The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah
Jeremiah 13
Chapter XIII · Vol. III, pp. 1247–1248
1 Under the type of a linen girdle, hidden at Euphrates, God prefigureth the destruction of his people. 12 Under the parable of bottles filled with wine, he foretelleth their excess of misery. 15 He exhorteth them to prevent their future judgments. 22 He showeth their abominations are the cause of these evils.
1 Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a alinen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it bnot in water.
3 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying,
4 Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to dEuphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.
5 So eI went and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.
e Eze.3.14,15; 8.3; 11.24.
6 And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.
7 Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was gprofitable for nothing.1
8 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
9 Thus saith the LORD, hAfter this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
h ver.15,17. La.5.5,8,13,16. Le.26.19. Is.2.11-17; 43.28.
10 Thisi evil people which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination2 of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, jshall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.
11 For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have kI caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel, and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and lfor a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: nbut they would not hear.3
k Ge.17.7. Ex.19.5,6. De.5.1-3; 4.7,8,31-38; 7.6; 26.18,19; 29.1; 32.9; 33.28,29.
l Is.43.21; 60.21; 63.12. ch.33.9.
n See ch.7.24. De.29.4. Ps.81.11. Jn.1.3,11; 5.40.
3 It seems probable that Jeremiah was in Babylon at the time when this prophecy was uttered. There is nothing in the story of his life opposed to this supposition, and the whole scope of the narrative appears to sanction the idea that the facts were real and not merely visionary symbols. It would seem too from the subsequent history of the prophet that he was acquainted with the chiefs of the Babylonian armies who conquered Judah; and the special orders given by Nebuchadnezzar (ch.39.11) regarding him indicate some previous knowledge. Jeremiah during his visit to Babylon at the time of this prophetic vision may have gained the friendship of those in power.—P.
12 Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Everyo bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall say unto thee, pDo we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?4
o Ps.75.8; 60.3. ch.25.15-17,27,28. Is.51.17,21.
p ch.6.10. Mi.2.11. Ac.17.18. Jn.16.17,18.
4 They can scarcely have been so stupid as to misunderstand the prophet's meaning; but, by affecting to misunderstand, they endeavoured to turn his message into ridicule.—C.
13 Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, qwith drunkenness.
A.M. cir. 3396. B.C. cir. 608.
q Ps.75.8; 60.3. Is.51.17,21; 63.4,6. ch.25.15-17,27; 51.7. Is.49.26.
14 And I will dash them5 one against another,6 even the fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD; rI will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.7
16 Giveu glory8 to the LORD your God, before he cause vdarkness, and before your feet stumble xupon the dark mountains,9 and while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
* Naturally, 'the dark mountains' may signify the gloomy mountains over which they were to be carried captive; spiritually, the national calamities they were doomed to encounter for their sins.—C.
u Jos.7.19. ch.3.13. Joel 2.12,13. Ja.4.7-9. 1 Pe.5.6.
8 By confessing your faults, the justice of God's judgments, and fleeing to him for mercy.—C.
v Is.8.22; 5.30; 59.9. ch.4.23; 15.9. Joel 2.10. Am.8.9,10. Ps.44.19. La.2.1.
x ch.16.16. Eze.7.16. Ps.11.1. Mat.24.16.
9 See note * in first column.
17 But if ye will not hear it, ymy soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because zthe LORD's flock is carried away captive.
18 Say unto the king and to the queen, aHumble yourselves, sit down; for your principalities1 shall come down, even the crown of your glory.
a ch.22.26. 2 Ki.24.12. Jonah 3.6. La.2.10. Is.3.26; 47.1.
1 Or, head-tires.
19 The cities of the 2south3 shall be bshut up,4 and none shall open them; cJudah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive.
2 Judea, Jos.18.5. ch.17.26; 33.13. Eze.20.46,47.
3 The cities of Judah which lay south of Samaria or Israel.—C.
b 2 Ki.25.21. Ps.31.8. Job 12.14. De.28.52.
4 Shut up—or, as the word often signifies, 'delivered up' (see De.23.15. 1 Sa.23.12. Ps.78.48), first, to plunder; secondly, to desolation, so that 'none shall open them.'—C.
c Le.26.31-33. De.28.25,36,41,64. ch.lii.
20 Lift up your eyes, and behold dthem that come from the north; ewhere is the flock that was given thee,5 thy beautiful flock?
d ch.1.14,15; 10.22. Hab.1.6.
e ch.4.31; 6.22-24; 15.2; 22.23; 30.6; 31.8; 48.41.
5 Given thee—the king, ver.18.—C.
21 What wilt thou say when he shall 6punish thee?7 for gthou hast taught them8 to be captains, and as chief over thee; hshall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?
6 Heb. visit upon.
7 When he shall punish thee—that is, the Lord of the flock, ver.17.—C.
g 2 Ki.16.7. 2 Ch.28.20. Is.39.3,4.
