The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah
Jeremiah 5
Chapter V · Vol. III, pp. 1235–1236
1 The judgments of God upon the Jews, for their perverseness, 7 for their adultery, 10 for their impiety, 19 for their contempt of God, 25 and for their great corruption in the civil state, 30 and their prevarication in religion.
1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, aif ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
B.C. cir. 620.
a Eze.22.30. Mi.7.1,2. Ps.14.3; 58.1,2. Ge.18.23-32.
3 O LORD, bare not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast cstricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but theyd have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
b 2 Ch.16.9. Ps.51.6; 11.5,7. Is.26.7.
c Is.1.5,6; 9.13; 42.25. ch.2.30; 7.24-28. Pr.23.35. Zep.3.1,2,5,7. 2 Ch.28.22. Is.48.4. Zec.7.11,12. Pr.21.29. Ho.11.2,7. Am.4.6,8-11.
A.M. cir. 3384. B.C. cir. 620.
d He.12.9.
4 Therefore I said, eSurely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.
5 I will get me unto gthe great men, and will speak unto them: for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these hhave altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.2
6 Wherefore a lion3 out of the forest shall slay them, and ia wolf of the evenings4 shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces; jbecause their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.5
3 Nebuchadnezzar and his army, ch.4.7; 2.15; 51.34. Is.15.9. Na.2.11-13. Hab.1.8. Zep.3.3. Ho.13.7,8. 2 Ch.36.17, with Ps.104.20. Am.5.18,19.
i Eze.22.27.
4 Or, deserts.
j ch.2.17,19; 6.19; 9.12-16. Is.3.11. ch.4.18; 16.10; 19.4,5. Eze.xvi. xx. xxiii.
5 Heb. are strong.
7 Howk shall I pardon6 thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and lsworn by them that are no gods: when nI had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.
k ver.9,29; ch.9.9; 2.17,19. 2 Ki.24.4. He.10.26?-31.
6 How can your sins be pardoned consistently with truth, justice, and holiness, the glory of God, and the best moral interests of man?—C.
l Jos.23.7. Zep.1.5. De.32.21. Ps.16.4.
n De.32.15. Is.26.18. Ho.4.7,12,14; 13.6. Ja.5.5. Nu.25.1,2. Eze.16.49. Pr.23.31,33.
9 Shallp I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?7
p ver.7,29; ch.9.9; 44.22. Is.1.24. Eze.5.13.
7 The prophet here by divine inspiration justifies God's judgments on Israel. Their sins were so great, so heinous, so long persevered in, that it was impossible for a just judge, a righteous ruler, longer to refrain from punishing. Mercy had, as it were, more than exhausted its office; justice could not be longer delayed.—P.
10 Goq ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but rmake not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD's.8
q Ps.127.1,2. ch.6.3-6; 39.8.
r ch.4.27; 30.11; 46.28. Is.1.9; 24.13. Eze.12.16.
8 Not as Nu.10.9; 14.9, but Ps.78.61,62.
11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have sdealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.
s ch.3.20. Is.24.5.
12 They thave belied the LORD, and said, It is not he,9 neither shall evil come upon us, neither shall we see sword nor famine:
t 1 Jn.5.10. 2 Ch.36.16. Is.28.15. ch.14.13,14; 23.16,17,32; 28.7. Eze.12.22-28; 13.1-23. La.2.14. ch.4.10.
9 It is not Jehovah that speaks—he will not, or he cannot punish—the constant language of infidelity when reading Scripture, or looking forward to death and judgment.—C.
13 Andu the prophets shall become wind,1 and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.2
u ch.14.13-15; 22.22; 23.9-32; 28.15-17; 29.20-32. Eze.xiii. Ho.9.7,8. Mi.2.11; 3.11.
1 The infidels go on to say, 'The prophet's voice is mere wind,' unworthy of regard.—C.
2 Their prophecies of famine and sword will come down upon the prophets themselves; for we will famish them in prison, or slay them for their rebukes.—C.
14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, vbehold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
15 Lo, xI will bring a nation upon you from far, O yhouse of Israel,3 saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.
x De.28.49. ch.1.15; 6.22; 25.9. Is.39.3,6,7; 5.26-30. Hab.1.5-10. Is.28.11; 33.19.
y ch.6.9; 9.26; 10.1. Eze.13.5; 18.31.
3 The ten tribes of Israel were now actually in captivity in a far country. The application of the name to Judah was, therefore, a tacit confirmation of the judgments denounced.—C.
16 Their4 quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.
4 Is.5.28. 2 Ch.36.16, i.e. their arrows shall slay many.
17 Andz they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig-trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.
19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, bWherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, cLike as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land; so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.
b ch.13.22; 22.9; 16.10. Mal.2.17. De.29.24-28. 1 Ki.9.8,9.
c De.28.47,48; 4.25-28. La.5.8. ch.25.11; 27.7. Lu.21.24. De.29.25-28.
20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
21 Hear now this, dO foolish people, and without understanding;5 which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
22 Feare ye not me? saith the LORD: gwill ye not tremble at my presence, which hhave placed the sand6 for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it; and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?
e ch.10.7. Re.15.4. De.28.58. Job 37.1. Ps.119.120. Mal.3.5.
g Ps.99.1.
h Job 38.10,11; 26.10; 9.8. Ps.104.9; 33.7. Pr.8.29. Ps.89.9; 93.3,4; 29.10. Is.50.2. Na.1.4.
