Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 14:20
We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, [and] the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.
20 22. In these vv. three pleas are urged on behalf of the people: (i) their contrition, (ii) God’s honour, (iii) their hopelessness of any other aid.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Jer 14:20
We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness.
Frank acknowledgment of guilt
Next to the merit of not sinning is confessing sin. A learned man has said, The three hardest words in the English language are–I was mistaken. Frederick the Great wrote to the Senate: I have just lost a great battle, and it was entirely my own fault. Goldsmith said, This confession displayed more greatness than all his victories. Such a prompt acknowledgment of his fault recalls Bacons course in more trying circumstances. I do plainly and ingenuously confess, said the great Chancellor, that I am guilty of corruption, and so renounce all defence. I beseech your lordships to be merciful to a broken reed. (A. T. Pierson.)
True repentance avails with God
When a man undertakes to repent towards his fellowmen, it is repenting straight up a precipice; when he repents towards law it is repenting in a crocodiles jaws; when he repents towards public sentiment, it is throwing himself into a thicket of brambles and thorns; but when he repents towards God, he repents towards all love and delicacy. God receives the soul, as the sea the bather, to return it again, purer and whiter than He took it. (H. W. Beecher.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 20. We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness] This the prophet did in behalf of the people; but, alas! they did not join him.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
That is, both we and our fathers have sinned against thee, and have given thee a right to punish and destroy its; we desire not to cover or cloak our sin, we own and acknowledge it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. (Da9:8).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers,…. This is said by the prophet, in the name of the few faithful that were among this people, who were sensible of their own sins, the sins of their ancestors, and which they ingenuously confess; their fathers had sinned, and they had imitated them, and continued in the same, and therefore might justly expect the displeasure of the Lord, and his controversy with them:
for we have sinned against thee; Jer 14:7.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Prophet here prescribes no doubt to the Jews the way of appeasing God. He before uttered a prayer, partly in order to reprove the people for their wicked obstinacy, and partly to shew to the godly and the elect that there remained some hope. But now he uses a simple form of prayer, when he says, O Lord, we know, etc Hardly one in a thousand then did know; but the Prophet does not assume the character of the whole people; and why not? He doubtless knew that the faithful among the people were very few; but he dictates for posterity a right form of prayer, so that they might iu exile know that this one thing only remained for them — to confess their sins, as otherwise they could not obtain pardon.
He therefore says, We know our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers; for we have done wickedly against thee We have already explained the Prophet’s meaning in these few words, — that when God puts forth his hand against us, there is no hope of salvation, except we repent. But confession is here put for repentance. Hypocrites are indeed very free in confessing their sins; but the Prophet speaks here of real confession; and by stating a part for the whole, everything included in repentance, as I have said, is intended. But the object here is to shew, that they were humbly to seek forgiveness, which could not be done, except they condemned themselves before God, and thus anticipated his judgment.
He speaks of the iniquity of the fathers, not that the faithful seek associates, here and there, for the sake of extenuating their guilt; but it was an aggravation of their sins, when they confessed that they were not only guilty themselves before God, but that they had brought from the womb what was, as it were, hereditary, so that they deserved death because they were the descendants of ungodly parents. Whilst hypocrites allege the examples of fathers, they think themselves thus absolved, or at least not so culpable, because they had learnt what they practice from their childhood, because a bad education had led them astray. But the faithful are of a far different mind; for they confess themselves worthy of God’s vengeance, though he inquired not into the wickedness of their fathers; and they think also that God acts justly, when he executes vengeance on account of their fathers’ sins, being thus worthy of a twofold vengeance.
We now then understand what the Prophet means; and hence we learn how foolishly the Papists set up this shield against God; that is, by having the word fathers often on their lips; for they ought on the contrary to confess the wickedness and iniquities of their fathers, according to what is more fully enlarged upon in the ninth chapter of Daniel (Dan 9:0), where he confesses that he himself and the fathers and kings had done wickedly. And in these words we may also notice, that it was not some slight fault that Jeremiah refers to when he said, “We acknowledge our iniquity and the iniquity of our fathers;” he mentions first the iniquity of the living; then the iniquity of their fathers, and adds, in the third place, “We have acted wickedly against thee.” We hence see that he did not formally acknowledge some slight faults, but he confesses most plainly, that they were all ungodly and transgressors of God’s law, and were worthy, not merely of a moderate chastisement, but of dreadful perdition, as they had thus provoked the wrath of God. (123)
(123) There is no and in Hebrew, nor in the Septuagint, nor in the Vulgate, between “wickedness” and “iniquity;” it is found in the Syriac and the Targum. In case it be excluded, Blayney proposes to render the passage thus, “We acknowledge, O Jehovah, that we have wrought wickedly the iniquity of our fathers;” that is, as he adds, “We have practiced over again the same wickedness, of which our fathers set the example.” But a meaning is given to רשע which it never has; nor is this rendering necessary in order to convey this idea, which is probably what is intended. They confessed their wickedness, which was the iniquity of their fathers; it was the same: the latter is in apposition with the former, —
We acknowledge, Jehovah, our wickedness, — The iniquity of our fathers; For we have sinned against thee.
