Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 18:23
Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay [me]: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal [thus] with them in the time of thine anger.
23. overthrown ] lit. as mg. made to stumble. Cp. Jer 6:15; Jer 6:21.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Yet, Lord – Better, But, Lord. They conceal their plots, but God knows, and therefore must punish.
Neither blot out … – Or, blot not out their sin from before Thy face that they may be made to stumble before Thee.
Thus – Omit this word. Since there is an acceptable time and a day of salvation, so there is a time of anger, and Jeremiahs prayer is that God would deal with his enemies at such a time, and when therefore no mercy would be shown. On imprecations such as these, see Ps. 109 introductory note. Though they did not flow from personal vengeance, but from a pure zeal for Gods honor, yet they belong to the legal spirit of the Jewish covenant. We must not, because we have been shown a more excellent way, condemn too harshly that sterner spirit of justice which animated so many of the saints of the earlier dispensation.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Lord, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me; Lord, thou knowest I do not charge them falsely, though their counsels have been secret against my life. Forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight.
Object. Will some say, Doth Jeremiah here pray for the eternal damnation of his adversaries? Is this lawful?
Solut. I do not think this is to be granted lawful, being so highly against charity; nor that Jeremiah in this is to be excused as a prophet, for even prophets had no such revelations; but I take these phrases to be expounded by the next words,
let them be overthrown before thee; and that all which the prophet prayeth for is Gods showing some temporal displeasure and vengeance against them. For forgiving, and not forgiving sin, doth not always in holy writ signify the discharging or not discharging the persons, from the obligation to eternal death, under which sin layeth them; but sometimes the discharging or not discharging of them from the punishments in this life, to which sin doth expose the sinner; and all Jeremiahs meaning is, that however it should please God to deal with these wicked men as to their eternal state, yet he would so far not forgive, not blot out, their sins, as that he would set some mark of his vengeance on them in this life for their treachery and ingratitude to him. Whether we in it consider Jeremiah as an ordinary suppliant in this cause, praying in faith, or as a prophet, foreknowing what God would do, it ought to lay a law upon, all to take heed of being mischievous and treacherous to others. It is seldom but God, before they die, repays such men into their own bosom, especially if it be against any who are Gods ministers or people; and that for their speaking to or doing before them the will of God: it is a sin seldom escapes without a temporal vengeance; and if such men be saved at last, it will be as through fire. God will mind them that he hath said, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm, 1Ch 16:22; Psa 105:15.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. forgive not (Psa 109:9;Psa 109:10; Psa 109:14).
blot outimage from anaccount-book (Re 20:12).
before theeHypocritessuppose God is not near, so long as they escape punishment; but whenHe punishes, they are said to stand before Him, because they can nolonger flatter themselves they can escape His eye (compare Ps90:8).
deal thusexert Thypower against them [MAURER].
time of thine angerThoughHe seems to tarry, His time shall come at last (Ecc 8:11;Ecc 8:12; 2Pe 3:9;2Pe 3:10).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Yet, Lord, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay [me],…. However deep they had laid them; and however unknown they were to him; or however private and secret they might be thought to be by them; God is an omniscient God, and knows and sees all things; the thoughts of men’s hearts, and all their secret designs in the dark against his ministers, people, and interest:
forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight; they had sinned the unpardonable sin; or, however, a sin unto death; for which prayer for the forgiveness of it was not to be made, 1Jo 5:16; this the prophet knew: what he here imprecates, and both before and after, must be considered, not as flowing from a private spirit, or from a spirit of malice and revenge; but what he delivered out under a spirit of prophecy, as foretelling what would be the sad estate and condition of these persons; for, otherwise, the temper and disposition of the prophet were the reverse; and he was inclined to sue for mercy for these people, as he often did; wherefore this is not to be drawn into a precedent and example for any to follow:
but let them be overthrown before thee; by the sword, famine, and pestilence: or, “let them be made to stumble before thee” i; and fall into perdition; they having made others to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths of truth and goodness; so that it was but a righteous thing that they should be punished after this manner; see Jer 18:15;
deal [thus] with them in the time of thine anger; the set time for his wrath to come upon them to the uttermost; then do unto them according to all the imprecations now made; which the prophet foresaw, and believed he would do; and therefore thus spake.
