---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Jeremiah 12"
description: "CHAPTER 12   :-. CONTINUATION OF THE
SUBJECT AT THE CLOSE
OF THE ELEVENTH
CHAPTER. He ventures to expostulate with
Jehovah as to the prosperity of the wic"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/jeremiah/12"
---

CHAPTER 12

. CONTINUATION OF THE
SUBJECT AT THE CLOSE
OF THE ELEVENTH
CHAPTER.
He ventures to expostulate with
Jehovah as to the prosperity of the wicked, who had plotted against
his life ([Jeremiah 12:1-4](../../../kjv/jeremiah/12/1-4));
in reply he is told that he will have worse to endure, and that from
his own relatives ([Jeremiah 12:5](../../../kjv/jeremiah/12/5);
[Jeremiah 12:6](../../../kjv/jeremiah/12/6)). The heaviest
judgments, however, would be inflicted on the faithless people ([Jeremiah 12:6](../../../kjv/jeremiah/12/6)); and then on the nations co-operating with the Chaldeans
against Judah, with, however, a promise of mercy on repentance ([Jeremiah 12:6](../../../kjv/jeremiah/12/6)).

**1.** ().
**let me talk,** c.—only
let me reason the case with Thee: inquire of Thee the causes why such
wicked men as these plotters against my life prosper (compare [Job 12:6](../../../kjv/job/12/6)
[Job 21:7](../../../kjv/job/21/7); [Psalms 37:1](../../../kjv/psalms/37/1);
[Psalms 37:35](../../../kjv/psalms/37/35); [Psalms 73:3](../../../kjv/psalms/73/3);
[Malachi 3:15](../../../kjv/malachi/3/15)). It is right, when hard
thoughts of God's providence suggest themselves, to fortify our minds
by *justifying God beforehand* (as did Jeremiah), even before we
hear the *reasons* of His dealings.

**2. grow**—literally, "go
on," "progress." Thou givest them sure dwellings and
increasing prosperity.
**near in . . . mouth . . . far
from . . . reins**— ([Isaiah 29:13](../../../kjv/isaiah/29/13);
[Matthew 15:8](../../../kjv/matthew/15/8)). Hypocrites.

**3. knowest me**— ().
**tried . . . heart**— ().
**toward thee**—rather,
"with Thee," that is, entirely devoted to Thee; contrasted
with the hypocrites ([Jeremiah 12:2](../../../kjv/jeremiah/12/2)),
"near in . . . mouth, and far from . . . reins." This being
so, how is it that I fare so ill, they so well?
**pull . . . out**—containing
the metaphor, from a "rooted tree" ([Jeremiah 12:2](../../../kjv/jeremiah/12/2)).
**prepare**—literally,
"separate," or "set apart as devoted."
**day of slaughter**— ([Jeremiah 12:2](../../../kjv/jeremiah/12/2)).

**4. land mourn**—personification
([Jeremiah 14:2](../../../kjv/jeremiah/14/2); [Jeremiah 23:10](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/10)).
**for the wickedness**— ([Jeremiah 23:10](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/10)).
**beasts**— ([Jeremiah 23:10](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/10)).
**He shall not see our last
end**—*Jehovah* knows not what is about to happen to us ([Jeremiah 23:10](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/10)) [ROSENMULLER].
So the *Septuagint.* ([Psalms 10:11](../../../kjv/psalms/10/11);
[Ezekiel 8:12](../../../kjv/ezekiel/8/12); [Ezekiel 9:9](../../../kjv/ezekiel/9/9)).
Rather, "*The prophet* (Jeremiah, to whom the whole context
refers) shall not see our last end." We need not trouble
ourselves about his boding predictions. We shall not be destroyed as
he says ([Jeremiah 5:12](../../../kjv/jeremiah/5/12); [Jeremiah 5:13](../../../kjv/jeremiah/5/13)).

