Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 21:12
O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver [him that is] spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench [it], because of the evil of your doings.
12. Execute judgement in the morning ] An important part of the king’s duties was personally to hear and adjudicate upon cases in the open space at the city gate. Cp. 2Sa 15:2-4.
in the morning ] probably, every morning; so Amo 4:4, and cp. Psa 101:8. It was the ordinary time for business, while it was still cool.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Execute judgment – As the administration of justice was performed in old time in person, the weal of the people depended to a great degree upon the personal qualities of the king (see 2Sa 15:4). And as the oppressor was generally some powerful noble, it was especially the kings duty to see that the weaker members of the community were not wronged.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jer 21:12
Execute Judgment ill the morning.
Justice must be prompt
Execute judgment in the morning, as David your progenitor and pattern did (Psa 101:8). Be up and be at it bedtime, and make quick despatch of causes, that poor men may go home about their business, who have other things to do besides going to law. It is a lamentable thing that a suit should depend ten or twenty years in some courts through the avarice of some pleaders, to the utter undoing of their poor clients. This made one such (when he was persuaded to patience by the example of Job) to reply, What do you tell me of Job? Job never had suits in chancery. Jethro adviseth Moses (Exo 18:1-27) to dismiss those timely, whom he cannot despatch presently. (John Trapp.)
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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 12. Execute judgment in the morning] Probably the time for dispensing judgment was the morning, when the people were going to their work; but the words may mean, Do justice promptly, do not delay. Let justice be administered as soon as required.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He calls these the
house of David, either checking them, who were indeed so in a lineal descent, or minding them what they ought to be in imitation of their father, David. The only way they had to keep off those Divine judgments which now hanged over their heads was to
execute judgment, that is, justice, without partiality; the prophets advice to them
to execute judgment in the morning either lets them know they must do it quickly, or else it hath respect to the time when the courts of justice sat. One species of justice was the deliverance of the oppressed from the hands, that is, from the power and malice, of the oppressors; which if it were not done, God threateneth certain ruin and destruction to them, which none should be able to hinder or avoid. The cause of which was, their wicked doings; for that God who doth people good, and showeth them favour, not for their sake, but for his own names sake, yet never punisheth them but for a cause found in them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. house of Davidthe royalfamily and all in office about the king. He calls them so, because itwas the greater disgrace that they had so degenerated from the pietyof their forefather, David; and to repress their glorying intheir descent from him, as if they were therefore inviolable; but Godwill not spare them as apostates.
in the morningalludingto the time of dispensing justice (Job 24:17;Psa 101:8); but the sense ismainly proverbial, for “with promptness” (Psa 90:14;Psa 143:8). MAURERtranslates, “every morning.”
lest my fury . . . likefireAlready it was kindled, and the decree of God gone forthagainst the city (Jer 21:4;Jer 21:5), but the king and hishouse may yet be preserved by repentance and reformation. God urgesto righteousness, not as if they can thereby escape punishmentwholly, but as the condition of a mitigation of it.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
O house of David, thus saith the Lord,…. This appellation is made use of to put them in mind of their descent, and to observe to them how much it became them to follow the example of so illustrious an ancestor, from whom they had the honour to descend; by doing judgment and justice as he did, 2Sa 8:15; or, otherwise, their being his seed would not secure them from ruin and destruction:
execute judgment in the morning; be at it early, and dispatch it speedily; show a hearty regard for it; prefer it to eating and drinking; and do not delay it to the prejudice of persons concerned. The power of judgment with the Jews belonged to the king; he was supreme judge in their courts; they judged, and were judged, the Jews say q; by whom judgment was executed in a morning, and not in any other part of the day; and the case judged ought, as they say, to be as clear as the morning r:
and deliver [him that is] spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor; that had anything taken from him by force or fraud; that was either robbed or cheated of his substance; or was refused what he had lent to or entrusted another with; or was by any ways and means wronged and injured by another in his person or property. This suggests that things of this kind were not done, and were the reason why the Lord would deliver them up into the hands of their enemies, or cause his judgments to fall upon them:
lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench [it]; or put a stop to it, by all their prayers and entreaties, or by all that they can say or do:
because of the evil of your doings; it is a sad thing when princes set bad examples; it is highly provoking to God, whose deputies they are; and it becomes them to begin a reformation, and lead it on, or they cannot expect safety for themselves and their people.
