Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 29:17
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
17. vile figs ] Cp. Jer 24:2-8.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 17. Behold, I will send upon them the sword] Do not envy the state of Zedekiah who sits on the throne of David, nor that of the people who are now in the land whence ye have been carried captive, (Jer 29:16,) for “I will send the sword, the pestilence, and the famine upon them;” and afterwards shall cause them to be carried into a miserable captivity in all nations, (Jer 29:18😉 but ye see the worst of your own case, and you have God’s promise of enlargement when the proper time is come. The reader will not forget that the prophet is addressing the captives in Babylon.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
17. vile figsHebrew,“horrible,” or nauseous, from a root, “to regard withloathing” (see Jer 24:8;Jer 24:10).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, behold, I will send upon them the sword,…. The sword of the Chaldeans, by which many of them should fall, as they did. The Targum is,
“I will send upon them those that kill with the sword:”
who, though they were prompted to come against the Jews, through a natural and ambitious desire of conquering and plundering, yet were sent of God; nor would they have come, had he not willed and suffered it:
the famine and the pestilence; to destroy others that escaped the sword; both these raged while Jerusalem was besieged by the Chaldeans:
and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil; to which they are compared, Jer 24:8. The sense is, that as they had made themselves wicked and corrupt, like naughty and rotten figs, so the Lord would deal with them as men do with such, cast them away, as good for nothing. The word z for “vile” signifies something horrible; and designs such figs so bad, that they even strike the eater of them with horror.
z “tanquam ficus horrendas”, Junius Tremellius, Piscator so Stockius, p. 1129.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He says, I will pursue them with the sword, and famine, and pestilence The surrender of Jeconiah, as we have elsewhere seen, was voluntary; he was therefore more kindly received by the king of Babylon. At length the city was attacked, and as the siege was long, there was more rage felt against the king and the whole people, for the Chaldeans had been wearied by their obstinacy. Hence it was, that they dealt more severely with them. But nothing happened except through the just vengeance of God; for though they exasperated the Chaldeans, there is no doubt but that God blinded their minds so that they procured for themselves a heavier judgment. It was, then, a punishment inflicted on them by God; and hence rightly does Jeremiah testify that God was the author of those calamities, for the Chaldeans, as we have seen elsewhere, were only ministers and executioners of God’s vengeance; Jehovah of hosts then says, Behold, I will pursue you, etc.
He then adds, And I will make them like worthless figs He calls the figs here שערים, sherim, worthless; but in the twenty-fourth chapter he called them bad; still the meaning is the same. There is no doubt but that he refers to the prophecy which we there explained. For the Prophet saw two baskets of figs, in one of which were sweet figs, and in the other bitter. God asked, “What seest thou?” he said, “Good figs, very good, and bad figs, very bad.” God afterwards added, “The good and sweet figs are the captives; for I will at length shew mercy to them, and liberty to return shall be given them. They shall then be good figs, though now a different opinion is formed; for they who still lived at Jerusalem, think themselves more happy than the exiles; but the bad and bitter figs,” he says, “are this people who pride themselves, because they have not been led into captivity; for I will consume them with the pestilence, and the famine, and the sword.” This was the Prophet’s language in that passage. He now again declares that King Zedekiah and all the people would be like bitter and putrid figs, which, being so bad, are not fit to be eaten. He then adds, —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
17. Vile figs See Jer 24:2, etc. The adjective is very expressive in the original shuddering such figs as make one shudder to taste them.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 29:17 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
Ver. 17. Behold, I will send upon them. ] Jer 24:10 ; Jer 27:8 .
And will make them like vile figs.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I will send . . . the sword, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Lev 26:25, Lev 26:26).
the famine. Some codices, with three early printed editions (one in margin), Aramaean, Syriac, and Vulgate, read “and famine”, thus completing the Figure of speech Polysyndeton.
vile figs = worthless figs. See Jer 24:2.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Behold: Jer 29:18, Jer 15:2, Jer 15:3, Jer 24:8-10, Jer 34:17-22, Jer 43:11, Jer 52:6, Eze 5:12-17, Eze 14:12-21, Luk 21:11, Luk 21:23
them like: Jer 24:1-3, Jer 24:8
Reciprocal: Lev 26:25 – I will send Jer 9:16 – and I Jer 14:12 – but Jer 22:2 – that sittest Jer 36:31 – will bring
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 29:17. The things threatened in this verse were to come on the Jews still left in Palestine and who had been listening to the false prophets.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
29:17 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the {h} sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile {i} figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.
(h) By which he assures them that there will be no hope of returning before the appointed time.