**5.** Jehovah's reply to Jeremiah's
complaint.
**horses**—that is,
horsemen: the argument *a fortiori.* A proverbial phrase. The
injuries done thee by the men of Anathoth ("the footmen")
are small compared with those which the men of Jerusalem ("the
horsemen") are about to inflict on thee. If the former weary
thee out, how wilt thou contend with the king, the court, and the
priests at Jerusalem?
***wherein*****thou
trustedst,*****they wearied thee*******—*English
Version* thus fills up the sentence with the italicized words, to
answer to the parallel clause in the first sentence of the verse. The
parallelism is, however, sufficiently retained with a less ellipsis:
"If (it is only) in a land of peace thou art confident"
[MAURER].
**swelling of Jordan**—In
harvest-time and earlier (April and May) it overflows its banks (), and fills the valley called the Ghor. Or, "the *pride*
of Jordan," namely, its wooded banks abounding in lions and
other wild beasts ([Jeremiah 49:19](../../../kjv/jeremiah/49/19);
[Jeremiah 50:44](../../../kjv/jeremiah/50/44); [Zechariah 11:3](../../../kjv/zechariah/11/3);
compare [2 Kings 6:2](../../../kjv/2-kings/6/2)). MAUNDRELL
says that between the Sea of Tiberias and Lake Merom the banks are so
wooded that the traveller cannot see the river at all without first
passing through the woods. If in the champaign country (alone) thou
art secure, how wilt thou do when thou fallest into the wooded haunts
of wild beasts?

**6. even thy brethren**—as in
Christ's case ([Psalms 69:8](../../../kjv/psalms/69/8); [John 1:11](../../../kjv/john/1/11);
[John 7:5](../../../kjv/john/7/5); compare [Jeremiah 9:4](../../../kjv/jeremiah/9/4);
[Jeremiah 11:19](../../../kjv/jeremiah/11/19); [Jeremiah 11:21](../../../kjv/jeremiah/11/21);
[Matthew 10:36](../../../kjv/matthew/10/36)). Godly faithfulness is
sure to provoke the ungodly, even of one's own family.
**called a multitude after
thee**— ([Isaiah 31:4](../../../kjv/isaiah/31/4)). JEROME
translates, "cry after thee with a loud (literally, 'full')
voice."
**believe . . . not . . .
though . . . speak fair**— ([Isaiah 31:4](../../../kjv/isaiah/31/4)).

**7. I have forsaken**—Jehovah
will forsake His temple and the people peculiarly His. The mention of
God's close tie to them, as heretofore *His,* aggravates their
ingratitude, and shows that their past spiritual privileges will not
prevent God from punishing them.
**beloved of my soul**—image
from a *wife* ([Jeremiah 11:15](../../../kjv/jeremiah/11/15);
[Isaiah 54:5](../../../kjv/isaiah/54/5)).

**8. is unto me**—is become unto
Me: behaves towards Me as a lion which roars against a man, so that
he withdraws from the place where he hears it: so I withdrew from My
people, once beloved, but now an object of abhorrence because of
their rebellious cries against Me.

**9. speckled bird**—Many
translate, "a ravenous beast, the hyena"; the corresponding
*Arabic* word means *hyena;* so the *Septuagint.* But
the *Hebrew* always elsewhere means "a bird of prey."
The *Hebrew* for "speckled" is from a root "to
color"; answering to the Jewish *blending together* with
paganism the altogether *diverse* Mosaic ritual. The neighboring
nations, *birds of prey* like herself (for she had sinfully
assimilated herself to them), were ready to pounce upon her.
**assemble . . . beasts of . .
. field**—The Chaldeans are told to gather the surrounding
heathen peoples as allies against Judah ([Isaiah 56:9](../../../kjv/isaiah/56/9);
[Ezekiel 34:5](../../../kjv/ezekiel/34/5)).