q T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 19. 1. r Ib. fol. 7. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Thus saith Jehovah, he adds, Judge ye judgment There was no doubt a great liberty taken by the king and his courtiers in committing plunder, for the Prophet would not have here recommended justice to them had they not wholly neglected what was just and right. As, then, there was no care to administer justice, the Prophet bade them to recognize what was due to God and to his people. But it was a most grievous trial to all the godly to see that the sacred house, in which the living image of God ought to have shone forth brightly, was become a house of spoils, where robbers dwelt, who with impunity plundered all around them. When, therefore, the state of things is in such a disorder that the very judges, whom God has set over his Church, are like robbers, let us know that such a thing happened formerly; nor is there a doubt but that God thus took vengeance on the impiety and wickedness of the people, for he would have never suffered that house to be so contaminated and so filled with so many crimes, had not the people been unworthy of a good and faithful king and of upright counsellors. Let us, then, know that the Prophet exhorted the king and his counsellors to execute justice, because they had forgotten their office, and were become like rapacious wolves. (27)
He specifies one act, Free ye the spoiled from the hand of his oppressor Some read, “from the hand of the fraudulent,” as though עשק, oshek, should mean to oppress by calumny and malice, or by fraudulent means; but it is to be taken otherwise here. Some distinguish between the two words עשק, oshek, and גזל, gesal, and say that the first means to retain a deposit or wages, or anything that belongs to another, and that the latter signifies to take a thing by force, to plunder. But this difference, as it appears, is not observed by the Prophet, for he says, “Free ye the plundered or the spoiled.” From whose hand? from “the hand of the oppressor.” As, then, these two words correspond, I doubt not but that גזל, gesal, means both to take by force and to plunder; and that though עשק, oshek, means often fraudulently to oppress, yet not always. However this may be, God intimates that neither the king nor his counsellors had any care for the poor, so as to repress violence, and robbery, and plunder. Then the very judges themselves were the associates of robbers, for they allowed them with impunity to rob and plunder without affording any aid to helpless men when they were thus wickedly harassed. There is, however, no doubt but that God would have them to perform their duties towards all, both rich and poor, without exception; but as injustice in this particular was especially seen, this is the reason why by stating a part for the whole he specified only one thing. (28)
He then adds, Lest my indignation go forth like fire, and burn, and there be none to extinguish it Here the Prophet intimates, that except the king and his courtiers repented, it was all over with them. There is then a contrast to be understood here between that paternal correction of which he had spoken, and the destruction of which the Prophet now speaks. God’s indignation had been already kindled, nor could it be immediately extinguished; and though they had to suffer, yet the issue would have been happy and according to their wishes: but he here declares that there would be an irreconcilable war with God, except they labored to return to his favor. He adds, On account of the wickedness of their doings There is here a change of person, except we read כם, cam, “you;” but this sort of change often occurs in Scripture. The Prophet, after having addressed them, says now, “on account of the wickedness of their doings,” as though having finished his discourse, he spoke of them as being absent, or as though God, after having given orders to his Prophet, then added, “I denounce this on them, because they have so deserved.”