Their wickedness, the same with the wickedness or iniquity of the fathers, was, that they sinned against God. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(20) And the iniquity.The insertion of the conjunction weakens the force of the original. The wickedness which Israel confesses is the iniquity of its fathers, inherited, accepted, on the way to be perpetuated.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
DISCOURSE: 1053
HOW TO PLEAD WITH GOD
Jer 14:20-21. We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee. Do not abhor us, for thy names sake; do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.
LORD, teach us to pray, was the request of the Apostles to their Lord and Master: and may Almighty God teach us to pray, whilst we consider the passage we have just read. Here is prayer indeed, such as it becomes us all to offer; and such as we shall surely offer, if ever we be duly sensible of our state before God. It was offered by the prophet in a season of great affliction. The whole land was in the utmost distress by reason of a drought, which put a total stop to vegetation, and destroyed all the fruits of the earth: and the prophet was assured, that that distress would speedily become extreme by means of the Chaldeans, who would invade the country, and desolate Jerusalem with the sword and famine. Under these circumstances, he was commanded not to pray for the people, since the measure of their iniquities was full [Note: ver. 10, 11.], But, like Moses of old [Note: Exo 32:10-11.], the prophet could not forbear: he first indeed warned the people of the judgments which God was about to inflict upon them [Note: ver. 1518.], and then, in a most earnest and humble manner, pleaded with God in their behalf [Note: ver. 1922.].
We propose,
I.
To explain this prayer of the prophet
His acknowledgments are plain and easy to be understood
[He confesses, as he might well do, the sins of the whole nation; as well those contracted by their ancestors, as those which they had themselves committed: and he entreats God not to abhor them on account of their extreme wickedness. Now this expression, whilst it marked his sense of their vileness, had particular reference to what God himself had threatened by Moses, and to what he had promised also in the event of their humbling of themselves before him [Note: Lev 26:10-12, with 2730; in both of which passages especial mention is made of famine as connected with Gods abhorrence.]. Hence, in the verse before the text, the prophet asks, Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed Zion?]
His pleas require some explanation
[Being exceedingly earnest in his petitions, he offers the most powerful pleas that could possibly be urged: he entreats God to have mercy on them for his own sake, and to shew regard to the honour of his name, the glory of his administration, and the sanctity of his engagements.
The first of these pleas, the honour of God name, is frequently urged in the Holy Scriptures [Note: Jos 7:9. Psa 79:9-10.], and is particularly acceptable to God; who is jealous for his holy name [Note: Eze 39:25.], and delights to sanctify it in the sight of an ungodly world [Note: Eze 36:21-23.].
The second of these pleas involves in it somewhat of greater difficulty. The words, Do not disgrace the throne of thy glory, are generally interpreted as importing no more than this; Do not give up the city and temple into the hands of the enemy. The words will undoubtedly bear this sense: for both the city and the temple are represented as Gods throne [Note: Jer 3:17; Jer 17:12. See this latter in particular.]; and he threatens to give them up into the hands of his enemies to be polluted and defiled by them [Note: Eze 7:21-22.]. But, if we attend to the manner in which this petition is introduced, we shall see that it is, like that which precedes, and that which follows it, a plea; in which view its sense will be, Thou art our King, who art engaged to provide for and protect thy people; and if thou give up the city and the temple into the hands of our enemies, as thou hast threatened, thy government will be dishonoured; and they will say, that thou art not able to afford them the succour which thou hast promised them. In this view the passage exactly accords with the plea urged by Moses [Note: Num 14:13-16.], and with that also which Jeremiah himself has urged more fully, and in the very same connexion, in the preceding part of this chapter [Note: ver. 79.].
The last of these pleas reminds God of his covenant, which he cannot, and will not, break. This must doubtless refer to the covenant of grace, which God made with Abraham and with all his believing people to the end of time [Note: Gal 3:16.]. The national covenant that was made with Moses was broken, and annulled; because all the conditions of it had been violated: but the better covenant which was made with God in Christ, is ordered in all things and sure [Note: 2Sa 23:5.]. and by it the promise is made sure to all the seed [Note: Rom 4:16.]. That covenant is confirmed by the oath of Jehovah, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us [Note: Heb 6:17-18.]. This covenant God had engaged never to break [Note: Psa 89:35.]; and therefore the prophet urged the inviolability of it as a motive with God to fulfil to his people, notwithstanding their unworthiness, all which of his own grace and mercy he had promised to them. In this view God himself had promised to regard his covenant [Note: Lev 26:41-42.]: and in this view the plea in our text may be considered as expressing what is more diffusely stated by the Prophet Isaiah [Note: Isa 63:15-19.].]
Having stated what may be considered as the import of the prayer, we proceed,
II.
To point out some important lessons contained in it
We shall confine ourselves to two;
1.
