Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 13:17
But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for [your] pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD’s flock is carried away captive.
17. the Lord’s flock ] As the rulers are called elsewhere (Jer 2:8 mg., Jer 3:15, Jer 6:3) shepherds (pastors), so the ruled are the flock. Cp. Psa 80:1, and so Psa 74:1; Psa 77:20; Psa 78:52; Psa 79:13; also Zec 10:3.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The Lords flock – The people carried away captive with Jeconiah formed the Jewish Church, as we are expressly told, whereas Zedekiah and the people of Jerusalem possessed only the externals of the Church and not its reality. It is for this reason that the seventy years exile counts from Jeconiahs captivity.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 17. My soul shalt weep in secret places] If you will not hearken to the Lord, there is no remedy: destruction must come; and there is nothing left for me, but to go in secret, and mourn and bewail your wretched lot.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
That is, if you will not listen to what I say, take heed to what I say, and obey the counsel which I give you, I shall seriously and secretly mourn for your rebellion and obstinacy, which is rooted in your pride, and lifting up yourselves against the Lords monitions and counsels; and I shall also mourn for your calamity when it comes upon you, I shall have a personal and family concern with you, but that will not so much trouble me as to consider that you who are the church and people of God should be led into captivity.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. hear itmy exhortation.
in secretas onemourning and humbling himself for their sin, not self-righteouslycondemning them (Php 3:18).
pride(see on Jer13:15; Job 33:17).
flock (Jer13:20), just as kings and leaders are called pastors.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But if ye will not hear it,…. The advice and exhortation now given, to repent of sin, be humble before God, and glorify him:
my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; he would no more act in a public character; but, laying aside his office as a prophet and public instructor, would retire to some corner, where he might not be seen or heard, and there lament the sins of the people, particularly their “pride”, which had been the cause of their ruin; or mourn on account of their glory and excellency, as the word may be rendered, which would depart from them; their city and temple would be burnt; and their king, princes, and nobles, and the flower of the nation, carried into Babylon; so the Jews a interpret it of the glory of Israel, which should cease from them, and be given to the nations of the world;
[See comments on Jer 13:9];
mine eyes shall weep sore; or, “shedding tears it shall shed tears” b; in great abundance, being, as he wished his eyes might be, a fountain of tears to weep night and day, Jer 9:1:
and run down with tears; or, “mine eye let down tears” c; upon the cheek in great plenty. The phrases are expressive of the sorrow of his heart for the distresses of his people, and of the certainty of them; the reason of which follows:
because the Lord’s flock is carried away captive: that is, the Lord’s people, as the Targum; to whom he stood in the relation of a shepherd, and they to him under the character of a flock; and this was what so sensibly touched the heart of the prophet, that they were a people that the Lord had an interest in, a regard unto, and among whom he had been formerly glorified; wherefore it was to the loss of his honour and interest that these should be given into the hands of their enemies, and be carried captive; and this troubled him, for nothing lies nearer the heart of a good man than the glory of God.
a T. Bab. Chagiga, fol. 5. 2. b “et lachrymando lachrymabitur”, Pagninus, Montanus, Schmidt. c “et descendet oculus meus lachrymam”, Montanus, “lachrymis”, Cocceius; “descendere faciet”, Pagninus; “demittet”, Targ.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Knowing their obstinacy, the prophet adds: if ye hear it (what I have declared to you) not, my soul shall weep. In the concealment, quo secedere lugentes amant, ut impensius flere possint (Chr. B. Mich.). For the pride, sc. in which ye persist. With tears mine eye shall run down because the flock of Jahveh, i.e., the people of God (cf. Zec 10:3), is carried away into captivity ( perfect. proph).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
The Prophet had indirectly threatened them; but yet there was some hope of pardon, provided the Jews anticipated God’s judgment in time and humbled themselves before him. He now declares more clearly that a most certain destruction was nigh at hand, If ye will not hear, he says, weep will my soul in secret But much weight is in what the Prophet intimates, that he would cease to address them, as though he had said, “I have not hitherto left off to exhort you, for God has so commanded me; but there will be no remedy, if ye as usual harden yourselves against what I teach you. There remains then nothing now for me, except to hide myself in some secret place and there to mourn; for my prophetic office among you is at an end, as ye are unworthy of such a favor from God.”
