Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 10:19
Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this [is] a grief, and I must bear it.
19. The prophet now begins a lament in the person of the nation.
my hurt ] See Jer 8:21.
grief ] lit., as mg., sickness. “We speak only of a person as being sick; Heb. speaks also of a wound as being sick.” Dr., p. 355, where see references.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The lamentation of the daughter of Zion, the Jewish Church, at the devastation of the land, and her humble prayer to God for mercy.
Jer 10:19
Grievous – Rather, mortal, i. e., fatal, incurable.
A grief – Or, my grief.
Jer 10:20
tabernacle – i. e., tent. Jerusalem laments that her tent is plundered and her children carried into exile, and so are not, are dead Mat 2:18, either absolutely, or dead to her in the remote land of their captivity. They can aid the widowed mother no longer in pitching her tent, or in hanging up the curtains round about it.
Jer 10:21
Therefore they shall not prosper – Rather, therefore they have not governed wisely. The pastors, i. e., the kings and rulers Jer 2:8, having sunk to the condition of barbarous and untutored men, could not govern wisely.
Jer 10:22
The great commotion is the confused noise of the army on its march (see Jer 8:16).
Dragons – i. e., jackals; see the marginal reference.
Jer 10:23
At the rumour of the enemys approach Jeremiah utters in the name of the nation a supplication appropriate to men overtaken by the divine justice.
Jer 10:24
With judgment – In Jer 30:11; Jer 46:28, the word judgment (with a different preposition) is rendered in measure. The contrast therefore is between punishment inflicted in anger, and that inflicted as a duty of justice, of which the object is the criminals reformation. Jeremiah prays that God would punish Jacob so far only as would bring him to true repentance, but that he would pour forth his anger upon the pagan, as upon that which opposes itself to God Jer 10:25.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 19. This is a grief, and I must bear it.] Oppressive as it is, I have deserved it, and worse; but even in this judgment God remembers mercy.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Here the prophet doth not so much express his own sorrow, though that be great, as personate the sorrow and complaint that the land, i.e. the people of the land, manifest. or at least ought to do; which because they do not, causeth no little grief in the prophet himself, who cannot but be affected with their condition, which he calls not only a hurt, but a wound, and both of them very grievous.
But I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it; or rather, but I better considered it, and said within myself, I were as good be silent; it is indeed a grief grievous in itself, and grievous that I must smother it, and not complain, but it is my duty to bear it patiently. There is in this expression a double necessary preparation to repentance, viz.
1. An acknowledgment that they had deservedly brought the judgment upon themselves, and that therefore,
2. They would patiently bear it; and it doth imply something of their stupidity: q.d. We could not have imagined the damage could have been so very great, but now we see how it is, we will patiently bear the indignation of the Lord, because we have sinned against him. If this be not the meaning, then it is a further obstinate persisting in their rebelling: q.d. Seeing it must be so, truly it is very grievous, but I am bound now to bear it and rub through it as well as I can; a further persisting in their pertinacy, but I incline most to the former sense.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
19. Judea bewails its calamity.
woundthe stroke Isuffer under.
I must bearnot humblesubmission to God’s will (Mic 7:9),but sullen impenitence. Or, rather, it is prophetical of theirultimate acknowledgment of their guilt as the cause of their calamity(La 3:39).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Woe is me for my hurt!…. Or “breach” a; which was made upon the people of the Jews, when besieged, taken, and carried captive; with whom the prophet heartily sympathized, and considered their calamities and distresses as his own; for these are the words of the prophet, lamenting the sad estate of his people.
My wound is grievous; causes grief, is very painful, and hard to be endured:
but I said; within himself, after he had thoroughly considered the matter:
this is a grief; an affliction, a trial, and exercise:
and I must bear it; patiently and quietly, since it is of God, and is justly brought upon the people for their sins.
a “propter confractionem meam”, Cocceius Schmidt,
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Prophet here no doubt speaks in the name of the whole people; for he saw that no one was moved by threatenings, though very grievous and severe; and this mode of speaking must be sufficiently known to us, for it is commonly used by all the prophets. They first, addressed the people; but when they saw that they produced no effect, in order to shew their indignation, they speak of themselves as in the presence of God: thus they rebuked the hardness and torpidity of men. So now does Jeremiah speak, Woe to me for my bruising! He did not grieve on his own account; but, as I have said, he represents the grief which the whole people ought to have felt, which yet they did not feel at all. As then they were so stupid, and proudly derided God and his threatenings, the Prophet shews to them, as it were in a mirror, what grievous and bitter lamentation awaited them.
