fraudulent contract, &c.
**undo ... heavy burdens--**Hebrew, "loose the bands of the yoke."
**oppressed--**literally, "the broken." The expression, "to let go free," implies that those "broken" with the yoke of slavery, are meant (Ne 5:10-12...
Read full commentary →Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,
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<strong>Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon.</strong> These three nations were Israel's closest relatives and perpetual antagonists. Edom descended from Esau (Jacob's brother), while Moab and Ammon descended from Lot (Abraham's nephew) through incest (Genesis 19:30-38). Despite kinship, these nations refused Israel passage during the Exodus (Numbers 20:14-21), frequently oppressed Israel dur...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. deal--**distribute (Job 31:16-21).
**cast out--**rather, reduced [Horsley].
**naked ... cover him--**(Mt 25:36).
**hide ... thyself--**means to be strange towards them, and not to relieve them in their poverty (Mt 15:5).
**flesh--**kindred (Ge 29:14). Also brethren in common descent from Adam, and brethren in Christ (Jas 2:15).
And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea, isles: or, region by the sea side
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<strong>And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea.</strong> Tyre and Sidon were Phoenician city-states on the Mediterranean coast, famous for seafaring, commerce, and wealth. The phrase <em>malkê haʾî ʾăsher bĕʿēḇer hayyām</em> (מַלְכֵי הָאִי אֲשֶׁר בְּעֵבֶר הַיָּם, kings of the isles/coastlands beyond the sea) likely refers to Phoe...
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(22) **The isles which are beyond the sea.**—Better, *island. *The Hebrew word is in the singular, and is properly, as in the margin, a “region by the sea-side”—a “coast-land,” and thus wider in its extent than our “island.” Here the position in which it occurs tends to identify it either with Cyprus or the coast of Cilicia, or Phœnician colonies generally in the Mediterranean. Cyprus seems the mo...
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**8. light--**emblem of prosperity (Is 58:10; Job 11:17).
**health--**literally, a long bandage, applied by surgeons to heal a wound (compare Is 1:6). Hence restoration from all past calamities.
**go before thee--**Thy conformity to the divine covenant acts as a leader, conducting thee to peace and prosperity.
**glory ... reward--**like the pillar of cloud and fire, the symbol of God's "glor...
Read full commentary →Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners, that: Heb. cut off into corners, or, having the corners of the hair polled
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<strong>Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners.</strong> These Arabian peoples represent distant territories far from Israel. Dedan and Tema were Arabian trading communities (Isaiah 21:13-14, Ezekiel 27:20); Buz was Nahor's son (Genesis 22:21), possibly related to Job's friend Elihu the Buzite (Job 32:2). The phrase <em>kol-qĕṣûṣê pēʾâ</em> (כָּל־קְצוּצֵי פֵאָה, all who c...
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(23) **Dedan, and Tema, and Buz.**—From the west we pass again to the east, the first two districts lying to the south-east of Edom, the last probably in the same region. For Dedan see Genesis 10:7; Genesis 25:3; Genesis 25:2; 1Chronicles 1:9; 1Chronicles 1:32; Isaiah 21:13; Ezekiel 25:13. For Tema, on the modern pilgrims’ road from Damascus to Mecca, see Isaiah 21:14; Job 6:19. For Buz see Genesi...
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**9. Then ... call ... answer--**when sin is renounced (Is 65:24). When the Lord's call is not hearkened to, He will not hear our "call" (Psa 66:18; Pr 1:24, 28; 15:29; 28:9).
**putting forth of ... finger--**the finger of scorn pointed at simple-minded godly men. The middle finger was so used by the Romans.
**speaking vanity--**every injurious speech [Lowth].
And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert,
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<strong>And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert.</strong> This comprehensive statement encompasses various Arabian tribal confederations. The phrase <em>kol-malkê ʿĂrāḇ</em> (כָּל־מַלְכֵי עֲרָב, all the kings of Arabia) covers the diverse peoples inhabiting the Arabian peninsula and Syrian desert. The <em>hāʿereḇ hayyōshĕḇîm bammidḇār</em> (הָע...
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(24) **All the kings of Arabia.**—The same phrase occurs in 1Kings 10:15, and is used for the nomadic tribes bordering on Palestine rather than in the wider sense of classical geographers.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. draw out thy soul--**"impart of thine own subsistence," or "sustenance" [Horsley]. "Soul" is figurative for "that wherewith thou sustainest thy soul," or "life."