He does not state simply, If ye will not hear, but he adds a pronoun, this, If ye will not hear this, or it: for the Jews might have raised an objection and said, that they were not disobedient to God, and had prophets among them, as it appeared yesterday; for there were those who deceived them by their flatteries. The Prophet then does not speak indistinctly, for that would have had no effect; but he expressly declares that they were to hear what he had said in the last verse: “Except then,” he says, “ye give glory to God, I will leave you or bid you farewell, and will hide myself in some corner, and there bewail your miseries.” When the Prophet said that nothing remained for him but weeping, he intimated that it was all over with them, and that their salvation was hopeless. The sum of the whole is, that they were not to be always favored with that which they were now despising, that is, to be warned by God’s servants; for if they continued to despise all the prophets, God would withdraw such a favor from them.
The Prophet at the same time shows with what feelings he exercised his prophetic office; for though he knew that he was to perform, the part of an herald, and boldly to denounce on the Jews the calamity which we have observed; he yet ever felt so much pity in his soul, that he bewailed that perverseness which would prove their ruin. The Prophet then connected the two feelings together, so that with a bold and intrepid spirit he denounced vengeance on the Jews, and at the same time he felt commiseration and sympathy.
He then mentions the cause, For taken captive is the flock of Jehovah Jeremiah might have had indeed a regard also for his own blood. When, therefore, he saw the nation from which he himself sprung miserably perishing, he could not but mourn for their ruin: but he had an especial regard to the favor of God, as was the case also with Paul, (Rom 9:2) for though he refers to his descent from the Israelites, and assigns this as a reason why he wished to be an anathema from Christ on their account, there were yet other reasons why he spoke highly of them; for he afterwards adds, that the covenant was theirs, that they derived their origin from the fathers, that from them Christ came according to the flesh, who is God, blessed for ever. Paul then so honored and valued the benefits with which the Jews were adorned, that he wished as it were to die for their salvation, and even wished to be an anathema from Christ. There is not the least doubt but Jeremiah for a similar reason adds now, that he would seek retirement or some hidden place where he might bewail the destruction of his people, for it was the flock of Jehovah (85) We hence see that it was God’s covenant that made him to shed tears, for he saw that in a manner it failed through the fault of the people. It follows —
(85) The whole verse may be thus rendered, —
But if ye will not hear, weep in secret places Will my soul, on account of your haughtiness; Yea, bewailing it will bewail, And pour down will mine eye the tear, When taken captive is the flock of Jehovah.
The word for “haughtiness,” גוה, is rendered “insolence” by the Septuagint and Arabic; “pride” by the Vulgate, and “affliction” by the Syriac. The word is commonly derived from גאה, to swell, to be high, to be elated. It is found in this sense in two other places, Job 33:17, and Dan 4:37; and in a good sense, elevation, in Job 22:29. It seems to be a contraction, in full גאוה. See Psa 36:12; Pro 29:23. This being the meaning of the word, the view of Calvin cannot be admitted. There is an evident reference to what is said in Jer 13:15, “Be ye not lifted up,” or, “be ye not haughty.” The cause of his weeping was their haughtiness in not hearing God speaking to them.- Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(17) My soul shall weep in secret places for your pride.The words present no difficulty that requires explanation, but deserve to be noted in their exquisite tenderness as characteristic of the prophets temperament (comp. Lam. 1:16), reminding us of the tears shed over Jerusalem (Luk. 19:41) and of St. Pauls great heaviness and continual sorrow (Rom. 9:2). Nothing remained for one who found his labours fruitless but silent sorrow and intercession. The secret places find a parallel in our Lords withdrawal for prayer into a solitary place (Mar. 1:35).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. My soul shall weep in secret places Most characteristic language! In it how clearly do we see reflected the heart of this man of God! A true “jeremiad” is not so much the language of gloom and hopelessness as of tenderness and earnest remonstrance. “Secret places” may, perhaps, suggest the present enforced privacy of the prophet.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 13:17. But if ye will not hear it The prophet declares, that after having done all he could to cause the people to return to their duty, without success, nothing farther would remain for him, but to lay aside his public character, and secretly bewail their obstinacy and contempt of God’s word.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jer 13:17 But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for [your] pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD’S flock is carried away captive.