We must then bear in mind that the Prophet speaks not here according to the feeling which the people had, for they were so stupified that they felt nothing; but that he speaks of what they ought to have felt, as though he had said, — “Were there in them a particle of wisdom, they would all most surely bewail their approaching calamity, before God begins to make his judgment to fall on their heads; but no one is moved: I shall therefore weep alone, but it is on your account.” There is yet no doubt but he intended to try in every way whether God’s threatenings would penetrate into their hearts.
He says that his smiting was full of pain; and then adds, And I said, Surely it is my stroke, and I will bear it. As I have already said, he does not relate what the Jews said or thought, but what would have been the case with them had they the smallest portion of wisdom. Some connect this with the following verse, as though the Prophet had said that he thought himself able to bear his grief, but was deceived, as he was at length constrained to succumb. But this is an incorrect view, and the passage runs better otherwise. The Prophet here reminds his own people with what feeling they ought to have regarded the fact, that God was angry with them; for he no doubt indirectly condemns their sottishness, because God’s hand was put forth to chastise them, and yet they disregarded the hand of him who smote them. He then relates what they ought to have thought and felt, when God shewed tokens of his wrath, — that they ought to have acknowledged that it was their own stroke, and that it was therefore to be borne: for it is the best preparation for repentance when the sinner acknowledges that he is justly smitten, and when he willingly receives the yoke. When, therefore, any one proceeds thus far, his conversion is half effected.
The Prophet then teaches us here that the only remedy which remained for the Jews was to be fully convinced that they deserved the punishment which they endured, and then patiently to submit to God’s judgment, according to what a dutiful son does who suffers himself to be chastised when he offends. The word is used in another sense in Psa 77:10,
“
To die is my lot.”
The Prophet has חלי, cheli, here; but there it is חלותי cheluti. That passage is indeed variously explained; but it seenis to be an expression of despair, when it is said, “To die is my lot;” that is, it is all over with me. But the Prophet here shews that it was the beginning of repentance, when the Jews confessed that they deserved their stroke; for no doubt there is here a comparison made between sin and its punishment, as though the Prophet had said, “We have thus deserved, and God allots to us the reward due to our sins.” It is one thing, — to give glory to God, by confessing that he inflicts due punishment; but it is not sufficient unless patience be added, — I will bear it; that is, I will submit to God. For there are many who, when convinced of their sins, do yet complain against their judge, and also raise a clamor. Hence the Prophet joins together these two things, — the confession of sin and patience; so that they who experience the severity of God quietly submit to him as long as He exercises towards them the office of a judge. (18) He afterwards adds —
(18) Our translation, as to this verse, is nearly the Syriac. The Septuagint and Arabic have wandered much from the original; and so have the Vulgate and the Targum in some degree. The most literal is the version of Calvin. The terms here used, bruising, smiting, are commonly employed to designate great trouble and affliction, or distress; and this distress he describes in the verse that follows; and in the twenty-first verse the cause of it is set forth. And the distress corresponds with what he says in the eighteenth verse, where he says that the inhabitants would be driven from the land into fortresses, so that he would have none to set up his tent. All these verses seem connected. The literal rendering of this verse is as follows, —
19. Woe is to me, because of my bruising, (distress;) Grievous is my stroke; I have said, — Surely, this is grief! but I must bear it.
Then he proceeds to state his distress: he had none even to assist him to pitch his tent, the people having all been driven to fortified cities. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(19) Woe is me . . .From this verse to the end of the chapter we have, with the prophets characteristic dramatic vividness, the lamentation of the daughter of Israel in her captivity, bewailing the transgressions that had led to it. That this follows immediately on Jer. 10:18 gives some support to the view above given as to the force of the words that they may find. Israel is represented as having found in both aspects of the word.
Grievous.In the sense of all but incurable.
This is a grief . . .Better, this is my grief or plague, that which I have brought upon myself and must therefore bear. To accept the punishment was in this, as in all cases, the first step to reformation.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
19. Woe is me From this to the end of the chapter the prophet speaks in the name of the congregation the Jewish Church. We hear her lamentation, and her prayer for mercy to herself and for judgment on her enemies.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 10:19. Woe is me, &c. The prophet here pathetically laments the overthrow of his country; and either in his own person, or in that of his country, bewails the plundering and desolation of the cities and houses, as if they were so many shepherds’ tents. See the following verse.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jer 10:19 Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this [is] a grief, and I must bear it.
Ver. 19. Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous. ] This is the moan that people make when in distress, and they find it so. But what after a while of paining?