8 By calling them to your aid, by displaying before them your wealth, by conforming to their idolatries.—C.
h ch.4.31; 6.24; 22.23; 30.6, &c.
22 And if thou say in thine heart, iWherefore come these things upon me? jfor the greatness of thine iniquity are kthy skirts discovered, and thy heels 9made bare.1
† An allusion to the barbarous custom of carrying away captives naked—a cruelty still practised (alas! still practised by some states called Christian!) against the miserable inhabitants of Africa.—When, Lord, shall these fetters of Japheth fall from the arms of Ham? When shall the more galling chains of Satan fall from the arms of Japheth?—C.
i ch.5.19; 16.10,11. Ho.12.8.
j ch.2.17,19; 6.19; 5.25; 9.12,16.
k ver.26. Is.3.17; 20.4; 47.2,3. La.1.8; 4.21. Na.3.5. Eze.26.37-39. Ho.2.10.
9 Or, shall be violently taken away.
1 See note † in first column.
23 Canl the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed2 to do evil.
25 Thiso is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast pforgotten me, and qtrusted in falsehood.
Notes
Ver. 16. Glorify your own God, by confession and repentance of your sins, before he bring the most perplexing, scattering, deathful, and ruinous judgments upon you. 20-23. Behold, O Jews, the Chaldeans shall invade your country, and shall destroy and carry captive your once flourishing multitudes of God's own people; and when they, whom you formerly invited to your assistance (and thus showed them the way to subdue you), shall destroy you, how dreadful shall be your misery and anguish! For your great iniquities shall you be reduced to extreme disgrace and the basest of servitude; since ye are so hardened in a long course of sinning, that all attempts to remove your spotted practices, or your universal corruptions, are in vain.
Ver. 1. Thus saith the Lord. This is a prophecy in the distinctly symbolical form, and, in some sense, parallel to the parabolic teaching of our Lord.—Go and get thee a linen girdle. The girdle is 'linen' for two reasons. (1) Linen was of Egyptian origin, and is therefore used as a pictorial remembrance of past slavery, followed by future captivity. (2) Because, like Elijah and John, 2 Ki. 1. 8; Mat. 3. 4, it is most probable the prophet had customarily worn a leathern girdle; and now he assumes the linen, to exemplify Judah's taste for foreign finery, and contrast with it the state of rotten and unwashed raggedness into which sin was about to reduce her. C.
Ver. 7. Then I went to Euphrates. Tiphsah, the point of Euphrates nearest to Jerusalem, 1 Ki. 4. 24, was distant about 400 British miles, measuring 'as the bird flies.' This would probably give from 500 to 600 miles of travel. This distance has induced commentators to conclude that the journey was merely in vision. But of this visionary character there is not a trace in the passage, nor is there the shadow of reason for any such violent interpretation. Journeys of equal or greater length, and even on foot, are common in all countries, either for religion or worldly business; and the report of the prophet's journey, accompanied as he most probably would be by a number of his friends and pupils, or by a whole caravan (for it was the great commercial road), would be well calculated to excite the serious attention of some, though it might incur the ridicule of others, among his infatuated countrymen. C.
Ver. 13. God judicially gives them over to the drunkenness of pride, party spirit, and anarchy, ver. 14. C. Reflections.—God's ministers are often strangely tried for the instruction of their hearers; and it will require all the arts that can be used to make men understand what concerns their eternal welfare. But infinite is the kindness of God in making any of them his peculiar people, to the praise of his glory. Fearfully does he disgrace and ruin such as had behaved unfaithfully in his honourable service; and self-complacence, in parts, gifts, station, wealth, or power, God rejects with abhorrence. Alas! how stupified, and what mutual destroyers, do nations become when God leaves them! Their very managers and protectors do but ruin instead of relieving them; and vain hopes will but aggravate their misery and increase their confusion. Nothing but self-humiliation and repentance can avail when God lifts up his hand to destroy. Nor are the highest too great to sit in the dust when he calls to weeping and mourning for the sins of the land. Those ministers or others who know the terrors of the Lord cannot but tremble and weep for those who, insensible of danger, refuse to amend. Disgraceful miseries shall at last overtake the obstinate; and frequently the persons or things with which they sinned become the instruments of their punishment. Proud and ignorant sinners readily quarrel with the justice of their calamities. But, alas! how extensive and dreadful is God's charge against them, when he sets before them their great iniquities, their fixedness and obstinacy therein, their forgetfulness of and treacherous departure from him, and their mad propensity to whoredom and idolatry! Nothing less than the infinitely precious blood of Jesus, and the infinitely powerful grace of Jehovah, can renew and purify a sinner, thus spotted and deformed both in nature and practice. And, alas! dreadful is the guilt and folly that, while God waits to cleanse us, we should so refuse and evade his kindness.