6 If I can bound the fiercest waves of the sea by a barrier of loose unconnected sand, how much more easy to bound and punish human pride and power!—C.
24 Neither jsay they in their heart, kLet us now fear the LORD our God, lthat giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the nappointed weeks of the harvest.
25 Youro iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.
o ch.3.3. Ps.107.17,34. Is.59.1,2. La.3.39.
26 For among my people are found wicked men:7 theyp lay wait,8 as he that setteth snares: they set a trap, they catch men.
7 Some they insnare into idolatry, others into riot and licentiousness, others into infidelity, others they rob by violence or plunder by deceit in trade, and so are 'waxen rich' by the gains of their iniquity.—C.
p Pr.1.17,18. 1 Ki.21.9,10. Ps.10.8,9. 1 Sa.18.21,25; 19.1,11,20.
8 Or, pry as fowlers lie in wait.
27 As a cage9 is full of birds,1 so are their houses full of deceit:2 therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
9 Or, coop, Re.18.2.
1 As a cage is full of birds. As a decoy is occupied by tame birds trained to lead others, so is Jerusalem full of intellectual, moral, and commercial deceivers, educated to entrap the inexperienced.—C.
2 Pr.1.11-13. Mi.6.10-12. Na.2.12. Ho.12.7,8. Am.8.4-6, i.e. goods gotten by deceit.
28 Theyq are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass3 the deeds of the 4wicked: rthey judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they sprosper: and the right of the needy do they not judge.
q Am.4.1. De.32.15. Ps.119.70. Job 15.27. Ep.4.18. Ja.5.5. ver 8.
3 Eze.16.47-52; 5.6,7. 1 Co.5.1, are more wicked than heathens.
4 Though still making some outward profession of religion (see ver. 2), they are inwardly hardened hypocrites who privately surpass in word and deed the openly wicked and profane.—C.
r ch.22.15-19. Is.1.23. Zec.7.10.
s Ps.73.5,12. ch.12.1,2. Job 12.6. Hab.1.3,4.
29 Shallt I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
31 Thev prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule6 by their means; and my people xlove to have it so: and ywhat will ye do in the end thereof?7
v ch.14.14; 23.25,26. Eze.13.6. Ho.6.10. Mi.3.11. La.2.14.
6 Or, take into their hands.
7 A more fearful picture of utter, universal national depravity could not be drawn. Every class was infected. The very priests, whose duty it was to guide the devotions of the people, the very prophets who professed to be the commissioned messengers of Jehovah—all alike had apostatized, and had become depraved.—P.
x Mi.2.6,11. Is.30.10. 2 Th.2.9,12. 2 Ti.4.3,4.
y De.32.29. La.1.9. Is.10.3; 33.14; 20.6. Mi.3.11,12. Eze.22.14. ch.22.22,23.
Notes
Ver. 3. Thou requirest and regardest upright dealings; but they, under all thy lesser judgments, have stupified themselves, and become more and more stubborn and rebellious. 12-14. They have contradicted the faithful messages of God by his prophets, and pretended that they spoke of themselves in foretelling calamities; and that their words were but a mere puff of noisy wind, which would neither profit nor hurt anybody, unless they should be fulfilled on themselves. Therefore God's words by Jeremiah shall be accomplished in the fearful destruction of them and their country. 31. The prophets fit their predictions to the ambitious humours of the priests and princes; the people delight to be flattered with promises of prosperity; and what can these things end in but ruin to you all?
Ver. 2. Neither word nor oath could be believed—a state to which idolatry, superstition, and libertinism speedily conduct any people.—Note, Where God is not honoured, in vain do men talk of honour. They raise an idol, and they worship it, so long and so far as that worship pleases them; and then, like other idols, it is cast down, and, as 'wicked men and seducers wax worse and worse,' some baser idol of lust or avarice is reared in its stead. So was it with Israel, so will it ever be with unrenewed human nature. C.
Ver. 6. The 'lion' bold, the 'wolf' destructive, the 'leopard' springing suddenly upon its prey, are still expressive emblems of invaders; but were probably, in the days of the prophet, the distinctive war-standards of the principal nations of the Babylonian empire. C.
Ver. 10. The commission of judgment is to the 'lion, wolf, and leopard,' ver. 6, 'Go ye up against her wild vine and destroy (but make not a full end), cut away her branches, for they are not the Lord's' (Boothroyd). C.
Ver. 15. An ancient nation. Babylon was founded by Nimrod, about 170 years after the flood; and as the Jews piqued themselves much on their ancient descent from Abraham, their pride of ancestry is here reminded of a nation of invaders more ancient than themselves. C.
Ver. 31. The professed prophets sustained the faction of the idolatrous priests, and the people approved, because both parties flattered their vanity, bowed to their prejudices, and indulged their sins. C.
Reflections.—Terrible and manifold are the corruptions of apostate nations and churches. One sin introduces another, till all ranks become absolute monsters in guilt. And, alas! great men, fattened by prosperity or power, are often the most active patterns in, or promoters of, wickedness. Very grating to multitudes of hearers are the faithful messages of God's ministers. But God will make them to know at last whose words shall stand, whether his or theirs. When professors of the true religion live destitute of the fear of God, nothing is so horrible or unnatural but they will commit it. And it is dreadful when men have carried their sins to such a height that God cannot longer forbear punishing them without violating the honour of his perfections. Nothing more hastens things to this crisis than combinations of ministers and magistrates to support one another in wickedness, and corrupt the nation between them.