**10. pastors**—the Babylonian
leaders (compare [Jeremiah 12:12](../../../kjv/jeremiah/12/12);
[Jeremiah 6:3](../../../kjv/jeremiah/6/3)).
**my vineyard**— ([Isaiah 5:1](../../../kjv/isaiah/5/1);
[Isaiah 5:5](../../../kjv/isaiah/5/5)).
**trodden my portion**—
([Isaiah 63:18](../../../kjv/isaiah/63/18)).

**11. mourneth unto me**—that is,
before Me. EICHORN
translates, "by reason of Me," because I have given it to
desolation ([Jeremiah 12:7](../../../kjv/jeremiah/12/7)).
**because no man layeth it to
heart**—because none by repentance and prayer seek to deprecate
God's wrath. Or, "*yet* none lays it to heart"; as in
[Jeremiah 5:3](../../../kjv/jeremiah/5/3) [CALVIN].

**12. high places**—Before, He had
threatened the plains; now, the hills.
**wilderness**—not an
uninhabited desert, but high lands of pasturage, lying between Judea
and Chaldea ([Jeremiah 4:11](../../../kjv/jeremiah/4/11)).

**13.** Description in detail of the
devastation of the land ([Micah 6:15](../../../kjv/micah/6/15)).
**they shall be ashamed of
your**—The change of persons, in passing from indirect to direct
address, is frequent in the prophets. Equivalent to, "Ye shall
be put to the shame of disappointment at the smallness of your
produce."

**14-17.** Prophecy as to the
surrounding nations, the Syrians, Ammonites, c., who helped forward
Judah's calamity: they shall share her fall and, on their conversion,
they shall share with her in the future restoration. This is a brief
anticipation of the predictions in the forty-seventh, forty-eighth,
and forty-ninth chapters.
**touch**— ().
**pluck them out . . . pluck
out . . . Judah**—(Compare end of ). During the thirteen years that the Babylonians besieged
Tyre, Nebuchadnezzar, after subduing Coeliglo-Syria, brought Ammon,
Moab, c., and finally Egypt, into subjection [JOSEPHUS,
*Antiquities,* 10:9.7]. On the restoration of these nations,
they were to exchange places with the Jews. The latter were now in
the midst of them, but on their restoration *they* were to be
"in the midst of the Jews," that is, as proselytes to the
true God (compare [Micah 5:7](../../../kjv/micah/5/7)
[Zechariah 14:16](../../../kjv/zechariah/14/16)). "Pluck *them,*"
namely, the Gentile nations: in a bad sense. "Pluck Judah":
in a good sense; used to express the force which was needed to snatch
Judah from the tyranny of those nations by whom they had been made
captives, or to whom they had fled; otherwise they never would have
let Judah go. Previously he had been forbidden to pray for the mass
of the Jewish people. But here he speaks consolation to the elect
remnant among them. Whatever the Jews might be, God keeps *His*
covenant.

**15.** A promise, applying to
Judah, as well as to the nations specified (). As to Moab, compare ; as to Ammon, [Jeremiah 49:6](../../../kjv/jeremiah/49/6).

**16. swear by my name**— ([Jeremiah 4:2](../../../kjv/jeremiah/4/2);
[Isaiah 19:18](../../../kjv/isaiah/19/18); [Isaiah 65:16](../../../kjv/isaiah/65/16));
that is, confess solemnly the true God.
**built**—be made
spiritually and temporally prosperous: fixed in sure habitations
(compare [Jeremiah 24:6](../../../kjv/jeremiah/24/6); [Jeremiah 42:10](../../../kjv/jeremiah/42/10);
[Jeremiah 45:4](../../../kjv/jeremiah/45/4); [Psalms 87:4](../../../kjv/psalms/87/4);
[Psalms 87:5](../../../kjv/psalms/87/5); [Ephesians 2:20](../../../kjv/ephesians/2/20);
[Ephesians 2:21](../../../kjv/ephesians/2/21); [1 Peter 2:5](../../../kjv/1-peter/2/5)).

**17.** ().

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