Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 18:14
Will [a man] leave the snow of Lebanon [which cometh] from the rock of the field? [or] shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?
14. The unnatural conduct of Israel (cp. Jer 8:7) is illustrated.
rock of the field ] The strangeness of the expression has led to the conjectural substitution for “field” ( sdeh) of either ( a) Shaddai, a title of Jehovah (e.g. Gen 17:1), or ( b) Sirion (Psa 29:6), the Phoenician name (see Deu 3:9) for Hermon (so Co. and Du.), which has a summit crowned with perpetual snow. In the latter case, as Lebanon and Hermon were quite distinct, and as the former seems connected with the Hebrew root meaning whiteness, we may render with Co. “Does the white snow forsooth melt from the rock of Sirion?”
shall the cold waters be dried up ] mg. plucked up, but the emendation in the text is doubtless right, and is obtained by the transposition of two Hebrew consonants. The earlier part of the clause is more difficult to emend. Du., by simply dividing two adjacent words differently, gets for “waters that flow down from afar” “waters of the scatterers,” viz. the northern stars, as bringing rain at the time of their rising. He connects the word he renders “scatterers” with the north by reference to Job 37:9, where for the latter there is given in mg. scattering winds. But we cannot speak with any certainty. The Hebrew for “strange” may have come in through the accidental repetition of “cold,” which stands next in the Hebrew, and differs only in the initial letter. The mg. (the cold waters) “of strange lands that flow down be, etc.” is improbable as a rendering. The general sense at any rate is clear. Nature is constant in her operations, but God, the Rock of Israel, is forsaken by those who used to follow Him.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Rather, Will the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field? The meaning probably is, Will the snow of Lebanon fail from its rocks which tower above the land of Israel? The appeal of the prophet is to the unchangeableness of one of natures most beautiful phenomena, the perpetual snow upon the upper summits of Lebanon.
Shall the cold … – literally, shall the strange, i. e., foreign, cool, down-flowing waters be plucked up? The general sense is: God is Israels Rock, from whom the never-failing waters flow Jer 2:13 : but men may and do abandon the cool waters which descend front above to seek their happiness in channels of their own digging.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jer 18:14
Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the lock Of the field?
Man severed from the inexhaustible resources
The idea of the text is that a man will cut himself off from the main, will cut himself away from the eternally feeding snow of Lebanon, and will begin to make himself a little cistern–ah me, a broken cistern, a cistern that can hold no water. Let us think of the suicide of isolation, the madness of amputating our life, of leaving the inexhaustible, the eternal, the infinite–and living little, miserable, self-devouring lives. Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon and the fountain that rises from the rock? You would not allow it in business. Shall I tell you what I have heard some of you business men say? Did not one of you point out a man to me, and say, You see that man crossing from the Mansion House to the Bank of England? Yes. Very singular case, you say; that man is living on his capital. I said, What harm is there in that? Why, he is eating himself up, consuming himself. He ought to have his capital so invested that it will bring him in revenue day by day, year by year, and the capital should be kept intact if possible, and still the income should be accruing. I see! That is the text from a secular point of view. This man is living on his capital, he has cut himself off from payable, remunerative, compensative agencies, and he is eating up what he has. The worst thing that can happen in military operations is for the enemy to get behind and to cut off the supplies. That is the horrible possibility and the dreadful mischief, that the supplies should be cut off. Take care how you dwell upon this as an instance of misfortune. I charge you, in the presence of God and the holy angels, foolish man, with doing this very thing. You have cut off your supplies, you have dismissed prayer, you are trying to live on your own miserable individuality and selfhood. Get back to your supplies–back to God, back to the fountain. Live and move and have your being in God, and then no man can impoverish you, until he has impoverished God. (J. Parker.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 14. Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon] Lebanon was the highest mountain in Judea. Would any man in his senses abandon a farm that was always watered by the melted snows of Lebanon, and take a barren rock in its place? How stupid therefore and absurd are my people, who abandon the everlasting God for the worship of idols!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? The margins of our Bibles will let us know that there is some variety in the opinions of the most learned interpreters as to the sense of these words. The general sense is plain and obvious, that it is a foolish thing for men to forsake God, who is the fountain of all good and refreshment, and what men do not use to do with reference to poor creature comforts, not to be named with God. But for the grammatical sense of the words, it is not so obvious. The vulgar Latin translates them, Shall the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field? The Septuagint, Shall the dugs fail from the rocks? or, the snow from Lebanon? The Syriac version followeth them. The Arabic version translateth it, Should the snow fail from the mountain of breasts, and from Lebanon? The Chaldee paraphrast thus glosseth, Behold, as it cannot be that the snow water should fail from Lebanon. Pagnine seems to make Lebanon the nominative case, and renders the sense thus, Shall Lebanon leave the snow from the rock of the field? Our translators supply these words, a man, and so make that the nominative case, and make Lebanon the genitive case. Lebanon was a mountainous place, in which were rocks; it had also fruitful valleys; snow fell upon those rocks, and upon a thaw ran down into the lower places, and was grateful to them, as it moistened them, and made them more fruitful.
