Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 5:28
They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
28. waxen fat ] Fatness was looked on as a mark of prosperity. Cp. Deu 32:15; Psa 92:14; Pro 28:25.
shine ] referring to their sleekness of skin.
that they should prosper ] i.e. that the orphans by their help may receive succour.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 28. They judge not the cause, yet they prosper] Perhaps we might be justified in translating, “And shall they prosper?”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
They are waxen fat, they shine; or, so fat that they shine; by reason.of their wealth and riches they pamper themselves till their eyes stand out with fatness, Psa 73:7; their wrinkles are filled up with fat, which makes their faces shine.
They overpass the deeds of the wicked; either, they go beyond the very heathen themselves in wickedness, Eze 5:6,7; or rather, they escape the hardships and sufferings that others undergo, Psa 73:5-8, they escape better than others; or they slightly pass over judgments threatened.
They judge not the cause of the fatherless; such whom even the law of nature commits to their patronage, they either disregard them, or wrong and injure them, either by refusing them a fair hearing, Isa 1:23, or giving wrong sentence against them in courts of judicature, Zec 7:10, expressly forbidden, Exo 22:22.
Yet they prosper; things go well with them, they live happily, according to their desire, prosperum scelus, Job 21:7, &c.; or, that they might prosper, viz. that God might bless them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
28. shinethe effect offatness on the skin (De 32:15).They live a life of self-indulgence.
overpass . . . thewickedexceed even the Gentiles in wickedness (Jer 2:33;Eze 5:6; Eze 5:7).
judge not . . . fatherless(Isa 1:23).
yet . . . prosper (Jer12:1).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
They are waxen fat, they shine,…. Becoming rich they grew fat, and their faces shone through fatness; so oil, delicious food, and good living, as it fattens men, it makes their faces to shine; see
Ps 104:15,
yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked; though they pretended to religion, the fear and worship of God, yet they committed crimes more heinous than the most abandoned and profligate sinners: or, “they exceed the words of the wicked” f; either they speak words more wicked than they; or do such actions as are not to be expressed by words, and which even a wicked man would hardly choose to name. The Targum is,
“they transgress the words of the law;”
and the Vulgate Latin version comes pretty near it, “they have passed over my words very badly”; as if they referred to the words of the law and the prophets:
they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless; this shows that it was not the common people only that were become so wicked, but the judges and civil magistrates; and who were so far from doing justice between man and man, in all civil cases that came before them, that they would not even exercise right judgment in the case of the fatherless; who not only require justice to be done them, but mercy and pity to be shown them:
yet they prosper; in the world, and increase in riches; have health of body and prosperity in their families; nor are they in trouble, as other men: this sometimes has been trying to good men to observe; see
Ps 73:3 and particularly to the Prophet Jeremiah, Jer 12:1: or, “that they may prosper” g; as Jarchi interprets it; and to the same sense is the Targum,
“if they had judged the judgment of the fatherless they would have prospered;”
but the former sense is best; and which Kimchi gives into, and agrees with what goes before, concerning the riches and prosperous estate of those men:
and the right of the needy do they not judge: because they are poor, and can not fee them, they will not undertake their cause; or, if it comes before them, they will not do them justice, being bribed by the rich that oppose them.
f “transcendunt verba mali”, Schmidt; “transierunt verba mali”, Cocceius. g “ut prosperentur”, Gataker.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Here the Prophet reproves those who were high in dignity, station, and wealth, and who wished at the same time to be deemed inviolable, because they were the rulers of the people. He had spoken before generally, but now he assails the higher orders, the king’s counselors, the priests, the judges, and all endowed with authority. He says, that they were swoln with fatness, that they were shining, though they had exceeded, etc We see how he confirms what he had briefly referred to; for as they protected themselves under the pretense of being rich, that they might not be called to an account, he says, by way of concession, “I allow that ye are bright and splendid, and indeed that ye are all over gold; but whence is this splendor? whence is this specious appearance, which dazzles the eyes of the simple? Ye are bright, ye are fat, though ye have surpassed the words of the impious, that is, the ways, the doings, and the designs of the impious.” He means, in short, that it was of no avail to the wicked, that by their aspect they terrified people, that they gained great respect by their riches, and made men afraid of them: the Prophet admits that they had honors, wealth, splendor, repute, dignity, and such things; but he says, at the same time, Ye have surpassed all the doings of the wicked (156) And then he brings this charge against them, that they did not judge judgment
It hence appears that the Prophet was not dealing with the common people nor with private individuals; but that he openly and avowedly reproved the king’s court and the judges. “They judge not judgment, “he says; which means, that they had no care for executing justice, but suffered thefts and robberies to go unpunished: and he still enhances their guilt and says, They judge not the judgment of the fatherless Pity towards young orphans is often found in those who are otherwise cruel; for that age, especially when deprived of all protection, touches our feelings in a peculiar manner. Since then young orphans were plundered with impunity, and found no defense from the judges, their dishonesty appeared most glaringly.