(27) The correct rendering is, “The right defend ye in the morning.” The common meaning of דון is to defend, to vindicate, to plead for, or contend for: it means, also, to rule with authority. It is rendered often in our version to judge, while it ought to be to defend. See Gen 30:6; Psa 1:4; Psa 135:14. “In the morning” may be taken literally or figuratively. The morning was the time observed by good judges to decide matters of judgment: in corrupt times the judges or princes spent the morning in drinking. See Ecc 10:16. Thus the judges are here required to reassume the ancient practice of deciding causes in the morning. See Exo 18:13. The phrase, “in the morning,” means also to do a thing, promptly, fully, and diligently. The very same words are used in Psa 101:8, and rendered in our version “early,” only the word for morning is in the plural number — “in the mornings,” literally. Then, if taken figuratively, the phrase means — promptly, carefully, diligently — “Defend carefully the right.” The version of Blayney is singular, but inadmissible — “Judge ye, searching out right.” There is no instance of the verb דון being used intransitively, and “in the morning” is given by all the Versions and the Targ. — Ed
(28) This sentence is as follows, — “And rescue the plundered from the hand of the violent,” or him who uses violence. The Vulg. alone has “calumniator” for the last word, which is wholly improper; “who wrongs him” is the Sept.; “who oppresses him” is the Syr. and Arab. The word means to oppress by force or violence. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(12) Execute judgment in the morning.The words point to one of the chief duties of the ideal Eastern king. To rise at dawn of day, to sit in the gate and listen to the complaints of those who had been wronged, was the surest way to gain the affection of his people. It was Davids neglect of this that gave an opening for the rebellion of Absalom (2Sa. 15:2). Solomons early fame for wisdom rested on his discharge of this duty (1Ki. 3:28). If the king remained slothfully in his palace in those golden hours of morning, the noon-tide heat made it impossible for him to retrieve the lost opportunity. (Comp. 2Sa. 4:5.) Still worse was it when, as with luxurious and sensual kings, the morning hours were given to revelry and feasting (Ecc. 10:16-17).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 21:12 O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver [him that is] spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench [it], because of the evil of your doings.
Ver. 12. O house of David. ] But much degenerated from the piety of David. So Mic 2:7 , “O thou that art named the house of Jacob – are these his doings,” &c. See Trapp on “ Mic 2:7 “ To be a degenerate plant of so noble a vine is no small discommendation.
Thus saith the Lord.
Execute justice in the morning.
a Oecolamp.
b Mane, i.e., Mature.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
house of David. Occurs only here in Jeremiah.
in the morning = betimes.
evil. Hebrew. ra’a’. App-44.
your. Some codices, with seven early printed editions, read “their”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
house: Isa 7:2, Isa 7:13, Luk 1:69
Execute: Heb. Judge, Jer 5:28, Jer 22:2, Jer 22:3, Jer 22:15-17, Jer 23:5, 2Sa 8:15, Psa 72:1-4, Psa 72:12-14, Psa 82:2-4, Isa 1:17, Isa 16:3-5, Isa 31:1, Isa 31:2, Zec 7:9-11
morning: Exo 18:13, Psa 101:8, Ecc 10:16, Ecc 10:17, Zep 3:5
deliver: Job 29:17, Psa 82:4, Pro 24:11, Pro 24:12, Pro 31:8, Pro 31:9, Isa 1:17, Luk 18:3-5, Rom 13:4
lest: Jer 21:5, Jer 4:4, Jer 5:14, Jer 17:4, Jer 23:19, Jer 36:7, Lev 26:28, Deu 32:22, Lam 2:3, Lam 2:4, Lam 4:11, Eze 20:47, Eze 20:48, Eze 22:18-22, Eze 22:31, Eze 24:8-14, Nah 1:6, Zep 1:18
none: Jer 7:20, Isa 1:31, Mar 9:43-48
Reciprocal: Exo 36:3 – every morning Deu 4:24 – thy God Deu 25:1 – General Psa 89:46 – thy wrath Isa 16:4 – mine Jer 17:27 – then Jer 44:6 – my fury Eze 22:21 – and blow Amo 7:4 – called
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 21:12. This verse is worded in the form of a command as if the Lord expected the king and h1s people to put the order into effect at that time. It should be understood in the sense of saying these things were what they should have been doing in the past years. Actually it was too late for them to do much in the carrying out of the order for the enemy was then at the gates. Lest my fury go out should therefore be considered as if it said, because of your failure to do these things mentioned my fury will go out.”
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
21:12 O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment {f} in the morning, and deliver [him that is] made desolate out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench [it], because of the evil of your doings.
(f) Be diligent to do justice.