The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah
Jeremiah 15
Chapter XV · Vol. III, pp. 1249–1250
1 The utter rejection and manifold judgments of the Jews. 10 Jeremiah, complaining of their spite, receiveth a promise for himself, 12 and a threatening for them. 15 He prayeth, 19 and receiveth a gracious promise.
1 Then said the LORD unto me, aThough Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people; castb them out of my sight, and let them go forth.1
a Eze.14.4,14-20. Ex.32.11-14. Nu.14.19,20. 1 Sa.7.9. Ps.99.6. ch.14.11; 11.14; 7.16.
b ch.1.10,16; 6.11,12.
1 See note * below.
* Both Moses and Samuel were characterized by their earnest, powerful, and successful intercessions on behalf of the Israelites, when national sin had entailed national judgment. But even though these great and holy men should return to life, and stand together before God as suppliants for Israel, it would be in vain. Their sins were now so great and so aggravated that even divine mercy was exhausted, and justice must take its place. The people were lost to reason, to reproof, and even to shame. The Lord was not merely forgotten, he was openly despised and rejected. What a lesson is this for the nations of the earth!—P.
2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD, cSuch as are for 2death,3 to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.
c ch.43.11; 14.12. Zec.11.9. Is.43.28. Eze.5.2,12; 14.21; 23.47. Da.9.11,12.
2 Pestilence.
3 Death—the plague in some special form, so commonly and extensively mortal that it was denominated 'death.'—C.
3 And I will dappoint over them four kinds,4 saith the LORD; the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.
d Ps.75.8. Le.26.16-39. ch.8.2; 12.9. De.28.26. Is.18.6.
4 Heb. families.
4 And I will cause them to be eremoved5 into all kingdoms of the earth, because of gManasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
A.M. cir. 3396. B.C. cir. 608.
e Le.26.33. De.28.25,64. ch.24.9; 9.16; 29.18. Eze.23.46; 5.12.
5 Heb. give them for a removing.
g 2 Ki.21.7,9,11,16; 24.3,4; 23.26.
5 Forh who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest?6
6 Thoui hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward; therefore will I jstretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; kI am weary with repenting.
7 And lI will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I nwill bereave them of children,7 I will destroy my people, since they oreturn not from their ways.
l Mat.3.12. ch.51.2. Eze.5.12. ver.5. Ps.1.4. Is.41.16; 17.13.
n ch.4.11; 9.21; 16.4. De.28.18,20,32,41,53. Ho.9.12,17.
7 Or, whatsoever is dear.
o Is.9.13. ch.5.3. Am.4.10-12.
8 Theirp widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them, against the 8mother of the young men, qa spoiler at noon-day: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city.
p ch.18.21. Is.3.25,26; 4.1; 47.9.
8 Or, mother city (Jerusalem) a young man spoiling, &c.; or, mother and the young men, &c.
q ch.4.6,16; 5.6,15; 6.3; 8.16; 25.9; 12.9. Zep.1.8. He.1.5-10. 1 Th.5.2,3.
9 Sher that hath born seven languisheth; she hath given up the ghost; sher sun is gone down while it was yet day; she hath been ashamed and confounded: and tthe residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.
10 Woeu is me, my mother, that thou hast born me a man of strife, and a man of contention to the whole earth!9 I have vneither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.
11 The LORD said, xVerily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee1 well in the time of evil, and in the time of affliction.
x Ec.8.12. Ps.37.5,6,19,24,25-29. ch.39.11; 40.4.
1 Or, entreat the enemy for thee, Ps.106.46. Pr.16.7. Ro.8.28.
12 Shally iron break the northern iron and the steel?2
A.M. cir. 3396. B.C. cir. 608.
y ch.1.18,19, or ch.21.4,7,13, with 25.9. Hab.1.5-10.
2 'The northern iron' was doubtless of a superior quality, most probably prepared and hardened in some peculiar manner, like the steel obtained from the Chalybes of Pontus. A method of hardening iron was known in Pontus at a very early period. 'Northern iron,' therefore, was somewhat like our steel. The word rendered 'steel' in this verse means 'copper,' and ought to be so translated. In ancient times copper was mixed with other metals which rendered it hard and durable.—P.