i “propellantur in offendiculum coram te”, Junius Tremellius, Piscator “offensi ruant coram te”, Cocceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The words of the last verse of the eighteenth chapter we gave yesterday. Let us now see what the Prophet means by them, and what fruit we ought to gather from them. He says, that God was a witness of the wickedness of his enemies — that all their counsels had in view his destruction. There is, moreover, to be understood a contrast, — that the Prophet, as we have before seen, cared faithfully for their salvation. It was then a most base ingratitude in them to plot the death of the holy Prophet, who was not only innocent, but highly deserved their thanks for laboring for their salvation. We hence conclude that they deserved no mercy. Thou knowest, he says, their counsel, that what they consult among themselves tends to bring death on me: be not thou then propitious to their iniquity, and blot not out their sin
We said in our last lecture that this vehemence, as it was dictated by the Holy Spirit, is not to be condemned, nor ought it to be made an example of, for it was peculiar to the Prophet to know that they were reprobates: and we also shewed why no common law is to be made from particular examples: for Jeremiah was endued with the spirit of wisdom and judgment, and zeal also for God’s glory so ruled in his heart, that the feelings of the flesh were wholly subdued, or at least brought under subjection; and farther, he pleaded not a private cause. We said in the first place, that it was oracular; for God designed to make it known, that they who thus obstinately resisted true doctrine were reprobate and irreclaimable. As all these things fall not to our lot, we ought not indiscriminately to imitate Jeremiah in this prayer: for that would then apply to us which Christ said to his disciples,
“
Ye know not what spirit, governs you.” (Luk 9:55.)
And doubtless it ought to fill us with dread when we hear, Be not propitious to them, nor blot out their sin. God testifies in many plaices that he is gracious and inclined to mercy, and that when he is angry it is only for a moment. (Num 14:18; Psa 103:8; Psa 30:5) There seems then a great difference between the words of the Prophet and these testimonies, by which God makes known his own nature. But we have said already that the destruction of the people, against whom the Prophet thus prayed, had been made evident to him: and we must also bear in mind what we have stated, that he did not include the people without exception; for he knew that there was a seed remaining among them. He then confined his imprecation to the reprobate and irreclaimable, as he knew that they were already doomed to ruin, even by the eternal purpose of God’ and as they had over and over again destroyed themselves, he boldly declares that God would never be propitious to them.
To the same purpose is what follows, Let them ever stumble before thy face. He mentions face here for manifest judgment; for the wicked exult as long as he spares them. The Prophet then would have God to sit on his throne, that he might appear as a Judge, and thus check the wantonness of those who despised his judgment, being constrained to know that they could not escape. There is also a contrast to be understood here between the presence and the absence of God. For hypocrites think that God is absent as long as he is indulgent to them and does not take vengeance hence they grow wanton, as though they had a permission to deceive him: but when God constrains them to acknowledge what they are unwilling to do, they are said to stand in his presence; for they are pressed too near to render it possible for them to evade, and willing or unwilling they are held fast, as the Lord proves that he is their Judge. We hence see the meaning of the expression when the Prophet says, Let them stumble before thy face.
He in the last place adds, In the time of thy wrath deal thus with them. The manner of his presence is set forth. There is, however, no doubt but that the Prophet here checks both himself and all the godly, that they may not be hasty, for we are often too precipitant in our wishes; for we would that God would fulminate every moment from heaven. This hastiness ought to be moderated; and the Prophet here prescribes to us the rule of moderation, by saying, In the time of thy wrath; as though he had said, “Even though thou deferrest and seemest now to connive at these great crimes, yet the time will eventually come in which thou wilt take vengeance on the reprobate.”
Whenever then the Scripture speaks of the time of God’s wrath, let us know that under this form of speaking there is an exhortation to patience, so that excessive ardor may not lead us beyond the limits of moderation, but that we may wait with resigned minds until the due time of judgment comes. This is one thing; but at the same time the Prophet expresses also something more: for he would have the reprobate of whom he speaks, to be so involved in endless judgment as never to be able to extricate themselves. It is said in Psa 106:4,
“
Remember me, O Lord, with the favor of thy people,”
that is, “O Lord, this only I ask, to be joined to thy people; for even when thy Church is afflicted and deemed miserable, it will still be enough for me to be of the number of those whom thou honorest with thy paternal favor.” The favor then of God’s people is that paternal regard which he entertains for his Church. So, on the other hand, the time of wrath is that judgment by which God devotes the reprobate to eternal perdition, so that there is no hope of salvation remaining for them. Deal thou with them, but when? even in the time of thy wrath; that is, deal with them as thou art wont to deal with thine irreclaimable enemies, to whom thou wilt never be reconcilable. (210) This is the meaning. Now another discourse follows.
(210) The last line in the Syriac is, —
In the time of thine indignation act against them.
“
Take vengeance on them,” is the paraphrase of the Targum. Horsley would have it,” deal with them,” leaving out “thus” in our version. It is no doubt an expression which includes more than what is stated. It may be rendered “do for them,” that is, wholly destroy them; — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(23) Yet, Lord, thou knowest all their counsel . . .Secret as their plots had been, they were not hidden from Jehovah, nor, indeed, as the words show, from the prophet himself. The words might seem, at first, to refer specially to the conspiracy of the men of Anathoth (Jer. 11:21), but by this time, as Jer. 18:18 shows, the hatred provoked by the warnings of the prophet had spread further, and united the priests and false prophets of Jerusalem in a common hostility against him. So afterwards, in the Gospel history, the conspiracies that began at Capernaum (Mar. 3:6) were developed in Jerusalem (Mat. 27:1).