Or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken? The latter part of the verse seems as hard. Pegnine translates them, Shall other cold flowing waters be forsaken? The vulgar Latin, Or can the other cold flowing waters be plucked up? The LXX. and the Syriac, Or shall the water fail, violently snatched up or taken away with the wind? The Arabic, Or should the foreign cool waters desist? The Chaldee paraphrast glosseth, So the rain waters that come down, and the waters of the fountain that spring, shall not fail. In this great variety, it is very hard certainly to assert the particular sense of these phrases, the knowledge of which depends upon some affections or customs of those places, which we are not so well acquainted with. The next verse is the best guide we have, where the sin laid to the charge of this people is their forsaking God; which sin is here aggravated by this topic, That reason teacheth men not to forsake a greater good for a lesser, though that greater good were but a poor creature comfort, not to be compared with God. This is the general sense, scope, and sum of this verse; so as we shall not need be very solicitous to be able to assert the particular grammatical sense.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. Is there any man (livingnear it) who would leave the snow of Lebanon (that is, the coolmelted snow water of Lebanon, as he presently explains), which comethfrom the rock of the field (a poetical name for Lebanon, which towersaloft above the surrounding field, or comparatively plaincountry)? None. Yet Israel forsakes Jehovah, the living fountainclose at hand, for foreign broken cisterns. Jer 17:13;Jer 2:13, accord with EnglishVersion here. MAURERtranslates, “Shall the snow of Lebanon cease from therock to water (literally, ‘forsake’) My fields” (thewhole land around being peculiarly Jehovah’s)? Lebanonmeans the “white mountain”; so called from the perpetualsnow which covers that part called Hermon, stretching northeast ofPalestine.
that come from anotherplacethat come from far, namely, from the distant lofty rocksof Lebanon. HENDERSONtranslates, “the compressed waters,” namely,contracted within a narrow channel while descending through thegorges of the rocks; “flowing” may in this view be rather”flowing down” (So 4:15).But the parallelism in English Version is better, “whichcometh from the rock,” “that cometh from another place.”
be forsakenansweringto the parallel, “Will a man leave,” c. MAURERtranslates, “dry up,” or “fail” (Isa19:5) the sense thus being, Will nature ever turn aside from itsfixed course? The “cold waters” (compare Pr25:25) refer to the perennial streams, fed from the partialmelting of the snow in the hot weather.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon, [which cometh] from the rock of the field?…. Lebanon was a mountain on the borders of Judea, the top of which was covered in the summertime with snow, from the whiteness of which it had its name, Lebanon; as the Alps, for the same reason, which lie between France and Italy: now, the snow being dissolved by the heat, ran in flowing streams down the rocks into the field and plain, where they might be easily come at, and drank of; and would a thirsty traveller, on a summer’s day, pass by such streams as these, and not drink of them? certainly he would not leave them, but stop and drink; he must be an unwise man that should do otherwise; and yet this was what the people of the Jews did; they forsook the Lord, “the fountain of living waters”; and who, because of the plenty of good things in him, and flowing from him to them, were as streams from Lebanon; and yet they left these crystal streams for the black and muddy waters of Sihor, or idols of Egypt, So 4:15; or the words may be rendered, “will a man leave [what comes] from the rock of the field [for] the snow of Lebanon” x? that is, will a man neglect to drink of the water that comes out of a rock in his field, pure and clear, and is near at hand, and choose to go to Mount Lebanon to drink of the snow water, which runs down the mountain, and can never be thought so clear as what comes out of the rock? surely he will not; he must act an unwise part if he does; and such a part, and worse, did the people of the Jews act, in forsaking God:
[or] shall the cold flowing waters which come from another place be forsaken? or, “strange waters” y; which come from far, from some distant rock, being conveyed in pipes, in; which they come cool, and in flowing streams, for the service of a city and its inhabitants; and who, having such a privilege, would neglect them, and drink of standing water in a pond or puddle? or, the words, as the former, may be rendered, “shall for strange frozen waters, be left flowing ones?” see Grotius.