(i) According to the comparison, Jer 24:1-2 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
CHAPTER XXVI
INTRODUCTORY
“I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”- Jer 31:1
IN this third book an attempt is made to present a general view of Jeremiahs teaching on the subject with which he was most preoccupied-the political and religious fortunes of Judah. Certain (30, 31, and, in part, 33) chapters detach themselves from the rest, and stand in no obvious connection with any special incident of the prophets life. These are the main theme of this book, and have been dealt with in the ordinary method of detailed exposition. They have been treated separately, and not woven into the continuous narrative, partly because we thus obtain a more adequate emphasis upon important aspects of their teaching, but chiefly because their date and occasion cannot be certainly determined. With them other sections have been associated, on account of the connection of subject. Further material for a synopsis of Jeremiahs teaching has been collected from chapters 21-49, generally, supplemented by brief references to the previous chapters. Inasmuch as the prophecies of our book do not form an ordered treatise on dogmatic theology, but were uttered with regard to individual conduct and critical events, topics are not exclusively dealt with in a single section, but are referred to at intervals throughout. Moreover, as both the individuals and the crises were very much alike, ideas and phrases are constantly reappearing, so that there is an exceptionally large amount of repetition in the Book of Jeremiah. The method we have adopted avoids some of the difficulties which would arise if we attempted to deal with these doctrines in our continuous exposition.
Our general sketch of the prophets teaching is naturally arranged under categories suggested by the book itself, and not according to the sections of a modern treatise on Systematic Theology. No doubt much may legitimately be extracted or deduced concerning Anthropology, Soteriology, and the like; but true proportion is as important in exposition as accurate interpretation. If we wish to understand Jeremiah, we must be content to dwell longest upon what he emphasised most, and to adopt the standpoint of time and race which was his own. Accordingly in our treatment we have followed the cycle of sin, punishment, and restoration, so familiar to students of Hebrew prophecy.
NOTE SOME CHARACTERISTIC EXPRESSIONS OF JEREMIAH
This note is added partly for convenience of reference, and partly to illustrate the repetition just mentioned as characteristic of Jeremiah. The instances are chosen from expressions occurring in chapters 21-52. The reader will find fuller lists dealing with the whole book in the “Speakers Commentary” and the “Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges.” The Hebrew student is referred to the list in Drivers “Introduction,” upon which the following is partly based.
1. “Rising up early”: Jer 7:13; Jer 7:25; Jer 11:7; Jer 25:3-4; Jer 26:5; Jer 29:19; Jer 32:33; Jer 35:14-15; Jer 44:4. This phrase, familiar to us in the narratives of Genesis and in the historical books, is used here, as in 2Ch 36:15, of God addressing His people on sending the prophets.
2. “Stubbornness of heart” (A.V. imagination of heart): Jer 3:17; Jer 7:24; Jer 9:14; Jer 11:8; Jer 13:10; Jer 16:12; Jer 18:12; Jer 23:17; also found Deu 29:19 and Psa 81:15.
3. “The evil of your doings”: Jer 4:4; Jer 21:12; Jer 23:2; Jer 23:22; Jer 25:5; Jer 26:3; Jer 44:22; also Deu 28:20; 1Sa 25:3; Isa 1:16; Hos 9:15; Psa 28:4; and in slightly different form in Jer 11:18 and Zec 1:4.
“The fruit of your doings”: Jer 17:10; Jer 21:14; Jer 32:19; also found in Mic 7:13.
“Doings, your doings,” etc., are also found in Jeremiah and elsewhere.
4. “The sword, the pestilence, and the famine,” in various orders, and either as a phrase or each word ocurring in one of three successive clauses: Jer 14:12; Jer 15:2; Jer 21:7; Jer 21:9; Jer 24:10; Jer 27:8; Jer 27:13; Jer 29:17-18; Jer 32:24; Jer 32:36; Jer 34:17; Jer 38:2; Jer 42:17; Jer 42:22; Jer 44:13.
“The sword and the famime,” with similar variations: Jer 5:12; Jer 11:22; Jer 14:13; Jer 14:15-16; Jer 14:18; Jer 16:4; Jer 18:21; Jer 42:16; Jer 44:12; Jer 44:18; Jer 44:27. Cf. similar lists, etc., “death . . . sword . . . captivity,” in Jer 43:11 : “war . . . evil . . . pestilence,” Jer 28:8.
5. “Kings . . . princes . . . priests . . . prophets,” in various orders and combinations: Jer 2:26; Jer 4:9; Jer 8:1; Jer 13:13; Jer 24:8; Jer 32:32.
Cf. “Prophet . . . priest . . . people,” Jer 23:33-34. “Prophets . . . diviners . . . dreamers . . . enchanters . . . sorcerers,” Jer 27:9.