Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 25:28
And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.
The meaning of these two verses is no more than this; God let Jeremiah in a vision know that it was his will that he should prophesy a certain and unavoidable ruin to all these nations, which was brought upon all the rest by the king of Babylon, whom God made his instrument to execute his vengeance upon them; and last of all upon the king of Babylon himself by Cyrus the king of Persia. This judgment which he telleth them should be by the sword he expresseth by the effects, falling and rising no more, and commands them to drink it, to comport with the metaphor of the wine-cup of Gods fury, mentioned Jer 25:15; the drinking of cups of heady, intoxicating wine ordinarily producing such effects as spewing and falling, &c. This cup of the Lords fury he assures them they should not turn by, but should most certainly drink it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
28. if they refuse to take thecupNo effort of theirs to escape destruction will avail.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink,…. To give credit to the prophecies of ruin and destruction delivered by the prophet, but say, these things shall not be:
then shalt thou say unto them, thus saith the Lord of hosts, ye shall certainly drink; or those judgments shall certainly be inflicted; there will be no possibility of escaping, whether they were believed or not; or how unwilling soever they were to believe the denunciations of them, or to have them come upon them; yet assuredly so it would be; for thus saith the Lord of hosts, who is omnipotent, and does what he pleases in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, over whom he has a despotic power and government,
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In this verse the Prophet intimates, that however refractory the nations might be, yet they could effect no good by their obstinacy, for willing or unwilling they would be constrained to drink of the cup. But in order to render the matter more striking, he introduces them as refusing; If they refuse to take the cup, thou shalt say to them, says God, Drinking ye shall drink We have before said that the Prophet was not set a teacher over the heathens: hence what he declares here appertained not to aliens; but the whole benefit belonged to God’s Church. Therefore what is said was spoken for God’s people, even that they might know that as God had determined to punish the wickedness of men, none of all those threatened with judgment could possibly escape. Men indeed are often like unruly horses, who kick and are ferocious, and rage against their rider, and also bite; but the Prophet shews that God possesses a power sufficient to quell such obstinacy. He however reminds us how rebellious most would be, nay, almost all, when chastised by God’s hand. It is indeed a rare instance when he who has sinned, willingly and calmly submits to God, and owns that he is justly punished: nay, they who confess that they have deserved some heavy punishment, do yet complain against God; for they dread his vengeance, and apprehend not his mercy, and promise not to themselves any pardon. There is then no wonder that the Prophet ascribes here to wicked men, both Jews and aliens, so hard and rebellious a spirit, that they would resist God, and try to extricate themselves from his hand, in short, that they would by all means attempt to escape his judgment.
This is the reason why he says, If they refuse to take the cup from thy hand We hence see that we are not to take the words in their literal sense: for the Prophet did not speak to aliens, but what he had in view was the event itself, or rather the disposition of the people. These nations had indeed some power, and doubtless they strenuously defended their own safety; and this was the act of refusing intended by the Prophet. For when the enemy attacked the Moabites, they did not immediately yield; and the same was the case with others. Tyre was almost unassailable, for it was situated in the sea; where it was easy to prevent the approach of enemies. As then they had resolutely opposed their enemies, they are said to have refused the cup from God’s hand, for they thought that they could keep off the coming evil. But however inconquerable they thought themselves to be, and how much soever they trusted in their own power, yet God says, that their efforts would be in vain and useless: drinking, he says, ye shall drink (147) The reason follows —
(147) Or we may render the words literally as they are, —
Drink ye, — ye shall drink.
The first verb is an imperative, and the second is in the future tense, and may be rendered, “ye must drink,” for the future may thus be often rendered. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(28) Ye shall certainly drink.Literally, Drinking, ye shall drink.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 25:28. If they refuse to take the cup “If they either do not believe thy threatenings, or disregard them, because they think themselves sufficiently provided against any hostile invasion, thou shalt let them know that the judgments denounced are irreversible.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jer 25:28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.
Ver. 28. Ye shall certainly drink. ] See on Jer 25:15 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
if: Job 34:33
Ye: Jer 4:28, Jer 51:29, Isa 14:24-27, Isa 46:10, Isa 46:11, Dan 4:35, Act 4:28, Eph 1:11
Reciprocal: Psa 75:8 – For in Jer 1:15 – I will call Jer 25:17 – and made Jer 27:8 – that nation Jer 49:12 – they whose Lam 1:18 – hear
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 25:28. Sometimes a child or other patient refuses to drink of a cup prepared for his condition. In such a case it is necessary for the parent or nurse to use force and compel him to drink. On the same principle it
might be these heathen nations would not be willing to drink of this cup, hence the prophet was told to see that they shall certainly drink.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
If they refused to accept Jeremiah’s prophecies, the prophet was to tell them that they would experience God’s judgment anyway.