**light ... in obscurity--**Calamities shall be suddenly succeeded by prosperity (Psa 112:4).
And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,
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<strong>And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes.</strong> This trio represents diverse regions. Zimri's identity is uncertain—possibly a scribal variant of Zimran (Abraham's son by Keturah, Genesis 25:2) or an Arabian locale. Elam was an ancient civilization east of Mesopotamia (modern Iran), conquered by Assyria but later regaining independence. The M...
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(25) **Zimri.**—The name occurs nowhere else in the Bible or out of it as the name of a country. It is possibly connected with Zimran, the eldest son of Abraham by Keturah (Genesis 25:2), and points, therefore—as does its position here—to a nomad tribe in Arabia lying between the Red Sea, Arabia, and the Persian Gulf. The name Zabram occurs in Greek geographers as that of a city on the Red Sea wes...
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**11. satisfy ... in drought--**(Is 41:17, 18). Literally, "drought," that is, parched places [Maurer].
**make fat--**rather, "strengthen" [Noyes]. "Give thee the free use of thy bones" [Jerome], or, "of thy strength" [Horsley].
**watered garden--**an Oriental picture of happiness.
**fail not--**Hebrew, "deceive not"; as streams that disappoint the caravan which had expected to find water, a...
Read full commentary →And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
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<strong>And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.</strong> The phrase <em>kol-malkê haṣṣāp̄ôn</em> (כָּל־מַלְכֵי הַצָּפוֹן, all the kings of the north) encompasses kingdoms from Babylon north through Anatolia. The phrase <em>kol mamlĕkōṯ hāʾāreṣ ʾăsher ʿal...
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(26) **The kings of the north.**—The term is used generally (the Jews knowing comparatively little of the detailed geography of that region, the Grog, Magog, Meshech, and Tubal of Ezekiel 38, 39), as in Jeremiah 1:14, for the Scythians and other nations lying between the Caspian Sea and the Tigris. In the corresponding passage of Jeremiah 51:27, Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz are specially named.
**T...
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**12. they ... of thee--**thy people, the Israelites.
**old waste places--**the old ruins of Jerusalem (Is 61:4; Eze 36:33-36).
**foundations of many generations--**that is, the buildings which had lain in ruins, even to their foundations, for many ages; called in the parallel passage (Is 61:4), "the former desolations"; and in the preceding clause here, "the old waste places." The literal and...
Read full commentary →Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.
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<strong>Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.</strong> This verse intensifies the cup imagery with graphic effects. The imperatives <em>šĕṯû wĕšikrû ûqîʾû ûnip̄lû wĕlōʾ ṯāqûmû</em> (שְׁתוּ וְשִׁכְרוּ וּקִיאוּ וּנִפְלוּ וְלֹא תָקוּמוּ, drin...
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(27) **Drink ye, and be drunken . . .**—The bold imagery points, like that of Jeremiah 25:16, to the terror and dismay which made joint action impossible, and reduced the nations whom it affected to a helpless impotence. The word most alien to our modern feeling—“spue”—is significant, as implying that the spoilers of Israel should be spoiled. They should be made, to use a word which expresses esse...
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13. (Is 56:2; Ne 13:15-22). The Sabbath, even under the new dispensation, was to be obligatory (Is 66:23).
**foot--**the instrument of motion (compare Pr 4:27); men are not to travel for mere pleasure on the Sabbath (Ac 1:12). The Jews were forbidden to travel on it farther than the tabernacle or temple. If thou keep thy foot from going on thy own ways and "doing thy pleasure," &c. (Ex 20:10...
Read full commentary →And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.
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<strong>And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.</strong> This verse addresses possible resistance to the prophetic message. The phrase <em>kî māʾēn lāqaḥaṯ hakkôs</em> (כִּי מָאֵן לָקַחַת הַכּוֹס, if they refuse to take the cup) anticipates rejection of the prophecy. People natura...
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(28) **Ye shall certainly drink.**—Literally, *Drinking, ye shall drink.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. delight ... in ... Lord--**God rewards in kind, as He punishes in kind. As we "delight" in keeping God's "Sabbath," so God will give us "delight" in Himself (Ge 15:1; Job 22:21-26; Psa 37:4).
**ride upon ... high places--**I will make thee supreme lord of the land; the phrase is taken from a conqueror riding in his chariot, and occupying the hills and fastnesses of a country [Vitringa], (D...
Read full commentary →For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts. which: Heb. upon which my name is called
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<strong>For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.</strong> The phrase <em>bāʿîr ʾăsher-niqrāʾ šĕmî ʿāleyhā</em> (בָעִיר אֲשֶׁר־נִקְרָא שְׁמִי עָלֶיהָ, the city which is called by my name) refers to Jerusalem, the t...