Deal thus with them.The interpolated word thus, intended to emphasise the prayer, really weakens it: in the. time of Thine anger deal with them, as implying that the day of grace was past, that nothing now remained but retribution. The prayer was the utterance of an indignation, not unrighteous in itself, yet showing all too plainly, as has been said above, like the language of the so-called imprecatory Psalms, the contrast between the Jewish and the Christian and Christ-like way of meeting wrong and hatred. For us such prayers are among the things that have passed away, and we have learnt to admire and imitate the nobler temper of the proto-martyr, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge (Act. 7:60). The New Testament utterances of St. Peter against Simon the sorcerer (Act. 8:20), of St. Paul against Ananias (Act. 23:3), the Judaisers of Galatia (Gal. 1:9), and Alexander the coppersmith (2Ti. 4:14), present an apparent parallelism; but the words spoken in these cases have more the character of an authoritative judicial sentence.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23. Thou knowest all their counsel A comprehensive summing up of the whole prayer. For some excellent observations on Jeremiah’s imprecatory prayers, see Keil in his Commentary on this place.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
REFLECTIONS
READER! let it be your delight and mine, to go down very frequently to the Potter’s house, where the Lord will cause us to hear his word. Surely, we may cry out with the Church of old upon every occasion of life; but now O Lord! thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our Potter; and we all are the work of thine hands. And shall the thing formed, say to him that formed him, why hast thou made me thus? And if it be (as that it undoubtedly is) the Lord’s privilege and prerogative, to make vessels of the same clay, to different purposes, and some to honour, and some to dishonour; shall not the Lord new make also, as he pleaseth; and not only new make, but use also, to the different purposes of his own sacred will and pleasure? Lord! I pray thee, do by me, and appoint me, and use me as it seemeth best to thine unerring counsel, purpose, and will: but oh! new make me in Christ Jesus, and make me a vessel to the master’s use, to serve him here, and glorify him to all eternity!
Lord! to all the devices of the ungodly, and all the malice of the foe and his agents, against thy faithful ones, like the Prophet; give to thy servants grace, and to their enemies confusion, that in thy strength, all thine exercised family may be strong, and made more than conquerors, through thee, and thy great salvation.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 18:23 Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay [me]: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal [thus] with them in the time of thine anger.
Ver. 23. Yet, Lord, thou knowest all their counsel. ] Though I know it not, yet thou art privy to it, and canst prevent it; for wisdom and might are thine. Dan 2:20
To slay me.
Forgive not their iniquity.
Neither blot out their sin from thy sight.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
their counsel. See App-85.
forgive not. See App-86.
iniquity. Hebrew. ‘avon. App-44.
sin. Hebrew. chata’. App-44.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
thou: Jer 18:18, Jer 11:18-20, Jer 15:15, Psa 37:32, Psa 37:33
to slay me: Heb. for death
forgive: Neh 4:4, Neh 4:5, Psa 35:4, Psa 59:5, Psa 69:22-28, Psa 109:14, Psa 109:15, Isa 2:9
in the: Jer 8:12, Jer 11:23, Isa 10:3, Luk 21:22, Rom 2:5
Reciprocal: Psa 51:1 – blot Psa 64:2 – secret Psa 119:126 – to work Isa 44:22 – blotted Lam 1:22 – all their Dan 6:4 – sought
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 18:23. Again let the reader consider the remarks on Jer 18:21 as he observes the severe language of this. Forgive not their iniquity is the same decree in another form that has been discussed frequently in this work. The nation as a whole had gone too far in its corruption to be let off with anything less than the captivity. It was expressed as a personal prayer of Jeremiah. but was really a prediction made through him, and it was to be fulfilled by the siege and captivity ahout to take place.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
The Lord knew all that they were planning. Jeremiah believed that God should not forgive them, but allow them to experience His vengeful wrath in the coming invasion.
What Scripture commands us elsewhere regarding loving and blessing our neighbors rather than cursing them does not contradict Jeremiah’s practice here (cf. Pro 25:21-22; Mat 5:44; Rom 12:20). While his motivation may have been wrong-we cannot evaluate that-what he said was appropriate. He was really asking God to fulfill His promise to curse those who departed from His covenant in the ways the Lord had said He would.
"If Jeremiah seems too angry to us, perhaps some of us today aren’t angry enough at the evil in this world. Thanks to the media, we’re exposed to so much violence and sin that we tend to accept it as a normal part of life and want to do nothing about it. Crusading has given way to compromising, and it isn’t ’politically correct’ to be dogmatic or critical of ideas that are definitely unbiblical." [Note: Wiersbe, pp. 105-6.]