Ver. 17. My soul shall weep in secret places. ] Good men are apt to weep, Et faciles motus mens generosa capit. Good ministers should be full of compassionate tears, weeping in secret for their people’s unprofitableness, and their danger thereby. The breast and right shoulder of the sacrifice belonged to the priest, to show that he should be a breast to love, and a shoulder to support the people in their troubles and burdens.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
my soul = Me (emphatic). Hebrew. nephesh. App-13. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia.
weep . . . weep sore . . . rundown. Figure of speech Anabasis. App-6.
run down, &c. Compare Mat 26:38. Luk 19:41. See App-85.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
if: Jer 22:5, Mal 2:2
my soul: Jer 9:1, Jer 14:17, Jer 17:16, 1Sa 15:11, 1Sa 15:35, Psa 119:136, Lam 1:2, Lam 1:16, Lam 2:18, Luk 19:41, Luk 19:42, Rom 9:2-4
for: Jer 13:15
because: Jer 13:19, Jer 13:20, Psa 80:1, Isa 63:11, Eze 34:31, Eze 36:38
Reciprocal: 1Sa 1:10 – wept sore 2Ki 8:11 – wept 2Ki 22:19 – wept Ezr 10:1 – weeping Job 30:25 – Did not I Psa 119:53 – horror Psa 137:1 – the rivers Psa 139:21 – and am not Psa 144:14 – no breaking in Isa 15:5 – My heart Isa 22:4 – Look Isa 57:18 – to his Jer 4:19 – My bowels Jer 6:26 – make thee Jer 9:10 – the mountains Jer 9:18 – our eyes Jer 15:17 – sat alone Lam 1:9 – came Lam 3:48 – General Eze 9:4 – that sigh Eze 19:1 – take Eze 24:16 – thy tears Zec 10:2 – therefore Luk 6:21 – ye that weep Joh 11:35 – General Joh 12:35 – lest Act 20:19 – many Act 20:28 – all Act 26:29 – that not 1Co 5:2 – mourned 1Co 13:6 – Rejoiceth not 2Co 5:20 – be 2Co 12:21 – that I Phi 3:18 – even Heb 13:17 – with grief 1Pe 5:2 – the flock
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 13:17. Shall weep in secret places denotes the regret that God will have (all to himself) over the sad plight of his people when it becomes necessary to punish them for their rebellious conduct. God does not weep for the fate awaiting his country.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
13:17 But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall {f} weep in secret places for [your] pride; and my eye shall weep bitterly, and run down with tears, because the LORD’S flock is carried away captive.
(f) You will surely be led away captive and I, according to my affection toward you, will weep and lament for your stubbornness.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
If the people would not listen to the Lord’s Word, Jeremiah would weep profusely for them, because their failure to listen would signify that the people, like a flock of sheep, would be taken captive by an enemy.
"Let no one think that the good news of Jesus Christ is to be communicated in a cold ’take it or leave it’ manner. Evangelical preaching and Christian witnessing must not be limited merely to a correct interpretation of the doctrines of the Word. We must have a love for sinners, so great a love that we will be driven urgently to unfold to them the way of salvation, whatever the cost." [Note: Goddard, p. 66.]