x “nunquid deserit aliquis [aquam manatem] de petra agri, [ut biblat] nivem Libani”; so some in Vatablus. y “aquae alienae”, Schmidt, Montanus; “peregrinae”, De Dieu.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
As I have just said, God here enhances the sin of the people by a twofold comparison; for when one can draw water in his own field, and find there a spring, what folly will it be for him to run to a distance to seek water? And then, when water does not spring up near, but flows from a distance in a pure and cold stream, who will not be satisfied with such water? and if he seeks to find the spring, will not all laugh at such madness? Now God was like a living fountain, and at Jerusalem was the spring where the Jews might drink to their full; and God’s blessings flowed also to them as it were through various channels, so that nothing was wanting to them. We then see that here is condemned a twofold madness in the people, that they despised God’s kindness which was near at hand, as though one close to Mount Libanus refused its cold waters, or as though one would not draw water from a river without going to the spring-head. Since then God offered himself to them in every way, and presented his bounty to them, it was a madness extremely base and inexcusable to reject flowing waters and the fountain itself.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(14) Will a man leave . . .?The interpolated words a man pervert the meaning of the verse, which should run thus: Will the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field? or shall the cold (or, with some commentators, rushing ) flowing waters from afar (literally, strange, or, as some take it, that dash down) be dried up? The questions imply an answer in the negative, and assert in a more vivid form what had been expressed more distinctly, though less poetically, in Jer. 2:13. The strength of Jehovah was like the unfailing snow of Lebanon (the white or snow mountain, like Mont Blanc or Snowdon), like the dashing stream that flows from heights so distant that they belong to a strange country, and which along its whole course was never dried up, and yet men forsook that strength for their own devices. The streams of Lebanon appear as the type of cool refreshing waters in Son. 4:15. The term rock of the field is applied in Jer. 17:3; Jer. 21:13 to Jerusalem, but there is no reason why it should not be used of Lebanon or any other mountain soaring above the plain. The notion that the prophet spoke of the brook Gihon on Mount Zion, as fed, by an underground channel, from the snows of Lebanon, has not sufficient evidence to commend it, but the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion (Psa. 133:3) presents, to say the least, a suggestive parallel. Possibly the prophet has the Jordan in his mind. Tacitus (Hist. v. 6) describes it as fed by the snows of Lebanon, the summit of which is, in his expressive language, faithful to its snows through the heat of summer.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon from the rock of the field? etc. Two questions arise on this passage: How shall it be translated, and how interpreted?
I. Two translations have been proposed which are worthy of notice:
1 . That of Noyes, after Michaelis, Rosenmuller, Neumann, Maurer, and others: Shall the snow from the rock of Lebanon (snow of Lebanon from the rock) forsake my fields? 1) But in this the phrase, “from the rock,” is harsh and unmeaning. It adds nothing to the sense, and is, certainly, a clumsy expression for “rock of Lebanon.” 2) It mentions Lebanon as the source of the water supply of Palestine, while, in other passages, the sea is so mentioned.
2 . That of Keil and Nagelsbach: Will the snow of Lebanon cease from the rock of the field? This is the simplest and most strictly grammatical rendering, and is clearly to be preferred.
II. Two interpretations of this last translation have been given.
1 . By “the rock of the field” Mount Zion is meant. In favour of this may be considered: 1) Mount Zion is so called in Jer 17:3, while in Jer 21:13, the kindred phrase, “rock of the plain,” is applied to it.
2) In Psa 133:3, the “dew of Hermon,” the conspicuous and representative mountain of the Lebanon group is spoken of as “descending upon the mountains of Zion.” 3) The structure of the sentence clearly forbids us to identify the “rock of the field” with Lebanon. But, as bearing against this view, we should note: 1) The application of this phrase to Mount Zion, in another passage, is not conclusive as to its meaning here, though it does create an affirmative presumption. 2) The bold figure in Psalms 133, in which the dew of Hermon is said to come down upon the mountains of Zion, is no sufficient justification of the assumption that there was supposed to be a connexion between the snow of Lebanon and the springs of Jerusalem. If such a notion as this prevailed, either among the many or the few, we ought to find some notice of it in other places. 3) The word “Lebanon” in this place, is rather an appellative than the name of a locality: As the Lebanon snow, etc. The same remark also applies to the passage above alluded to, in which the “dew of Hermon” is mentioned.
2 . By the phrase “rock of the field,” Lebanon is meant. 1) This is the natural interpretation. The snow of Lebanon is the snow that rests on Lebanon, and gives it its name Lebanon= white mountain and it can leave only the place where it is. Hence, the “rock of the field” is “Lebanon.” 2) This being the natural view, it is in order now to note that no considerations such as are mentioned above bear with conclusive force against it and in favour of any other. 3) This gives a sense at once intelligible and impressive. Just as appeal was once made to the bow in the heavens, which was not a symbol but only a sign of God’s covenant, so here “the prophet appeals to the unchangeableness of one of nature’s most beautiful phenomena the perpetual snow on the summits of Lebanon” as a fit token of man’s unchanging faithfulness to God, the source of all gracious supply. 4) This view is strongly confirmed by the remainder of the verse, with which it is in perfect harmony.