Truly this is my grief, and I must bear it,
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 10:19-22
19Woe is me, because of my injury!
My wound is incurable.
But I said, Truly this is a sickness,
And I must bear it.
20My tent is destroyed,
And all my ropes are broken;
My sons have gone from me and are no more.
There is no one to stretch out my tent again
Or to set up my curtains.
21For the shepherds have become stupid
And have not sought the LORD;
Therefore they have not prospered,
And all their flock is scattered.
22The sound of a report! Behold, it comes-
A great commotion out of the land of the north-
To make the cities of Judah
A desolation, a haunt of jackals.
Jer 10:19-22 This strophe of lament is similar to Jer 8:18-22. It seems to reflect the heart of God through the words of Jeremiah. However, the nation is personified. The land suffers from mankind’s sin (cf. Deuteronomy 27-28; Rom 8:18-22). There is a series of nomadic metaphors here, particularly related to the tent and flocks.
Jer 10:19 Jeremiah uses sickness or wounds as a metaphor for sin (cf. Jer 30:17), as does Isa 1:5-6; Isa 53:5; Psa 103:3 (note the synonymous parallelism). These verses cannot be used as a promise of physical healing. See special topic below.
SPECIAL TOPIC: IS HEALING GOD’S PLAN FOR EVERY AGE?
The last line of Jer 10:19 can have several translation options (i.e., different vowels).
1. NASB, NKJV,
NJV, JPSOA – I must bear it
2. NRSV- If this is the worst, I can bear it
3. TEV- we thought this was something we could endure!
Number 1 is the people’s resignation of Divine judgment. Number 2 is a belittling of the judgment. I think #1 fits the context best.
Jer 10:21 shepherds This (BDB 944 I) refers to spiritual leaders (cf. Jer 2:8; Jer 2:16; Jer 3:15; Jer 6:3; Jer 12:10; Jer 22:22; Jer 23:1-2; Jer 23:4; Jer 25:34-36; Jer 50:6; Jer 51:23; Eze 34:3).
Jer 10:22 A great commotion out of the land of the north This refers to the coming exile. The north was an idiom for invasion since this was the only route that invaders from the Fertile Crescent (i.e., Mesopotamia) could take because of the desert directly to the east of Palestine.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
me. Zion now speaks in view of the coming deportation; or, Jeremiah voices the calamity.
a grief: or, my affliction.
and I = but I.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Woe: Jer 4:19, Jer 4:31, Jer 8:21, Jer 9:1, Jer 17:13, Lam 1:2, Lam 1:12-22, Lam 2:11-22, Lam 3:48
Truly: Psa 39:9, Psa 77:10, Isa 8:17, Lam 3:18-21, Lam 3:39, Lam 3:40, Mic 7:9
Reciprocal: Jer 4:13 – Woe Jer 4:20 – suddenly Jer 8:18 – my
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 10:19, The prophet speaks in the first person but is really concerned about the hurt of the nation. The hurt refers to the downfall that his people are soon to suffer from the enemy. I must bear it corresponds with the decree that nothing could be done by any man to avoid the captivity.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 10:19-20. Wo is me for my hurt The prophet here again pathetically laments the overthrow of his country, and, either in his own person or in that of his country, bewails the plundering and desolation of the cities and houses, as if they were so many shepherds tents, to which he compares them, Jer 10:20. But I said, This is a grief, and I must bear it Blaney thinks the prophet here suggests motives of patience and consolation to his country, in regard to the evils that were coming upon her, putting the words of this and the following verses into her mouth, and making her observe, first, That her affliction, though great, would yet be found tolerable; secondly, That she had less reason to complain of what she suffered, as it was no other than might have been expected from the misconduct of those who had the direction of her affairs, Jer 10:21; and, lastly, That she was not without hope in the mercy of God, who, upon the humble supplication of his people, might be moved to mitigate their chastisement, and to turn his hand against the heathen that oppressed them, Jer 10:24. My children are gone from me, and are not, &c. My inhabitants are gone into captivity, and will return hither no more, so that they are the same to me as if they were dead. There is none to set up my curtains They will never be able to contribute any thing to the restoration of my former state.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
10:19 Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this {l} [is] a grief, and I must bear it.
(l) It is my just plague, and therefore I will take it patiently: by which he teaches the people how to behave themselves toward God.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The people, for whom the prophet spoke, bewailed their calamity, viewing it as an incurable injury that the Lord had inflicted on them. Yet they realized that there was no escape from it, and they had to endure the experience.