The true nature of a sinners humiliation
[Nothing can give us a more just idea of humiliation than the prophets expression of it in our text. It necessarily implies an ingenuous confession of our sins, and of our desert on account of them. Think of the expression, Abhor us not: what a sense of extreme unworthiness does it convey! Yet is it not at all too strong: we are all, both by nature and practice, exceeding vile [Note: Job 40:4.]; and ought, like Job, to abhor ourselves in dust and ashes [Note: Job 42:6.]. Indeed this will be the state of every one that is truly penitent: he will look upon himself as filthy and abominable [Note: Psa 14:3.], and will lothe himself for all his iniquities, and for all his abominations [Note: Eze 36:31.]. Every attempt to cloke or palliate our offences argues a want of humility, and operates to the exclusion of our souls from the Divine favour. We must be like convicted lepers in our own estimation, and justify our God in whatever sentence he may denounce against us [Note: Psa 51:4.].]
2.
The proper grounds of a sinners encouragement
[Though we may justly acknowledge the work of Divine grace in us, and may give glory to God for whatever change he may have wrought in our hearts, yet we must not regard any thing of our own as a ground for our confidence in God: we must look for all our grounds of encouragement in God alone, even in his infinite perfections, and in the covenant which he has made with us in the Son of his love. When David was overwhelmed with trouble, we are told, he encouraged himself in the Lord his God. And this is what we are to do. In the prayer which the prophet offered, he drew all his pleasures from the honour and fidelity of his God. And what encouragement can we want, if we only contemplate God as he is revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures? As a mighty Sovereign, his grace is his own, and he may grant it to whomsoever he will; yea, and his sovereignty will be the more displayed and glorified, in the communication of grace to the very chief of sinners, and in making his grace to abound, where sin has most abounded. The comfort to be derived from the contemplation of his love and mercy need not be stated; because that is obvious to the most inconsiderate mind. But even justice itself affords rich encouragement to a repenting sinner: for, has not an atonement been made for sin? and has not the Lord Jesus Christ discharged the debt of all those who trust in him? No doubt then, the justice of God, which has been satisfied by the ransom which his own Son has paid for us, will liberate us from our bondage, and restore us to all the privileges which his own Son has purchased for us. As he can be a just God and yet a Saviour, so he will be just to his own Son, in shewing mercy to us for Christs sake. Above all, his fidelity to his covenant-engagements leaves us no ground for fear; for never, since the foundation of the world, did one sinner perish who laid hold on his covenant, and rested in it as all his salvation and all his desire.]
Let me in conclusion be permitted to ask,
1.
Have you ever pleaded with God in this manner
[Alas! if God were now to order those who have pleaded thus with him to be sealed on their foreheads, and all the rest to be smitten dead upon the spot [Note: Eze 9:1-6.], what an awful spectacle would this place exhibit! Yet such a distinction will be made in the day of judgment. Beloved Brethren, consider this: and judge yourselves, that ye be not judged of the Lord Shall it be said, that such pleadings are not necessary? What! were they judged necessary by the prophet for the averting of temporal judgments; and shall they not be for the averting of such as are eternal? Truly they are necessary for every child of man: nor can we hope to obtain mercy with God, unless we seek him thus with our whole hearts.]
2.
Have you ever pleaded thus with God in vain
[Never did God turn a deaf ear to one who sought him in this manner: Never said he to any man, Seek ye my face in vain! If any say that they have prayed, and yet not received an answer, we reply, that either they have never pleaded in this manner the perfections and the promises of God; or, an answer has been given, but has been overlooked. God cannot refuse an answer to a broken-hearted suppliant. He may answer in a way that we do not expect; or be may delay his answer with a view to our greater good: but as he has promised to grant such petitions as are offered up in faith, so will we affirm, in the presence of the whole universe, that every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened [Note: Mat 7:7-8.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 14:20 We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, [and] the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.
Ver. 20. We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness. ] We, the better sort of us, do so. And so the saints have ever done in their interdealings with God, falling low at his footstool for pardoning and prevailing mercy.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
We acknowledge. These are the prophet’s words.
wickedness = lawlessness. Hebrew. rasha’. App-44. Not the same word as in Jer 14:16.
iniquity. Hebrew. ‘avon. App-44.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
We acknowledge: Jer 3:13, Jer 3:25, Lev 26:40-42, Ezr 9:6, Ezr 9:7, Neh 9:2, Psa 32:5, Psa 51:3, Psa 106:6-48, Dan 9:5-8, 1Jo 1:7-9
for: 2Sa 12:13, 2Sa 24:10, Job 33:27, Psa 51:4, Luk 15:18-21
Reciprocal: Jer 14:7 – do Jer 18:20 – Remember Lam 2:20 – consider Dan 9:8 – because Dan 9:19 – thine Amo 7:2 – O Lord
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 14:20. This acknowledgement or sin was doubtless sincere, but it came too late to save the nation from the captivity. It is noteworthy that they recognized their sin to have been against the Lord. This confession if followed by a consistent reformation in conduct, would win for them individually the favor of God even though they would have to take their share of the national downfall at the hand of Babylon.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
14:20 We {o} acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, [and] the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.
(o) He teaches the Church a form of prayer to humble themselves to God by true repentance, which is the only way to avoid this famine, which was the beginning of God’s plagues.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The prophet acknowledged that he and his people had sinned like their forefathers (cf. Psa 51:1-4); they were not saying that they were sinless. He implied that this confession merited some mercy.