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(29) **I begin to bring evil . . .?**—The thought is the same as that of 1Peter 4:17, “If judgment shall begin at the house of God . . .?” If this were His chastisement of those who were His chosen people, it followed *à fortiori *that those who were less favoured and had less claims should not escape. For them, as for Judah, the one wise and safe course was to accept their punishment and submit. ...
Read full commentary →Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
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<strong>Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.</strong> The phrase <em>YHWH miммārôm yišʾāg</em> (יְהוָה מִמָּרוֹם יִשְׁאָג, the LORD shall roar f...
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(30) **He shall mightily roar upon his habitation.**—The use of the same English word for two Hebrew words of very different meaning is here singularly infelicitous. The first “habitation” is the dwelling-place of Jehovah, from which the thunders of His wrath are heard. The second is the *“pasture” *or dwelling-place of the flock and its shepherds, as in Jeremiah 6:2; Jeremiah 10:25; Psalm 79:7, u...
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CHAPTER 59 Is 59:1-21. The People's Sin the Cause of Judgments: They at Last Own It Themselves: the Redeemer's Future Interposition in Their Extremity.
The reason why Jehovah does not deliver His people, notwithstanding their religious services (Is 58:3), is not want of power on His part, but because of their sins (Is 59:1-8); Is 59:9-15 contain their confession; Is 59:16-21, the consequent prom...
Read full commentary →A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.
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<strong>A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.</strong> The phrase <em>šāʾôn ʿaḏ-qĕṣê hāʾāreṣ</em> (שָׁאוֹן עַד־קְצֵה הָאָרֶץ, noise even to the ends of the earth) suggests the universal scope of judgment—no corner of earth will escape the tumul...
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(31) **A noise.**—i.e., the tumult of an advancing army (Isaiah 13:4; Isaiah 17:12).
**A controversy.**—The term properly denotes a legal process, like the “pleading” of Jeremiah 2:9; Jeremiah 2:35, rather than a debate or discussion, and is therefore rightly followed by the technical term “will plead” or “judge.” Jehovah appears, so to speak, as the Accuser in the suit in which He is also the sup...
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**2. hid--**Hebrew, "caused Him to hide" (La 3:44).
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
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<strong>Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.</strong> The phrase <em>rāʿâ yōṣēʾṯ miggôy ʾel-gôy</em> (רָעָה יֹצֵאת מִגּוֹי אֶל־גּוֹי, evil shall go forth from nation to nation) depicts judgment spreading like contagion from one nation to the next. The Babylonian conquests proceeded sy...
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(32) **Whirlwind.**—The word, as in Jeremiah 23:19, is more generic, *a tempest. *The storm is seen as it were rising from the “coasts”—i.e., the *sides *or horizon of the earth, as in Jeremiah 6:22—and spreading over all the nations.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
3. (Is 1:15; Ro 3:13-15).
**hands ... fingers--**Not merely the "hands" perpetrate deeds of grosser enormity ("blood"), but the "fingers" commit more minute acts of "iniquity."
**lips ... tongue--**The lips "speak" openly "lies," the tongue "mutters" malicious insinuations ("perverseness"; perverse misrepresentations of others) (Jr 6:28; 9:4).
And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.
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<strong>And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.</strong> The phrase <em>ḥallê YHWH</em> (חַלְלֵי יְהוָה, the slain of the LORD) identifies these deaths as divine judgment, not mere casualties of war. The extent <em>miqqĕṣêh hāʾāreṣ wĕʿ...
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(33) **They shall not be lamented . . .**—As in other pictures of slaughter (Jeremiah 8:2; Jeremiah 16:4) the omission of the usual rites of sepulture is brought in as an aggravation of the wretchedness. The corpses of the slain are to lie rotting on the ground. The phrase “slain of the Lord” reproduces Isaiah 66:16.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
4. Rather, "No one calleth an adversary into court with justice," that is, None bringeth a just suit: "No one pleadeth with truth."
**they trust ... iniquity--**(So Job 15:35; Psa 7:14).
Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. the days: Heb. your days for slaughter a pleasant: Heb. a vessel of desire
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<strong>Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.</strong> The term <em>rōʿîm</em> (רֹעִים, shepherds) refers to political and religious leaders who guided the people. The phrase <em>wĕhiṯpallĕšû</em> (וְהִתְפַּלְּשׁוּ, wallow yourselv...
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(34) **Howl, ye shepherds.**—The idea of the flock suggested in the “habitation” or “pasture” of Jeremiah 25:30 is here expanded. The “shepherds” are, as usual, the rulers of the people (Jeremiah 10:21; Jeremiah 22:22, *et al.*)*.*
**Wallow yourselves in the ashes.**—The words in italics have probably been added to bring the passage into conformity with Jeremiah 6:26, but they are not needed, and ...
