1.
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;
Jeremiah's Sixteenth Prophecy (see book comments for Jeremiah).
to. Hebrew "upon". Some codices, with two early printed editions, Septuagint, and Vulgate, read "unto".
all the People = the People at large.
the fourth year of Jehoiakim. An important date, being the first year of Nebuchadnezzar. See App-83 and App-86 .
the first year, &c. See App-86 .
Nebuchadrezzar. Compare Jeremiah 21:2 .
Babylon. Assyria not mentioned, for it had already fallen.
2.
The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,
Jeremiah the prophet spake. This is the first occurrence of the expression. We find "said" later; and "prophet" in Jeremiah 1:5 ; Jeremiah 20:2 ; Jeremiah 28:5 , Jeremiah 28:6 , Jeremiah 28:10 , Jeremiah 28:11 , Jeremiah 28:12 , Jeremiah 28:12 , Jeremiah 28:15 ; Jeremiah 29:1 , Jeremiah 29:29 ; Jeremiah 32:2 ; Jeremiah 36:8 , &c, Jeremiah 34:6 ; Jeremiah 45:1 .
spake. In Ch. Jeremiah 36:2 he is told to "write", because "Israel" (being dispersed), could not be spoken to, as Judah was here.
3.
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.
thirteenth year of Josiah. Compare Jeremiah 1:2 .
the three and twentieth year: i.e. of Jeremiah's prophesying: 18 years under Josiah + 3 months under Jehoahaz + 4 years under Jehoiakim.
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 .
rising early and speaking. See note on Jeremiah 7:13 .
4.
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.
5.
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:
evil = calamity. Hebrew. ra'a. App-44 .
in the land = on the soil. Hebrew. 'adamah.
for ever and ever = from age to age. This must be read with "given", and refers to God's counsel. See note on Isaiah 44:7 ("ancient").
6.
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.
do you no hurt = bring no calamity upon you.
hurt. Hebrew. ra'a'. App-44 . Compare Jeremiah 25:5 .
7.
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.
saith the LORD = [is] Jehovah's oracle.
provoke Me to anger, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 32:21 ).
8.
Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words,
the LORD of hosts. See note on Jeremiah 6:6 , and 1 Samuel 1:3 .
9.
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.
My servant. Compare Isaiah 45:1 .
and. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton. App-6 .
astonishment. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 28:37 ). Compare Jeremiah 25:18 .
perpetual = age-abiding. Put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of the Whole), for a long time.
10.
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 take from them. Quoted in Revelation 18:23 . Compare Jeremiah 7:34 ; Jeremiah 16:9 ; Jeremiah 33:11 .
candle = lamp.
11.
And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
and. Some codices, with three early printed editions, Syriac, and Vulgate, read this "and" in the text.
seventy years. From 496 to 426. See the special note on 2 Chronicles 36:21 .
12.
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.
when. No necessary sequence with Jeremiah 25:11 .Jeremiah 25:12; Jeremiah 25:12 commences a fresh paragraph about the seventy years.
punish = visit upon, exactly seventy years later.
iniquity. Hebrew. 'avah. App-44 .
it. Hebrew masculine = the People rather than the land.
13.
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.
14.
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.
of them: i.e. of the Chaldeans.
15.
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.
the LORD God of Israel. See note on Jeremiah 11:3 .
wine. Hebrew. yayin. App-27 .
16.
And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.
be moved = reel to and fro.
because of the sword, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Leviticus 26:25 , Leviticus 26:33 ). App-92 .
17.
Then took I the cup at the LORD's hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:
18.
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;
Jerusalem. Comes first (Compare Jeremiah 25:29 ), because of 1 Peter 4:17 . Amos 3:2 .
and. So some codices, with five early printed editions, Aramaean, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate. Others omit this "and".
as it is this day. Probably added by Jeremiah when this prophecy had been fulfilled.
19.
Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;
20.