And he says, that they yet prospered. He again repeats, by way of concession, what he had before intimated, — that it was a foolish and vain pretense, that they openly boasted of their wealth, honors, and fortunes. How is this, he says? They prosper; but yet they judge not the judgment of the poor, that is, they help not the poor, but dissemble and connive at all the wrongs done to them. We now then see that he exposes to view the wickedness of the people, so that not even the principal men should be able to hide themselves; for the Lord shews that they had wholly neglected their duties, and were even destitute of all humanity. It afterwards follows —
(156) Expounders differ as to the meaning of these words. They are partly omitted by the Septuagint and Syriac. The Vulgate is, “ et praeterierunt sermones meos pessime — and they have passed by my words very haughtily.” The Targum is a loose version, “They have also transgressed the words of the law, they have done what is evil.” Such meanings do not correspond with the context. The words literally are, “They have passed over (or, by) the words of wrong;” but as the term for “words” often means things, affairs, matters, the version may be, “matters of wrong,“ or wrong things. These “matters of wrong” are afterwards specified, as will be seen in the following version, —
28. They have become fat, they have shined: Moreover, they have passed by matters of wrong; The cause they have not defended — The cause of the orphan, yet have they prospered; And the right of the meek have they not pleaded.
The word “moreover,“ may be rendered “though,“ as Blayney does, (see Neh 6:1 🙂 but the rest of the sentence is not so well rendered, —
Though they have gone beyond the claims of the wicked.
He conceived that the meaning is, that they granted to the wicked man more than he claimed, while they denied justice to the orphan and the poor. But what is more accordant with the words is, that he states here what he afterward specifies. It is not properly the “poor” who are meant, but the quiet, the humble: for the poor, strictly speaking, had not much to lose; hence the judges were not bribed to allow them to become a prey to dishonest men. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(28) They overpass the deeds of the wicked.Better (the English being ambiguous), they exceed in deeds (literally, words or things) of wickedness. The prophet dwells not only on the prosperity of the wicked, but on their callous indifference to the well-being of the poor.
Yet they prosper.Better, so that they (the fatherless) may prosper. They do not judge with a view to that result. The words admit, however, in Hebrew as in English, of the sense that they (the wicked themselves) may prosper. That was all they aimed at or cared for.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 5:28. Yea, they overpass, &c. Yea, they have exceeded all expression of wickedness; or, have been wicked beyond expression. Houbigant renders it, Therefore they burst forth into words of iniquity.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jer 5:28 They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
Ver. 28. They are waxen fat, they shine. ] Pingues, nitidi sunt; cutem curant ut Epicuri de grege porci; fat they are, and fair-liking, slick, and smooth.
Yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
waxen fat. Reference to Pentateuch, (the same word as in Deu 32:15).
the wicked = a lawless one. Hebrew. rasha’. App-44.
the fatherless = an orphan.
yet they prosper: or, that they [the fatherless] should prosper. Figure of speech Ellipsis. App-6. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 10:18; Deu 24:17; Deu 27:19).
the needy = needy ones.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
waxen: Deu 32:15, Job 15:27, Job 15:28, Job 21:23, Job 21:24, Psa 73:6, Psa 73:7, Psa 73:12, Psa 119:70, Amo 4:1, Jam 5:4, Jam 5:5
overpass: Jer 2:33, Eze 5:6, Eze 5:7, Eze 16:47-52, 1Co 5:1
judge: Jer 22:15-19, Job 29:12-14, Psa 72:4, Psa 82:2-4, Isa 1:23, Zec 7:10
yet: Jer 12:1, Job 12:6, Psa 73:12
Reciprocal: Exo 23:6 – General Deu 1:17 – ye shall hear Deu 16:19 – wrest Deu 24:17 – pervert Deu 31:20 – waxen fat Jdg 3:17 – a very fat 1Ki 8:45 – cause 2Ch 6:35 – cause Neh 9:25 – did eat Job 31:21 – lifted Psa 68:5 – a judge Psa 76:9 – When Psa 82:3 – do Pro 29:7 – but Pro 29:14 – king Pro 31:9 – General Isa 2:7 – land Isa 5:17 – the waste Isa 11:4 – reprove Isa 59:14 – General Jer 17:11 – he that Jer 21:12 – Execute Jer 22:3 – Execute Jer 22:16 – judged Jer 50:11 – fat Eze 21:24 – your transgressions Mic 3:9 – that Luk 18:3 – a widow Rom 13:4 – he is 1Ti 6:10 – the love
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 5:28. Overpass the deeds of the wicked is rendered “overpass in deeds of wickedness in the American Standard Version. The phrase is intended to state the degree of wicked zeal shown by these covetous leaders. Judge not tile cause means they were not concerned to see that justice was done for the poor and unfortunate people.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
5:28 They have become fat, they shine: yea, they exceed the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they {t} prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
(t) They feel not the plague of God for it.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
These social bullies had grown fat (wealthy, cf. Deu 32:15; Psa 92:14; Pro 28:2; Pro 28:24) at the expense of their neighbors, so expert had they become in wickedness. Instead of giving special help to the needy among them, they had withheld assistance so they could keep their money for themselves.