Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 14:6

And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because [there was] no grass.

6. bare heights ] See on ch. Jer 3:2.

pant for air ] oppressed by heat and thirst.

jackals ] See on Jer 9:11, but mg. (by the change of one Heb. letter) the crocodile (coming out of the water to breathe).

their eyes fail ] in place of their sharpness of sight. Cp. Job 11:20; Psa 69:3; Lam 4:17, and contrast Jonathan’s case in 1Sa 14:27.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Like dragons – Like jackals Jer 9:11.

No grass – The keen sight of the wild donkey is well known, but they look around in vain for herb.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 6. Snuffed up the wind like dragons] tannim here probably means the hippopotamus, who, after feeding under the water, is obliged to come to the surface in order to take in fresh draughts of air; or it may mean the wild asses.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

The wild asses, wanting water, got upon

high places, where was the freest and coolest air, and sucked in the wind, and this it is said they did

like dragons, of whom Aristotle and Pliny report, that by reason of the great heat of their bodies, they ordinarily stand upon high places sucking in the cool air, and they tell us those creatures will live upon it for some time. The prophet describing this great drought, tells us the wild asses did the like. But for want of grass their eyes were either almost sunk in their heads, they being almost starved; or else the phrase signifies the frustration of their expectation, which this phrase also sometimes signifies in Scripture, Psa 69:3.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

6. wild assesThey repair to”the high places” most exposed to the winds, which they”snuff in” to relieve their thirst.

dragonsjackals[HENDERSON].

eyeswhich are usuallymost keen in detecting grass or water from the “heights,”so much so that the traveller guesses from their presence that theremust be herbage and water near; but now “their eyes fail.”Rather the reference is to the great boas and python serpents whichraise a large portion of their body up in a vertical column ten ortwelve feet high, to survey the neighborhood above the surroundingbushes, while with open jaws they drink in the air. These giantserpents originated the widely spread notions which typified thedeluge and all destructive agents under the form of a dragon ormonster serpent; hence, the dragon temples always near water, inAsia, Africa, and Britain; for example, at Abury, in Wiltshire; asymbol of the ark is often associated with the dragon as thepreserver from the waters [KITTO,Biblical Cyclopdia].

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And the wild asses did stand in the high places,…. To see where any grass was to be had, or where the wind blows more freely and cooly, to draw it in; as follows. The Targum renders it, “by the brooks”; and so Jarchi interprets it brooks of water; whither they came as usual to drink, and found them now dried up; and where they stood distressed and languishing, not knowing where to go for any:

they snuffed up the wind like dragons: which, being of a hot nature, open their mouths, and draw in the wind and air to cool them. Aelianus b reports of the dragons in Phrygia, that they open their mouths, and not only draw in the air, but even birds flying. The word used for dragons signifies large fishes, great whales; and some understand it of crocodiles, who will lift up their heads above water to refresh themselves with the air:

their eyes did fail; in looking about for grass; or for want of food, being quite starved and famished:

because there was no grass; for their food and nourishment. With great propriety is the herb or grass mentioned, this being the proper food of asses, as Aristotle c observes; and with which agrees the Scripture; which represents them as content when they have it; and as ranging about the mountains for it when they have none; being creatures very impatient of hunger and thirst; see Job 6:5 wherefore the Greek writers surname this animal dry and thirsty; and hence the lying story of Tacitus d, concerning Moses and the children of Israel; who, he says, being ready to perish for want of water, Moses observed a flock of wild asses going from their pasture to a rock covered with trees, and followed them, taking it for herbage, and found large fountains of water. And very pertinently are their eyes said to fail for want of food, and the sight of them grow dim, which is more or less the case of all creatures in such circumstances; but the rather is this observed of the wild ass, because, as an Arabic writer e suggests, it is naturally very sharp and clear sighted.

b De Animal. l. 2. c. 21. c Hist. Animal. l. 8. c. 8. d Histor. l. 5. c. 3. e Damir apud Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 3. c. 16. col. 878.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The same thing is said of the wild asses, And the wild asses, he says, stood on the rocks: and yet this animal, we know, can endure want for a long Lime. But the Prophet, as I have said, intended to shew that there would be in this scarcity some remarkable evidences of God’s vengeance. Stood then did the wild asses on the rocks, and thence drew in wind like serpents: for great is the heat of serpents; on account of inward burning they are constrained to draw in wind to allay the heat within. The Prophet says, that wild asses were like serpents, for they were burning with long famine, so that they were seeking food in the wind itself, or by respiration. He then adds, Failed have their eyes, for there was no grass (108)

We now understand the object of this prediction: It was God’s purpose not only to foretell the Jews what was soon to be, but also to point out, as it were, by the finger, his vengeance, that they might not have recourse, as usual, to secondary causes, but that they might know that they suffered punishment for their sins; for the scarcity would be so extraordinary as far to exceed what was usual. It now follows —

(108) The three foregoing verses I render as follows, —

4. On account of the ground being cracked, As there has been no rain in the land, Ashamed were the husbandmen, They covered their heads:

5. When also the hind was in the field, It brought forth young, and it was forsaken, Because there was no grass:

6. And the wild asses, they stood on the cliffs; They drew in the wind like serpents; Fail did their eyes, Because there was no herbage

—

Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(6) The wild asses.From the field the prophets eye turns to the bare hill-tops of the high places, and sees a scene of like distress. The wild asses seem turned to beasts of prey, and stand gaping for thirst, as the jackals (not dragonscomp. Jer. 9:11) stand panting for their prey. By some scholars the word is taken as meaning, like a kindred word in Eze. 29:3; Eze. 32:2, crocodiles, with their wide gaping jaws.

There was no grass.The word is not the same as that in Jer. 14:5, and implies a larger and ranker herbage than that on which the hind fed.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

6. The wild asses stand upon the high places where they dwell, and gasp for air like the jackals, not dragons. These keen-sighted animals look for any green herb in vain.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Jer 14:6 And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because [there was] no grass.

Ver. 6. And the wild asses. ] Secretes alias vagae libidinis in silvis, that usually course up and down the woods, and can bear hunger and thirst a long while together. a

Snuffed up the wind like dragons. ] Quorum est vehementissima spiratio ac sorbitio; who, in defect of water, can continue long by drawing in the air, as Aristotle b likewise testifieth of the goats in Cephalonia, that they drink not for various days together, but instead thereof gape and suck in the fresh air.

a Plin., lib. x. cap. 72.

b Lib. De mirab auscult.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)