13 Thyz substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
14 Anda I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not; for a bfire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you.
a ch.14.18; 17.4. De.28.25,36,64. ver.4. Am.5.27. ch.lii.
15 O LORD, cthou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors: dtake me not away in thy long-suffering: know that efor thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
16 Thy words were found, and I did geat them;3 andh thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy 4name,5 O LORD God of hosts.
g Eze.3.1-3,17. Re.10.9. Ps.119.11,72,97; 19.10.
3 'Embrace them.'—Boothroyd.
h Job 23.12.
4 Heb. thy name is called upon me, ch.1.5,9,10,18.
5 Called the Lord's prophet.—C.
17 Ii sat not in the assembly of the mockers,6 nor rejoiced; jI sat alone, because of thy hand: for thou hast kfilled me with indignation.
6 Mockers. Rather, 'revellers or merrimakers.'—C.
j Ec.7.2-4. Ps.119.120. ch.9.1; 13.17; 23.9. La.3.28. Hab.3.2,16. Da.7.28. Eze.3.24.
k ch.6.11; 1.10,16; ii.-xxviii. xxxiv.-lii.
18 Why is my lpain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? nwilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?7
19 Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return,o then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt pstand before me: and qif thou take forth the precious8 from the vile,9 thou shalt be as my mouth: rlet them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.1
20 Ands I will make thee unto this people a fenced brazen wall; and they shall fight against thee, but tthey shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee to save thee, and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
21 And uI will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.
u Is.49.24-26; 54.17; 46.4. 2 Co.1.10. 2 Ti.4.17. ch.20.11,12. Ps.118.10-14.
Notes
Ver. 9. Jerusalem, or Judea, which was once so populous, is bereaved of her inhabitants; destruction hath come upon her in the height of her prosperity, when it was altogether unexpected. 12-14. The hard-hearted and self-conceited Jews shall never be able to grapple with the Chaldean forces, to whom I will give all their wealth, without any possibility of redemption; and who, in execution of my kindled wrath, shall carry them away captives. 15-18. Lord, thou knowest my circumstances; protect, favour, and comfort me, and punish my persecutors. While they are spared, let me not be destroyed, but manifest thy regard to me, as one persecuted for thy sake. I very cheerfully received my commission from thee to be thy prophet, and with pleasure declared thy messages to this people, expecting that they might be moved to repent; but the repeated messages of wrath which I have been appointed to deliver, and the persecution which I have endured on their account, have inexpressibly burdened and sunk my spirits. And must my troubles be perpetual? Wilt thou never deliver me according to thy promise? 19-21. If thou repent of this sinful distrust, and cheerfully and diligently discharge thine office, I will continue thee in it; and if thou faithfully endeavour to convince and reclaim wicked hypocrites, and to comfort upright saints, thou shalt be honoured as a true prophet. But remember thy faithful reproofs to reduce them to that course in which thou walkest, and never comply with or flatter them in their sinful courses; and then will I constantly protect thee against, and at last deliver thee from, all thy furious and powerful persecutors.
Ver. 1. Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, &c. By intercessory prayer Moses prevailed, Ex. 32. 34; Nu. 14. 20, and Samuel likewise, 1 Sa. 7. 9; for this 'power with God' they are specially mentioned, Ps. 99. 6,8. And while men inquire, cavil, and will neither understand nor believe that these things are so, the humble Christian can rely upon the word which testifies that 'the effectual fervent (inwrought) prayer of a righteous man availeth much,' Ja. 5. 16. C.