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,
mingled people. Hebrew. 'ereb. Compare Jeremiah 50:37 . Ezekiel 30:5 .Daniel 2:43 .Ezra 9:2 .Psalms 106:35 . In the inscription of Sennacherib (Bellino's Cylinder, line 13) the Urbi are joined with the Arameans (nomad tribes west of the Euphrates). Sennacherib says that Hezekiah had some " Urbi" soldiers with him in Jerusalem.
Uz. Job's country near Idumea (Lamentations 4:2 .)
Philistines, &c. Compare Jeremiah 47 .
Ashkelon. Now 'Askalan. Azzah. Hebrew ' Azz ah = Gaza.
Ekron. Now ' Aki r.
Ashdod. Now 'Esdud.
21.
Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,
children = sons.
22.
And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea,
and the kings. So in the Mugah Codex (quoted in the Massorah) ; but other codices, with one early printed edition, read "and all the kings".
isles = coast-land, or maritime country.
are. Supply "is", referring to coast-land.
23.
Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners,
Dedan. On the borders of Edom (Jeremiah 49:8 . Ezekiel 25:13 ).
Tema, and Buz. The country of Elihu. See Job 32:2 and note on p. 666.
that are in the utmost corners = all with their hair clipped at the corners.
24.
And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert,
25.
And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,
26.
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.
the world. Hebrew. 'erez (with Art.), the earth.
the earth = the ground, or soil. Hebrew. 'adamah (with Art.)
Sheshach. The Massorah explains that this word is "Babel", being a cypher by which the last letter of the alphabet is put for the first, and the next to the last for the second, &c., by which Sh. Sh. Ch. becomes B. B. L. "Babel" (CompareJeremiah 51:41; Jeremiah 51:41 , where both words are used). There is another example in Jeremiah 51:1 . See note there. Four classes of nations are to drink of this cup of the fury of Jehovah Elohim of Israel (Jeremiah 25:15 ): (1) Jerusalem and Judah (Jeremiah 25:18 ); (2) Egypt, &c. (Jeremiah 25:19 ); (3) the mingled nations (verses: 20-22); and (4) the more distant nations (vv- 23-25). Daniel fills in these "times of the Gentiles", which are not within the scope of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. But the point here is that the final judgment of the nations is yet future: when "Great Babylon" comes into remembrance, it will "drink after them". Compare Jeremiah 49:12 . For this, "Sheshach" must be rebuilt and restored.
the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel. See note on Jeremiah 7:3 .
27.
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.
28.
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.
29.
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 is called by My name = upon which My name is called.
unpunished = held guiltless. Compare 1 Peter 4:17 . Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 20:7 ; Exodus 34:7 . Numbers 14:18 ).
the earth. Hebrew. ha'arez. Same word as "the world" in Jeremiah 25:26 .
30.
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.
roar. Compare Jeremiah 25:38 , "as a lion".
holy. See Exodus 3:5 .
upon His habitation = against His fold.
the grapes = the winepress. Compare Isaiah 63:1-6 .
31.
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.
plead with = judge.
wicked = lawless. Hebrew. rasha'. App-44 .
32.
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.
coasts = sides: i.e. uttermost parts. earth. Hebrew. 'arez. Compare Jeremiah 25:29 .
33.
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.
the slain. By the sword. Compare Isaiah 66:16 .
34.
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.
shepherds = rulers (of all kinds). Compare Jeremiah 2:8 ; Jeremiah 6:3 . All three had miserable ends: Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 22:18 ; Jeremiah 36:30 ); Jehoiachin, taken to Babylon; and Zedekiah, after his eyes were put out.
principals = strong ones.
of your dispersions: or, when ye are dispersed. So in the Mugah Codex (quoted in the Massorah), with three early printed editions.
pleasant = precious (i.e. fair, but fragile).
35.
And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.
36.
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.
37.
And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
peaceable habitations = pastures of peace.
cut down = silenced.
38.
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.
as the lion. Figure of speech Simile ( App-6 ). Compare Jeremiah 25:30 .
the fierceness of the oppressor. Some codices, with one early printed edition, Aramaean, and Septuagint, read "the (Septuagint "great") sword of oppressors". Compare Jeremiah 46:16 ; Jeremiah 50:16 .