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**5. cockatrice--**probably the basilisk serpent, cerastes. Instead of crushing evil in the egg, they foster it.
**spider's web--**This refers not to the spider's web being made to entrap, but to its thinness, as contrasted with substantial "garments," as Is 59:6 shows. Their works are vain and transitory (Job 8:14; Pr 11:18).
**eateth ... their eggs--**he who partakes in their plans, or has a...
Read full commentary →And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. the shepherds: Heb. flight shall perish from the shepherds, and escaping from, etc
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<strong>And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.</strong> The emphatic statement <em>wĕʾāḇaḏ mānôs min-hārōʿîm ûp̄ālêṭâ mēʾabbîrê haṣṣōʾn</em> (וְאָבַד מָנוֹס מִן־הָרֹעִים וּפָלֵיטָה מֵאַבִּירֵי הַצֹּאן, the shepherds shall have no way to flee, and no escape for the principal of the flock) emphasizes the inescapability of judgment. Leaders might assume...
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**6. not ... garments--**like the "fig leaves" wherewith Adam and Eve vainly tried to cover their shame, as contrasted with "the coats of skins" which the Lord God made to clothe them with (Is 64:6; Ro 13:14; Ga 3:27; Php 3:9). The artificial self-deceiving sophisms of human philosophy (1Ti 6:5; 2Ti 2:16, 23).
A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the LORD hath spoiled their pasture.
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<strong>A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the LORD hath spoiled their pasture.</strong> The phrase <em>qôl ṣaʿăqaṯ hārōʿîm wîlĕlaṯ ʾabbîrê haṣṣōʾn</em> (קוֹל צַעֲקַת הָרֹעִים וִילֲלַת אַבִּירֵי הַצֹּאן, voice of the cry of the shepherds and howling of the principal of the flock) depicts the leaders' anguish when judgment arrives....
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(36) **A voice of the cry . . . shall be heard.—**Here again the insertion of the words in italics is a change for the worse, and reduces the dramatic vividness of the Hebrew to the tamest prose. The prophet speaks as if he actually heard the “cry of the shepherds”—*i.e., *the princes—and the howling of the “principal of the flocks”—*i.e., *of the captains under them. The work of spoiling was begu...
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**7. feet--**All their members are active in evil; in Is 59:3, the "hands, fingers, lips, and tongue," are specified.
**run ... haste--**(Ro 3:15). Contrast David's "running and hasting" in the ways of God (Psa 119:32, 60).
**thoughts--**not merely their acts, but their whole thoughts.
And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
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<strong>And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the LORD.</strong> The phrase <em>nĕʾĕlĕmû nĕʾôṯ haššālôm</em> (נֶאֱלְמוּ נְאוֹת הַשָּׁלוֹם, the peaceable habitations are cut down/silenced) describes the destruction of secure, prosperous settlements. The term <em>nāʾâ</em> (נָאָה, habitation/pasture) continues the pastoral imagery—pleasant fields and safe dwelling...
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(37) **Peaceable habitations.**—Better, as before (Jeremiah 25:30), *peaceful pastures.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. peace--**whether in relation to God, to their own conscience, or to their fellow men (Is 57:20, 21).
**judgment--**justice.
**crooked--**the opposite of "straightforward" (Pr 2:15; 28:18).
He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger. desolate: Heb. a desolation
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<strong>He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.</strong> The phrase <em>ʿāzaḇ kakkĕp̄îr sukkô</em> (עָזַב כַּכְּפִיר סֻכּוֹ, he has forsaken his covert like the lion) employs lion imagery—God leaving His dwelling like a lion emerging from its lair to hunt. The Hebrew <em>kĕp̄îr</em> (כְּפִיר, ...
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(38) **He hath forsaken his covert . . .**—The image of Jeremiah 25:30 is reproduced. The thunder of Jehovah’s wrath is as the roaring of the lion (Amos 3:8). He is as the lion leaving its hiding-place in the forest, and going forth to do its work of vengeance.**
Because of the fierceness of the oppressor.—**A slight alteration, adopted by many commentators, gives “because of the *sword *of oppres...
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**9. judgment far--**retribution in kind because they had shown "no judgment in their goings" (Is 59:8). "The vindication of our just rights by God is withheld by Him from us."
**us--**In Is 59:8 and previous verses, it was "they," the third person; here, "us ... we," the first person. The nation here speaks: God thus making them out of their own mouth condemn themselves; just as He by His proph...
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