Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 15:13
Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and [that] for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
13, 14. For these vv. which, as addressed to the people, break harshly into the dialogue between Jehovah and the prophet, and are most likely an insertion from Jer 17:3 f., see notes there.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Jeremiah is personally addressed in the verse, because he stood before God as the intercessor, representing the people.
(1) God would give Judahs treasures away for nothing; implying that He did not value them.
(2) the cause of this contempt is Judahs sins.
(3) this is justified by Judah having committed them throughout her whole land.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 13. Thy substance – will I give to the spoil without price] Invaluable property shall be given up to thy adversaries. Or, without price – thou shalt have nothing for it in return.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
All thy riches and precious things shall be spoiled, I will have no regard. saith God, to loss or gain in it, or there shall be no price taken for the redemption of them; for what shall be done shall be by me done for all the sins which thou hast been guilty of in all the parts of the country.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. Thy substance . . .sinsJudea’s, not Jeremiah’s.
without priceGod castsHis people away as a thing worth naught (Ps44:12). So, on the contrary, Jehovah, when about to restore Hispeople, says, He will give Egypt, &c., for their “ransom“(Isa 43:3).
even in all thybordersjoined with “Thy substance . . . treasures, asalso with “all thy sins,” their sin and punishment beingcommensurate (Jer 17:3).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price,…. Not the prophet’s substance and treasure; for it does not appear that he had any, at least to require so much notice; but the substance and treasure of the people of the Jews, to whom these words are directed; these the Lord threatened should be delivered into the hands of their enemies, and become a spoil and free booty to them, for which they should give nothing, and which should never be redeemed again:
and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders; this spoiling of their substance should befall them because of their sins, which they had committed in all the borders of their land, where they had built their high places, and had set up idolatrous worship; or else the meaning is, that their substance and treasure in all their borders, in every part of the land, should be the plunder of their enemies, because of their sins.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But, there is a difference among interpreters as to the word גבול gebul. I indeed allow that it means a border: but Jeremiah, as I think, when he intended to state things that are different, made use of different forms of speech; but as the construction is the same, I see not how the word can mean the borders of the land. I hence think that it is to be taken here metaphorically for counsels; as though he had said, “On account of all thy wicked deeds and on account of all thy ends, that is, of all thy counsels, I will make thy wealth and thy treasures a plunder.” For true is that saying of the heathen poet,
There is something where thou goest and to which thou levellest thy bow. (142)
When we undertake any buiness, we have some end in view. Then the Prophet calls their adulteries, frauds, rapines, violencies and murders, wicked deeds; but he calls their counsels, borders, such counsels as they craftily took, by which they manifested their depravity and baseness.
Then, in the first place, he declares that God would be a just avenger against their wicked deeds, and against all the ends which the Jews had proposed to themselves; and at the same time he points out and mentions the kind of punishment they were to have, — that the Lord would give for a plunder all their wealth and treasures, and that without exchanging; some read, “without price,” and consider the meaning to be, — that the Jews would be so worthless, that no one would buy them: but this is too refined. I doubt not but that the Prophet intimates, that whatever the Jews possessed would become a prey to their enemies, so that it would be taken away from them without any price or bartering; as though he had said, “Your enemies will freely plunder all that you have without any permission from you, and will regard as their own, even by the right of victory, whatever ye think you have so laid up as never to be taken away.” (143) He afterwards adds —
(142) Est aliquid quo tendis et in quod dirigis arcum. — Per. Sat. iii. 60.
(143) This verse and the following are said by Horsley to be “very obscure:” and there seems to be no way of understanding them, except we regard the Prophet as classed with the people; and the conclusion of verse fourteenth (Jer 15:14) favors the idea, “On you, עליכם, it shall burn.” The Prophet himself did not wholly escape the evils which came on the people. Then this verse and the following I would render thus, —
13. Thy wealth and thy treasures for spoil will I give, Not for a price, but for all thy sins, Even in all thy borders;
14. And I will make thine enemies to pass To a land thou knowest not; For a fire has been kindled in my wrath, On you it shall burn.
The “enemy” before is now “enemies.” The verb “make to pass,” has various readings, owing evidently to the similarity of two letters. The versions, except the Vulgate, have “I will make thee to serve thine enemies;” but the received text is the most suitable to the passage. Blayney’s rendering is, —
I will cause them to pass with thine enemies —
By “them” he understands “thy wealth and thy treasures;” but this sort of construction can hardly be admitted; and it seems incrongruous. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(13) Thy substance and thy treasures . . .Assuming the words to stand in their right place, we must look on them as addressed to Jeremiah as the intercessor, and therefore the representative, of his people. If we admit a dislocation, of which there seem many signs, we may connect them with Jer. 15:5-6, and then they are spoken to Jerusalem. The recurrence of the words in Jer. 17:3-4, as addressed to the mountain of the plain, i.e., Zion, makes this probable.
Without price.As in Psa. 44:12; Isa. 52:3, this implies the extremest abandonment. The enemies of Israel were to have an easy victory, for which they would not have to pay the usual price of blood; nor did God, on His side, demand from them any payment for the victory He bestowed. He gave away His people as men give that which they count worthless.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13, 14. These verses are repeated in Jer 17:3-4.
Thy substance Jeremiah’s, as representing the people. The general meaning of the verses last preceding is substantially as follows: God will take care of his servant, and will give him deliverance from the strait place in which he now is, and will even cause the enemy to supplicate him. (Jer 15:11.) As one proof of this, he mentions the improbability that the Chaldean power will relent, (Jer 15:12,) and so the prophetical character of Jeremiah will be vindicated by his words coming fearfully true. And still further extending the thought, he says (Jer 15:13) that the substance of the people is to be cast away as worthless, because of their sins.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 15:13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and [that] for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
Ver. 13. Thy substance and thy treasure. ] This is spoken by an apostrophe to the people, who are here told again what to trust to for their national sins.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
sins. Hebrew. chata’. App-44.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
substance: Jer 15:8, Jer 17:3, Jer 20:5
without: Psa 44:12, Isa 52:3, Isa 52:5
Reciprocal: Deu 28:51 – which also Psa 44:10 – spoil Jer 20:8 – I cried Lam 1:10 – spread 1Jo 5:15 – if
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 15:13. This verse refers to a particular feature of the calamity to come upon the nation and that was the loss of their personal property. The fulfillment of it is recorded in 2Ki 24:13. Without price means that the Babylonians will take this property but will not pay for it.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 15:13-14. Here God turns his speech from the prophet to the people. Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil All thy riches and precious things shall be spoiled: there shall be no price taken for the redemption of them. For all thy sins in all thy borders All parts of the country, even those which lay most remote, had contributed to the national guilt, and all shall be brought to account. And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies, &c. They shall stay in their own country till they see their estates and all their property ruined, and then they shall be carried into captivity, to spend the remains of a miserable life in slavery. And all this is the fruit of Gods wrath; for a fire, says he, is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you And, if not extinguished in time, will burn to eternity.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Furthermore, the Lord would hand over the wealth of Judah to the enemy freely, as war booty, because of all her sins. The Lord knew what He would do, and what was coming, even though Jeremiah would seem to stand alone in a sea of unbelievers of God’s Word.