Ver. 4. Never was any prophecy more literally fulfilled, and never was there any one more unlikely to be true. (1) Because the Jews were remarkable for their attachment to their native land, to which all their institutions, interests, and recollections bound them, Ps. 137. 5. (2) Because, if scattered, they had hitherto displayed such a tendency to conform to the religion and habits of the heathen that all trace of their separate existence might be expected speedily to disappear. Notwithstanding of these things, they still abide a scattered, but a distinct people. 'They are found alike in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America: they are citizens of the world—without a country. They abound in Poland, Holland, Russia, and Turkey. In Germany, Spain, Italy, France, and Britain they are more thinly scattered. They are found in Persia, China, and India, east and west of the Ganges, and even in the interior of Africa, south of Timbuctoo' (Keith). C.
Ver. 6. God is perfect, therefore every attribute of his nature is perfect: (1) in itself; and (2) in its relation to his other attributes. Hence it follows that while his 'long-suffering' is perfect, so likewise his justice is perfect; and so God is said to be 'weary of repenting,' when the time of his 'long-suffering' is ended, and the relative time of his righteous retribution arrived. See ver. 15; Ex. 32. 12; Nu. 23. 19. C.
Ver. 7. I will fan them, &c. An allusion to 'fanning' or winnowing corn in gateways for sake of the air-draught. C.
Ver. 8. Mother of the young men. See the marginal translations. 'Mother of the chosen people' (Poole).—'I have brought against their mother city a chosen one' (Boothroyd). This variety testifies the difficulty of the phrase. But should not 'young men' be translated 'young man,' as the word is certainly singular? Is not this 'young man' king Jehoiachin, then only eighteen years of age? Comp. 2 Ki. 24. 8 with Je. 1. 3. Is not 'the mother of the young man' Nehushta, who is twice expressly mentioned, 2 Ki. 24. 8, 12, 15? having most probably been the chief adviser of her son in that idolatry which brought on the divine judgment.—A spoiler at noonday. In addition to the spoiler by night, ch. 6. 5, the evils of invasion in its most aggravated shape; a city taken by storm and delivered up to plunder. C.
Ver. 9. She that hath born seven languisheth. Is not this a prophetic allusion to 'all the men of might, even seven thousand, whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive? See 2 Ki. 24. 16. C.
Ver. 10, 11 must be regarded as a parenthesis, containing a lamentation of the prophet on his persecution, and a promise of the Lord to protect him and his 'remnant,' not of days, but of believing ones 'who had not bowed the knee to Baal.' C.
Ver. 12. Shall iron alone (Judah) be able to break the northern iron (the Assyrians) combined with steel (the Chaldeans)? C.
Ver. 15. Revenge. God will certainly punish the persecutors of his servants. The prophet, however, does not pray for revenge, in the sinful sense of the word; but that God would take compassion on his unhappy case, and, in his own time and manner, restrain the wrath and humble the power, disappoint the schemes, and dissolve the combination of his enemies. C.
Ver. 17. Indignation. Either with the indignities he had endured from the cursing of all ranks, ver. 10, or with indignation at the idolatry of the sacrifices and profane revelry of the feasts of the king and people; or with an overwhelming sense of the indignation of God at the national apostasy and wickedness. C.
Ver. 18. 'As the lying waters' (of the Serab) that appear to the traveller in the desert as a lake in the distance, but 'fail' and disappoint on his approach.—'Wilt thou be to me as a failing spring—as waters that are never sure?' (Boothroyd).
Ver. 19. If thou return to my word as the 'well of living (and not of failing) waters,' making it your joy in all this sorrow, ver. 16, 17. C.
Reflections.—Dreadful is the case of nations when chargeable with sins which God will not pardon, and when the prayers of the choicest saints avail nothing for their relief. For in diversified and dreadful forms God can, even on earth, avenge himself on his enemies. Ministers, if faithful, must expect the most ungrateful returns from the world. And however earnestly they should follow after peace with all men, it must never be purchased by base and flattering compliances in sin; nor ought they to entangle themselves with the affairs of this world. But it is hard for the best to keep their temper in an evil day. It is astonishing that God should be so condescending and kind to his peevish saints. And they who distinguish themselves in piety, faithfulness, and diligence, may expect his distinguished favours and protections. If hypocrites will persecute them, heathens shall show them kindness. And however our frames change, we ought never to doubt of his faithfulness and fulfilment of all his promises.