Or shall the cold flowing waters, etc.? Literally, shall the strange, cool, trickling waters be plucked up? (dried up?) By “strange” waters are meant those that come from afar, whose sources are hidden a phrase seemingly appropriate to the wealth of springs in Lebanon. The epithet “cold” is also suggestive of these. The general idea is that of faithfulness or constancy. The cool, perennial mountain springs, that seem to flow forth from an unwasting fulness, stand in vivid contrast with the deceitful brooks which are so characteristic of Palestine, and which have already been referred to as a symbol of idolatrous trusts. No fitter emblem of the ever-flowing stream of God’s bounty can be found in the range of material nature than the strange, cool, trickling waters of the Lebanon springs.
Thus do both members of this difficult verse blend in a most appropriate and expressive symbolism. The “rock of the field” points to the Rock of eternity. The sublime vision of perpetual snow resting on its summit symbolizes that glory which the Eternal as a garment wears. And that equally characteristic feature, the mountain stream, whose waters flow on ever conscious of their distant snowy fountains, is happily expressive of the never-failing stream of the divine beneficence. The appeal is to the constancy of these. Is not nature true in her friendships? Does she not stand always visible and always faithful? Do not her streams of beneficent supply pour forth unceasingly? Even so is God to his people; but they turn away from him to follow after vanity, and “make their land desolate and a perpetual hissing.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 18:14. Will a man leave the snow, &c. Shall one leave the moisture of the field for the snow-water of Lebanon; or shall the running waters be forsaken for the muddy waters? Lowth. The two similitudes in this verse are evidently designed to illustrate the unnatural and absurd conduct of the Jewish nation in deserting their God, and adopting the superstitions of a strange idolatry, in preference to the good old paths which God had ordained for them to walk in. As to the first, Lebanon, it must be observed, was the highest mountain in Israel, lying to the north of it, and having its summit always covered with snow; from the whiteness of which it is supposed to have derived its name. See the accounts of modern travellers referred to, Ancient Univ. Hist. vol. 1: book 1: p. 570 fol. The same circumstance is also recorded by Tacitus, Hist. lib. 5: cap. 6.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jer 18:14 Will [a man] leave the snow of Lebanon [which cometh] from the rock of the field? [or] shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?
Ver. 14. Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon? ] See Jer 2:13 , which may stand for a commentary on this verse. The rocks of Lebanon were still covered with snow: whence also it was called Lebanon – i.e., white. Now the Lord was to the Jews as this snow was to the thirsty traveller, cooling and comforting, and therefore in no wise to be left.
Or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Will a man leave . . . ? Note the Figure of speech Erotesis and the Figure of speech Ellipsis (App-6), and render:
“Will [a man] leave the snow [water] of Lebanon for the rock of the field?
Or, shall the cold flowing waters [be forsaken] for strange waters?
snow: i.e. snow [water], used for mixing with wine; or for washing, as in Job 9:30.
which cometh. Omit, and supply the word “leave” in the second clause from the first clause.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Will: Joh 6:68
the snow: etc. or, my fields for a rock, or for the snow of Lebanon? shall the running waters be forsaken for the strange cold waters? Parkhurst renders, “Will the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field? Or will the issuing cold flowing waters – from that mountain namelybe exhausted?” – See Targ., LXX, and Vulg.No more could I fail my people if they trusted in me. – Compare Jer 2:13.Maundrell says, “The chief benefit the mountain of Lebanon serves for, is, that by its exceeding height, it proves a conservatory for abundance of snow, which thawing in the heat of summer, affords supplies of water to the rivers and fountains in the valleys below.
Reciprocal: Pro 25:25 – cold Son 4:15 – streams Isa 8:6 – that go softly Jer 2:10 – and see
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 18:14. Those advantages are compared with the pure snow on the mountains of Lebanon and the crystal waters that come from it. No man would reject such blessings for the sake of some polluted stream in another place.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
18:14 Will [a man] leave the snow of Lebanon [which cometh] from the rock of the field? {d} [or] shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?
(d) As no man that has thirst refuses fresh waters which he has at home, to go and seek waters abroad to quench his thirst: so they should not seek help and comfort from strangers and leave God who was present with them.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Israel’s conduct was unnatural, contrary to nature. Jeremiah cited examples of how nature behaves. The snow perpetually covered the Lebanon mountains to Israel’s north, especially Mount Hermon. For there to be no snow would be unnatural. And cold water ceaselessly flowed from those same mountains (cf. Jer 2:13; Jer 15:18). The headwaters of the Jordan River are four springs that well up near the base of Mount Hermon, which is in the Lebanon range, and they never run dry. Another possible reading of the first illustration is that Palestinian fields always have rocks in them.